The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

Gern simply stated, "I am from the Western Sea."

Asahi's face flushed bright red, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He rubbed his hands together, stammered for a long time, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "That's right! Hahaha! Gern Reginald Sigmar is from my West Sea!!"

"Sigh." Gern looked at Asahi's excited expression, a knowing glint in his eyes.

The West Sea Branch has always been on the margins of the naval system and is known as the "land of exile".

And an elite from the headquarters who came from branch 133

It can indeed bring a lot of political capital to someone like Asahi, who probably spends his whole life in the branch.

Especially in the section about subsequent funding allocations from headquarters to the branch, the Navy also demonstrates a great deal of human relationships and considerations.

If Gern establishes a firm foothold at headquarters, the West Sea branch will also benefit.

“Don’t worry,” Gern said calmly. “After all, this is where I started.”

As if granted a pardon, Asahi's chubby face relaxed: "Great! Great!"

"Gern, I'm telling you, you're absolutely capable of being promoted to Marine Headquarters. All you're missing is this one achievement." Asahi said, patting the bounty poster heavily.

“Indeed.” Gern nodded and continued walking forward.

Asahi wanted to follow, but was stopped by a look from Gern.

"I want to be alone for a while."

"Yes, yes, yes! You rest! You rest!" Asahi bowed and scraped as he retreated, not forgetting to shout to the soldiers around him as he left.

"What are you all standing there for? Can't you see Lieutenant Gern is tired? Get back to work!"

……

At the 133rd branch naval base, Gern walked alone toward the cliff behind the branch.

The view here is expansive, offering a panoramic vista of the entire West Sea.

The sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and the sky was a deep blue-purple.

He unsheathed the black sword "Eight Desolations" from his back, his fingers gently tracing the bandages wrapped around his body.

one Year.

Over the past year, he has wiped out sixteen pirate crews, almost completely eradicating pirate forces in the West Blue.

But Gern knew very well that these so-called "achievements" were utterly insignificant in the eyes of the monsters at headquarters...

Whitebeard is looking for his son in the New World.

The Golden Lion has already occupied dozens of islands.

Roger's fleet's whereabouts remain a mystery...

Meanwhile, the Marine Headquarters, with names like Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr, represents the true pinnacle of power.

"The West Sea is too small."

Gern raised his hand, and a cluster of pure white vibrating particles appeared in his palm.

The particle glowed faintly in the night, like a compressed star.

The development of the Heaven-Shatter Fruit is far from its limit, and its development is not as simple as it seems; the control of each technique requires extreme precision.

In that year, he only figured out the basic abilities: elementalization, defense, offense, shockwaves, short-range teleportation...

Fortunately, the lower limit of the Heaven-Shatter Fruit is just trembling, but its upper limit is, of course, the level of the Musou Fruit, which is in front of a man with knowledge and memories of the future.

"As for domineering aura..." Gern clenched his fist, and bursts of light shot out from between his fingers, cracking the surrounding air.

At first, he tried to imitate some of the training methods from the original anime, but to no avail...

Without Armament Haki, one cannot fight against Logia-type Devil Fruit users.

Without Observation Haki, even with elemental transformation, one would still be injured because they cannot predict the movements of top-tier powerhouses.

As for Conqueror's Haki...

“Zeffa…” A sharp glint and a burning desire flashed in Gern’s eyes.

This admiral, known for his "black arm," is the pinnacle of Armament Haki.

If I could get his guidance...

The sea breeze blew, and Gern's cloak fluttered in the wind.

He turned to look in the direction of Marineford, his gaze gradually hardening.

Once the Blood Spear Pirates are defeated and my achievements are satisfactory, that's where I'll go next.

……

Meanwhile, in the shadows on the side of the naval port, the Asahi branch chief was hunched over, carrying a bag of now-cold seaweed rice rolls.

That was the "gift of comfort" he originally intended to give to Guern in person.

Fine beads of cold sweat glistened on his forehead in the dim light, and his fingers unconsciously tightened around the bag, making a soft rustling sound.

"So alike...so very alike!"

Asahi's pupils trembled slightly as the image of that man uncontrollably surfaced in her mind.

Four years ago, during the Navy's attack on the Rocks Pirates, this monster single-handedly shattered the entire island and triggered a tsunami.

"If it hadn't been confirmed to be a Logia-type ability, I would have thought he had obtained that man's Devil Fruit..."

He had just been hiding behind the container and witnessed firsthand the vibrating ball of light that had gathered in Gern's palm.

That pure, space-tearing tremor made him instinctively shudder.

But at the same time, a twisted sense of excitement welled up from the bottom of my heart, like a gambler who had won the biggest bet.

“That kid, Gern…” Asahi licked his dry lips, his chubby face squeezing out an extremely obsequious smile.

"He's only 15 years old this year, younger than those three rookie monsters at Marine Headquarters. He's definitely going to become a big shot..."

Thinking of this, Asahi glanced back at the blurry figure on the cliff and carefully backed away.

His leather shoes stepped into a puddle, the "splash" sound particularly jarring in the quiet dock, startling him so much that he froze on the spot.

Only after confirming that Guern hadn't noticed the commotion did he breathe a sigh of relief and continue to tiptoe backward.

"I was the first one to latch onto this powerful figure!"

His mind was already racing: what if Gern became a lieutenant general, no, maybe even a general...?

No, the West Sea Branch 133 will definitely be upgraded to the West Sea General Branch, haha!

I, Asahi, am the branch manager!

A night breeze blew by, and the rising sun suddenly shivered.

"No, we can't waste time. I need to find out more about the Blood Spear Pirates right away."

Get our "West Sea Star" to headquarters immediately, hahaha!

As he spoke, Asahi glanced one last time in the direction of the cliff, where Gern could no longer be seen.

Only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks echoed in the night.

Chapter 10 Blood Spear Pirates

Pirate Crew Name: Blood Spear Pirates

Captain's title: "Blood Spear" Logart

Bounty: 69 million Berries (He did not encounter a higher bounty because he voluntarily gave up further voyages after his defeat on the Grand Line)

Age: 42 years old

Origin: Guardian Army of a certain war-torn nation in the Western Sea

Morbid Aesthetics: Obsessed with "elegant slaughter," they deliberately control the amount of blood lost by their opponents during battle, causing them to bleed to death slowly.

Having suffered a crushing defeat on the Grand Line, he developed an intense aversion to the "game of the strong" and resorted to bullying the weak to numb his own pain.

"Gern, this is the detailed information on the Blood Spear Pirates." The Asahi branch manager gently pushed a brown paper bag containing a document over his finger.

He rubbed his hands together, a fawning smile spreading across his face: "I got this inside information by asking my old connections in the South China Sea branch."

"This is troublesome." Gern took the document and began to look through it.

"Although Logot is from the West Sea," Asahi leaned closer, the smell of cigars mixed with cheap perfume wafting over him.

"But while protecting his own royal family in the South China Sea, he became greedy, killed and robbed people, and then directly started a pirate crew in the South China Sea."

As he spoke, he pointed to a red stamp on the document with his short, stubby finger. "See this mark? The South China Sea branch stamped it with the 'extremely dangerous' mark."

Guern quickly scanned the intelligence, his gaze lingering briefly on keywords such as "Grand Line" and "60 million Berries".

Amid the rustling of turning pages, Asahi's voice continued: "This guy's misdeeds in the South China Sea include plundering seven merchant ships and destroying two naval outposts; his methods are ruthless..."

"So now you've deliberately traveled all the way from the Grand Line back to the West Blue to wreak havoc?" Gern closed the file and let out a soft sigh.

Asahi's chubby face suddenly turned serious. He leaned forward, and the chair creaked under the weight.

“Gern, this Logot is completely different from those 20 million-level minions you dealt with before.”

"A guy who can make a name for himself in the first half of the Grand Line... even though his bounty is listed as 60 million, his actual strength is probably far greater than that."

Guern's fingers tapped the table unconsciously, the rhythm like a countdown.

He certainly understood—in the original story, Luffy's bounty after defeating Arlong was only 30 million Berries.

The assessment of naval bounties is never just a reflection of strength, but it is also not a matter of miscalculation.

“Don’t worry, Branch Chief.” Gern stood up, sunlight filtering through the blinds and casting dappled patterns on his face. “I value my life.”

"It's good to cherish your life! It's good to cherish your life!" Asahi quickly stood up, not even bothering to rub her stomach after accidentally bumping it against the corner of the table, and just smiled obsequiously.

"When you get to Marine Headquarters, you'll be dealing with real monsters..."

Just as Guern was talking to Asahi, a series of hurried footsteps approached, followed by a sudden report that interrupted everything.

Suddenly, the office door was flung open, and Asahi's adjutant rushed in, his face full of anxiety, clutching an intelligence document tightly in his hand.

"Reporting, Branch Chief!" The adjutant's voice was urgent and heavy.

"In the West Blue, the Kingdom of Astrid, Ash Harbor has been attacked by the Blood Spear Pirates. The local militia has sent us a distress call for assistance!"

Asahi paused for a moment, then realized what was happening, and the fat on her face trembled slightly with nervousness.

"So fast? Didn't the intelligence say they were still operating near the South China Sea?"

"They've clearly changed course," the adjutant said.

"Bang!" Asahi's face instantly darkened. He stood up abruptly and slammed his fist heavily on the table.

"These damned beasts, they've only just returned from the first half of the Grand Line and they can't wait to run wild on my territory!"

Meanwhile, Gern's gaze sharpened as he looked at the intelligence document Asahi had just given him.

"Branch leader, please give the order!" The adjutant eagerly awaited instructions.

Asahi gritted his teeth, about to speak, but Gern had already stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hey! Gern?" Asahi paused, "What do you want?"

"Need I say more?" Gern said without turning his head, "Of course, it's to support Ashport!"

"Wait!" Asahi hurriedly called out to him, "Didn't I just tell you?"

The Blood Spear Pirates are no ordinary pirates; their strength far surpasses the weaklings you dealt with before!

And didn't you just say you valued your life...?

Gern stopped and tilted his head slightly. "I meant valuing my life..."

Then, he suddenly grinned, a chilling smile spreading across his face. "It's to make those blind scum, when they meet me..."

You'd better value your life more than your own.

Looking into Gern's eyes, Asahi was stunned by his imposing presence and was speechless for a moment.

“Oh, right!” Gern had already turned and was walking towards the door, but paused when his hand was on the doorknob. “Thanks for this intelligence.”