Kaido watched as Gern—who had executed a last-second, extreme evasion—stood battered yet burning with even greater fighting spirit.
The manic laughter on Kaido's face slowly faded.Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
He did not pursue immediately.
Instead, he planted the kanabo firmly into the ground. The wild roar was gone—replaced by a low, heavy voice carrying an almost nostalgic undertone.
"Gern… you're a Devil Fruit user too, aren't you?""'Heavenquake'… hmph. The exact same power as that bastard Newgate."
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the faint but ever-present ripples around Gern—vibrations so subtle yet so terrifying that even space itself seemed to tremble.
For a moment, it was as if Kaido's eyes pierced through time itself, seeing another figure—another man capable of shaking the world with a single motion.
"In that case…"Kaido's tone took on an indescribable edge—anticipation, even challenge.
"Then let me see it.""Let me see just how much presence you, the one who came after, can show… compared to Newgate in his prime."
His gaze finally settled on the bandage-wrapped black blade Bahuang in Gern's hand, growing deeper and heavier.
"After all…""You're holding the sword of that lawless man."
At that moment, a powerful current of curiosity surged within Kaido.
Back in the days aboard the Rocks Pirates, when he was still a hot-blooded young combatant, he had witnessed Edward Newgate unleash the power of the Gura Gura no Mi countless times.
The images were seared into his memory—tsunamis summoned with a casual gesture, continents torn apart, nations erased with effortless violence.
More than once, the younger Kaido had felt envy—and had even asked Whitebeard directly whether he too might one day obtain such overwhelming power.
Back then, that towering man had simply patted his shoulder, his expression unusually serious.
"Kid. A Devil Fruit is a companion for life. Choose carefully. Find the one that truly suits you."
Time had passed.
Kaido had obtained the fearsome Mythical Zoan: Fish-Fish Fruit, and become the world-shaking 'Kaido of the Beasts.'
Yet now—standing before another man who wielded power similar to Whitebeard's…and who even held that blade—
The curiosity buried deep within him, the instinct to compare, was reignited.
He wanted to know—
What kind of brilliance could this "Heavenquake" of the next era truly display?
Could he surpass the towering, mountain-like figure etched into Kaido's memory?
After all, Whitebeard's power combined with Rocks' blade was something impossible to ignore.
"…Is that so?"
Hearing Kaido's words—laden with reminiscence and comparison—Gern let out a cold laugh, his voice dripping with undisguised mockery.
"You want to compare me to Whitebeard?"
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, Gern did something Kaido never expected.
With a sharp clang, he drove the dangerous black blade Bahuang straight into the ground beside him.
"Hm?"
Kaido's massive pupils shrank instantly. His entire body tensed, every muscle coiling tight as his vigilance shot to its peak.
Based on years of combat experience—and his understanding of the quake fruit—Kaido didn't hesitate for even a second.
His attention locked completely onto Gern's now-empty hands.
Because from his knowledge of Whitebeard—
Vibration-based power required a medium to activate: fists, weapons, even the air itself.
Empty hands meant only one thing—
A far more direct, far more terrifying bare-handed quake attack.
"Is it coming…? Like Newgate's air-quake…"Kaido thought grimly, every ounce of focus trained on the movements of Gern's palms.
And it was precisely this assumption—this instinctive bias born from Whitebeard's abilities—
That led him to make a fatal mistake.
He overlooked the most fundamental truth.
Gern's Heavenquake Fruit was a Logia.
Fundamentally different from Whitebeard's Paramecia-type Gura Gura no Mi, which required a medium.
Gern keenly caught the wary gaze locked onto his hands.
The smile on his face deepened—a look of amused satisfaction, as if his scheme had gone exactly as planned.
Slowly, he raised his hands—
Not to clench them into fists.Not to strike.
Instead, like a photographer framing a shot, he spread his fingers slightly and brought his hands together in front of his chest—
Perfectly "framing" Kaido's massive dragon-man body within that invisible rectangle.
Then, he slowly lifted his gaze.
His eyes pierced through the imaginary "viewfinder," locking onto Kaido.
He smiled.
His voice was calm—unnervingly calm.
"No need to stare at my hands so tensely, Kaido…"
"I don't need any so-called 'medium' to activate my power."
"Because…"
In the next instant, Gern's tone turned utterly arrogant—supreme and absolute.
"I myself… am the natural disaster."
"Heavenquake—Framed Suppression…""Vibration Bind: Spatial Compression!"
The moment his words fell—
The world changed.
There was no warning whatsoever.
Not from Gern's hands.Not from any part of his body.
Instead—
On both sides of Kaido, the air itself suddenly cracked—
Like glass struck by an invisible sledgehammer—
White, spider-web fractures materialized out of nowhere in empty space!
Immediately after, two terrifying compressive forces—born directly from the void, perfectly opposing in direction—
Manifested simultaneously!
Like an invisible box and tightening restraints, they slammed inward toward Kaido at the center!
"What—?!"Kaido's expression twisted violently. This method of attack utterly defied everything he knew!
"VMMMM—CRACK!!!"
An indescribably immense vibrational pressure descended upon his colossal body!
It wasn't a strike—
It felt as though space itself, repulsed by violent vibration, was rejecting him… crushing him from all directions!
Kaido's hardened dragon scales screeched with a teeth-grinding creak.Muscles were forcibly compressed.Even his bones began to groan!
"GRAAAAAH!!!"
He struggled violently—only to realize the surrounding air had become thick as molten lead.
Every movement now demanded dozens of times more strength than before.
Under the extreme spatial compression, Kaido's massive dragon-man body began to twist… distort…
The scene turned grotesque and surreal—
As if he had been stuffed inside a transparent box that was relentlessly shrinking!
Meanwhile—
Gern stood safely at a distance.
His hands still held that calm, cruel "viewfinder" pose—
And without mercy, he slowly brought them closer together.
"Turn into a nice little Kaido cube for me!!!"
He intended to crush the so-called "Strongest Creature Alive"—
To grind him down, alive, within this invisible prison of vibrating annihilation.