Three days before the public execution.The Calm Belt.
A Marine escort vessel, personally overseen by Gern Reginald Sigmar, cut steadily across the windless sea toward Marine Headquarters at Marineford.
At the center of the bow deck stood a specially constructed Seastone cage.
Inside it sat Portgas D. Ace, wrists shackled, shoulders slumped in quiet exhaustion.
The sea breeze carried the scent of salt and iron. Ace slowly lifted his head, his gaze settling on the tall figure seated outside the cage with his back turned to him.
Gern wore the Admiral's coat of Justice. In his hand was a bottle of liquor, which he poured and drank at his leisure.
Looking at that broad back, Ace felt a sudden flicker of disorientation.
His thoughts drifted back to the East Blue… to a small place called Windmill Village.
He remembered the first time he had seen this "weird old man." He remembered the incident at Makino's bar. He remembered sitting in the mayor's house, listening wide-eyed to stories about this man that sounded like myth.
Capturing the Pirate King.Cutting down the Golden Lion.Standing guard over the New World…
Back then, Ace had made a silent vow.
One day, he would set sail.One day, he would become stronger than this man.One day… he would defeat him.
His dry lips pressed together unconsciously. A faint, self-mocking smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
In a voice barely audible even to himself, he murmured,
"Gern… you big weirdo…"
As if he had heard the whisper, Gern did not turn around. He continued looking out at the sea.
His calm voice cut through Ace's memories.
"Ace."
Gern poured himself another cup.
"Back then… I personally escorted Roger to the execution platform at Loguetown the same way."
Gol D. RogerLoguetown
Ace froze for a moment.
"Is that so…" he muttered with an ambiguous chuckle.
After a brief pause, he continued the thought he hadn't finished.
"When I was in Windmill Village… after I heard all those stories about you… I swore I'd defeat you someday.
"But after all these years at sea… it feels like I haven't accomplished… a single dream."
Gern drained his cup in one gulp and set it down heavily on the small table beside him.
He didn't respond to Ace's lament.
Instead, he changed the subject.
"But you have a father who loves you."
It was as if a nerve had been struck.
Ace shot his head up, his voice tight with suppressed rejection.
"Don't mention that man to me—"
"Not him," Gern interrupted.
"Whitebeard."
Silence.
Ace's pupils trembled.
Gern slowly rose to his feet and finally turned, looking down at Ace from above.
Then he said something that left Ace confused… and yet unbearably heavy.
"That man… has wagered the future on you."
"You… must not look back, Ace."
Those words — must not look back — slammed into Ace's chest.
Combined with what Gern had just said… He has wagered the future on you…
A dreadful premonition spread icy fingers through his body.
"Pops… he wouldn't… he wouldn't…" Ace's voice broke. Tears welled uncontrollably.
He didn't dare imagine the ending.
The most brutal ending.
The one that might happen because of him.
Gern did not let him continue spiraling in uncertainty.
In the calmest, most merciless tone possible, he shattered Ace's last fragile hope.
"I will kill him."
Five words.
Clear.
Cold.
Without hesitation.
"And he knows I will kill him."
Gern added it like a simple fact long understood by both sides.
This was a war Whitebeard would march into knowing full well he was walking toward death.
And it was a battle Gern would carry out without faltering.
Through tear-blurred vision, Ace stared at Gern's silhouette.
At that moment, Gern slightly turned his head, glancing at the crumbling man in the cage from the corner of his eye.
His voice remained steady.
"So… don't let the tattoo on your back…"
The mark that bore the honor, faith, and belonging of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"…lose its meaning."
Those words were more powerful than comfort.More ruthless than encouragement.
They told Ace what Whitebeard's sacrifice was for.
They reminded him who he was at this very moment.
They forced him to shoulder the will being passed down at the cost of a life — to not falter now, not collapse, not look back.
These few sentences were also Gern's final repayment of that old debt.
From this point on—
He would give everything.
Ace, meanwhile, stood frozen inside the cage. Tears streamed harder down his face. His teeth clenched so tightly his jaw trembled. His fingernails dug deep into his palms.
The Whitebeard skull emblazoned across his back felt searing hot — as though it had been burned directly into his soul.
Gern turned away, no longer looking at him.
The escort ship continued forward in silence.
…
Marineford. The naval port.
Gern had just completed the transfer of Ace, formally handing him over to the temporary guard unit assigned before the execution.
Gild Tesoro, who had been waiting anxiously nearby, immediately stepped forward. Lowering his voice, he reported quietly at Gern's side.
"Admiral Gern, the Golden Lion… just as you predicted.
"After the personnel at G-10 carried out your prior orders — intimidating Big Mom, sweeping the surrounding seas — leaving a brief 'vacuum' in internal defenses…"
Big Mom
"He slipped away alone and went to make contact with Whitebeard."
Tesoro paused, then added,
"And with no one watching him, Trafalgar Law also seized the opportunity to return to the Sabaody Archipelago."
Trafalgar D. Water LawSabaody Archipelago
After hearing the report, Gern showed no surprise whatsoever.
Instead, a faint smile curved his lips.
"Heh… Golden Lion."
"What he's calculating now is simple. After Roger's brilliance came Whitebeard's era."
"And he can see it clearly — Whitebeard's journey this time is a one-way road."
"So in his mind, by that so-called 'succession'… the next era should naturally belong to him. Golden Lion Shiki."
There was a subtle mockery in Gern's tone — the kind born from understanding human ambition too well.
"What he's regained isn't just his body. It's the ambition he's suppressed for over a decade."
"The 'Flying Pirate'… intends to use this world-shaking war to announce his return."
Tesoro listened with a knowing smile, saying nothing.
But inside, his thoughts were crystal clear.
This might be the stage Shiki believed would proclaim his restored dominance.
But wasn't it equally—
The final stage Gern had carefully prepared for him… and for the entire old era?
The age of legends…
Would it not truly end alongside the fall of its three titans — Roger, Whitebeard, and the Golden Lion?
This war would be far more than a clash between the Marines and Whitebeard.
It would be a requiem for an era.
And it was "Heavenquake" Gern Reginald Sigmar who had set it in motion.
..
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