The sea churned violently in the aftermath of the clash of Conqueror's Haki, spray raining down like a torrential storm.
Gern stood at the warship's bow, his cloak snapping in the gale, his gaze locked on the scene ahead.
Suddenly, Roger's Conqueror's Haki abruptly receded.
"Hmm?" Gern frowned slightly. Through his Observation Haki, he sensed another presence rapidly approaching-slightly weaker, but far more savage.
A white wake erupted across the distant sea as a towering, powerfully built figure charged straight at him, leaving bursts of spray across the water.
"Marine!" Bullet's roar thundered across the sea, his bulging muscles gleaming bronze in the sunlight.
"Fight me!!"
"Douglas Bullet." Gern's pupils contracted slightly.
The man known as the "Devil's Heir" hurtled toward him like a cannonball, savage Haki coiling around his body.
Battle lust burned in his eyes as he lunged straight at Gern like a beast unleashed from its cage.
"If this were before I challenged Kozuki Oden, you might have been a formidable opponent." Gern's gaze darkened, but a cold smile curled his lips.
"But now? Heh."
Without the slightest hesitation, Gern's figure blurred as he instantly activated "Tremor Flash."
His silhouette blurred in place as high-frequency vibration particles shifted his body into a molecular quantum flow that tunneled through space.
In an instant, Gern's presence vanished from the Observation Haki of every powerful fighter there.
Then, a second later, he appeared directly in front of Bullet.
"What the hell?" Gern had appeared before him without the slightest warning.
Bullet's pupils trembled. He visibly froze, leaving him no time even to adjust his stance.
He had never expected Gern to be so fast. It was as though his Observation Haki had stopped working entirely.
But Gern was already directly in front of Bullet, dark red Ryuo Haki coiling around