East Blue, Loguetown.
The port known as "the town of beginnings and endings" was now surrounded by countless Marine warships.
Black cannon muzzles pointed out to sea, and fully armed Marines crowded the decks. A suffocating tension hung in the air.
Garp, the first to arrive, stood at the very edge of the pier, arms folded, silently watching the distant horizon.
Behind him, Kong, Sengoku, and Zephyr, who had arrived later with the warships, stood shoulder to shoulder, equally silent.
The sea breeze swept through the port with its damp, briny scent, stirring their cloaks but failing to disperse the gloom weighing on every heart.
No one spoke.
No one dared to speak.
It was as though the entire port had been muted. Only the waves could be heard striking the shore, again and again, like some kind of countdown.
They had stood there waiting for three days, all to confirm one thing!
"Tesoro..." Standing toward the back, Lipo gripped the hem of her clothes and bit her lip. At last, she could not help speaking in a low voice.
"Tell me, Gern... he'll be all right, won't he?"
Lipo's voice was soft, yet it was like a pebble dropped into a deathly still lake, sending out invisible ripples.
Tesoro did not answer immediately.
His gaze swept over the figures standing like statues before him.
These powerhouses who stood at the pinnacle of the world were now frighteningly silent.
No one could approach that stretch of sea now, so no one knew how any of this had ended.
They knew only that, whether it was Gern or Roger...
Both men's final destination would be Loguetown!
So he had no answer to Lipo's question. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "I'm sorry, Lipo. I don't know."
It was the