Gern stood where he was, watching the Whitebeard Pirates slowly leave.
"Pfft!" At last, he spat out the stagnant blood he had been holding back for so long. His body swayed, and his face instantly grew paler.
"Gern!" Lipo cried out and tried to step forward. The movement pulled at her wounds, making her brow tighten, but she still rushed to his side at once.
"If you had worked with me, we could have stopped Whitebeard from leaving," Bullet said with a cold snort, looking down at Gern.
"Is that the kind of victory you want?" Gern raised a hand to show he was fine and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
Seeing the look in Gern's eyes, Bullet frowned. He wanted to win fair and square. It only counted as a victory if he defeated his opponent alone.
He was no fool, either. He could tell that Gern wanted to keep Whitebeard around as a threat to bolster his own importance.
When Gern saw that Bullet had nothing more to say, he smiled and stayed silent. Then, suddenly, he seemed to remember something.
He drew a deep breath, mustered what little strength he had left, and used vibrations to carry his voice clearly to Whitebeard's ears.
"Whitebeard!"
At the sound of Gern's voice, Whitebeard paused briefly, but did not turn around.
"Didn't you just mention your Second Division Commander?
"That samurai who came alone to challenge me back then and lost-I remember his name was Kozuki Oden, wasn't it?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Kozuki Oden is dead." This time, Gern did not send his words to Whitebeard alone, but to everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates.
For a moment, every retreating member of the Whitebeard Pirates froze, from the commanders to the