The four of them left the restaurant and stood in the square at the center of town.
Gern leisurely picked his teeth with a toothpick, looking as relaxed as someone out for a stroll after a meal.
Then he stretched out an arm and, without asking, slung it around Ace, whose sour expression still screamed, "Stay the hell away from me."
With his other hand, he casually pointed at the unmistakable flag snapping in the wind at the center of the square.
"Recognize that?" Gern asked lightly.
"Yeah." Forced to look up, Ace frowned at the Red Hair Pirates' Jolly Roger and answered irritably.
"The flag of 'Red Hair' Shanks, one of the Four Emperors. What about it?"
"Nothing." A meaningful smile curled across Gern's lips, but he gave no direct answer.
Instead, he turned his head and murmured something to Kuma, who stood beside him, silent as a mountain.
Kuma nodded expressionlessly.
The next moment, under the eyes of Ace and Enel, who was idly digging in his ear,
a transparent paw-shaped bubble appeared over Kuma's enormous palm, and he directed it at himself.
Pop! There was a soft sound.
Kuma's massive body vanished without a trace, leaving only a small ripple of air where he had stood.
Three minutes later.
With another soft pop, the air warped slightly, and Kuma reappeared behind the three of them just as abruptly as he had vanished.
This time, his broad palm held a neatly folded pirate flag, clearly brand-new.
Kuma silently handed the flag to Gern.
Gern took it without even looking and casually stuffed it into the arms of Ace, who was still trapped under his arm and utterly bewildered.
"Here. Take it."
Ace accepted it instinctively, feeling the crisp new fabric beneath his fingers.
Puzzled, he looked down and