"Heh, I never imagined..."
Sabo looked at Gern and raised a hand to tug down the brim of his hat. The shadow concealed some of the emotion in his eyes, but there was no hiding the chill in his voice.
"That Grand Commander 'Heavenquake,' who now wielded the Marines' authority and stirred up storms across the New World,
would have the leisure to... stroll around a Shichibukai's kingdom."
Gern paid no mind to the sarcasm in Sabo's words. A hint of wistfulness entered his voice. "You didn't look at me like that when you were little.
You were just as nervous back then, like a kitten with its fur standing on end, but your eyes...
never held such intense hatred, Sabo."
"Don't say my name!" Sabo's expression darkened abruptly as he snapped, cutting him off.
"If you really still cared about that brief time you 'knew' the three of us brothers..."
His voice trembled slightly. Reports of the war at Marineford and photographs of Ace's death surfaced in his mind, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.
"Then you wouldn't have stood on the battlefield of the Paramount War and watched Ace die!!"
Before his words had even faded, searing flames erupted from his fists, as though answering his boiling emotions!
Orange-red tongues of fire coiled and rose, casting a burning glow over the pipe in his hand. The surrounding air warped in the heat!
These flames were no longer an illusory symbol, but tangible power!
He had fully inherited the ability and will of his brother, Portgas D. Ace!
Watching the agitated Sabo, his entire body wreathed in roaring flames, Gern showed no anger.
Instead, he chuckled softly, as though looking at a sulking junior. Completely ignoring the searing heat, he spoke calmly.
"At times, the line between pirates and