Near the coast of Egghead Island, Van Augur, Jesus Burgess, and Shiryu encountered Dracule Mihawk.
They should have been slaughtered, but Aramaki, who had been following close behind them, suddenly stepped in to help.
Elsewhere, Samuel and Kuzan encountered Kizaru and Enel, and a battle erupted between the four Logia users.
In short, the Navy's landing had successfully thrown everything into chaos!
Meanwhile, in the central core of Egghead Island's middle level.
This place had once symbolized the fusion of technology and order. Now, it had been reduced to a hideous stretch of ruins.
Gern wandered alone through the wreckage, his steps unhurried.
His military boots crunched distinctly against the rubble, the sound especially jarring now that the fighting here had subsided.
"Looks like that crafty bastard Blackbeard... really didn't choose to fight to the death," Gern murmured.
He knew Marshall D. Teach all too well. The man was a greedy hyena who placed survival and profit above everything else.
Faced with a fully refreshed, murderous Emperor-Class Luffy whose strength was unfathomable, Blackbeard would never be foolish enough to stake his life on a moment's pride.
Once he realized he couldn't win quickly, or that the price would be too steep, he would inevitably choose... to retreat.
Or, more accurately, to reposition strategically and look for a more favorable opportunity or target.
As Gern walked, he habitually rested his right hand lightly on the hilt of Eight Desolations, hanging at his right hip.
His fingers didn't tighten around it. They merely rested there.
The gesture seemed casual, but it was an instinct honed over years of battle.
After all, in this dangerous area that had just witnessed an Emperor-Class clash, where friend and foe remained unclear and Blackbeard might be lurking nearby, vigilance was the first rule of survival.