Chapter Summaries

Garp explained why he could not train Ace, despite loving him, and asked Gern about the Marines’ plans for containing the Four Emperors. After learning that headquarters wanted Red-Haired Shanks watched, Gern decided to confront him over the scheme that had helped him defeat Bullet and claim his place among the Emperors.

• Garp told Gern that Ace had to choose his own path, because training him could make Roger’s son an even greater threat if he became a pirate.
• Gern and Garp discussed Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s request for plans to keep the Four Emperors in check.
• A headquarters report arrived stating that the Red Hair Pirates had expanded rapidly and should be watched and restrained.
• Gern recalled how Hongo had manipulated Bullet into Shanks’s prepared battlefield, allowing Shanks to win and expand his power.
• Gern declared that Shanks would pay for scheming against one of his men and set out to teach the new Emperor a lesson.

Gern assigned Kuma and Enel to confront the Red Hair Pirates, while Ace learned that Gern had left G-10 and decided to challenge him. The Spade Pirates changed course to track Gern’s movements.

• Gern found Kuma in the garden and told him a mission was needed because the others were unavailable.
• Enel made a dramatic entrance, and Gern reprimanded him for damaging the garden before revealing that the target was the Red Hair Pirates.
• Kuma accepted the mission to protect his family and the islands under G-10’s care, and Enel eagerly looked forward to fighting Shanks.
• A week later, Deuce showed Ace a report that Gern had left G-10 with Kuma and Enel.
• Despite Deuce and the crew warning him that Gern was far too powerful, Ace declared that he had to challenge him to learn how much stronger he needed to become.
• Ace ordered the Spade Pirates to change course and gather information on Gern’s movements.

Two weeks later on Hawkem Island, Gern confronted Ace and learned the young pirate had come looking for him. Gern unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki, leaving Ace struggling to stay on his feet as the chapter ended.

• Gern and Enel spotted the Spade Pirates’ ship, and Enel summoned a Thunder Beast to attack it.
• Gern told Enel that the black-haired young man was Monkey D. Garp’s grandson, and Enel immediately canceled his attack after recognizing Ace.
• Ace leaped from his ship and landed on the beach, greeting Gern and trading barbed remarks with him.
• Gern asked whether Ace had come to catch up or confront him as a pirate facing a Marine Admiral.
• Gern released his Conqueror’s Haki, knocking out the Spade Pirates’ crew while Ace resisted the pressure.

Ace challenged Gern to prove how much he had grown, but Gern effortlessly countered his attacks and exposed the vast gap between them. The chapter ended with Ace's all-out Fire Fist dissipating against Gern's tapped barrier of fractured space.

• Gern praised Ace for enduring his Conqueror's Haki and asked what he planned to do next.
• Ace attacked Gern with Divine Fire: Shiranui, but Gern dispelled the flames with a vibration and remained unharmed.
• Gern disrupted Ace's footing and nearly struck him with Black Quake: Thrust, forcing Ace to escape with Heat Haze.
• Ace roared that he would not accept defeat and launched his massive Fire Fist at Gern.
• Gern tapped the air, forming a wall of fractures that stopped Ace's Fire Fist and left Ace stunned.

Ace attacked Gern with Firefly: Fire Daruma and Cross Fire, but Gern blocked both attacks and overwhelmed him with rapid kicks using his Tremor Flash ability. Gern left Ace beaten in a crater and taunted him that he had not needed to use his hands.

• Ace feigned self-doubt, then attacked Gern with Firefly: Fire Daruma and Cross Fire.
• Gern protected himself with an invisible vibration barrier that stopped Ace’s flames and explosions.
• Gern declared he would use neither hand nor Haki, then used Tremor Flash footwork to appear behind Ace and kick him.
• Gern struck Ace with successive kicks that launched him into the air and drove him into a crater on the beach.
• Gern returned to his starting position with his arms crossed and told Ace that he had not even needed his hands.

Ace declared that he would forge his own identity as Portgas D. Ace and unleashed his Demon Fire attack against Gern. Gern drew Eight Desolations and ended the attack with one slash, stopping with the blade at Ace’s neck.

• Ace rose from the crater and vowed to become a great pirate known by his own name, not his father’s blood.
• Ace unleashed Great Flame Commandment: Demon Fire, engulfing Gern in a vast, savage vortex of flames.
• Gern drew and unbound Black Blade: Eight Desolations, revealing its dark red fissures and Haki-coated blade.
• Gern swung once, severing the firestorm and its demon heads before passing Ace.
• Gern stopped behind Ace with Eight Desolations poised less than a hair’s breadth from his neck.

Gern recounted the long road that made him powerful, defeated Ace, and offered him a chance to serve, but Ace refused. Gern decided to keep Ace by his side and had Kuma and Enel block his escape.

• Gern told Ace how he rose from an ordinary Marine to a legendary fighter over thirty-five years, defeating figures such as Whitebeard, Shiki, Oden, and Roger.
• Gern sheathed Eight Desolations and offered Ace a chance to serve under him, honoring a promise he had made to Roger.
• Ace firmly refused to submit, and Gern considered Roger’s resemblance to Ace before deciding to take him to someone like a father to him.
• When Ace attacked Gern from behind, Kuma appeared behind him with Enel on his shoulder and stopped his escape.
• Gern told Ace that the weak had no right to choose how they died.

Gern brought Ace to an island in Shanks’s territory and demanded that Ace call him Pops, even imitating Whitebeard’s offer to make him a son. Ace rejected him and insisted his name belonged to his mother, while Gern concluded that Ace needed to be beaten more.

• Gern ate with Ace, Enel, and Kuma at a restaurant on an island under Shanks’s flag while Ace demanded to know why Gern had brought him there.
• Gern complained that Ace would not call him Pops and declared, “Be my son!! Ace.”
• Ace stared at Gern in disbelief and asked what was wrong with him.
• Gern compared his approach to Whitebeard’s and wondered why Ace had not accepted him as a father.
• Ace shouted that he did not need Gern’s fatherly love and that his name came from his mother.
• Gern decided that Ace had not been beaten enough.

Gern manipulated Ace into burning the Red Hair Pirates' flag and replacing it with the Spade Pirates' flag, claiming Shanks owed Ace because Roger had loved him. Ace's flag now flew over Shanks's territory, openly challenging the Emperor.

• Gern had Kuma vanish and return with a new flag bearing the Spade Pirates' emblem.
• Gern told Ace to burn the Red Hair Pirates' flag and replace it, arguing that Shanks had received Roger's fatherly love and therefore owed Ace.
• Ace accepted Gern's twisted reasoning and decided to reject anyone Roger had loved.
• Ace used Fire Fist to destroy the Red Hair Pirates' flag in the town square.
• Ace raised the Spade Pirates' flag in its place while Gern praised him for learning quickly.

Shanks learned that Ace had seized several islands in Red Hair territory and set out to confront him. As Ace reflected on Gern’s role in restraining the New World’s pirates, he realized that the man was far more than the obstacle he had first assumed.

• Lucky Roux and Beckman told Shanks that Portgas D. Ace and the Spade Pirates had raised their flag over five or six Red Hair islands.
• Shanks recognized the attack as a challenge to his new position among the Four Emperors and ordered his crew to change course and confront Ace.
• Ace watched Gern help an old fruit seller and wondered what the contradictory man truly wanted.
• Enel told Ace that Gern’s power forced ambitious pirates to abandon their dreams or target easier prey, preserving a fragile order in the New World.
• Ace reflected that defeating Gern would be necessary to become Pirate King and understood that the man holding the Four Emperors in check was no mere slogan or honorific.

Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates confronted Ace on Palta Island, but Shanks called off the tension when he learned Ace was Luffy’s older brother and proposed a banquet. Gern intervened before Ace could accept, urging him to attack Shanks with a Fire Fist.

• Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates arrived at Palta Island and found the Spade Pirates’ flag flying over the town.
• Ace greeted Shanks from a rooftop, and Lucky Roux shot him, only for the bullet hole to heal in flames.
• Shanks scolded Lucky Roux, then warmed to Ace after learning he was Luffy’s older brother and called for a banquet.
• Ace nearly accepted Shanks’s invitation before Gern appeared behind him and told him to treat Shanks to a Fire Fist.

Gern manipulated Ace into attacking Shanks by twisting the story of Portgas D. Rouge’s sacrifice, triggering a battle between the Red Hair Pirates and G-10. Shanks deflected Ace’s Fire Fist, while Enel and Kuma restrained the other pirates, leaving Gern seemingly in control.

• Gern provoked Ace by claiming Roger’s affection for Shanks had been unfair to Portgas D. Rouge and her sacrifice.
• Ace lost control and launched a Fire Fist at Shanks and the companions behind him.
• Shanks drew Griffon and split the flames, then shouted at Gern as Beckman moved to attack him.
• Enel intercepted Beckman with his Golden Staff, while Kuma redirected Yasopp and Howling Gab’s attacks and surrounded several Red Hair Pirates with paw-shaped shockwaves.
• Kuma asked the Red Hair Pirates not to trouble Gern, and Shanks realized Gern was the one controlling the fight.

Gern confronted Shanks on Palta Island, revealing that his presence was the real reason the Red Hair Pirates held back. When Gern hinted that Shanks had acted against G-10, the two clashed with their Conqueror’s Haki at full power.

• Gern told Ace that the Red Hair Pirates feared him more than Kuma or Enel, and Ace understood the scale of Gern’s power.
• Shanks approached Gern and demanded to know why he had come to the island, while Gern claimed he only wanted to catch up.
• Gern suggested Shanks had secretly done something against him, and Shanks realized his schemes against G-10 had been exposed.
• Shanks tried to draw Griffon, but Gern pinned his sword hand and stopped him.
• Gern and Shanks unleashed their Conqueror’s Haki, splitting the sky above Palta Island as their powers collided.

Gern rejected Shanks’s attempt to avoid a fight, exposed his secret origins, and provoked him into drawing Griffon. Enel sealed half of Palta Island inside his Thunder Domain, while Gern prepared to face Shanks and dismissed his challenge as foolhardy.

• Gern told Shanks that neither his status as an Emperor nor the secret of his Saint origins mattered to him, and Shanks abandoned his attempt at reconciliation.
• Shanks and Gern’s Conqueror’s Haki clashed and canceled out, allowing Shanks to retreat and draw Griffon.
• Enel transformed into lightning, mocked Shanks, and created a Thunder Domain that sealed off half of Palta Island.
• Benn Beckman observed Enel’s power and warned that he would be difficult to handle.
• Gern praised Enel’s display, gripped Eight Desolations, and called Shanks’s challenge foolhardy.

Shanks and Gern clashed in a fierce sword fight, with Gern’s Tremor-Tremor-powered slash carving a vast fissure through Palta Island and splitting the sea. Shanks used Observation Haki Killer to disrupt Gern’s foresight, and Gern recognized the interference and began adjusting his approach.

• Shanks rushed Gern and struck at his throat, but Gern intercepted Griffon with Eight Desolations.
• Gern countered with Heavenquake: Rend, forcing Shanks back and leaving him unable to withstand another direct clash.
• Shanks disrupted Gern’s Observation Haki and dodged Heavenquake: Rend, which split the ground and sea with a ten-kilometer fissure.
• Gern realized Shanks had interfered with his foresight and shifted his focus to physical cues and battle instinct.
• Shanks noticed Gern had detected the interference almost immediately.

Shanks used Observation Haki Killer to set up a surprise attack on Gern, but Gern anticipated his strike and countered with Heavenquake: Rising Dragon Fist. Shanks suffered serious injuries but rose again and prepared to continue fighting as Gern approached.

• Shanks charged along an unpredictable path and used Mighty Slash to pressure Gern while concealing his real attack.
• Gern blocked the slash with a vibration barrier, then used combat instincts to anticipate Shanks appearing at his blind spot.
• Shanks pierced Gern's left side, but Gern contracted his body and trapped Griffon with his Haki.
• Gern abandoned Eight Desolations and struck Shanks with Heavenquake: Rising Dragon Fist, sending him flying and seriously injuring him.
• Gern explained that raw power mattered alongside seeing the future, while Shanks recovered Griffon and gathered his Conqueror's Haki again.

Shanks unleashed his full Conqueror’s Haki in a desperate ultimate attack after Gern’s mix of swordsmanship, martial arts, and Tremor-Tremor Fruit powers overwhelmed him. The chapter ended as Shanks charged Gern with a spectral griffin formed from his Haki, demanding to see the strength Roger and Rayleigh had praised.

• Shanks attacked Gern with Other Shore Blade, but Gern countered with Heavenquake: Sky Rend and pressed him with a relentless combination of sword strikes, martial arts, and vibrations.
• Gern’s assault battered Shanks and left him struggling to defend himself, so Shanks rode the force of Gern’s slash to retreat and create distance.
• Shanks gathered all his remaining Conqueror’s Haki into Griffon, summoning an enormous spectral griffin that made Gern recognize his power as roughly eighty percent of Roger’s peak strength.
• Shanks charged Gern as a dark red meteor, merging with the spectral griffin and calling on him to reveal the strength Roger and Rayleigh had praised.

Gern defeated Shanks in a clash of their signature techniques, declaring that true strength came from uniting Devil Fruit powers, swordsmanship, physical arts, and Haki. Shanks fell unconscious, and Gern stood victorious as the era’s strongest.

• Gern drew his Conqueror’s Haki into Eight Desolations and explained that he sought strength by combining every discipline rather than mastering only one.
• Gern and Shanks met blade to blade with Divine-Downfall and Divine-Departure, and Gern recalled how Roger had once defeated him with a single swing.
• Gern overpowered Shanks, bent Griffon, and slashed him across the chest and waist, then pulled back enough to keep him from being sent flying.
• Shanks lost consciousness and collapsed at Gern’s feet as Gern declared that the era belonged to him.
• Gern cleaned and sheathed Eight Desolations, then remarked that Shanks might have spent his whole life losing to him.

Benn Beckman wounded Enel while trying to save Shanks, but Gern overpowered the Red Hair Pirates and taunted them about fearing the old era. The Red Hair Pirates retreated from Palta Island, and Ace later woke beneath the rubble to find himself free.

• Benn Beckman endured Enel's lightning and shot him with a Haki-coated bullet, forcing Kuma to leave the fight and the Red Hair officers to gather before Gern.
• Gern lifted unconscious Shanks by his hair, mocked the Red Hair Pirates, and challenged them to come take their captain.
• At dawn, Gern watched the Red Hair Pirates flee and said they had endangered civilians to save themselves; he then discovered Ace was missing and left with Enel and Kuma.
• That night, Ace crawled out of the rubble, realized the Red Hair Pirates had retreated, and found himself free.

The World Economy News Paper reported that Heavenquake Gern had defeated Red Hair Shanks on Palta Island, prompting Sengoku to rage over Gern’s unauthorized operation while secretly lamenting the missed chance to capture an Emperor. Sengoku urged Kizaru to fight Big Mom, but Kizaru refused, and Sengoku learned that Sakazuki planned to visit G-10.

• The World Economy News Paper announced that Gern had defeated Shanks on Palta Island and presented him as the force holding the Four Emperors in check.
• Sengoku angrily confronted the newspaper report, complaining that Gern had acted without notifying Marine Headquarters, while regretting they had not arranged to capture Shanks.
• Kizaru read the report and called Gern and the other powerful figures frightening.
• Sengoku scolded Kizaru for shirking assignments and challenged him to solo Big Mom, but Kizaru refused, claiming the fight was too dangerous.
• Sengoku asked when Sakazuki would return, and Kizaru said Sakazuki planned to stop by G-10.