As the energy storm gradually subsided, Marineford fell into a deathly silence.
The Marine soldiers stood stunned in the ruins, their weapons having fallen to the ground at some unknown point.
Immediately after, Gern’s black blade eight desolations scraped against the ground as he sheathed it, emitting a soft “clink”!
At the center of the battlefield,
a torrent of ice and fire slashes ripped through the battlefield, tearing the world into two distinct halves of purgatory at that moment.
On the left, a hell of extreme cold!
Marineford’s towering walls froze into ice sculptures the instant the azure shockwave swept over them, then were shredded into a sky full of icy mist by the high-frequency vibrating ice crystal dust.
On the right, scorched earth from a molten core!
The execution platform on the right side of the plaza vaporized the moment the orange-red shockwaves passed, and the bedrock melted into a crimson lava lake.
The air was filled with the smell of ionized burning, and even steel cannons were twisted into scrap metal by the high temperature.
And Figaland Garland lay in the middle of these two contrasting scenes!
As the dust slowly dispersed, the entire central plaza of Marineford fell into an eerie silence.
One hundred thousand Marine soldiers held their breath, their gazes fixed on the ruins, as if even their heartbeats had stopped.
“Gulp…” Someone swallowed, the sound exceptionally clear in the silence.
On the high platform, Kong’s teacup had long since shattered, and the scalding tea soaked his trousers, but he was completely oblivious.
Only his pupils trembled slightly, and his lips were pressed into a thin line.
“This kind of power… it must be in the realm of ‘Devil Fruit Awakening’!” Kong’s voice was hoarse, and his bronze muscles bulged with veins due to tension.
“It’s simply the materialization of a ‘natural disaster’.” As he spoke, Kong’s private Den Den Mushi suddenly rang “ba-la-ba-la.”
On the other side, Sengoku adjusted his slipping glasses, his gaze behind the lenses complex and profound: “Not just touching upon it…”
He took a deep breath, “This slash, even I wouldn’t dare to take it head-on!
If Figaland Garland didn’t have almost immortal regenerative abilities,
the moment he was just touched… he would have already died.”
“Gern…” Zephyr’s brows were tightly furrowed beneath his sunglasses, “Decades of time…
You’ve also officially stepped into the Admiral level from being that branch soldier who first arrived at Marineford!”
“This brat actually developed such a move in secret.” Garp, uncharacteristically, didn’t laugh loudly, but instead crossed his arms, his gaze serious.
“If he had this strength when fighting Roger back then, he wouldn’t have been thrown into the sea! Bastard. Haha!”
In the center of the plaza, Gern slowly sheathed his blade, the purplish-black lightning on black blade eight desolations gradually dissipated, and the blade returned to calm.
He panted slightly, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead, but the fighting intent in his eyes was still blazing.
“Even like this, I couldn’t kill him in one blow? It seems the ‘immortality’ ability Imu gave has a fatal protection mechanism!”
Gern’s gaze locked onto the ruins. In his Observation Haki, Figaland Garland’s aura, though weakened, had not disappeared.
At the same time, a rustling sound came from deep within the ruins.
“Cough, cough…” Figaland Garland struggled to crawl out of the rubble, his golden hair almost completely burned off, leaving only a bloody, bald head covered in dust and bloodstains.
The wound on his chest was even more shocking, flesh torn open, with purplish-black energy residue still clinging to the edges.
He staggered to his feet, his rapier long gone, having flown off to somewhere unknown!
“Gern…” Figaland Garland’s voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“You low-class bunch of Marines.
How could you… how could you…”
“How could I what?” Gern sneered, raising black blade eight desolations again.
“Didn’t you say at the beginning that God’s Knights were known as ‘immortal’?”
Figaland Garland’s face was ashen. He looked down at the wound on his chest, which was healing at an extremely slow pace.
But compared to his previous recovery speed, under Gern’s Haki suppression, it was now almost nonexistent.
“It seems your recovery ability isn’t limitless either.” Gern stepped forward, each step carrying a heavy sense of pressure.
“Or rather… Haki just happens to counter your ability?”
Figaland Garland’s pupils constricted slightly, but soon returned to their arrogant expression: “You think you can beat me like this? Ridiculous!”
“Is that so?” Gern’s figure suddenly vanished, reappearing in front of Figaland Garland, black blade eight desolations pointed directly at his throat, “Then let’s see!”
“You…”
“Me what?” Gern was directly impolite, a single upward slash directly severed his arm.
“Ah!!” Figaland Garland howled in pain, looking at his severed arm not far away, and cursed at Gern with an even more distorted face.
“This matter won’t end like this, the World Government won’t let you off!”
“Anytime.” Gern sheathed his Black Blade, a cold smile playing on his lips.
“However, next time, don’t act so arrogant. Remember to bring more people.”
After speaking, Gern slashed upwards once more, and Figaland Garland’s remaining left arm was also severed.
“You… Ah ah ah!”
Thus, under the watchful eyes of all, from the initially arrogant God’s Knight, he was now a defeated, yelping dog!
“Stop shouting!” Just as Gern’s Black Blade was about to strike Figaland Garland’s head, an indescribable sense of oppression suddenly descended.
His pupils sharply contracted, every hair on his body stood on end, and he instinctively retreated several hundred meters, black blade eight desolations held horizontally before his chest, his eyes filled with vigilance.
“This feeling…” Gern’s Observation Haki wildly warned him, cold sweat seeping from his forehead, “It’s even more dangerous than facing Roger!”
Meanwhile, Figaland Garland’s originally despairing eyes suddenly turned to terror.
He struggled to stand on his remaining legs, stumbling towards Gern: “No! I don’t want to go back!
This humiliation, I, Figaland Garland, will never…”
His words abruptly stopped, his body began to emit strange white smoke, and his skin gradually melted like ice and snow exposed to sunlight.
“This is…” Gern frowned, watching the scene, his Black Blade slightly lowered, but his vigilance remained undiminished.
Figaland Garland’s body continued to disintegrate as he ran, his expression twisted, his voice filled with unwillingness and fear.
“Gern! I will never forget everything that happened today!”
Before his voice faded, his body completely dissipated into the air, leaving only a large, faintly glowing, strange magic circle on the plaza ground!
The entire Marineford fell into a deathly silence, everyone shocked by this sudden turn of events.
“He disappeared…” Lippo’s eyes widened, her rabbit ears standing straight up, “Where did that annoying guy go?”
Tesoro’s eyes flickered slightly, and he murmured, “It seems to be some kind of teleportation…”
“Have they made their move…” At the same time, watching this scene, Gern directly turned his gaze upwards towards the high platform, his brows tightly furrowed.
On the high platform, Kong’s expression was equally solemn, their gazes meeting.
Simultaneously, the Den Den Mushi in Kong’s palm suddenly spoke, its voice cold and deep, clearly that of the Gorosei.
“The World Government has investigated and determined that Gern Reginald Sigma and his subordinate, Marineford Lieutenant Lippo Hope, are innocent!”
This voice was like thunder, reverberating across the silent plaza.
“The Celestial Dragon Rosward Saint and his son, for damaging the relationship between the Marines and the World Government, will be publicly executed in Mary Geoise.” The Den Den Mushi continued.
“So… this matter ends here. Kong.”
After speaking, the Den Den Mushi closed its eyes, falling silent.
