After a while, Libo and Tesoro were sent by Gern to wash up, and as their footsteps gradually faded, only Gern remained in the pavilion.

He was silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the black blade eight desolations leaning against the stone table.

The blade was still wrapped in grayish-white bandages, but at this moment, the white cloth on it was old and mottled, as if it hadn't been changed for a long time, giving the wrapped Eight Desolations a sense of having endured a thousand years of wind and frost.

Gern was silent for a while, then sighed slightly and reached out to grasp the hilt.

“Buzz—” The blade trembled slightly, and the bandages suddenly disintegrated!

From the hilt to the tip, the wrapped white cloth spiraled off like a living thing, transforming into countless grayish-white fragments suspended in the air.

The edge of each piece of cloth shimmered with high-frequency vibrating electric arcs, as if being torn and reassembled by an invisible force.

“Liberation is not a problem, but why would it…” Gern frowned, silently thinking “Retract.”

The next moment, a sudden change occurred!

Those scattered bandage fragments actually reversed themselves, gathering back together as if time were flowing backward.

The harsh sound of tearing fabric echoed in the pavilion, and the grayish-white strips of cloth wrapped back around the blade like snakes, until it was completely covered.

Finally, Eight Desolations returned to its original old appearance, the light between the cracks extinguished, and the blade fell silent.

Gern gazed at the Black Blade in his hand, his knuckles tightening slightly.

“Self-sealing.”

...

Inside the pavilion, the hot summer breeze blew past, and Gern gazed at the black blade eight desolations in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed.

The bandages on the blade seemed to subtly tremble with life, the grayish-white fragments gleaming with an eerie luster under the sunlight.

“What exactly is going on…” Gern murmured, his fingertips gently tracing the patterns on the bandages.

Since the battle with Gringo Saint a month ago, Eight Desolations had exhibited this abnormal change.

Previously, after he used his Devil Fruit ability to self-liberate the blade, he would need to rewrap the bandages himself once the battle ended.

But after that time, when he tried to rewrap it as usual, a strange phenomenon occurred: the black blade eight desolations could actually seal itself according to his consciousness.

And then, as Gern researched, he slowly discovered that the fragments of the liberated bandages were actually attached to the hilt, so once he had the thought of “retracting,” they would reassemble and rewrap around the blade.

“Could it be that the black blade eight desolations can evolve with my habits?”

“Or, was it because of that battle? My use of ‘Half-Awakening’ caused Eight Desolations, which bore the most power, to be affected and form this state?”

Gern recalled the energy that erupted from the Eight Desolations blade, devouring the world, when he dueled Gringo Saint.

At the time, he didn't think much of it, but now it seemed possible, as Devil Fruit awakening could indeed affect certain items.

Just as Gern was deep in thought, light footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the pavilion.

Libo’s energetic voice came from far to near: “Gern! Let’s go get ice cream!”

Gern flipped his wrist, and Eight Desolations instantly returned to his waist. When he turned around, his face had already changed to his usual lazy smile.

“Where’s Tesoro? Why are you alone?”

“Hmph!” Libo puffed out her cheeks, her rabbit ears twitching unhappily, “Tesoro took Stella and snuck off, saying something about ‘a world for two’…”

Looking at Libo in this state, Gern couldn't help but rub her head again, “If he’s not coming, then you can eat his share too!”

“Really? Can I really?” Libo’s eyes instantly lit up, her pink eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Libo can have two servings of ice cream? And both are carrot flavored!”

“You say that as if you don't sneak extra yourself normally!”

“Hehe!” Libo awkwardly wiggled her ears, “Gern is really smart…”

“Alright, but this time, you’re not allowed to snatch my share.”

Libo stuck out her tongue, her rabbit ears standing up high with excitement: “No way! Libo wants to try other flavors of ice cream too!”

“Then don’t order two carrot-flavored ones!”

“No, it’s not about the taste.” Libo hopped closer, “I don’t know why, but I always feel like the one in your hand will taste better!”

The setting sun’s afterglow cast long shadows of the two of them.

...

A few days later, Marineford Fleet Admiral’s office.

“Fleet Admiral Kong.” Gern stood at the door, gently knocking.

“Come in.” Kong’s deep voice came from inside the room.

Pushing the door open, Gern stepped inside, his gaze sweeping over the people in the office.

Kong sat behind the desk, diligently handling various documents. This was the price of being a Fleet Admiral.

One must know that Kong’s strength was not weak, yet he was still confined here to deal with documents.

“Gern, you’re here.” Kong nodded slightly, raising a hand to motion for him to sit down.

Gern didn’t move, merely raising an eyebrow: “Fleet Admiral Kong, is there something that requires me to come in person?”

“What? Have you been resting too comfortably lately, and I can’t assign you, is that it?”

“Haha, Fleet Admiral Kong is joking!” Gern laughed heartily, then skillfully took out a bag of senbei that Garp had hidden in the Fleet Admiral’s office from the drawer in front of the sofa and began to eat them.

“So, is there a mission? I am indeed a bit idle right now.”

Looking at Gern speaking while eating, Kong didn’t answer directly, but instead took a document from the drawer and pushed it onto the desk.

“This is your promotion order.”

Gern’s gaze fell on the document, which clearly stated, “Gern Reginald Sigma, promoted to Marineford Vice Admiral.”

“Oh?” Gern’s lips curled into a slight smile, “Fleet Admiral Kong is finally willing to give me a promotion and a raise? Although I am the youngest among Sakazuki and the others, I can’t stay at Rear Admiral like this…”

“Don’t get too happy too soon.” Kong interrupted with a serious tone, “Although your strength and achievements have long met the standard, even you and Sakazuki and the other two are strong enough to be promoted directly to Admiral now!

However, the path to promotion must be taken step by step; there are no backroom deals in the Marine.”

“So…” Gern glanced at Kong.

“The impact of the previous ‘Celestial Dragons Incident’ has not been completely eliminated.

You need a ‘sufficiently large’ achievement to shut the World Government’s mouths.” Kong said in a deep voice, “Otherwise, even I cannot forcefully push your promotion.

After all, your previous unauthorized actions and punishment are real, and they can absolutely use that to hold you back.”

“So I need an achievement, right!” Gern chuckled, “So, what’s this mission?”

Kong didn’t answer, but instead picked up another document from the desk and handed it over.

“It’s simple, you just need to go and capture this guy!”

“Catching pirates?” Gern took it, flipped to the first page, and his eyes narrowed slightly.