“Damn it…” Doge’s arms went numb from Lieutenant Gern’s kick.

He immediately took a step back, and the ground beneath his feet instantly cracked under the effect of his ability, forming a deep pit to block Lieutenant Gern’s pursuit.

Doge spat out a mouthful of blood, grinning sinisterly, “Marine, I’m a Retsu Retsu Fruit user, a Retsu Retsu Man!”

As he spoke, Doge stomped his foot, and the ground instantly fractured. Countless shattered rocks floated into the air; he could freely control any material he split.

Thus, under Doge’s control, the cracked and bladed rocks shot towards Lieutenant Gern like a torrential rain!

“A Paramecia-type Retsu Retsu Fruit?” Lieutenant Gern raised an eyebrow, his black blade eight desolations pointed diagonally at the ground, with tiny white particles swirling around its blade. “That’s somewhat interesting.”

“Cracked Rock: Scattershot!”

The shattered rocks further split into countless sharp fragments while flying, covering an immense area and almost blocking all of Lieutenant Gern’s evasion routes.

Lieutenant Gern merely chuckled, raising his left hand, a tiny white light orb condensing in his palm.

“Heaven Quake: Barrier.”

“Buzz!” The light orb instantly expanded into a hemispherical vibration shield.

All incoming shattered rocks were vibrated into dust the moment they touched the barrier; not even a speck of dust could penetrate it.

“This ability…” Doge’s pupils constricted as he looked at the shattered air.

“Sorry, I don’t want to waste time on someone like you,” Lieutenant Gern’s voice was cold, and his figure suddenly blurred.

The air beneath his feet compressed and exploded, approaching Doge again at a speed almost like teleportation!

“Tremor Flash: Slide Rail — Second Acceleration!”

“Swish!” Lieutenant Gern’s figure suddenly blurred, turning into a spatial tearing afterimage in Doge’s eyes.

Immediately after, the Eight Desolations slashed horizontally, and even before the blade arrived, the air in front of it was squeezed and twisted by high-frequency vibrations, emitting a piercing roar!

“In that case, I’ll break your blade!” Doge roared through gritted teeth, crossing his arms, his dark Armament Haki instantly covering them.

At the same time, he unleashed his full ability — “Disintegration!”

The moment the blade collided with his arms, Doge’s Retsu Retsu Fruit ability frantically eroded, attempting to disintegrate the black blade eight desolations at a material level!

However, the vibrating particles and Armament Haki wrapped around the blade’s surface formed an almost impenetrable defense. Not only was the blade not split, but it also erupted with dazzling white light amidst its tremors!

“Crack!” Doge’s arms let out a groan as his bones buckled under the strain, and countless tiny cracks erupted on his skin, with blood seeping out!

“How is that possible?!” He staggered backward, his eyes filled with horror.

His ability couldn’t even budge this blade?!

“Your ‘Retsu Retsu Fruit’ can decompose matter, but…” Lieutenant Gern slowly retracted his blade, his eyes like ice. “Haki is truly a good thing, so you need to train it.”

“How can a Marine Lieutenant’s Haki be so strong…?”

“Honestly…” Lieutenant Gern suddenly retracted his blade. “You don’t even deserve for me to use the Eight Desolations.”

As he finished speaking, Lieutenant Gern’s left arm muscles suddenly tensed, and his skin began to glow with a dark red luster.

With a low shout, the dark Haki spread like a living entity from his arm to his shoulder, eventually completely enveloping his entire left arm.

Even more astonishingly, the white vibrating particles entwined on the Haki’s surface began to pulsate violently, like boiling water droplets, emitting a “sizzle” sound.

“Hey, hey, hey! Wait, I surrender…” Doge’s pupils constricted.

He could feel the surrounding air trembling, and the shattered rocks beneath his feet began to jump uncontrollably.

“The boring game is over.” Lieutenant Gern’s voice was chillingly cold.

He suddenly took half a step back with his right leg, and the ground “cracked” open with a spiderweb-like pattern.

His left fist slowly pulled back; with every inch it moved, the surrounding air twisted a little more.

When his fist was pulled to its limit, the Armament Haki on his entire arm suddenly shimmered, and the vibrating particles trembled wildly.

“Black Tremor: Shattering Star!” The moment the punch was thrown, time seemed to stand still for a second.

“Boom!” The space in front of the fist first caved inward, then exploded like glass!

A spiderweb-like spatial rift with a diameter of over ten meters suddenly unfolded before Doge, and a terrifying shockwave spread out in a fan shape.

Doge’s hastily erected Armament Haki defense shattered like paper. His abdomen instantly caved in, and his upper shirt was “ripped” into fragments by the shock.

“Pfft!” Blood spurted from Doge’s mouth, and his body was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing through three rock walls before finally stopping.

In the dust, Doge lay sprawled in the ruins, his bones shattered, his eyes rolled back.

“This… is a move combining Armament Haki and Heaven Quake?”

Lieutenant Gern slowly retracted his fist, the surrounding air still vibrating at a high frequency, emitting a low hum.

“Truly, so exhilarating!!”

........

After a long while, the warship slowly docked, and the Marine soldiers quickly lined up and disembarked, expertly surrounding the entire beach.

The remnants of the Broken Pirates had long lost their will to fight, collapsing on the ground one by one, and were swiftly handcuffed by the soldiers.

“Report! We’ve found ‘Split Island’ Doge!” A soldier suddenly shouted, with clear surprise in his voice. “He… he’s still alive!”

The surrounding soldiers were all stunned by the news and turned to look at the tall figure lying in a pool of blood.

Doge’s abdomen was caved in, and his right arm was broken, but his chest was still faintly rising and falling.

This clearly did not align with the style of the “Beheading Demon” they had learned about from the rumors of the past two years.

“Lieutenant Gern… didn’t execute him this time?” A young soldier whispered, his eyes filled with confusion.

Lieutenant Gern was standing on a protruding reef. Hearing this, he slightly tilted his head.

The sea breeze ruffled his Justice cloak, revealing the black blade eight desolations at his waist, which had been re-bandaged.

“Didn’t the mission say to capture him alive? I’m just executing the mission; this is normal,” Lieutenant Gern said nonchalantly, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

“Besides, 360 million Berries alive is worth much more than a head.”

The soldiers exchanged glances for a moment, then realized that Doge, as a newly risen pirate about to join the Golden Lion, was a valuable asset.

Marine Headquarters must have hoped to extract more information about the Gold Lion Flying Pirates from him.

“As expected of Lieutenant Gern, so thoughtful!”

“Lieutenant Gern is also different from the rumors…” The soldiers’ whispers reached his ears, and Lieutenant Gern merely smiled noncommittally.

Then, he slowly walked to Doge, who was handcuffed with Sea Stone handcuffs, and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “You should thank my ‘mercy’…”

Doge’s cloudy pupils suddenly constricted, but his severely injured body could no longer react much.

When he turned to walk towards the warship, Lieutenant Gern’s gaze swept over the escorted pirates with terrifying calmness.

There was no anger, no pity, just like looking at a pile of goods to be processed.

“Cruelty and mercy? That depends on who benefits,” Lieutenant Gern sneered inwardly.

When he was on Zephyr’s ship, he had to use the most extreme methods to be safe and to force Zephyr to let him work independently.

But now that he was executing missions independently, what he needed was the most perfect mission report and the fastest path to promotion.

Completing his first mission perfectly and capturing a pirate with a bounty of over 300 million Berries alive—

This was more likely to make Headquarters’ military merit records remember him than a pile of heads he had taken while by Zephyr’s side.

Moreover, he had previously feigned “cruel justice” to make Zephyr let him work independently; now, there should be some change to fulfill his duties.

After all, this way, Sengoku and others would understand and be convinced of the idea that “Lieutenant Gern really should go his own way.”

“Return to base.” Thinking this, Lieutenant Gern leaped onto the warship deck, his voice clearly echoing throughout the ship.

“Report to Marineford: The Broken Pirates’ ‘Split Island’ Doge, with a bounty of 360 million Berries, has been successfully apprehended. Mission accomplished.”