Yamato seemed completely unconcerned with Gern's identity as Fleet Admiral—nor did she pay any attention to the razor-tight tension hanging in the air.
All she felt was that there was no killing intent directed at her.
Instead—
There was something she had never experienced before.
A calmness… like that of an elder looking at a younger troublemaker with quiet indulgence.
And that—
Only made her more excited.
"Hey, hey, hey! Gern!" Yamato beamed, grinning brightly as she strode right up to him in just a few steps.
Her tall frame—263 centimeters—was only slightly shorter than Gern's towering 287.
Tilting her head up, her eyes sparkled with pure curiosity and eagerness.
"Fight me, okay?! I want to experience it for myself!"
"How did you defeat Oden back then? And was Oden really as invincible on the seas as the journal says?!"
Looking at this "girl"—who carried Kaido's bloodline, yet possessed an almost overly clear (or perhaps naïve) fascination with "Oden"—
Gern's expression softened ever so slightly.
For some reason, he found it faintly amusing.
The suffocating tension in the courtyard had been completely derailed by this girl's energy.
Then again—
He hadn't come here to fight immediately.
Talking for a bit… wouldn't hurt.
And so—
Under the somewhat stunned gazes of Zoro and King—
Gern actually sat down cross-legged on the cracked stone ground of the courtyard.
"Fight? I'll pass. Not interested." Gern waved his hand casually, his gaze tinged with faint recollection.
"As for Kozuki Oden… that 'King of Endurance'…"
"…back in those days, he was indeed a figure who ranked among the very best on the seas."
"Really?! Really?!"
Yamato's eyes lit up instantly, like a child handed candy.
She hurriedly sat cross-legged across from Gern, resting her chin in her hands, fully absorbed—like she was listening to a story she'd been waiting her whole life to hear.
"But… why do you keep calling him 'King of Endurance'? Is that a nickname? Does it mean something special?"
"'King of Endurance'?" Gern's lips curved slightly. "It's exactly what it sounds like."
He paused briefly—perhaps finding it a bit strange to explain this to a junior… especially Kaido's daughter—but continued anyway.
"He could endure. Could outlast. His vitality was absurd—like tough hide that refuses to soften no matter how long you boil it."
"Something along those lines."
Yamato nodded, only half understanding, but her attention quickly snapped back.
"Then what was the sea like back then? Was Oden really that strong?"
"Back then…" Gern's gaze drifted toward the distant horizon, as if crossing through time itself.
Perhaps it was age.
People always seemed to grow fond of recounting the past eventually.
Gern was no exception.
And so—
The courtyard, which moments ago had been steeped in hostility—
Was now strangely eased by this unexpected "storytelling session."
Even Zoro, still gripping his swords in guarded readiness…
And King, standing rigidly where he was—
Found themselves listening.
After all—
How could newspaper snippets or secondhand legends compare…
To the firsthand account of someone who had lived it?
Especially someone who had already stood at the pinnacle of Marine power back then?
"The seas of that era…" Gern began slowly, his voice carrying the weight of history, "were very different from now."
"The dominant force at the time was the Flying Pirates—Golden Lion Shiki."
"His fleet of floating islands blotted out the sky itself. His ambition… knew no bounds."
"Next came Edward Newgate—Whitebeard—and Gol D. Roger."
"Their crews rose to rival Shiki's power… and eventually, surpassed it."
"And me?" Gern's tone remained calm, as though speaking of someone else entirely.
"I was just a Marine Rear Admiral."
"Later, I received orders—transferred to the New World's G-3 base…"
And just like that—
He began recounting that long-sealed chapter of history.
How he had stirred Sakazuki into action…
How he led fleets in relentless pursuit of pirates…
And—
How he had crossed blades with a man who had only recently joined a certain crew—
Full of spirit.
Wielding two famed swords—
Ame no Habakiri… and Enma.
A man who had boldly declared he wanted to "test the strength of the Marines."
Kozuki Oden.
Gern spoke in vivid detail.
From Oden's wild, unrestrained swordsmanship—
To his monstrous physique and Haki—
To the fierce exchanges across ship decks and islands alike.
How Oden, with his refined dual-sword style and overwhelming physical strength, had initially gained the upper hand—
And how Gern, relying on the unpredictable shockwaves of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, had gradually turned the tide.
He even mentioned—
Oden's unhidden yearning for the sea and adventure.
And the pride that belonged only to the strong.
"In the end…" Gern continued calmly, as if stating an undeniable conclusion,
"he overdid it—trying to tank the aftereffects of my震动 head-on."
"The backlash hit him all at once."
"I finished it with… Shockburn: Crimson Purgatory."
"He was still conscious at the time…"
"…but he had completely lost the ability to fight."
Gern paused briefly.
"If Whitebeard had arrived a few seconds later… or if I had followed up with another strike…"
He shook his head, leaving the rest unsaid.
Silence fell over the courtyard.
Yamato's excitement had long since vanished.
In its place—
A blank, stunned disbelief.
The Oden she had imagined—
Was invincible.
A symbol of freedom.
A man who drank with Roger and Whitebeard as equals.
But the Oden in Gern's story—
Though still overwhelmingly powerful—
Had lost.
And not just lost—
Lost so completely… that he had only survived because Whitebeard arrived in time to save him.
"…Oden… lost like that?" Yamato murmured, her voice dry.
"And… he only survived because Whitebeard showed up…?"
The image in her mind—
The ever-rising, unstoppable Oden from the journal—
Clashed violently with this reality.
Seeing her shaken state, Gern let out a faint chuckle.
There was no mockery in it.
Only a calmness born from seeing too much of the world.
"Yamato."
His gaze grew deeper as he looked at her—at those crimson horns so similar to Kaido's, yet somehow entirely different.
"The Oden you know…"
"…comes from his journal."
"From the stories of Wano's people—polished, glorified… mythologized."
He paused.
Then spoke clearly—each word measured, steady.
"But the real Kozuki Oden…"
"…wasn't as 'great' as you imagine."
"In fact—"
Gern met her eyes directly.
And with slow, unwavering certainty—
He revealed the cruel truth.
"At many critical moments… especially when it came to the fate of Wano…"
"…he was astonishingly… foolish."