“In a hurry to leave?” Wei’s forehead beaded with cold sweat as he looked at Gern, forcing a smile.
“We… we just don’t want to delay the Marine’s time. After all, you still have a mission.”
“Is that so?” Gern chuckled, his gaze sweeping over the scholars hastily packing on the deck, and the bulging bags beside them.
“But I’m very curious, why would Ohara’s scholars appear in the New World? And near such a remote island?”
Faced with Gern’s oppressive questioning, Wei was momentarily speechless, his eyes flickering.
Just then, Olvia walked out of the cabin, holding a thick book.
Her face instantly turned pale when she saw Gern, and she subconsciously hid the book behind her back.
“Heaven Quake? It’s the Marine’s ‘Heaven Quake’ who came, this is trouble…”
Olvia gritted her teeth. If it were other generals, she might have been able to fool them, but this man in front of her…
Perhaps noticing Olvia’s intense gaze, Gern subconsciously shifted his sight to her, narrowing his eyes slightly.
“Tsk, she really is carved from the same mold as the future Robin! Only her hair is white.”
Thinking of this, Gern again cast his gaze to the book in Olvia’s hand, then a slight smile played on his lips as he said,
“That book looks very interesting, could you let me see it?”
Hearing this, Olvia shook her head in a panic, retreating a few steps, “This is just ordinary academic notes, nothing special!”
Olvia, in the end, is still just a scholar.
Even if she is calm and composed, she will panic when facing truly powerful people.
Otherwise, this adventure ship would not have been sunk at sea in the future by Vice Admiral Saul after he discovered their purpose, resulting in the complete annihilation of all 33 people.
Only she returned to Ohara…
“Ordinary academic notes?” Gern’s smile gradually grew colder as he slowly stepped forward, “Then why don’t you dare let me see?”
The atmosphere instantly solidified, and the scholars’ expressions became stiff.
Wei gritted his teeth and suddenly said loudly, “The Marine has no right to interfere with our academic research!
We are Ohara’s scholars, and Ohara is a World Government allied nation.
We are legal adventurous citizens, not pirates. We have the right to protect our privacy!”
“Oh?” Gern raised an eyebrow, his tone playful, “But your actions don’t look like what ‘legal citizens’ should do.”
Just then, Libo’s ears suddenly perked up. She sharply turned her head to the cabin: “Gern, there’s still someone in the cabin!”
Gern’s gaze sharpened. Before he could speak, the cabin door was suddenly pushed open, and a white-haired old man stumbled out.
His face was pale, and he clutched an ancient parchment tightly in his hand, his eyes filled with determination.
“Enough!” the old man said hoarsely, “Don’t make things difficult for them anymore! If the Marine wants to arrest someone, arrest me!”
“Dr. Clover!” Olvia exclaimed, wanting to step forward to help him, but the old man waved her off.
Gern’s gaze fell on the parchment in the old man’s hand, and his pupils contracted slightly.
The edges of the parchment were already yellowed, covered densely with ancient writing, and even some strange symbols.
Exactly the same as the writing on the Poneglyph in the Sea Forest on Fish-Man Island!
“Dr. Clover…” Gern slowly uttered the name, already knowing the purpose of this group of people at sea.
“It seems your research is not simple.”
“It’s just ordinary exploratory research.” Dr. Clover took a deep breath, looking directly at Gern.
“Rear Admiral Gern Reginald Sigma of Marineford, I know your name.
If you still have a shred of adherence to justice, please let these innocent scholars go!”
“Innocent?” Gern chuckled, leaning closer to Clover, and whispered,
“If I’m not mistaken, privately researching historical texts forbidden by the World Government shouldn’t count as ‘innocent,’ right?”
The scholars’ faces instantly turned ashen, and a hint of shock flashed in Dr. Clover’s eyes: “You… how do you know?”
“A guess.” Gern shrugged, but his gaze was as sharp as a knife, “But now it seems I guessed correctly.”
The deck fell into dead silence, with only the sound of the sea wind howling.
Tesoro and Libo exchanged glances, realizing that things were not simple.
A moment later, Gern suddenly thought of something interesting, and so he spoke slowly, feigning seriousness,
“Ohara’s scholars, secretly infiltrating the New World to research historical texts… what exactly do you want to do?”
Looking at Gern’s tone and expression, Dr. Clover was silent for a moment, finally sighing deeply.
“We just want to uncover the truth that has been hidden… The history of this world should not be tampered with by a few people!”
“Truth?” A complex emotion flashed in Gern’s eyes, “Some truths, the more people who know them, the more people will die.”
Dr. Clover gave a bitter smile: “Even so, we cannot stop.
History must be remembered, otherwise humanity’s mistakes will forever repeat!”
Gern did not respond immediately, but instead turned to look at the distant sea, as if contemplating something.
A moment later, he retracted his gaze and said faintly, “You may go.”
“What?” Dr. Clover was stunned, and the other scholars also showed expressions of disbelief.
The sea breeze carried the smell of gunpowder, and Gern’s voice was calm but undeniable.
“I said, you can go now.” He repeated, his gaze sweeping over everyone.
“Before I change my mind, quickly repair your ship.”
Dr. Clover was silent for a moment, his deep eyes gazing at the young Marine Rear Admiral.
After a long pause, he slowly nodded, his voice low and solemn: “Thank you.”
The scholars’ taut nerves finally relaxed, and they quickly began to move, gathering scattered documents and supplies.
On the damaged deck, footsteps were chaotic but hurried, as if fearing that this brief leniency would suddenly disappear.
Olvia helped Dr. Clover walk towards the cabin, but stopped at the cabin door.
She looked back at Gern, her snow-white hair fluttering in the sea breeze, her eyes filled with confusion.
“Doctor…” She lowered her voice, “Why did he let us go?”
Dr. Clover did not answer immediately, only looked at the distant horizon, as if recalling something.
After a while, he sighed softly: “Perhaps… it’s because of his ‘justice’.”
Olvia was stunned: “Justice?”
“Ten years ago, when I worked at a newspaper in West Blue, I published his remarks.” Dr. Clover said in a low voice, his eyes deep.
“He said—‘Justice delayed is not justice.’
And we… don’t seem to have violated his sense of ‘right and wrong’.”
Olvia was silent for a moment, then finally withdrew her gaze and helped the Doctor slowly step into the cabin.
...
Seeing Ohara’s scholars leave, Libo tugged at Gern’s sleeve and asked in a low voice,
“Gern, are you just letting them go? Didn’t you just say they violated the World Government’s prohibition?”
“My little Libo!” Gern rubbed her head and said softly,
“You said it yourself, it’s the World Government’s prohibition! And who are we?”
“We are the Marine!” Libo suddenly understood.
“But…” Tesoro stepped forward and whispered, “If the World Government knows we let them go…”
“So what if they know?” Gern interrupted him, a cold sneer on his lips.
“Anyway, my title of ‘Heaven Quake’ isn’t lacking this one violation record.”
Tesoro was momentarily stunned, then laughed helplessly: “Haha, that’s truly Rear Admiral Gern’s style.”
“No choice, I can’t stop it anyway, after all, the truth of history will always attract people…”
Gern muttered softly, then turned to Tesoro and Libo and said, “Let’s go, rest for a night, we should return to Marineford tomorrow.”
Libo skipped along, asking curiously, “Gern, what was that historical text you just mentioned?”
Gern smiled: “I’ll tell you when there’s a chance.”
Tesoro looked at Gern’s back, lost in thought.
He always vaguely felt that Gern letting Ohara’s scholars go seemed to have a deeper meaning.