"So..." Ginny crossed her arms, her fingertips digging deeply into her own arm. "What exactly are you here for?"
Realizing resistance was futile, Ginny pulled Kuma down to sit heavily on a wooden chair.
Her apricot eyes were fixed on Gern, as if trying to burn two holes through him.
"Didn't I tell you?" Gern leaned lazily against the chair by the window, the sunlight casting shadows on his sharply defined profile.
"I'm here to experience seeing a doctor." At the same time, his gaze subtly swept over Kuma.
"Ginny." Kuma gently pressed on her tense shoulders. "Mr. Gern, he was indeed here to see a doctor at first.
I was about to help him remove his pain..."
"Kuma dear!" Ginny spun around abruptly, so angry that even the tips of her hair trembled.
"This guy..." She suddenly rushed in front of Gern, her slender finger almost poking his nose.
"No! This man, he's a Marine! A Marine! Kuma dear, he just admitted it himself!"
Watching Ginny's agitated state, Kuma scratched the back of his head, revealing his characteristic honest smile.
"I know, didn't you just say he admitted it himself?"
"Then Kuma dear, you..."
"Mr. Gern, he has no intention of capturing us." Kuma's gaze met Gern's in the air, his voice incredibly steady.
"Moreover, his eyes are very peaceful."
"Peaceful?!" Ginny twisted her head sharply, scrutinizing Gern's eyes suspiciously.
Peaceful? What a joke! She didn't see an ounce of peace.
But the desire for her future man, that absolute certainty of possession, was practically overflowing!
Don't ask why; if you ask, it's a woman's powerful sixth sense wildly sounding alarms in her mind.
"Hey! Marine!" Ginny darted back to Kuma's side, hugging his arm tightly like a protective feline. "What exactly are you plotting?"
"You don't have to call me Marine, I have a name." Gern rubbed his brow. "My name is Gern."
"I don't care what you're called!" Ginny buried her face in Kuma's arm and muffled a shout.
"Hmph! I don't care, all I saw in your eyes was desire for Kuma dear!"
"Hey, hey, you can't just say things like that, you idiot!" Gern instantly stood up to retort.
Although he did have other motives.
The Devil Fruit - Paw-Paw Fruit was out of the question, but he was determined to get Kuma as a fighting force.
For a moment, Gern and Ginny were at loggerheads, while Kuma stood awkwardly between them, looking from one to the other, like a lost large dog.
"Enough!" Ginny suddenly poked her head out from behind Kuma. "Confess! What do you want?"
"I want Kuma to join the Marine..." Gern paused, his eyes suddenly sharp. "No, to be precise, to join 'my' faction."
This sentence was like hitting a pause button; even Ginny's breathing hitched.
"Impossible!" Ginny instinctively clutched Kuma's clothes tightly. "Kuma dear is from the Bucaneer race, and like me..."
Her voice suddenly dropped. "He's also... a slave." The last two words were almost inaudible.
"The World Government won't agree! You're just deceiving him!"
"Mr. Gern." Kuma gently pressed Ginny's trembling hand. "I truly have no intention of joining the Marine."
As he spoke, he took the opportunity of being next to Gern to subtly place his paw on Gern's arm.
In an instant, a pink glow flashed, and several tiny red paw-print bubbles floated out from Gern's body.
"Mr. Gern, your pain... is very small." Kuma looked at the cherry-sized bubble in his palm.
Such faint pain didn't even require special effort; Kuma simply absorbed it casually.
Gern watched the bubble symbolizing pain and suddenly smiled: "Yes, after all... my true 'pain' is far heavier than this."
"Is there still pain?" Kuma was momentarily stunned.
"You just said, 'I have no intention of joining the Marine,' and that causes me great pain!"
Ginny: "......."
"Mr. Gern really loves to joke."
.........
Outside the church, on the lawn
Gern and Kuma stood side by side, while Ginny peered at them from a nearby church window.
"Are you very happy, Kuma?" Gern smiled slightly; he knew in his heart that Kuma would refuse him.
After all, according to the original timeline, this period in Sorbet Kingdom was Kuma's happiest time.
"Yes, Mr. Gern." Hearing Gern's words, Kuma subconsciously nodded.
"I'm very happy with Ginny; I don't want to leave, so I refused."
This place was his newly found "home."
"You, you answered me so directly just now." Gern shrugged. "Aren't you afraid I'll force your hand?"
"Mr. Gern wouldn't do that. From the first moment I saw you, I knew Mr. Gern wasn't that kind of person."
"Being so kind can shackle you for life."
Kuma didn't answer, but silently lowered his head, gently clenching his hand.
Seeing this, Gern turned his gaze to Ginny, who was glaring fiercely at him from the window not far away.
Suddenly, he asked the same question again, but this time it was "you all."
"If one day, you could freely go anywhere... where would you want to go?"
Kuma looked up, his eyes a little bewildered.
"I..." He hesitated for a moment, then finally said softly, "I want to see the other side of the ocean."
"The other side of the ocean?"
"Mm." Kuma nodded. "I heard there's a country there where people won't suffer."
At this moment, Ginny, who was eavesdropping, burst out laughing: "Silly Kuma dear, where in the world is there a place like that?"
Gern smiled, and Kuma also smiled, but his smile carried a hint of the heavy tenderness Gern was familiar with.
No one could bear the script of this young man's entire life.
Gern was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently placed his hand on Kuma's shoulder.
"Kuma."
"Hm?"
"If one day, someone tells you that by sacrificing yourself, you can make your loved ones no longer suffer..."
"Would you agree?"
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Kuma's pupils contracted slightly, and Ginny's expression instantly became wary.
"Hey! You bastard Marine, you..." She stood up agitatedly from the window.
Gern ignored Ginny's words, just quietly looking at Kuma.
"If... it's for Ginny." Kuma was silent for a long time, and finally, he slowly smiled and spoke.
"I'm willing! I'm willing to accept any fate."
"Kuma dear?!" Ginny, who had just run out the door, looked at him in disbelief.
Gern closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Indeed... he had known this answer all along.
"Take this!" Gern pulled a miniature Transponder Snail from his body and handed it to Kuma.
"This is..." Kuma looked at the Transponder Snail, a little bewildered.
"If one day you truly lose something very important..." Gern turned his gaze to Ginny.
"And you're powerless to do anything, use it to contact me."
"But..."
"No buts, this is your reward for helping me remove my pain!" Gern waved his hand, preparing to leave.
"But Mr. Gern, this isn't the same." Kuma suddenly raised his voice. "I want to know, what will the real cost be then..."
"Then..." Gern frowned, feigning thought. "At that time, you won't refuse me again."
"And..." Gern suddenly stopped.
"You, who possess the freest Devil Fruit in the world, don't let yourself be easily shackled! You idiot!!"
Gern left. Kuma stood rooted, staring in the direction he left, silently putting away the Transponder Snail in his hand.
"He's gone?!" At this moment, Ginny came running out, skipping.
"He's gone." Kuma nodded, then looked at Ginny, who was wildly sticking her tongue out in the direction Gern had left, and smiled slightly.
"If possible, I hope there never comes a day when I need to contact you, Mr. Gern.
Because right now... I'm truly, truly happy."