Shortly after Rowen left, as the waves surged, a sturdy Fish-Man with wax-yellow skin emerged from the sea, wiping the water off his curly hair.
"You shouldn't have agreed to him, Issho San…"
The Fish-Man was somewhat indignant, "We helped you because you have a sense of Justice that can save the persecuted people, not to become an accomplice to corrupt rulers!"
Shichibukai are all no good!
Except for Jinbe and Kuma!
That was the Fish-Man's genuine sentiment.
In response to the Fish-Man's questioning, Issho didn't display any embarrassed revelation. Instead, he nodded quite candidly, agreeing with this sentiment.
"Yeah, I really shouldn't have agreed…"
"So, you're going to refuse then?!" The Fish-Man's excitement soared, and he quickly asked.
"No, I want to give it a try!" Issho touched his cup, meeting the shocked gaze of the Fish-Man. Slowly shaking his head, he said, "How about a bet with the old blind man, Hack-san?"
Hack raised an eyebrow, "What are we betting on?"
"Just bet… whether he will contact you next…"
In an instant, Hack's expression turned pale.
"Oh no! Did I expose myself?!!"
Thinking back to Rowen's appearance when he didn't cut off the Pirate Ship but instead cast a thoughtful glance at the sea's surface, Hack was struck by fear.
"So he noticed me back then?!"
"No, I must inform the Leader about this immediately!!"
Watching the Fish-Man swim in the moonlight, Issho raised his cup and poured out the remaining liquor in front of Hack's astonished gaze.
Then, he licked his lips and exclaimed with genuine interest, "This wine tastes really good!"
…
The next day, at the G-10 Marine Branch.
Lucci gazed at Rowen behind the desk, silently crumpling the information about the appearance of Zipper Thunder last night into a ball of waste paper. Then, removing his mask, he said to Rowen, "Long time no see, Vice Admiral Rowen."
"Yeah, it's been over a year, right!"
Behind the desk, Rowen chewed on his cigar, nodding slightly and gesturing to Lucci, "Please sit down, Senior Official Lucci. Would you like tea or coffee?"
Lucci, a senior official…?
Gū lū!
With difficulty swallowing his saliva, Lucci decisively shook his head, "There's no need to be polite, Vice Admiral Rowen. The mission has been delayed for too long. The sooner we complete it and return, the better it is for everyone."
Seeing Rowen bringing out the silver cup set from the storage cabinet with a wave, Lucci's movement froze for a moment. He gave Lucci a meaningful look, indicating his agreement.
"That's right!"
"Shepherd, that Marine disgrace of a commander, dared to repeatedly delay the mission assigned by the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars). It's truly unforgivable!"
Lucci: "…"
Where the hell did that man do to you?!!
Are you trying to make it so obvious when you're lying?!
You're determined to kill him, aren't you?!
But…
It's none of my business!
Lucci pretended not to hear and glanced at Dante, who was acting as his assistant, "So… should we start now?"
Dante cast an inquiring look at Rowen, who nodded and said, "Alright then! To avoid suspicion, I won't be present. Dante, you'll accompany Senior Official Lucci throughout the investigation. Remember, be open and honest in sharing everything!"
"Otherwise, I'm going to question only you! Understood?"
Crack!
Faced with Rowen's narrowed eyes, the leather shoe against Dante's trouser leg clicked together smartly as he stood at attention, saluting, "Yes, sir!"
Once the two left, Rowen let a stream of white breath out of his mouth before he opened the investigation order. Skipping past the official jargon on the top, he flipped to the last page. Raising an eyebrow, Rowen used his finger to pry open a tiny gap from within the folder.
Hiss…
Terrifyingly corrosive purple smoke immediately seeped out from the gap. Upon contact with Rowen's skin, his flesh and skin were instantly corroded away, revealing the gleaming white bone within.
"Tsk! What a troublesome guy…"
Seeing his bones becoming brittle and purple, showing signs of moving toward the heart, Rowen clicked his tongue. He formed a finger-sword gesture with his empty hand and ruthlessly swiped down.
Shigan·Finger Sword!
Crunch… Kē dēng!
The fragile bone was cleaved in two and fell onto the table. Rowen rolled up his sleeve, throwing the poison-eroded severed finger out the window. He then calmly contracted his muscles to halt the blood flow, retrieving a palm-sized piece of paper from the gap.
"For Vice Admiral Rowen's eyes only!"
It was a letter from Nibelung Lirisk, bearing the emblem of the Nibelung Family.
Rowen didn't believe that a mere routine investigation warranted sending Rob Lucci to handle it, and this was the true reason he rushed back overnight yesterday.
Lucci might be aware of the existence of the letter in the document, but he had no idea what it contained.
After all, not everyone possessed a self-healing ability as potent as Rowen's to confront the corrosive gas! After reading the letter, Rowen closed his eyes, lost in thought.
Since the incident at Pucci Island where he was beaten by him, Rowen hadn't truly met Lirisk. Zephyr informed him about the half-year agreement left by Orrick. However, when the deadline approached, Doflamingo happened to cause trouble.
There was no choice left for Rowen as the two had to join forces to deal with Doflamingo first before considering anything else.
And the result!
News of Rowen's death spread and the half-year agreement came to an end…
Then… he resurrected!
However, due to the multitude of secrets associated with Doflamingo, Lirisk had to take him back to Mary Geoise to handle a plethora of troublesome matters. As for Rowen, due to the fall of two Shichibukai, he set sail to invite Don Sai to solidify the sea's balance.
Both of them were busy, and the matter of their duel was tossed aside like trash, never to be mentioned again.
Rowen had thought that this matter was behind them, but then today, Lirisk had sent a letter… According to Lirisk, it was time to settle the score between the Nibelung Family and himself!
So Rowen's guess was absolutely right!
The reason this letter was sealed with such potent corrosive poison was that it was a challenge letter!
A month later, on a desolate island in the New World with only coordinates and no name, Lirisk awaited Rowen's arrival.
"This guy, does he think I won't dare to kill him just because he's a Celestial Dragon?"
Rowen thought with amusement as he looked at the letter, and the next moment, he decided resolutely from the heart.
He actually wouldn't try to do anything to another Celestial Dragon!
(End of this chapter)
You can read up to 70 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395.