When Bald Zero descended from the sky, Rowen felt a knot in his stomach, and they all turned towards his hiding spot simultaneously. Rowen gulped.
"Ro...wen...!!!"
That voice sounded painfully mournful.
Goosebumps covered Rowen's body. He rose from the ground, scratching his itchy foot with one foot and rubbing the other against the ground. Suddenly, he widened his eyes, blurting out, "Watch out, a tsunami is coming!"
He didn't change the topic intentionally; the tsunami was indeed on its way.
"But you, you deceitful devil..."
Kizaru's anger flared as he peered through his cracked sunglasses. His eyes seemed to split, fierce like a wild beast.
Why hadn't Rowen perished?
This question begged consideration.
Was it fear?
Possibly.
But Kizaru suspected that Rowen feared Rayleigh's wrath more, so he pretended to be dead and slipped away, willingly becoming the scapegoat! It didn't take much thought to figure out his plan! An Admiral being used as mere cannon fodder? The thought alone enraged Kizaru.
"It's inconceivable. Why aren't you dead?!" Rayleigh's astonishment surpassed even his reaction to Bald Zero.
That attack was his, fueled by his entire Haki. At their level, even Kaido might struggle against it.
Why was Rowen unscathed?
"It's simple!"
Recalling recent events, Rowen shuddered, a smirk playing on his lips. "I died, and then I came back to life!"
"How could..." Rayleigh was stunned, remembering Rowen's other moniker besides "Marine Soryu (Azure Dragon)."
The Undying Vice Admiral!
After the Dressrosa explosion, his body was retrieved from the seabed mud and sent to Marine Headquarters. When everyone, including Sengoku, believed he was long gone and prepared a hero's funeral, he miraculously returned to life during his wake's final preparations.
"Could he truly be Undying?"
Rayleigh couldn't help but be moved.
At Whitebeard's sea, Whitebeard's blow shattered Rowen's tendons and bones, dismembering him. Yet, a few days later, he appeared unscathed at the G-10 branch.
Rayleigh's throat tightened, a sense of desolation creeping in.
"So that's the case?"
Since when had he lost the ability to take someone with him...
He was indeed aging!
"Nicely done..."
Bald Zero regarded Rowen with intense eyes, sending shivers down his spine.
Yet, he didn't dwell on the matter; instead, he continued, "The main force is near the tsunami. You two, go assist in their retreat."
Adrian Sea's roar enveloped the operational area from Zone 10 to Zone 22. The main force had just departed from Garp's field, passing through Zones 10, 11, and 12.
Before their arrival, casualties had already begun. Against such a cataclysmic tsunami, ordinary people couldn't halt even a ripple. High-level combat power was required.
"Understood!"
Zero commanded this battle. His orders were second only to the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars).
Suppressing his anger, Kizaru grunted at Rowen, nodding.
"And you, sir?" Rowen inquired.
Could he evade the massive tsunami with just Geppo?
"Me?" Zero calmly turned to Rayleigh. "I'll stay and accompany him on his final journey."
"If he's not running, why should I?"
Witnessing this, both Kizaru and Rowen were touched.
Indeed, if all three retreated, Rayleigh's courageous stance in the face of death would bolster morale even in defeat.
One might lose the battle but not their fighting spirit. That's the principle.
Yet, behind them loomed a towering tsunami. Remaining meant certain destruction. Making this decision wasn't simple!
If it were up to Kizaru and Rowen, they would attempt to take Rayleigh with them, or at least leave him something to ensure he perished in the tsunami.
But not Zero.
He aimed to triumph not just in strength but also in bravery!
This was the order of the overall commander, and military orders were like mountains.
The two glanced at each other, didn't say much more, and then suddenly turned into two beams of light, flying towards the distance and soon disappearing into the sky.
In the next moment...
Boom rumble!!
Thousands of tons of seawater suddenly poured down, like cascading mountains, engulfing the entire unnamed island.
On the way to rescue the main force, Rowen curiously approached Kizaru and asked, "What do you think Zero and Rayleigh are talking about?"
He could tell that Zero deliberately wanted to separate the two of them, but he didn't understand why.
A Great Character from CP0 and a vice-captain of a pirate king, do they have any connection?
Moreover, Rayleigh seemed very fearful of Bald Zero, which naturally piqued Rowen's curiosity. At this moment, Rowen was unaware of Bald Zero's true identity; he only had a passing acquaintance with another Zero he had communicated with.
"Haha, curious, huh?"
Kizaru stopped creating refractive lenses to slow down his flight, saw Rowen nodding eagerly, and then smirked, "Well, I'm not going to tell you!"
You can just guess, you little... jerk!
Anyway, I don't know either!
"Tsk, petty."
Rowen was at a loss for words.
Before long, scattered battleships appeared on the sea ahead.
After receiving the news, the Aircraft Force directly ascended to a higher altitude, avoiding the waves with only a little bit of effort. However, the battleships on the sea suffered losses exceeding three parts, and those that remained were still in danger.
"Things are getting busy!"
Feeling that he only had three parts of strength left in his body, Rowen clenched his fist.
New World, unnamed island.
Boom!
The sky-like water wall suddenly exploded, creating a huge gap.
The gap was large enough to accommodate the entire Marineford, causing the rolling waves to stagnate momentarily, splitting into two parts and bypassing the island.
"Phew..."
As if doing a trivial task, Bald Zero straightened up, lowered his fists, and the white steam emanating from his body slowly dissipated. He said, "The next wave of waves will arrive in five minutes."
"You have four minutes to consider whether to tell me the truth or not."
"Hehe, what truth?" Rayleigh weakly concealed his nervousness with a calm expression and found a relatively intact rock, and sat down on it.
"If the people you sent weren't Soryu (Azure Dragon) and Kizaru, do you think I wouldn't be able to escape?"
Rayleigh was indeed caught off guard by Rowen's arrival.
He had considered that the Marines would send an Admiral to capture him, but he hadn't expected it to be Kizaru and Soryu (Azure Dragon), two speed-oriented fighters.
Being entangled by these two terrifyingly agile individuals, even Whitebeard would have a hard time.
Rayleigh remained resolute, his calm expression indicating that he wouldn't waver, and a few minutes were not enough to get any answers.
But Bald Zero remained unfazed and continued speaking.
"Refusing to cooperate with Shanks, preparing for battle by choosing the time and place in advance, not avoiding battle but actively engaging, and even if it comes to death, dragging Kizaru along."
"Let me guess."
"You are deliberately attracting our attention... right? Little scion of the Silvers Family."
Crash!
A surge of shockwaves surged through Rayleigh's mind.
His expression remained unchanged, but Bald Zero had already obtained the answer he wanted and continued, "Yesterday, Rowen was wondering why such an important mission required them to come by aircraft."
With that, Bald Zero's lips curled up.
"Because I was intentionally giving you time to complete what you needed to do."
Rayleigh gritted his teeth, his expression solemn.
He had been careless!
"The more you do, the more clues you leave behind."
Bald Zero remained indifferent, raising his fist. "Only by being a thief for a thousand days can you guard against a thief for a thousand days. That's the lesson I taught your father."
"If you don't take the initiative, that person will create opportunities to force you to take action... But don't underestimate that person's intelligence, Rayleigh!"
Bang!
With a punch, a fan-shaped area in the distance suddenly collapsed into a crater hundreds of meters in diameter, and both the ocean and the land disintegrated under some terrifying force.
(End of this chapter)
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