*BOOM* *BOOM* The loud noises resonated across the sea as four bullets bounced around Prominence with a blinding speed. On top of the deck, Rowan was standing with his hands outstretched.
"This is great and all, but still inefficient." At Rowan's will, the bullets all traveled toward Rowan before losing their momentum, falling onto his right hand.
Five days have passed since their successful escape from the marine base G-11. Now fully recovered, Rowan and his crew were busy training and developing their combat prowess.
Sitting down on the nearby chair, Rowan went into contemplation. 'The bullets are becoming less effective. Devil fruit powers, special techniques, pure physical strength, there are so many ways to counter a gun.'
With the double-barrelled revolver broken in his previous battle, Rowan now inspected the average revolver he was holding. 'Now that I think about it, do I even need this? If I can accelerate a bullet to such a magnitude, the initial momentum generated by a gun is no longer necessary.'
Releasing the revolver onto the table, Rowan shifted his attention to the bullets he was holding with his other hand.
*BOOM* One bullet bounced up from his hand. However, Rowan noticed that the bullet spun around as it flew; its irregular shape was providing resistance against acceleration.
'I should try looking for some metal marbles instead. Nonetheless, this gives me a new idea.'
*BOOM* The bullet in midair began to bounce once more. However, its trajectory path seemed tamed unlike the previous, as it rotated on top of Rowan in a form of a regular octagon with the consecutive bounces continuously accelerating its speed.
Eventually, the bullet gained so much speed that it couldn't be seen. With a booming noise that was so fast that it sounded like a drill, the bullet seemed to have caught on a fire that enveloped it due to friction; the octagon above Rowan lit up in orange.
Rowan gritted his teeth to keep the bullet in control. The continuous acceleration or maintenance of speed, along with the prevention of losing the momentum required all of his attention. To perfect this attack, he has to gradually increase the frequency and magnitude of each succeeding bounce. Additionally, he has ten seconds to control the bullet that left his contact; wrong timing will result in disastrous consequences.
Sweating profusely, Rowan looked around for a potential target. Eventually, he sighted a rock that peaked out at a far distance away from Prominence.
'Let's see how potent this attack is.'
*BOOOM* With a final boom, the bullet circling above Rowan suddenly flew towards the rock. It traveled beyond what eyes could perceive, to an extent where it resembled a red laser beam.
*BANG* As the bullet impacted upon the rock, Rowan saw a complete decimation. The rocks were instantly destroyed into shreds, and the surrounding water rippled, causing Prominence to sway.
The bullet continued to travel on the sea, having gotten out of Rowan's control. Majestically speeding through, the bullet crashed into the sea, generating a violent surge of water.
*BOOOOOOM*
Watching the commotions caused by his bullet, Rowan's eyes lit up in joy and his fists clenched. 'I'll name this… Entropic Blast.'
*BAM* The door that leads downstairs was violently opened, revealing Dan who looked completely bewildered.
"Where is the enemy?!" Frantically looking around left and right, Dan growled.
"Relax Dan. It's just Rowan." Walking up from behind Dan, Carina said casually while waving her hand off.
Rowan chuckled at their sudden appearance and placed the remaining bullets into his pocket.
"So how is it going on your end?" Just like Rowan, Carina, Carmen and Dan were all busy getting stronger. While Rowan occupied the deck, Carina honed her skills in a large room below, Carmen took the training room to lift some weights, and Dan acquired an empty room... for his experiments.
Dan gave out a creepy grin as he rubbed his hands together. "My time has come, Black Mask the Poison Master! Let me show you what I got."
Rowan and Carina followed Dan to his laboratory. He creaked the door into the room open, displaying a glass box with a small mouse wildly bashing against the wall.
"Watch. This substance," Grabbing one test tube from the test rack that sat next to the glass box, Dan brought it up close to Rowan and Carina, revealing a green-colored fluid, "is actually made through the synthesis of three medicines I purchased before. When exposed to this,"
Opening the glass box on the top, Dan splashed the substance over the mouse, who fell backward and shook violently, "The chemicals inhibit the neural transmission and render a victim paralyzed."
Rowan and Carina clapped in awe. Poison made out of medicines? Dan was in a league well above theirs.
Dan shrugged, "Issue is, I don't know how potent this will be against an actual person. Besides, I am developing it for the purpose of combat, not for a mass massacre. It will require some time."
"And don't forget to lift your weights. That's the most important part." Rowan said seriously, causing Dan to sigh in exasperation.
Carina giggled, "Says the one who completes like 82 thousand push-ups in a mere three hours."
"Captain, you are just built differently." Dan shook his head. "Do you really think you can become that strong simply by doing push-ups and other basic exercises? There is usually a limit to what a human body can do. For instance, if you overexert yourself, your muscle tissues will be damaged, and you will face exhaustion and pain for the following few days.
Based on what you told me, it's definitely abnormal. Feeling refreshed simply by sleeping? No, there is no way."
"I agree." From behind, a very tired-looking Carmen walked sluggishly before collapsing on the floor. "I can't even do one percent of what you are capable of, captain."
Rowan couldn't help but scratch his head at his crew mates' reactions. Initially, he believed that such feat must be achievable by anyone since this world originated from manga. But now that they are speaking, is it just him?
____________
That night, Rowan was in his room, lying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling as Prominence continued to sail by. Ever since the discovery of 'The Tale of Youchiha Medusa,' he couldn't help but think that he was not as average as he seemed to be.
'My parents, they were unique from the rest of the villagers. Weird laughs, inconceivable optimism, standing up against someone stronger than them.' Rowan was in deep thought as he traced back to his past.
'At the beginning, I wasn't the only one attempting to build up one's strength to defeat Arlong. Many guys exercised with me, only to fall off sooner or later as my reps increased.' Rowan used to believe that they met their limits because they didn't try hard enough.
But what if he really has something special within him? It can't be about him reincarnating, since there wasn't any notable physical ability he possessed in his previous life. This left him only one thing he was born with in this world: the heritage of Youchiha.
Rowan couldn't get rid of such thoughts. Eventually, he stood up from the bed and made his way back to the table that is in the corner. Once again grabbing the picture book on top, Rowan began to flip the pages over and over.
'Gorosuke, so powerful that his stare alone could send the weak-willed beings into unconsciousness. Medusa, so beautiful that her sole existence seemed to be holy. In the end, she ate a special fruit and left the village. Ugh, what clues can I get from this book?'
Looking through each page thoroughly over and over, Rowan found himself aimlessly flipping without any gain.
With disappointment, he finished another round of flipping through the pages and ended up on the final page, where the illustration of Medusa and the boy sailing through the sea on the boat was shown.
'Guess there is nothing to be found here. Well-
-wait, hold on.' Rowan's eyes widened as he sighted something. On top of Medusa's head, there was a thin and faint white-grey lining that blended well with the background. To others, it was so thin that it was unnoticeable, but Rowan barely managed to sight with his eyes. Concentrating further, he found out they were the words written with a minuscule size.
'Everything on this book... the name of Youchiha... all are lies. The descendant of Vasilia, look for the three places. One above, one below, and the last isolated. There, you shall learn the truth.' His hands feeling weak, Rowan placed the book down with his visage frozen in shock.
'What lie? What truth?' Something beyond his imagination has just been unfolded. Ever since he reincarnated, he thought he was average. He led a life without any worry for the first thirteen years. Afterward, he trained and trained, before beginning a life full of troubles. He simply went in a direction that life seemed to be guiding him. And now, when the name Youchiha has been called a fake, Rowan felt as if his whole life shattered.
'But... at the same time, I recognize this trope.' Rowan thought to himself. 'The main character of a particular story, finding out that his or her family may not be normal. The question is, does it matter?'
His conclusion was, 'Definitely.'
After all, there must be a reason these words were placed in such a manner that no one but the descendants like Rowan can read. This also meant that there existed enemies of this clan; Rowan had to learn and prepare before he dies without any realization.
Rowan's face turned grim as he calmed himself down.
'It's the matter of survival now. My bounty is quite big and my name must be pretty well-known by now. I'm already having enough trouble dealing with ones like Baten, and I can't imagine what would happen if this secret is cracked.
Two ways to approach this. The first way is to follow the clue given here. Problem is, what if this is a trap? The second way is to track down the original author of this picture book. Problem is, where to begin with?'
In the end, everything was too vague.
'Survive survive survive! I don't want to die again!!' If there was one thing that Rowan was always determined for, ever since he was reincarnated, it was to survive.
'But it will only become even more dangerous from now on, beyond what I can imagine.' With a cold sweat dripping down his face due to the nervousness, Rowan took a deep breath.
The silence enveloped his room as the lamp continued to shine onto the title cover of 'The Tale of Youchiha Medusa.'
In the end, Rowan looked up with determination. Clenching his fist, Rowan promised to himself.
'In order to survive, I must become the strongest person that no one dares to offend... and if so, I will.'
The goal that Rowan declared in the past for the purpose of recruiting Carmen and Dan, has become real.