Everything happened too quick. With a snap of finger by Ichiro, a round, wooden table, a plain wooden chair, and a lamp were brought by his subordinates, placing it in between him and Rowan.
"Help yourself," Ichiro gestured his hand towards the wooden chair before sitting down on a different kind of chair, which was covered by red cushions.
Carina licked her lips as her eyes locked onto the chair Ichiro was sitting on, calculating how much it can sell.
Although annoyed, Rowan sat down on the wooden chair, ready to converse. Carina, Dan and Cavendish were standing behind him, while Ichiro's subordinates similarly stood behind Ichiro.
"First of all, are you guys the inhabitants of this island even?" Rowan asked in suspicion.
"I-" Yui stepped up, but was stopped by Ichiro, who calmly raised his hand up.
"Not exactly. We came from the Shinju island. By chance, we stumbled upon this island around a year ago, and I have decided to establish a new kingdom here." Ichiro said as he grabbed onto a tea that one of his subordinate passed to him, quietly taking a sip.
"How about that giant spider thing? You ate a devil fruit, didn't you?" Carina asked in curiosity. Ichiro frowned hearing this, before turning his eyes to Rowan.
"You should keep your subordinates in check, pirate," Ichiro said in disdain, causing Rowan to narrow his eyes and lean forward.
"They aren't my subordinates, but my crew mates and friends. They have freedom to do whatever they want," Rowan said in a cold tone, "and it's none of your business. Answer her damn question."
"How dare you speak up to king in such a way!!" Yui shouted from Ichiro's right, angrily pulling out a kunai. Her impulsive act was halted once more by Ichiro, who took a deep breath and raised his hand to signal for a stop.
"Very well," Ichiro took another sip from the tea. Dan's face turned green seeing that; he had more than enough teas in the morning.
Placing down the cup on the table, Ichiro spoke up, "I recently ate a devil fruit belonging to the class of Mythical Zoan, known as Spider Spider fruit, model: Tsuchigumo (Earth Spider).
The power given by the fruit is terrifying, to an extent where I will lose my control periodically. Today, if not for your intervention, I may have lost my subordinates."
Thinking momentarily after Ichiro's response, Rowan raised his head for another question, "Are there any other dangers within this island that we should be aware of?"
"Bring the map." Ichiro ordered to the subordinate nearby, who bowed and pulled out a scroll out of a thin air; Rowan and his crew's eyes widened seeing this.
Ignoring their surprised expressions Ichiro unrolled the scroll, revealing a hand-drawn map.
"For a year, we explored around this island, before I deemed that it is suitable to build my kingdom." Ichiro explained. "There used to be some problems. Mutants, poisonous plants, and other trouble-posing factors. However, we got rid of such issues and purified this island from such threats."
Rowan gazed at the map for few seconds, before turning his eyes back to Ichiro, "How about we make a deal?"
"Go ahead," Ichiro said in amusement.
"We plan on staying here for an indefinite time, with or without your consent. However, you can benefit from this. By paying us a certain amount of Beli, we will come to your aid whenever you lose control." Rowan suggested, earning a satisfied nod from Carina.
"Bruhruhruhruh!!" Ichiro laughed out loud hearing Rowan's suggestion in a novel way, causing Rowan, Carina, and Dan to freeze on their spot.
Rowan got goosebumps as the laughters of his deceased family members resounded within him, overlapping with Ichiro's laugh. He almost shrieked out in horror.
Cavendish was seen to be staring at Ichiro in jealousy as he thought, 'What a unique laugh, urgh!! And he is a king too, while I am stuck as a prince...'
"That's a fabulous deal for us, something that we're unable to reject at a current moment." Ichiro ended with a chuckle. "Very well, I shall accept your offer. 50 thousand Beli per aid, how does that sound?"
"Works for us. Deal." Fearing that Carina might enter her 'negotiation' mode, Rowan quickly accepted the deal.
"If so, that concludes this session." Ichiro stated as he stood up and clapped his hands. The individual, who took out the map scroll earlier, extended his hand once again and took out a stack of Beli from thin air. "And here is 50 thousand Beli for your previous aid. This highness shall now enjoy some rest; scram."
Carina excitedly snatched the stack from the individual and counted the Beli one by one, ensuring that the amount is not miscounted.
Ichiro turned around and paused, "Finally, you should keep your subordi- crew mate in check, pirate," before walking away with his subordinates following him, after they cleaned up the set ups.
"What?" Rowan said in confusion and turned left and right, only to sight Cavendish grinning devilishly. He stared at Hakuba-possessed Cavendish dully.
"Well, at least now you know how to behave properly." Rowan muttered, to which Hakuba-possessed Cavendish frantically nodded as he sweated profusely. After, Rowan turned to Carina, who finished counting at a blinding pace. "Carina, it's warp time."
"Okay, teleport coming up! Everyone, grab onto my hand!" After Rowan, Dan and Hakuba-possessed Cavendish grabbed onto Carina's left and right arms, they disappeared in a purple flash.
______________
"Captain, what are you doing?" Dan expressed his curiosity as Rowan was busy tightening the nail on a device he built with wooden materials. After tightening the final part, Rowan stood up with a grin, wiping his forehead.
"*Phew* Finally done! Behold, my Seastone sleep tool!" Rowan said dramatically while introducing the machine. It resembled a lamp, but instead of light bulb, a Seastone cuff was hanging at the edge. "The mechanism is simple. During night, this Seastone cuff will be lowered and touch me. In the morning, it will be lifted back up, allowing me to regain my strength."
Dan looked disgusted hearing that, "You training maniac... you torture yourself even in your sleep?!"
Rowan rubbed his back with a chuckle, "Is it that intolerable? I asked to Carina and Carmen if they want this too, but they immediately declined and ran away."
On the other side, Alfred was seen to be drawing.
"Hmm, yes. The masts should be kept red, for it correlates with the name 'Prominence,' but the design on this part can be better." He was devising a new design for the ship. The citizens from Bourgeois kingdom loved something of exquisite appearance, and Alfred was not an exception. Ultimately, he ended up becoming quite skilled at designing.
"Hold on, Alfred! I don't like the black colour here! Change it to pink!" Cavendish, who was peeking at the paper from the behind, disagreed to Alfred's design.
"Master Cavendish," Alfred spoke calmly, flashing his monocle as he pushed it up with his finger, "who selected your outfit?"
Hearing this, Cavendish clicked his tongue in irritation and looked away while crossing his arms, as he couldn't find a way to retort against Alfred's words.
Farul was simply sitting down on one corner, munching on a book that read, "How To Tend Your Horse."
*BOOM* *BOOM* On the outside of Prominence, Carina and Carmen were clashing against one another. Carmen threw a ball of fire towards Carina, who easily dodged by dashing away and lied down on top of the sand. Right after, the huge volume of sand, in contact with Carina, teleported on top of Carmen and dropped down on her. Carmen turned herself into fire and quickly bolted out of the position, causing the pile of sand to drop to the beach.
Now having finished with his newest training device, Rowan stepped outside and watched the spar between Carina and Carmen while leaning on the rail of Prominence.
He felt the sensation of the wind that gently blew. Looking up to the blue sky, a slight smile escaped from his face.
Their journey up to this point was quite rough. However, it was exciting and enjoyable; he could understand why Dan felt so attracted to the adventures, to some extent.
Shifting his eyes down to the forest, Rowan's expression turned serious.
'First, there are marines. A Rear Admiral already posed quite a problem to us; I can't imagine how strong the marines of higher ranks will be. Next, the pirates. The four Yonkos that are within the New World, the seven warlords, as known as the Government's dogs, and other notorious pirates. And finally,' From his pocket, Rowan took out a newspaper, in which he acquired by his own subscription of the News Coo, the East Blue edition,
"Nojiko, Nami... when have you guys become the pirates?" Rowan whispered in disbelief as he looked at the third page of the newspaper.
It said,
Nojiko the 'Cat Swindler,' Wanted Dead or Alive, 5 million Beli. Nami the 'Cat Burglar,' Wanted Dead or Alive, 4 million Beli.> Rowan sighed in worry as he intently stared at the very familiar faces on the bounty posters. 'Please be safe, you two...'