A night has swiftly passed by, revealing the sun once more. Prominence was temporarily situated around the shore, with the use of the steel spikes mechanism that stabbed onto the cliff nearby.
Two marine Captains, Hina and Shu, were seen to have passed out on the tubes that floated on top of the water, with the Seastone cuffs removed from them. They were seen to be shivering occasionally, due to being exposed to the cold water for a prolonged time.
On the other hand, Rowan was seen to be standing on deck, completely rejuvenated. With one of his hands on his waist and the other above his eyes, protecting them from the sunlight, Rowan looked around with excitement.
"So this is the east shore of the Sandy island," Rowan remarked as he was met with very high dunes that laid out ahead, "and beyond those dunes is Alubarna."
The day before, prior to separating with the group in Yuba, Igaram told Rowan about the hidden port exclusive for the royal armies, providing an ideal location to hide Prominence.
"A small stream that flows underground..." Rowan roamed his eyes around, looking through every single detail of the surrounding very carefully.
"There." Rowan locked his eyes to a small stream quite far away from their current position, that seemed to flow in a direction that differs from the rest of the water. It flowed under the land, signaling that there lied something under there.
Rotating the lever on the left edge of the deck near the rail, Rowan retracted the steel spikes back into the side of Prominence, getting the ship on the move.
Subsequently, by exerting the bounce forces on the ship, Rowan began to maneuver Prominence's pathway singlehandedly. The bounce forces were gentle since Rowan focused on 'pushing' instead of 'hitting.' Unlike the usual, no loud noise boomed out, and Prominence sailed peacefully.
*Creak* The door to the cabin opened while Rowan was busy with his work, revealing Carina.
"*Yawn* Diligent as always. It's only like 7am and you're already awake, Rowan." Carina yawned while sluggishly walking up to the chair that lied near Rowan, before taking a seat. "Did you find the place?"
"Hey, good morning, and yeah." Rowan nodded as he turned around to face Carina. "Apart from where we are heading to, I was waiting for you to get up; I needed you to do something for me."
"What is it?" Carina said lightly as she rubbed her eyes, still not completely awake.
"Those two marine officers, release and throw them out somewhere in the desert." Rowan sighed. "It was just me being paranoid to think of holding the hostages. Why was I worried over the marine Captains when Vice Admiral couldn't even hold his ground against me?"
Carina shrugged, "So that you can gain some information?"
"Like I said, I was really paranoid." Rowan rubbed the back of his head while looking down at the water near Prominence, where two marine Captains were seen to be floating with tubes on their waists. "All the information we need are the strengths of the top marine officers, which won't be that hard to find out. Ins and outs? Why do we need those in the first place? It's not like we are going to infiltrate their ranks anyway; we have no use for that kind of information."
After having accepted Robin as a new crewmate, Rowan had a whole night to reflect on his actions. Having the whole marine troop as hostages—he didn't understand why he bothered himself to worry about those that did not pose any threat.
Carina stood up and stretched with her arms up high in the sky, shaking herself out of sleepiness. "Pretty sure that the cuffs were removed by Alfred, right?"
Rowan nodded as he controlled the direction of Prominence, following along the slightly curved edge of the island.
"Great. Be right back." With a purple flash, Carina instantly vanished from the deck, before flashing right above Hina and Shu, who seemed to be asleep from exhaustion.
Grabbing their shoulders, Carina, Hina, and Shu flashed away, with only the tubes remaining on their spots. Immediately after, Carina appeared back on the deck as if nothing happened.
"How far did you go?" Rowan asked out of curiosity.
"Can't judge accurately, but I teleported multiple times and dropped them in the middle of the desert." Carina sat back down on her spot, relaxed.
From what Rowan knew, the distance in which Carina could travel through teleportation was based on her stamina. Due to this, for the past three years, he saw her spending most of her time on the physical exercises that grant an improvement to one's stamina. Additionally, except for her ability to 'mark' a location, she needed to be aware of the location that she was going to teleport to, and therefore, intensely trained her Observation Haki; she no longer had to look at where she was going to teleport to. It was a very convenient combination of ability.
"That being said," Rowan turned his head slightly to the back, gazing at an ear that was attached to the wall, "good morning to you as well, Robin."
Hearing Rowan's words, the ear disappeared instantly, leaving him and Carina to chuckle lightly.
"Someone is shy here." Carina commented.
"And we are here." Rowan exclaimed as Prominence came to a stop in front of the shore, where nothing seemed to stand out in particular, except for a small stream of water that flowed towards the shore.
Carina snorted and shook her head, "And you sighted something as small as this, from a far distance, just by looking?"
Rowan simply grinned before grabbing the Den Den Mushi that was sitting on the table, which was near Carina.
"One three four eight..." Rowan dialed the numbers given by Igaram on the Den Den Mushi, "and finally, seven."
*BOOOOM* The shore in front of them shook as soon as Rowan finished pressing the last number, before the whole terrain was lifted up, revealing a large cave that can fit the size of Prominence.
"Wow." Rowan's jaw opened wide at witnessing such a majestic view. "Secret hideout. It's like a dream come true."
Carina too expressed her shock as her eyes were widened. "This is going to be on my bucket list."
Under Rowan's propulsion, Prominence began to move forward, entering the huge cave.
*BOOOOM* The level of the cave lowered back as soon as the whole ship was inside the cave, revealing an underground port that was laid out within.
*Creak* At the next moment, the door that leads to the inside of Prominence opened, revealing Alfred, who was still in his pajama.
"Oh, it seems that we've arrived already!" Alfred placed a hand on his chin and inspected the cave. "Hmm, what an exquisite interior! Dim light and natural-looking cave with a minimal amount of modification! Those features accentuate the mysterious atmosphere of this port!"
'Hold on for a sec.' Watching Alfred's interest, Rowan couldn't help but squint his eyes in a sudden realization. 'Cave... Alfred... bat cave... Alfred... Batman- wake up!! What am I thinking?!'
*Tap* *Tap* A series of footsteps was heard from Alfred's back, revealing Robin, who found herself not used to the novel status of a member of the Grimheart pirates.
"Of course, it's not surprising to see one of the oldest kingdoms having a facility like this." Robin said in a calm voice, trying to hide her awkwardness.
"This is probably where Nami and Nojiko will dock their ship as well." Rowan muttered, since having access to this port was a win-win for the Grimheart pirates, Twin Cats pirates, and the kingdom, since the former two got guarantees to their ships' safety and the latter got to conceal their association with the pirates.
Finally, Prominence came to a stop, and the crew members hastily anchored the ship before getting off from the deck.
"I suppose that we are supposed to go through this tunnel." Carina squinted her eyes, gazing at the long tunnel that lied in front of them.
"Judging by the way this facility was built," Robin spoke out as she looked around, "this place was originally made as an emergency escape route for the royals."
"I think you're about right." Rowan responded while facing the tunnel, "I see that the exit of the tunnel is connected to what seems to be a part of the castle."
Hearing Rowan's claim, Robin turned to Rowan in surprise. After all, the tunnel was dim and long, and he casually explained as if there lied no visual obstruction for him.
Without further ado, Rowan and his crew began to walk forward.
"Remember captain Rowan," Alfred said seriously while lifting up his index finger, "there are three symbols for a pirate crew. First is the jolly roger, second is the ship, and last and the most important is the captain. Even if we are to face against the king soon, you must not bend down."
Rowan grinned and turned his head to Alfred, "Of course. How can the captain of the Grimheart pirates bow down to anyone?"
"Why would he bow down?" Carina stared at Alfred weirdly, "Didn't Rowan technically save the whole Alabasta kingdom?"
"Let me tell you an example, mademoiselle Carina." Alfred stated calmly, adjusting his monocle, "Bourgeois kingdom is ruled by king Rappel, the father of master Cavendish. Although he was weak and cowardly, he was very arrogant due to his status. When you encounter someone like that, what should captain Rowan do? Bow and yield?"
"...I think he should flee from that kingdom immediately." Robin commented.
"Steal all the goods that the king got, so that he can no longer be arrogant!" Carina said while clenching her fist.
"Neigh~!!" Farul cried out while making a silly face with his tongue rolled out.
Alfred listened to their words, before turning to Rowan, "What would you do, captain Rowan?"
"It's too easy, Alfred." Rowan replied casually, "Beat him up to a pulp."
Carina snickered hearing this, "Says the one who was all worried over a bunch of weak marines."
Rowan couldn't help but blush after hearing Carina's words. It was true after all.
With continuous chatter back and forth, the group eventually reached the end of the tunnel. Upon exiting, everyone excluding Rowan slightly squinted their eyes due to the sudden amount of light that brightened up the surrounding.
They were met with a huge hall, with the huge metal poles placed in a structured manner and a large window displaying the scenery of Alubarna. In the front, the man wearing a crown, king Cobra, along with Chaka, Pell, and few elite guards, were seen to be standing by.
"Welcome to Alubarna, Grimheart pirates." A charismatic yet gentle voice boomed from Cobra's mouth. "I am Nefertari Cobra, the king of the Alabasta kingdom."
Rowan stepped up in the front with a confident smile on his face, "Nice to meet you, king Cobra. We came here in peace."
Cobra nodded with a slight smile on his face, "Why don't we translocate to somewhere more suitable for a conversation? I am sure that all of us hold our own share of inquiries."
_______________
[In the middle of the desert, between Rainbase and Alubarna, Alabasta]
A hoard of people was seen to have temporarily stopped moving, in order to take some break. The Yasa Camels, with the carriers tied around their backs, were seen to be sitting nearby as well.
With a haughty look on her face, Carmen was crossing her arms with a large volume of red flame burning above her. On top of the red flame was a large piece of seasoned meat, which sizzled and emanated a delicious aroma that induced drools from everyone who stood around her.
"Cavendish!" Carmen called out to Cavendish with absolute seriousness.
"It's time for me to shine! One Sword Style: Coupe de la Viande!" Cavendish swung his sword at a very rapid pace, and the meat was instantly cut into many pieces.
"Kyaaa, commander Cavendish is so handsome!!!" One woman cried out, with her eyes turned into hearts.
Hearing the scream, Cavendish turned to the woman and winked, causing her to faint on her spot.
"Delectable Flame!" Under Carmen's command, each piece of meat, which was encased in weak red flame, flew towards all the plates held by the hoard of people. "Consider yourself lucky! Being able to enjoy my meal is once a lifetime opportunity!"
"Ooooohhh!!!" Mr. 2's eyes lit up as he savoured the meat prepared by Carmen, "Unbelievable! Simply unbelievable!! I've never tasted anything better than this, in my whole life!!"
On his right, Mr. 5 was seen to be stuffing his portion in one go, before jerking his head back, "What an explosive flavour!!!"
"Hmph, of course it would be the best!" Carmen exclaimed with an arrogant expression on her face.
Meanwhile, Dan was seen to be sitting cross-legged within the mass of people, with a straightened posture.
"This is so good!! Thank you, commander Dan, for allowing us to gain such a wonderful experience!!"
"Thank you, commander Dan!!"
"Commander Dan is the best!!" The people were screaming jovially while enjoying their meal.
"Of course, whoever works must be rewarded! No need to thank me!" Dan said with an exaggerated seriousness on his face.
"Ma ma ma~ so tasty!!" Igaram widened his eyes in a shock as he took a slice of meat, "how can it taste better than the foods made by Terracotta?!"
Koza snickered from Igaram's left, "I am so going to tell that to her."
"No no, *Cough* *Cough* ma ma ma~ I meant that nothing can match my wife's cooking, of course!" Igaram hurriedly spoke out while sweating profusely.
The scene was absolutely chaotic. The marines, Baroque Works agents, Grimheart pirates, and the rest, all mingled together, laughing and enjoying their time. Without Rowan's mediation, everything has gone haywire.