[Sea Forest, three weeks after; July 29th, 1522]
For the past three weeks, Rowan, along with his crew, the Heart pirates, Twin Cats pirates, Bonney pirates, and Phoenix pirates had a relaxing stay within the Fish-Man Island.
He simply killed a few mobs here and there,
heard a crazed shout from Madam Shyarly, whom Rowan eventually grew to dislike and ended up breaking her crystal ball,
had the whole Ryugu Palace explode into ruins due to Carina sneaking into the treasure room and opening a Tamate Box.
Yes, it was such a relaxing stay, indeed.
That day, Rowan saw the king Neptune, who was staring at the remnants of Ryugu palace with teary eyes.
On the other hand, the Logia trio seemed to be sparring against one another frequently. The problem was the fact that their elements were all associated with 'heat,' and when combating without the use of Haki, harming one another wasn't an easy task.
All Rowan could see was the ear-bursting screams that they were blasting out of their lungs.
As for Alfred and Urouge,
They were busy latching off of Den as he worked on coating the ships and sucking off all his secrets, much to Den's dismay.
Robin and Farul were the only ones who stayed reserved.
Robin was busy reading the historical records from the library within Ryugu palace... until it exploded. Afterward, she was occupied with aligning and drawing connections between all the contexts that she acquired from the Poneglyphs that she went through.
And Farul simply continued the daily routine of sleeping, exercising, and eating—
<*MUNCHMUNCH*>
...the whole Sea King meat by himself.
And this wasn't the end.
Jinbe, with his crew members standing behind him, bowed in gratitude.
<...Idiot. Say that after your island becomes safe.>
In response, Rowan couldn't help but sigh.
Due to the heavy regulation that prevented the pirates from utilizing the path above to enter the New World, the continuous bombardments of pirates were unpreventable. Moreover, with Whitebeard dead, the Fish-Man Island was now laid unprotected; the pirates surely will wreak havoc.
Yes, it was none other than the jolly roger belonging to the Grimheart pirates.
Standing up from his seat casually, Rowan locked his eyes on Jinbe as he said,
Then Rowan turned around and left, leaving the Sun pirates and Jinbe, whose eyes were sparkling in wonder,
<<
And finally, back to the present,
"Three needles, Rowan." Carina said mischievously as she wiggled the New World Log Pose on her wrist, "Which one should we follow, captain?"
Rowan asked Marco, who was standing nearby,
"What do you say, Marco?"
Marco, who was now completely recovered along with his crew, grinned knowingly,
"Hmph, you are lucky that we're here with you! Now, the more shaky the needle is, the more dangerous—"
""We already know that.""
"...fine!" Marco grew a tickmark, but continued nonetheless, "Anyway, the middle one is the shakiest, eh? That's Raijin island, which has an extremely violent climate: intense lightning 24/7! Therefore, the middle one is the big no-no!"
"How about the left and right?" Rowan asked.
"The right one is the path that we are taking to reach Sphinx. This needle points to Mystoria, a winter island that is in possession of Kaidou and his Beast pirates. It's fine for us though since we know a way to get around their eyes!"
Marco then pointed at the left needle,
"And finally, the left one: Risky Red. Many take this island to avoid Big Mom and Kaidou, whose territories are clustered nearby the Mystoria. Risky Red... red refers to blood. The countless number of battles and murders occur between those who just entered the New World and those who stayed for some time."
"Well, first of all, not Raijin then." Rowan stated while placing his hand on his chin, "Our Prominence flies. Lightning is going to love it, and I don't feel like spending my entire time there trying to deflect them."
"Mystoria then?" Carina raised her eyebrow.
"Nah." Rowan shook his head as he gazed at the back, where the Heart pirates, Twin Cats pirates, and Bonney pirates were standing, "I don't think they're ready for Kaidou yet."
"…Definitely not." Marco nodded in an agreement.
"If so…" Carina looked at the left needle among the three.
Rowan stated impassively,
"Risky Red."
"I guess this is where we part then." Marco muttered as he peered into the same needle that Carina was looking at, "Pretty close to Red Hair's territory."
Rowan raised his eyebrow questioningly, "Red Hair is stronger than Kaidou?"
"Nope." Marco immediately responded, "There is a reason why Kaidou is known as the 'Strongest Creature of the World.' Haki, skill, strategy, whatever, forget it. His skin is almost as sturdy as Jozu's diamond, and his stamina… yeah. It's just ridiculous, yoi."
"And that's who we are targeting." Carina sighed in fatigue.
"…What did I hear just now?" Marco exclaimed with his eyes widened.
"It doesn't matter. All Emperors are equally troublesome." Rowan chuckled, "Any more for us to know, Marco?"
"S***." Marco muttered in disbelief, before his expression morphed into an excited grin, "Heh, fine. Let me tell you all that I know about Kaidou.
First, he's a retard who claims that his hobby is committing suicide."
"…What?"
____________
[Alabasta, Alubarna]
"Aren't y'all underestimating us?" Usopp, who was holding onto various weapons ranging from a slingshot to a gun, said with a hint of confidence in his tone.
In front of Usopp and Chopper, all the former Baroque Works officer agents, from Zala or Miss Doublefinger to Nikita or Miss Valentine, were seen to have been knocked out.
"Uh... Ussop? Are you okay?" From Usopp's side, Chopper asked with nervousness, "That wound on your side looks pretty deep."
"Haha, I'm fine, Chopper—h-huh?! What did you say?!!" Usopp, who was laughing boisterously, panicked upon hearing Chopper's words,
"Ahhhhhh!!!!!! I'm hurt, I'm hurt!!!! Chopper, I need immediate medical attention!!! Helpppppp!!!!!!!!"
"H-hold on, Usopp!! Doctor! Doctor!! Where is the doctor... oh wait, I'm the doctor!!"
Chopper rubbed the back of his head with a blush, before taking out the contents that he has been keeping in his backpack.
"Don't worry! I'll get you treated right away—"
However, before Chopper could begin the treatment, a woman with long blue-coloured hair, Vivi, walked into the sight.
"What's going on here?" Vivi frowned as she sighted the fallen guards. Shifting her eyes onto Usopp and Chopper, her eyes began to narrow, and the subtle amount of sand began to swirl around her feet.
"...Haha." Usopp couldn't help but sweat profusely. It seemed that he and Chopper got too ahead of themselves, "Ehe...?"
That was the last word Usopp managed to mutter out before his vision turned black.
_____________
[Marineford]
"...The new recruits from the recent Military Draft... are to be given the position of Admirals?" The man with a white marine cap and stern demeanour, the newly-promoted Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, growled in anger,
"You've crossed your line there, Elders!!!"
Kuzan's leave after losing against Sakazuki for the position of the Fleet Admiral, Borsalino's death against Rowan, and Sakazuki himself having promoted to the Fleet Admiral.
The situation itself was ridiculous, for all three seats for the title of an Admiral were empty!
The Den Den Mushi that Sakazuki was communicating through, replied seriously,
"You will do as we say, Sakazuki. None of your Vice Admirals have the qualities to become an Admiral. Those so-called Admiral candidates?! As if!! We are saving you and your marines over here right now!!"
The conversation seemed to be heated.
Sakazuki, with evident anger, massaged his temple to calm himself down. Eventually, he spoke up,
"Two. I will allow two positions at max for the outsiders. At least have one Vice Admiral promoted. All three being filled up by those new recruits... are you intentionally trying to make me lose face?!!!"
After Sakazuki's words were spoken, there was a momentary silence. The Elders were contemplating Sakazuki's claim, and eventually,
"...Which one?"
they seemed to have decided to accept Sakazuki's deal.
Sakazuki replied, "Tokikake."
______________
[Fish-Man Island, Sea Forest]
"I wish you luck." Marco said with a smile as he shook his hand with Rowan.
"And to you as well." Rowan replied in a similar fashion.
"Don't die, alright?" From Marco's side, Ace said cheerfully, "We definitely are going to meet again!"
"Hehe, bring more money next time." From Rowan's side, Carina chuckled playfully before turning around with Rowan, walking back to Prominence, which was fully coated for the sail.
"H-huh?! Oi, Carina, what do you mean by that?!!" Ace cried out to his confusion, but Carina didn't respond.
Now,
"Hohoho! I hope you enjoyed your stay on the Fish-Man Island!"
"Stay safe, all of you!"
as the residents of the Fish-Man Island were waving at the Grimheart pirates and their allies, all four ships began to depart from the shore.
"Rowan-san!!!"
Among the crowd, Jinbe shouted, "We won't forget your virtuous deeds!!!"
Hachi was nowhere to be seen, for he already left to the Cocoyasi.
From the top of the highest building of the Fish-Man Island, the flag of the Grimheart pirates' jolly roger was seen to be embedded firmly.
Rowan simply grinned before turning to his crew,
"Spread the sail."
"Aye aye, captain!" Dan responded as he took a hold of the ropes connected to the folded sails. After all, it was important to widen the surface area of the ship, so that Prominence will better ride on the water current that will bring them back up.
Following suit of the Prominence, the other two ships too spread out their sails. As for the Heart pirates' Polar Tang... there was no sail to spread.
"If the first half of the Grand Line is to be named 'Paradise,' just how harsh is the climate of the New World?" Carina muttered questioningly, but lifted her head up with excitement, "Heh, doesn't matter to me! Challenge is on!"
"Bohaha! I bet!" Rowan laughed in response, "We will be relying on you as always, Carina."
How will their future turn out to be? Will they come across many new types of foods just as Carmen desires? Will they go through many exciting adventures that Dan lives for? Will they shine brighter than any other, just like Cavendish wants? Will they see the interesting items and inventions that Alfred will go crazy for? Will they discover the Poneglyphs and historical contexts that Robin is in search of? Will they undertake various challenges that Urouge wishes to encounter?
Nothing could be told. Not even for Rowan, who could see a few seconds into the future.
'New World... I can't wait.'
But nonetheless, the emotion that Rowan felt at the current moment, was pure excitement.
'The first sail on the sea where the influences from the World Government doesn't reach...'
Rowan could already tell without the use of his Observation Haki,
'It's going to be amazing without a doubt.'
Thus, Prominence, Necrokitty, Polar Tang, and Jewelry Margherita moved out of the Fish-Man Island that was encased within the dome-like bubble, and began to travel back to the surface of the sea... where the New World lied,
"Yeehow~!!"
with Dan shouting out of joy and excitement.