Yep, am posting this chap earlier, cuz I finished early and got no time tmw. I think this one is quite a casual read with not as much going on anyway. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.
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[Foodvalten; September 3rd, 1522]
"We will have to go around in a circular fashion." Carina, while pointing at the map drawn within the newspaper, explained, "Between Foodvalten and Coconut Seal, there lies an extreme storm that reaches all the way from the sea to the sky above."
Carmen silently listened as she gazed at the sea in front of them, which was hazy and white; nothing could be seen through. Carina's words, based on this, sounded credible.
"How bad? If it's something on par with what we've gone through up until now—" Dan spoke up with a questioning expression, which Carina interrupted in a firm tone,
"No, they can't even compare."
Carina shook her head while pointing up at the sky, "Look at the movement of the cloud above us."
"Now that you talk about it..." Rowan muttered as his eyes sighted the considerably rapid movement of the clouds, "It's as if they are being sucked in."
"I was hoping that it was a temporary occasion, but alas, it turned out to be untrue." Carina lifted up her wrist and showed her Log Pose,
"The needle on the right is what points to the Coconut Seal island, according to the information provided by the Log Pose and my personal calculation. The path directly overlaps with the phenomenon that sucks in the clouds." Carina then pointed at the exceptionally high waves that violently crashed onto the cliffs of Foodvalten,
"And look. This island easily breaking down during the battle between Rowan and Bullet wasn't a mere coincidence. It already was in process of destruction, for those waves are too much for an island as small as this to handle."
"Hmm..." Rowan hummed in thought before asking, "If we were to get around the storm, how long should it take?"
"The direct route from Foodvalten to Coconut Seal, at our speed, should take around one day. Based on this, going around the storm with Ughfort scale of at least 20... two days and a half approximately."
Urouge said in a cold sweat, "From one to two and a half? Is it that bad?!"
"Heh, bad?" Carina chuckled with a clear nervousness in her eyes, "Bad is too weak of a word to describe a natural disaster of this scale. Even if Rowan is able to bounce off various threats off of the Prominence, it's worth not to risk it this time around."
Robin nodded in agreement, "The auction is scheduled to be held on September 7th. We still have 4 days, and there is no need to rush."
Rowan, who was thinking with his eyes closed, opened his eyes and spoke up, "Let's do as you say, Carina. Two and a half it is."
Rowan turned to Dan,
"How about the food supplies? There hasn't been any problem, right?"
Dan nodded, "We have enough for 3 months more at least. The newly-designed food preservation system is working as intended as well."
"Medication?"
"Same as when we left the Fish-Man island. No one was injured for necessary treatment, after all."
Rowan asked Alfred, "What about Prominence's condition?"
Alfred nodded seriously, "Although I am not an expert shipwright, Urouge and I thoroughly checked and found no damage. She is as healthy as always."
Nodding back, Rowan gazed at the newspaper in Carina's hands before stating,
"Everything is good to go then. If there is any problem that you haven't spoken of, say it now."
No one replied, but simply stared at Rowan firmly.
"If no, then let's begin our discussion."
The Grimheart pirates were now about to head into a potential war ground; a plan was necessary.
Rowan held out his hand, and in response, Cavendish placed a marker. Taking off its lid, Rowan drew arrows within the newspaper, from Foodvalten, Whole Cake, Wano, and New Marineford to Coconut Seal.
"With such gathering of powerhouses, it is guaranteed that at least an Admiral will attend the auction. World Government... not sure about them. Then there are the pirates, including us, Big Mom, Kaidou, and Phoenix pirates."
"Maybe Blackbeard pirates as well." Dan stated astutely, "Do you remember that moment where Blackbeard covered himself with the corpse of the Whitebeard?"
"It doesn't have to do anything with this. Blackbeard already has a fruit—wait." Carmen's eyes widened, "He... right. He has two fruits according to Red Hair. That means..."
"Exactly. If he can have two, then why not three?" Dan carried on, "And apart from that, we also have to consider the chance of Tremor Tremor fruit being false."
"I'm betting that it's going to be false." Robin commented, "I don't believe that someone will openly state that a treasure like Tremor Tremor fruit is in one's possession."
"But what if the seller is already a devil fruit user? And is in urgent need of money, and happened to find this fruit?" Urouge retorted.
"Then why auction and risk danger? You can just sell it through the underworld route or to the World Government, right?" Alfred questioned, "Even better, the seller could've contacted the pirates who so desire to attain such a fruit, like the Phoenix pirates. I am sure that they would have done whatever they can to afford the fruit."
"Stop. It doesn't matter." Rowan cut the conversation before it was dragged on, "Sure, let's include Blackbeard into the calculation. As for Tremor Tremor fruit actually being there or not? There's only one way to find out; don't think about it too much."
Rowan circled Coconut Seal island on the map, "Two and a half days. We should arrive by September 6th. However, the only reason we are able to arrive on time is due to the fact that Prominence is incredibly fast; it's not the same case for the others."
Carina nodded, "If looked closely, the distance between Wano and Whole Cake is farther than from Foodvalten. And the news was published just a day ago or so... there isn't enough time for them to mobilize enough force."
"How about the Phoenix pirates then?" Cavendish pointed it out.
Carina replied, "We don't know where Sphinx is. It's not shown here."
Rowan continued, "I'm assuming that the Emperors themselves will make an appearance. After all, judging by my bounty alone, they should think that sending their subordinates alone won't be enough to secure the fruit. However, since there isn't enough time, the size of their force will be quite small."
Rowan circled the section right next to the Coconut Seal.
"Once we arrive there, only me, Carina, Dan, and Alfred will attend the auction. With our speed, returning back to Prominence at any time should be a piece of cake."
Alfred asked with an inquiry, "Captain Rowan, I thought you weren't going to have me eat the fruit—"
"Just in case." Rowan held his hand up with a grin, "If it turns out to be another fruit, and if you so desire to eat it, I want you to eat it right away. I'm not forcing anything on you."
Then, Rowan turned to Farul with an apologetic demeanour, "As for you, sorry about leaving you out, Farul. But I don't think it will be a good idea to bring you along this time around."
Although huffing in disappointment, Farul nodded understandingly.
Returning back to the matter Rowan said, "As for Farul and the rest of you, stay and guard Prominence. By now, our ship being able to fly and stay afloat is well-known; I presume that there may be some strikes."
Cavendish grinned while placing his hands on his waist, "Leave it to us, captain!"
Looking at each and every member of his crew, Rowan concluded, "I'm not going into specific detail, due to the lack of information. Apart from what we learned from the Phoenix pirates and Red Hair pirates, that Kaidou ate Fish Fish fruit, model: Azure Dragon and Big Mom ate Soul Soul fruit, everything else is a mystery. Just be open to any upcoming threat, and don't let your guard down."
"Understood!" Carina said with a cheery expression.
"With that being said, prepare to set sail!"
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[Unknown Island; September 4th, 1522]
"Ugh..."
Amidst the pleasant-looking island covered by various trees and plants, a green-haired man, Zoro, groaned under the shadow.
"...You are finally awake, huh, marimo?" Next to Zoro, Sanji was seen to be leaning under the tree with a pale face.
"...Where are we?!" Zoro, while frowning from the pain he felt, asked as he gritted his teeth, "Luffy—"
"Don't move. I placed some mashed plants on your injuries to stop bleeding." Sanji, whose body too was covered with the green mashed-up plants like Zoro, said with his bangs shadowing his eyes, "Just lie still and listen."
Sanji's hand unconsciously moved to his mouth but stopped upon realizing that he didn't have a cigarette with him.
"First of all, Borodo died."
Zoro's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Luffy... from what I managed to eavesdrop in a short amount of time, he was their goal. I've got no idea what those World Government folks want from our captain, but he was caught."
Zoro, as his fists were clenched and his arms shook in fury, asked in a shaky tone, "...What about Bartolomeo."
"As for Bartolomeo..."
"Oi, marimo, you are awake!" All of a sudden, the sharp-teethed man with a nose ring, Bartolomeo, entered the scene while lifting up the stacks of plants in his hands,
Sanji pointed his thumb to Bartolomeo while explaining to Zoro,
"...he and I, mainly I, were the ones who kept you alive while you were sleeping like an idiot. It was a pain in the ass to swim with two deadweights on me, and even more so to place these plants on a body of a man like you, so don't you dare move and ruin my hard effort."
Zoro, having only heard the part where Borodo died and Luffy was caught, growled with the veins popping out of his forehead, "Ero-cook and weed-head... we failed as Luffy's crew members. Having our captain caught just like that... unacceptable!!!"
Sanji and Bartolomeo simply listened with a grimace of their own.
"But those agents. We were too weak to fight them. Hell, one of our crew mates died even!!" Zoro, lifting up his right arm with difficulty, slammed it down to ease his anger.
Bartolomeo, who was standing stoically as he held onto the plants, placed them down as his frown deepened, "No need to say anymore, marimo."
Nonetheless, Zoro stated coldly, "One mistake is enough!! If we were too weak, we simply have to become stronger!"
However, Sanji shook his head while tapping his head with his finger, "'Simply have to become stronger doesn't work in all cases. Think for once, marimo.
They were clearly above our level, and it isn't something that we can overcome in days. Therefore, we have to bring in others into this matter."
Bartolomeo raised his eyebrow, "Such as?"
"Luffy's full name is Monkey D. Luffy. And remember the news we read some time ago?" Sanji stated with certainty, "The Vice Admiral who was responsible for the momentary imprisonment of Grimheart: Monkey D. Garp."
"Monkey D. Garp... yes. I do remember Luffy saying that Garp is his grandfather." Zoro muttered in realization.
"The way our enemies dress... I've seen similar attire once before; the ones who caught Luffy were none other than the World Government's Cipher Pols." Sanji continued, "And they wanted to kill us and all the others in Jinren for one reason: to leave no witnesses. Why?"
Sanji pointed his finger at nowhere in particular, "It must be to avoid someone like Garp from finding it out."
"Then it's set." Zoro stated with a determination, "We will travel from this point to wherever Garp may be, as fast as possible."
"Even if he is the legendary Marine Hero? We might as well be going into a shark's opened jaw." Bartolomeo asked as his face began to morph into a savage grin.
"Weed-head," Zoro, although his body was injured quite severely, began to lift up his top half, "it's just a Marine Hero, and nothing more. What's there to be scared of?"
Sanji added with a slight annoyance on his face, "Don't speak as if you are the only one who isn't afraid, marimo."
"Hehahaha, as expected of our crew!" Bartolomeo shouted with aggressiveness, "Just hang on a little longer, captain Luffy!! We will ensure that you will be back to us!!"
"Also..." Zoro's eyes gleamed murderously, "...that World Government will pay for killing our friend."
Contrary to the report made by the CP0s, Zoro, Sanji, and Bartolomeo managed to survive. With their spirit renewed, the goal of retrieving Luffy back has been established. However, there lied one issue.
"So," Sanji spoke impassively, "how are we going to navigate our way through?"