[Unknown Island, New World; October 20th, 1522]
"...Strange."
Rowan, who was gazing off at the violent sea from he shore of the island, muttered as he chewed on a roasted fish,
"Something feels off."
Currently, all members of the Grimheart pirates were seen to be gathered around the shore of the barren island, having their meal without a care.
Although they still weren't fond of the disgusting worms, they weren't as fazed by such a sight anymore; the Grimheart pirates were too strong for those creatures to withstand against.
"KYEEEEEEE!!!!!"
Even when one huge worm suddenly busted out from the ground next to the group,
"SHUT. UP." Carmen, who glared at the hideous creature with annoyance, burned it away with an incredible blast of flame.
Not bothered by the sudden appearance of the worm, Rowan, who seemed to be in a deep thought, stood up from his spot.
All members of the Grimheart pirates shifted their attention to Rowan.
"I think I figured something out."
Rowan glanced at the side, where the burned-up corpse of a monster worm was seen to be lying down,
"Just where do these worms gain their nutrients from? How do they survive?"
Carina, who was powerlessly lying down with a loose expression, perked up all of a sudden, "Are you saying that something is hidden here?!"
Dan placed his hand on his chin, "The fact that they are trying to eat us proves that they aren't the autotrophs. If so, just as captain said, how did they survive here?"
Rowan continued, "And think about it. The illusion that encases this island into a pleasant view—I refuse to believe that these mindless worms possess such a power. There's got to be something more to this island."
"I too have been thinking about it since our arrival." Robin spoke up intuitively, "Within a hot and dry environment like this, the living beings tend to be small-sized to preserve water and energy. However, look at that dead worm over there."
The burned worm on their side, when looked closely, had a clear liquid oozing out of its opened mouth.
"...Liquid. It's filled with water, contrary to Robin's explanation." Urouge's eyes narrowed, "Should we start digging, captain?"
Rowan rolled his shoulder as he replied, "No need. Just stay seated."
Forget the word he said before, that taking the most unstable needle was a bad choice to make. If their speculation indeed was correct, just what lied beneath this island?
Now, it was time to unbox.
Stepping on the hot sand that sat in the middle of the island, Rowan gently placed his hand on top of it. Then,
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
with a single strike, Rowan's technique bulldozed through the entirety of the island, creating an incredible hole that went deep down.
"""KYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"""
From the hole, the disgustingly huge number of giant worms all swarmed upward toward Rowan simultaneously. The scenery was fearsome to look at, and if a normal person witnessed such a sight, he or she would've fainted from a shock alone.
"I gotta say, I've never seen anything more hideous than your kind before."
Rowan, who simply frowned slightly, clenched his left fist back before slamming it downward toward the hoard of the giant worms.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
In an instant, all of them exploded into the mushy liquids and splattered all across the walls within the hole.
With the mobs cleared, there only remained a huge hole that was shrouded by darkness—though it didn't manage to block off Rowan's eyesight.
"...Interesting." Rowan then motioned Robin this time, "Robin. Cavendish. Come."
"Yes, captain?"
"It's a Poneglyph."
"...What?!" Carina's eyes widened in a surprise.
Robin quickly made her way over to the hole just as Cavendish swiftly arrived next to Rowan.
With the help of Cavendish's light, Robin, by crossing her arms, grew an eye out of the circular wall adjacent to the Poneglyph.
"Uranus... race above the Red Line... twenty kingdoms."
Robin, opening her eyes as the eye on the wall of the hole disappeared, said to Rowan with a frown on her face, "It says that Uranus is in Mariejois, captain."
Rowan, who motioned Cavendish to rest, placed his hand on his forehead, "Three ancient weapons. According to what we know so far, Uranus is in possession of the World Government. Pluton… may be in Kaidou's grasp. Poseidon is in the safe hands."
Rowan felt that things were getting more complicated. The meaning of D, the kingdom that existed in the past, the ancient weapons strong enough to destroy the world, a man named Joy Boy, and the greatest inquiry of all: just how much is the World Government aware of all this information?
However, Rowan decided to put these thoughts aside. After all,
"Get ready to go down. We sighted a tunnel apart from the Poneglyph down there."
at the bottom-most section of the hole that Rowan dug, there existed a tunnel that led to somewhere.
"Uh... must I go?" Carmen, with wary expression, asked.
Carina, on the other hand, rubbed her hands together with a renewed excitement, "A treasure? Money? Some sort of hidden artifact? Devil fruit? Just what is lying down there?"
Alfred ruined Carina's excitement with a statement of his own, "I predict a countless number of worm eggs, mademoiselle Carina—"
"My hunch says no to that!" Carina retorted firmly; she looked serious than ever.
Carmen perked up all of a sudden, "Worm eggs? Hmm... can they be used as an ingredient?"
Dan turned to Carmen with a bewildered expression, "You are not going to do that."
"Oh, maybe I will."
"Come on! Do you really want all of us to throw up?!"
Rowan, who shook his head with a smile, amused by his crew's conversations, jumped into the dark hole.
"Bounce..."
*BOOOM*
Rowan landed on one knee,
"...Superhero Landing."
*ZOOM*
Carina, who teleported next to Rowan, squinted her eyes toward him, "There was no bounce involved in that."
"Oh, anything I do is considered as something affiliated to bounce." Rowan smirked, "I am a bounce man after all.
When it comes to bouncing, I am the best in the world."
Carina playfully licked her lips, "How can you be so sure when you haven't used such an ability to a full potential yet?"
"Why, are you up for a demonstration?"
Just as they chattered, the other members of the crew all landed behind them.
"Light!" Dan, from the dark, shouted, "Yo Cave! I can't see anything!"
"Do it yourself, you lazy f***!!!" Cavendish shouted in annoyance, "Use your lightning!!"
"Hmph, boys." Carmen, shaking her head with a deadpan, lightened up her palm with a bright flame.
"Watch out for these gooey liquids, everyone." Urouge, whose face was slightly pale, gulped as he looked around.
"...Boo."
"GAHHH!!!!"
Then, just when Robin whispered in a low voice, Urouge jumped up in a shock, before huffing rapidly as he held onto his heart.
"Ufufu, you really are afraid of ghosts, aren't you?" Robin laughed mischievously.
"Ghosts... you can't punch them, after all!" Urouge, who glared at Robin half-heartedly, replied with a shaky voice.
Rowan, standing at the front, casually stated as he was about to begin walking into the tunnel.
"Alright, let's move on—"
"KYEEEEE!!!!!"
*BOOOOOM*
"...what a timing." Rowan muttered, unfazed by the sudden strike from one monster worm.
*Tap* *Tap*
Swiftly after, the crew were seen to be walking within the tunnel. Interestingly enough, the tunnel began to widen as they continued to walk.
'Eureka.'
That was an honest remark from Rowan. With his superior eyesight, he already saw what lied ahead of them, and now,
'Lesson learned. From now on, take the most unstable needle whenever possible.'
he ended up contradicting himself.
Then the light engulfed the crew as they reached the end of the tunnel. The first thing that they were greeted with, was—
"A giant skull?" Alfred noted as he locked his eyes on what lied in the centre.
However, the giant skull was just a beginning.
"...Wow." Carina, who held her hands together, whispered in amazement.
Dan, with narrowed eyes, looked to his left and right suspiciously, "This isn't another illusion, is it?"
What lied in front of them was an incredible amount of wealth, stockpiled into the numerous mountains.
It was an amount incomparable to the 2 Billion Beli that the Grimheart pirates were in possession of; the total sum of all these treasures amounted up to more than 20 Billion Beli.
Then,
"Kyeeeee!!!!!" One monster worm, whose size is as large as an average snake, cried out as it made its way out of the giant skull's right eye.
"A baby worm?!" Cavendish raised his eyebrow.
*SWOOSH*
Then, at a speed that was beyond many's recognition, Cavendish diced the worm into pieces, rendering the creature dead. Someone really hated them.
Dan, who looked inside of the skull through its right eye, spoke up to everyone, "Captain! I see the eggs! What should I do?"
Rowan replied, "Exterminate them all."
*PAZZZZZZ*
As Dan began to expel the lethal blasts of electricity to put those monster worms to an extinction, Rowan noticed a much smaller skull that lied on top of the giant skull's head.
Between the smaller skull's teeth, one slip of paper was seen to be written.
In a split second, Rowan appeared right in front of the small skull, and took out the paper slip.
Just as he expected, the words were written on it.
"I, captain John, leave all my wealth here, with hopes that I will be able to get rid of all these leftover junks of Xebec's crew one day. They may think that they are able to fool me by saying that they wish to become my subordinates, but I know well! Each and every single one of them are after what belongs to me!!
However, if someone else were to find their way into this room, and read this message of mine... consider yourself doomed."
Just as Rowan finished reading, the sharp spikes suddenly popped out all across the ceiling, before the ceiling itself began to drop at a rapid pace.
"...Really?" Rowan let out a chuckle before simply punching upward.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Rowan smashed the whole layer of earth along with the ceiling and created a hole larger than the one he made before—revealing the blue sky above.
"That name, Xebec, has popped out again." Rowan, who threw away the slip without any care, muttered to himself thoughtfully, "Blackbeard's father... according to Shanks."
However, that was that. Rowan decided to place his attention on the wealth that they managed to get their hands onto.
"Wooooo!!!!" Urouge shouted in joy, "Adam's woods!!! I never thought that I'd be able to see another batch of those!!!"
Alfred smiled in a relief, "We will be able to restore Prominence's sails, after all."
"Hehe, we're rich!!!" Carina, who was literally swimming within the mountain of gold, shouted cheerfully in a content.
___________
[In the Middle of the Sea; Paradise]
"Captain, are you sure that we are heading the right way?" The acrobat swordsman of the Buggy pirates, Cabaji, scratched the back of his head, "Uhh... that treasure map, just saying... I think it sounds too good to be real."
"Heh, who do you think I am?!" The man wearing a captain's hat and had a big, round, and red-coloured nose, Buggy the 'Clown,' grinned confidently, "I'm Buggy, soon-to-be the richest man of the whole world!!! Are you doubting me, Cabaji?!!"
"Shut your mouth, Cabaji!!!" Buggy's first mate and the beast tamer of the crew, Mohji, slammed his fist onto the back of Cabaji's head, "Look how we were able to make our way into the Grand Line safely!! If not for captain Buggy's incredible insight, we would've been dead already!!"
Buggy, whose chin was lifted up pridefully, laughed haughtily, "Hahaha!!! Don't bother to say the truth, Mohji!!"
With a wild grin, Buggy clenched onto the treasure map tightly,
"Do not worry about it, Cabaji! I, the great Buggy, am never wrong! The map that's in my hand right now, will definitely lead us to the captain John's treasure!!"