The ninth volume is close to coming to an end, and finally, we're getting to the part I've been anticipating to write since the very beginning.
Here, let me post the current power level right now. Just do note that this isn't absolute, and depending on a situation, the weaker ones can defeat the stronger ones.
Imu > Kaidou >= Shanks = Mihawk >= Rowan (mc) = Big Mom (Linlin) > Dragon = Garp = Sengoku >= Teach > Sakazuki = Aramaki (Ryokugyu) > Borsalino = Kuzan = Issho = Rayleigh >= Ace > Marco = Beckman = Carina >= Katakuri = King (Alber) = Dan = Cavendish = Gaban > Hancock >= Gion > Weevil > Zephyr > Sabo.
- But for 12 minutes where Rowan resorts to going all out, Rowan >= Kaidou.
- You may think that Teach is over-buffed. But I'm keeping him like this. After Sabaody Archipelago, not only did his Haki improve, but he also attained the Tremor Tremor fruit. Although he still lacks behind Rowan, do note that he never used his Cerberus devil fruit.
- Weevil here may be weaker than what's portrayed in the canon. I'm not too sure regarding him, so I will leave him this way.
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[In the Middle of the Sea; November 17th, 1522]
It was the vast sea where the storms wildly thrashed and the tides violently surged. The whole gloomy sky was engulfed by the dark layer of clouds that continuously poured out the rain.
In such a sea, an incredible number of ships were seen to be sailing altogether. It was a magnificent view, and if someone else saw this sight, that person may have suspected that they were going into a war.
Those on board the ships were the ones from the Dressrosa, Doflamingo with a Seastone cuff on his wrists, and Rowan.
With Doflamingo still unconscious on the side, from the inner room, Rowan was seen to be gazing at the outside environment through the window on the side.
"There is no need to worry, senor Rowan." From the deck, Kyros pointed his thumb on his back, "These ships, built by the Donquixote family, are meant to sail in the New World. They can handle this storm."
From the back, king Riku also stated, "Without Doflamingo's hold on Dressrosa, the wars on the other countries too will cease. One of our allies, the kingdom of Prodence, has already sent a message that the opposing side was fully suppressed."
Rowan replied with a nod, "Of course. With the broker gone, now they will have to go directly to Kaidou in order to purchase arms, which is technically impossible in the middle of a war. However, that doesn't mean that everything went well. By having yourselves allied with me..."
"Yes, I am aware." King Riku grimaced, "I've lost the right to attend Reverie and our kingdom's membership within the World Government.
However, it would've been a worse decision to remain on Dressrosa. With that SMILE factory that we found underground, and according to your information, Kaidou soon would've come barging in; I doubt that the World Government would've reacted on time."
"Besides," Kyros said, "we can't possibly abandon our people who suffered for years as the toys. Only now we've been freed, and yet to be enslaved by Big Mom... we can't sit and ignore what they are going through right now."
"Yeawh!!!"
Then, a cute voice was heard as the fairy-like figures made their appearances in the room. They were the dwarves known as the Tontatta tribe, who decided to come along with Rowan and the others.
The proud man who stood at the front was a group of Tontatta named Leo.
"We are glad ta join you, Rowanland! Let's beat up da bad guys together!!"
"Bohaha! Sounds good to me!"
Rowan smiled as he bumped his fist with Leo. Then,
"Leo! I need your help!"
another Tontatta, princess Manrherry, came in running toward Leo, who expressed an evident annoyance.
"Aw, not again!!"
Rowan chuckled before returning his eyes back to the window, staring at the sky outside.
'At this rate, July in the next year is going to be too late. The war is definitely happening before then... I hope you guys received the message.'
A direct sail to the Runelight island. With many capable navigators on the ships, and Rowan's Vivre Card that points to Carina, they will be able to reach the island for sure. The only issue was that many were sailing at once; an estimated time of travel amounted to almost a month.
___________
[Whole Cake]
"NO!!!!!!!"
Within a huge castle, Linlin's incredibly loud scream boomed out all across the island.
"What do you mean my sweets aren't here?!!!!"
Linlin, with bloodshot eyes, glared at Perospero, whose grip on his candy cane staff tightened and his body trembled in fear.
Regardless, Perospero opened his mouth and replied, trying to advocate himself and avoid Linlin's wrath.
"M-mama, it's the Grimheart pirates! They resurfaced and destroyed our three main candy factories! The ones we brought to you yesterday were the last of what Tottoland had—"
"Perospero!!!"
Perospero couldn't help but gulp in fear. He could feel a white wisp, his lifespan, slowly flowing out of him, signalling the operation of Linlin's power.
"Perorin, please do listen to me, mama!!!" Perospero had no choice but to continue talking, "Of course, we tried to repair the factories and resume the production! However... those islands were completely empty!! All the people, perorin, disappeared!!!"
Linlin's grip on her armrests tightened, and eventually,
*CRACK*
they broke into pieces.
*BOOM*
Then, smashing her seat into pieces and standing up, Linlin shouted to Perospero.
"I don't care how you do it, Perospero!! by tomorrow, if I don't get my treats... you will have to pay with your life!!!!"
Not knowing what to say, Perospero took few steps back in terror.
"Purururu, purururu,"
Just then, the Den Den Mushi in the room began to ring.
____________
[Wano, Onigashima]
"Linlin!!!!!" Kaidou, who was crying as he gulped down a whole barrel of sake, shouted into the dial, "Joker is caught!!!"
"The hell I care!!!" Through the Den Den Mushi, Linlin replied with a shout of her own, "Why did you call me, Kaidou?!!"
Kaidou, not bothering with Linlin's words, cried as he leaned onto the dial. He was completely drunk.
"That means we can't have more Gifters!!!"
"What the hell are the Gifters even?!!!"
"Woooooo!!!!!" Kaidou wept as the tears and snots flew everywhere.
"K-Kaidou-san!" One member of the Beast pirates held his hands up nervously, "W-we shouldn't be saying that to Big Mom—"
*BOOOOM*
That member was instantly crushed onto the floor by Kaidou's Hassaikai. The others, having witnessed such a sight, froze in their positions.
"*Sniff*... How... just how can this be?!!!!" Kaidou, in front of the frightened eyes of his subordinates, chugged down the sake.
"WRYAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Then, Kaidou roared crazily, "Joker!!! Oh, Joker!!!!! How come you were captured?!!!!"
"Oi, Kaidou!! Are you listening?!!" Linlin's annoyed voice boomed out from the Den Den Mushi, but Kaidou still didn't respond.
"Why did you call me—"
"You said we'd form the strongest pirate group made of all devil fruit eaters!!!!!" Kaidou cut off Linlin's words as he continued to scream to the ceiling above.
"—Kaidou!!!"
"And yet..."
The Beast pirates didn't know what to do. Kaidou, after calling Linlin, was being a drunkard unable to converse properly; they were afraid that such may incur Linlin's wrath, and open an abrupt war between two Emperors even before the war against the Grimheart pirates began.
"Answer me, Kaidou!!!"
"GRIMHEART!!!!!" Kaidou barked into the dial.
"Grimheart what?!"
"Oh, poor Joker... even though it's your own fault for being weak!!!"
"Grimheart what?!!!" Linlin seemed to be losing her temper as well.
The Beast pirates gazed at Kaidou without even being able to breathe properly. They were dominated by the fear that they may end up just like their crew member. Just then,
*BOOOOM*
"Kaidou!!!"
One masked female, with a long white-coloured hair and at the tall height of 263cm, came barging into the room.
"P-Prince Yamato!!"
Without stopping, Yamato jumped toward Kaidou with her club above her head.
"Kaidou!!! Today is the day I defeat you!!!" Yamato then slammed his club down onto Kaidou's head,
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
*BOOOOM*
Kaidou, who was heavily drunk, was sent crashing into the floor below.
"Hm?!" Then, Yamato saw the Den Den Mushi that was flying out of Kaidou's grasp and caught it with her free hand.
"Hello, who is this?! I'm Kozuki Oden!!"
"""A-ahhh, she said it!!!!""" The members of the Beast pirates shouted with their eyes popped out and jaws dropped all the way to the floor.
"Kaidou!!! Don't fool with me!!!" Linlin's furious voice was heard from the Den Den Mushi, before her voice took a turn all of a sudden,
"Hold on... you must have lots of sweets there, right?! Mamamamama!!!"
Linlin's attitude changed in a mere second.
"No, we don't!! All those foods should go to where they belong, to the starving people of Wano!!!"
However, Yamato shouted into the dial with a resolve of her own, "Today, Kaidou is going to be defeated by my hands, and I am going to free this land—"
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
"Shut up, you idiotic son of mine!!" Kaidou, who seemed to have sobered up, growled as he instantly appeared above Yamato, before grabbing the latter's head and slamming her into the nearby wall.
Then, regaining the hold of Den Den Mushi, Kaidou spoke to Linlin, "Come to Wano, Linlin! No matter what, we have to take Doflamingo back!! He's the crucial part in building up our force against the whole world!!!"
____________
[Karai Bari, New World]
"Doflamingo... is caught," Law muttered in disbelief, "and he's in Grimheart's grip right now."
Nojiko pointed out, "The whole Donquixote family fell within one night, by Rowan alone."
Nami, who was sweaty from her arduous training, placed her bo-staff down while taking interest in the newspaper that Law was holding onto,
"Hey, what's that picture in the middle?"
Below the shocking information from Dressrosa lied one picture. Rowan was within the image, with his left arm exposed.
"A tattoo? I've never seen Rowan with one before." Nami noted with narrowed eyes.
Just as Nami stated, there was a peculiar tattoo on Rowan's left arm. It read,
"1Y5M, but with 1Y crossed out." Bonney, who was munching onto a chicken leg piece, chuckled, "So he changed the gathering date from a year to five months?"
"We were here since July, so... August, September, October, November, December—s***. This is a little too tight, isn't it?" Nojiko exclaimed with a sigh, stood up.
"He... got Doflamingo with him right now..." Law simply continued to mutter as his eyes were locked onto Doflamingo, who was seen to be slouching on Rowan's right arm.
Law couldn't believe that this was real. He worked for years just to designate a plan that will bring Doflamingo to his fall, yet Rowan achieved his goal in one night without any strategy, by himself.
"Doflamingo—"
"Stop saying Doflamingo over and over, and actually start getting ready to depart!!" Nami, who lifted her bo-staff back up, barked at Law comically.
"Alright, everyone!" Meanwhile, Nojiko turned around and faced everyone within the three crews, "Get ready to sail out!"
Bonney grinned as she took out Rowan's Vivre Card from her hat.
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[Briss, South Blue, One week after; November 25th, 1522]
"What an amazing fruit that you got there..." Teach, who gazed at the mirror right in front of him, said with greed in his eyes.
"I belong to mama and no one else! Don't you even dare to think for a second that mama will let you go if you attack me!" One woman shrieked in a fear as she popped out of the mirror. She was Charlotte Brulee, the 19th child and 8th daughter of Linlin.
"Zehahahaha! No need to worry. I don't plan to go against Big Mom as of the current moment!" Teach, retracting his greedy eyes, grinned as he held out his hand.
"Here, take it! Hmph, I can't believe that it took me this long to travel all the way to your mirror here; why did it have to be me out of all?!!!"
Brulee was the user of the Mirror Mirror fruit. Although there was a range limit on her fruit, she was able to utilize any mirror within her range like a portal, through the medium called 'Mirror World.'
By going through many mirrors, Brulee was able to reach Briss before the Red Hair pirates.
And now, Teach received an item—something that he traded with Kaidou and Linlin.
The conversation that Teach had with Kaidou and Linlin when the latter two were in the Dressrosa, was an unexpected boon for Teach.
What was in Teach's hand right now, was none other than—
<...the Shadow Shadow fruit from Gecko Moria! Zehahaha, I am sure that it is within the hands of Doflamingo!>
—the Shadow Shadow fruit.
You old folks will never find the One Piece without me!!> "Heh... a deal is a deal." Teach, grinning at Brulee dangerously, took the hold of the fruit. Van Augur approached to his left and brought the Den Den Mushi, which was already connected, close to Teach. "The location of the third Road Poneglyph is... Yukiryu." From Den Den Mushi, the angered voice of Kaidou was heard, "What about the fourth one—" "Zehahaha!!" Laughing boisterously, Teach ended the call. Then, turning to Brulee, Teach stated, "Tell Big Mom and Kaidou that if they wish to know the location of the fourth Road Poneglyph, they will have to reveal theirs as well!!" Then, from Teach's right, Shiryu unsheathed the sword. Just as Brulee yelped and returned back to her Mirror World, the mirror broke into pieces, rendering it useless.