บท 68: Chapter 64
"Alright, y'all ready?" Rowan asked, and in response, the crew members all nodded. Grinning, Rowan crouched and placed his hand on top of the deck, "Convergence Blast."
*BOOOOOOOOM* With a shocking burst of force from the bottom of Prominence, the water all around erupted and blasted off into waves. At the same time, the large form of Prominence jumped up high into the sky in a jaw-opening manner.
Carmen was seen to have situated herself within the newly created engine room, which was located at the back of the ship. The room had a door attached to the ceiling, allowing a direct route between the deck and the room; Carmen saw Rowan's signal and began to fuel fire into the engines.
Simultaneously, Dan and Cavendish, who stood on the left and right side of the deck, saw Rowan's signal and pulled down the lever; a pair of giant wings, made with thin alloy, spread out wide on the sides of Prominence!
Carina shook her head seeing this, "Told you that the figurehead should've been something akin to a bird. Seriously, a wolf with wings?"
Rowan grinned, "Doesn't matter. Wolf is the coolest animal in the world. You can't change my opinion there."
The engines heated up and began to propel at an incredible speed. Prominence began to move forward rapidly, while up high in the air!
*BOOM* *BOOM* Even without crouching down, Rowan was seen to use his bounce force occasionally, to prevent the ship from falling. Dan, Cavendish, and Alfred worked together to control the direction of the travel, using their strengths to overcome the resistance. Carina skillfully dictated the direction by continuously checking on the Eternal Pose in her hand, and guided the ship to the safest path possible.
"Holyyy cow!!!" Dan cried out joyously as his grip on the steering wheel tightened, "I can't believe that this is actually working!! Woohoo!!!"
"The flow of the wind... and judging the approximate speed of Prominence based on this... if we can maintain this for ten hours, we will arrive at Alabasta!"
"Ten?" Rowan quirked his eyebrow, "Seriously, only ten? I can do this all day."
"Only a day, captain? Really?" Carmen smirked from below, "I can do this for a week."
Carina sweatdropped watching this scene. Turning back to face the front, Carina returned to her job as the navigator.
"Hm?" While his grip on the rope tightened, Cavendish turned downward and sighted another pirate ship, whose size was even greater than Prominence. It had a figurehead of a white fox and paws attached to the bottom of the ship.
On top of the deck, a man with a large and crooked red nose, black hair that points up like the ears of a fox, and a round body frame, stared at Prominence that blasted off at an incredible speed with his eyes popped out, jaw opened wide, and snot dropping from his nose. He was Foxy the 'Silver Fox,' a pirate with a bounty of 24 million Beli on his head.
Cavendish winked and flashed a smile, before Prominence flew away from Foxy's sight.
"Hamburg, did you see that?!!" Foxy cried in disbelief, "A flying ship!!"
Hamburg nodded with greed flashing in his eyes, "Captain, why don't we take them as our own too?" Immediately after, Foxy hit him on his head, causing him to grab his head in pain.
"Idiot, don't you recognize that jolly roger?!" Foxy shook his head. Staring back to where Prominence disappeared, Foxy said grimly, "It's the Grimheart pirates, the infamous pirate crew that destroyed a whole marine base by themselves, right after their entry to the Grand Line! They abruptly vanished afterward, and...
...Here we are, sighting them all of a sudden!!" Foxy let out a cold sweat on his face as his hands shook slightly. "Listen Hamburg! No matter what, do not oppose the Grimheart pirates!"
Hamburg heeded no mind and held his head in pain, with teary eyes.
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"I see it," Rowan stated as his eyes were fixed to the front, "A huge island, largest I've ever seen. Desert?"
Holding a binocular with her hands, Carina nodded, "That's the Sandy island, where Alabasta kingdom is located within."
Hearing Carina's confirmation, Rowan gave his signal. Carmen stopped fuelling the fire on the engines, and Dan and Cavendish closed the wings back into the ship.
Eventually, Prominence lost the momentum and momentarily stopped in the midair.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* With a succession of bounce forces from underneath, Prominence slowly descended, before softly landing on the sea.
"How much distance did we cross in a span of ten hours?" Carmen said in curiosity as she got herself out of the engine room, looking around at the surrounding sea.
Everyone relaxed as Prominence now sailed through the sea in a calm manner; Dan was seen writing on his journal, Cavendish was feeding Farul, and Alfred was enjoying a cup of tea.
Carina was staring at the Log Pose strapped on her wrist. "Yep, we have entered the 4th path. It seems that Alabasta and the island after NiDaifuku have approximately the same magnitude of magnetic force." Carina commented as the needle of the Log Pose pointed towards the Alabasta, which lied right ahead.
Rowan was sitting down on a chair next to Alfred, enjoying a momentary peace.
All of a sudden, everyone in the ship tensed up, halting from whatever they were doing.
Rowan's calm expression changed into a cold one as he voiced out, "Who are you?" His eyes shifted their gazes, locking onto a human ear that abruptly grew from a wooden wall nearby.
Nothing happened for few seconds, before a mouth grew up next to the ear, speaking in a smooth, feminine voice, "Look who it is. Rowan the 'Grimheart,' an infamous Supernova who disappeared three years ago. Never expected to see you here."
"And?" While speaking, Rowan looked Carina in the eye. She nodded with a light smile on her face, before turning her head towards the particular direction, where a faint figure of a turtle could be seen.
"I warn you; go back and do not approach any further," The mouth said in a stern voice, "this island is a territory belonging to one of the Seven Warlords, Sir Crocodile. Are you willing to wage a war against him?"
"Sir Crocodile?" Rowan said with a tilt of his head, faking obliviousness, "Carmen, can you cook a crocodile? I don't think we ever tried it before."
Carmen deadpanned to Rowan, "I do not support cannibalism."
"Oh come on, you are supposed to say something cool there, like 'of course captain.'" Rowan complained, losing his seriousness.
The mouth remained silent, before speaking out once more, "I will consider that as no then. Too bad-" It couldn't finish the word, as Carina abruptly flashed away from her spot, before returning with a bewildered woman in contact with her.
Her delicate face consisted of medium-length black hair and blue eyes, which were opened wide from a shock. She was slightly taller than Carina, who too grew during the past three years.
Her expression becoming stoic, the woman immediately stepped back with her arms crossed. Her eyes were narrowed, cautiously observing her surrounding.
"Anyone knows her?" Rowan asked his crew mates.
"Indeed, I have heard of her before." Alfred calmly spoke, "Nico Robin, the 'Devil Child,' I remember due to a fact that an eight-year-old child was wanted with a high amount of bounty on her head."
"Eight?" Rowan muttered as his eyes narrowed; a skilled individual who led a life of piracy for a long amount of time. She had to be viewed with caution, for she may have some underhanded tactics in her hands. However, in contrast to his thought...
Robin was looking from side to side, devising her way out safely—before she was suddenly ambushed by an incredible speed of Cavendish, who instantly appeared next to her and put on the Seastone cuff before she could resist. Feeling the power leaving her, she helplessly fell on the spot.
"Nice one Cavendish." Rowan complimented Cavendish as he stood up. 'Well, never mind. That was easy.'
Robin felt dread as she saw Rowan casually walking up towards her; there was nothing she could do with the Seastone cuff on her. Her eyes shifted to Carina, who was intently staring at Rowan and her with squinted eyes, comically.
"Ehh..." Standing in front of Robin, Rowan placed a hand on his chin, seemingly in thought, while his other hand pulled out a bullet from his pocket and flicked it.
*BOOM* With a burst of force, the bullet propelled to two animals, Mr.13 and Miss Friday, who were standing on top of the sailing mast of Prominence, before piercing through them swiftly. With a yelp of pain, they powerlessly fell into the water, while the bullet flew around for some time, getting rid of the blood it was encased within, and returned on top of Rowan's hand, who placed it back into his pocket.
"Let's just put her in our spare room for now. We'll interrogate her later." Rowan said with his eyes on the visible Sandy island in the sight, ignoring Robin, who looked shocked by the display of Rowan's power.
Carina nodded and quickly appeared next to Robin. Grabbing her arm, they flashed away, before Carina immediately returned without Robin.
"Finally, an actual adventure after three years of non-stop training!!" Dan shouted excitedly as his muscles twitched in correspondence. His writing on the already-open journal quickened, containing the information regarding the view of Alabasta.
Cavendish cried comical tears, "I've suffered too long under stoic people who don't appreciate my handsomeness... it's time to reap what I deserve!!"
"Alabasta..." Carmen smiled in anticipation, "New recipes, this is going to be flamboyant."
"Lower the anchor!" With Prominence stopped next to the deserted shore, Rowan grinned as he commanded. Standing next to the button, Rowan pressed it without any hesitation. At the next moment, a sharp metal frame emerged from the side of the ship, below where the wings sprouted from, before piercing into the vertical plane of the elevated ground next to Prominence.
"Alabasta, one of the twenty original kingdoms..." Carina muttered with a complicated look on her face, "What will I be seeing? A country led by a great king, or same as any other—one full of corruption and violence?"
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In a dark room, a huge man was seen sitting with a cigar bitten with his teeth. In front of him lied Den Den Mushi. Sitting on his spot, the man patiently waited...
and waited...
and waited some more, but he still did not receive any call.
"Purururu, purururu," Finally, Den Den Mushi cried its iconic ringtone, signaling for a call. The man grabbed the dial and brought it close to his face, only to realize that the call wasn't from the ones he has been expecting it from.
"Sir Crocodile," A stern masculine voice spoke out, "the marines managed to sight a flying ship, which is identified to belong to the Grimheart pirates. It is suspected that the ship's destination is Alabasta. Here is your order: arrest them, or in a worst-case scenario, kill them."
The man, now identified as Crocodile, narrowed his eyes in a realization that his informants may have already encountered the Grimheart pirates, "Be patient. Don't send any marine force here. I will handle this by myself."
Before the other one could speak any further, Crocodile hanged up the call.
He tapped his fingers on the table as he went into deep thought, "Operation Utopia is reaching near its end, and a sudden interruption. The Grimheart pirates, well-known for their abnormal strengths... a good excuse to mobilize without a suspicion."
He picked up his Den Den Mushi once again, making a call himself this time.
"Mr.3 here." A shrewd-sounding voice spoke out.
"I won't speak twice." Crocodile said with a cold tone, "Mr.3, arrange for a return of all the agents of Baroque Works to Rainbase, as soon as possible."
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