บท 155: Chapter 146
[In the Middle of the Sea; August 11th, 1522]
"9 hours passed." Carina stated while staring at the watch that was strapped along with the Log Pose, "Approximately 4 more to go."
The weather was quite peculiar.
*SPLASH*
From the clouds high above, the clusters of ice fell into the ocean. 'Hail' was an inadequate word to describe them, for their sizes were simply too big.
Prominence, which was flying in the air, had the shadow of one huge ice cluster enveloping it whole.
Carmen, having noticed such, raised her hand up,
"Heat Burst."
*TSSSSSSS*
The ice cluster instantly melted without any resistance. By the time it reached Prominence, it was naught but a pleasant mist that enlightened everyone's mood.
"New World surely is bizarre." Rowan commented with a baseball-sized ball in his hand.
*BOOOOM*
Then, the ball was sent rocketing toward a distance ice cluster, before,
*BOOOOOOOOM*
the whole ice cluster exploded into pieces and fell to the ocean helplessly.
Surprisingly enough, the seemingly-soft ball was still intact.
*BoomBoomBoom*
At a rapid pace, it returned from the sky back to Rowan's grip.
'Hm... yep, feels incomplete.' Rowan's ability to bounce was temporary and rough. Although it can be applied in many ways, to those who are not brilliant, possessing the ability of Bounce Bounce fruit will be nothing but a simple augmentation in one's attacks—which may even serve as a double-edged sword by making the sharp attacks blunt.
His battle against Bullet was near, and there was no way that he was going to underestimate the latter's strength. Prior to the fight, Rowan had to become more familiar with his abilities.
'Now, let's recap what I developed for the past month.'
First, the general Armament Haki: Hardening, followed by the emission. Then,
'Armament Haki: Manipulation.'
Rowan's right eye shifted into a golden-colour as the golden emission of the Armament Haki began to morph according to his will.
The golden emission around Rowan's right arm thickened to an astonishing size.
And finally, it was time to take a step forward.
'Conqueror's Haki: Infusion.'
Rowan's enveloped right fist began to crackle in black lightning. However, this was just the beginning, as Rowan's left eye began to turn into a rich red in colour.
'Conqueror's Haki: Manifestation.'
The golden emission on Rowan's right fist was encased by a deep and violent black that crackled with immense potency.
*PAZZZZZZZ*
As the crew members watched the scene with anticipation, Rowan took a deep breath in.
Then, with calm eyes, Rowan raised his Haki-encased right fist, before clenching it tight,
'Spread.'
The potent armour of Haki around his right fist began to spread throughout his whole body. In matter of seconds, Rowan was fully enveloped by the incredible manifestation of Conqueror's Haki, as well as the emission of Armament Haki underneath.
"...Whoa, watch out there." Seeing that Robin has unconsciously swayed from side to side, Urouge quickly came to the former's aid.
"Heh, that's pretty cool, captain." Dan grinned while wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Rowan inspected his arms and found that they were entirely covered by the layer of Haki.
'Manifestation. Conqueror's Haki itself gains a physical property, and thus, can serve as armour. Also, thanks to the manipulation of Armament Haki underneath,'
The layers of Haki on Rowan's right arm morphed into a sharp needle-like shape,
'I can freely morph its shape.'
Rowan wondered if this could be considered as a mere 'Haki' anymore. After all, this has gone way beyond what one's 'will' was capable of, even in the standard of One Piece world.
"I suppose I'll call this, uh..."
Each and every crew member expressed their thought on this matter,
"Night Shade!" From Carina,
"Haki Armour." From Carmen,
"Black Lightning Armour." From Dan,
"Dark Lord Emergence!!" From Cavendish,
"Name isn't a necessity." From Alfred,
"N-n-neigh!" From Farul,
"Netherworld Knight, fufu..." From Robin,
"Last Resort: Moksha!!" And from Urouge.
Rowan, not liking any of the suggestions, lit up with an idea,
"Grimlock!"
"""That's cringe."""
"Kek..." Rowan fell comically, but eventually stood back up, "Whatever, I don't care!"
Calming himself down, Rowan began to process the next step.
'Now...' Rowan began to operate Haki within his body as well, prior to utilizing his already-developed technique,
*BA-BUMP*
"Grimheart."
"""Cringe."""
"I said, I don't care!! Besides, why didn't you say that before, huh?!"
"Because we were in a war, captain." Carmen answered the question with a smirk.
Anyway, now, both the interior and exterior of Rowan's body were reinforced to the maximum. Shaking his head with a sigh, Rowan turned his attention back to his current state.
'In this state... around 12 minutes. That's how long I can maintain.' Rowan thought astutely, feeling that a very high amount of Haki was constantly sipping out of his reserve at every second, 'Also got to think of the drawback of Grimheart. These techniques... should only be used at urgent moments. Way too inefficient.'
Nonetheless, it was time to try out his newfound strength.
"Carina, keep sailing." Rowan, with his face hidden behind the concentrated mass of black lightning, stated as he crouched his body down slightly.
Then, he was gone.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Subsequently, all the ice clusters that were falling from the sky, disappeared along with the shocking explosions that ensued simultaneously.
"...Day eleven." Dan, after staring at Rowan who was standing in midst of the air at some distance away, began to write down on the journal, "Captain went berserk. I think we annoyed him out a little."
"Just don't exhaust yourself, Rowan!" Carina simply waved toward Rowan, free of any concern.
In the sky, Rowan, still operating both 'Grimheart' and 'Grimlock' simultaneously, rolled his right shoulder impassively before throwing the punch upward to the sky,
"Juggernaut Blast."
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
The whole layer of clouds was blasted and ripped apart. The simple punch where Rowan only utilized the convergence of the bounce forces and nothing more, was enough to...
—split open the sky.
"Haa..." Stopping Grimheart and Grimlock from tiring him any further, Rowan placed his hand on his chin in a thoughtful manner, as the layers of Haki have disappeared.
'I can keep Grimheart along for around an hour. As for Grimlock, 30 minutes or so. When used together, 12 minutes.' Rowan organized the thought while beginning to take his stroll back to the quickly-flying Prominence,
'Then, there is the use of my fruit ability. Along with Grimheart, I can use Terraforming, the technique beyond what my body is able to handle under normal circumstances, 3 times. Use of Grimlock doesn't necessarily toughen my body from inside, so even with its use, 3 times is still the max.'
However, Rowan could be sure of one thing.
'For that 12 minutes at least, I am stronger than Garp by quite a margin.'
Now, landing back on the deck of the Prominence, Rowan clapped his hands together to gain the attention of his crew members.
"The weather's pretty nice now, isn't it?"
Indeed, there now existed nothing but a pleasant sun that shone above them, with the calm sea rustling from beneath. The thick layer of clouds that kept spitting out the ice clusters were nowhere to be seen, due to Rowan's previous technique.
Urouge asked warily, "Are you angry, captain?"
Rowan shrugged, "Forget about that. Do you really believe that I'm petty enough to hold for something like that?"
Cavendish slowly nodded, "Yeah."
Ignoring Cavendish's word with a forced smile, Rowan continued, "Anyway, why don't we take it slow, instead of going straight to the Foodvalten? Why must we act just as Bullet intended? Besides, don't you think that we've been rushing too much since Nidaifuku, flying here and there?"
*BAM*
Smacking Cavendish's back and knocking him down to the floor, Dan smiled with a visible sweat, "That's a good point, captain."
"Therefore, bring Prominence down to the sea. Let's try sailing as every other pirate does." Rowan stated with a hint of excitement before asking Alfred, "After all, Prominence did regain her ability to sail at sea, didn't she?"
"Yes. By applying the insights behind the 'coating' procedure, monsieur Dan, monsieur Urouge, and I managed to develop an 'air bed' that can be inflated to allow our sail." Alfred replied with a nod, "She can travel by sea once again."
"Hehe, Prominence has become even more complicated." Carina chuckled in amusement, "Wolf figurehead, bird wings, boosters, snail-like dials, and now, the air bed made out of coating solution."
Robin muttered with narrowed eyes, "...A chimera?"
Rowan grinned in agreement, "That's a good one."
<Hey!!!>
Cavendish was still down on the floor, now with a smoking bump on the back of his head.
_____________
[Few hours later]
"Dos Fleur." Robin, while facing off against Alfred, grew twelve arms around her left arm. Then, those arms turned black due to the use of Armament Haki.
"Armament Haki along with the high mastery over the devil fruit ability... superb, mademoiselle Robin." Alfred stated with interest as his arms turned black in colour as well.
*CLANG*
Robin's arm and Alfred's arm slammed into one another, generating a metallic clanging sound.
"However, it is only the Armament Haki that you managed to awake, it seems." Alfred said as he began to weave around, dodging all the other arms that Robin shot out toward him.
The atmosphere within Prominence was a pleasant and calming one. One wouldn't believe that after some time, they will be engaging in a war against an infamous pirate.
"100, 110, 120..." Dan, on the other hand, was seen to be expelling an extreme voltage of electricity out of his hand for testing purpose, "...130, 140...! Phew, 140 Million Volt! New maximum reached, hooray."
At some distance away, Rowan was sitting by with Urouge, listening to the latter's explanation.
"Pain Pain fruit is quite weird. Either by getting hurt or absorbing pain from others, I accumulate the value named 'pain,' which I am able to use in two ways. First, convert it into a temporary boost to my physical strength. Second, transfer such pain to an enemy upon contact, causing them to feel that pain."
"The true definition of 'what doesn't kill me makes me strong.'" Rowan remarked.
"Sahaha, that's right! Additionally, I can be considered the painkiller of the crew! Big help for Dan over there!" Urouge laughed, "However, the pain is strictly physical. Mental distress doesn't count as pain to my ability, and I am unable to control it."
"I see."
As for Carmen, she was demonstrating her ability to Carina.
"Look. I've only managed to do this today, so thought I might as well show it to you." Carmen was holding up a knife by its hilt, and its blade was lit up on the flame.
"...It isn't melting." Carina noted with an interest.
"A new level of mastery over my power." Carmen transferred the flame from the knife to the paper that was sitting nearby. Contrary to how the flame usually behaves, the paper didn't turn into ashes, and the flame on top of it simply burned gently.
"As long as I wish for no harm, the flame shall destroy nothing." Carmen stated while lifting up the paper, "However, if I command to do so—"
At the next moment, the whole paper was engulfed by a potent flame and disappeared without a trace.
"—it will."
"Oh, wow." Carina clapped with a sense of amazement, "That's pretty cool. Will come in handy at a party!"
Carmen barked with a tickmark on her forehead, "Don't take this as a joke, will you?!!"
"Hehe, just kidding." Carina smiled cheekily, "Then let me show you something as well."
"What is it?"
Carina's smile turned into a mocking one as she coated her left arm with Armament Haki,
"Haki~!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!" Carmen screamed hysterically before lashing out against Carina, "Come here, you little prick!!"
And finally, up in the sky, Cavendish was riding on top of Farul.
"Guahahaha!!! Now this is life, right Farul?"
"Neigh~!!"
Prominence was sailing at an extremely slow speed, and thanks to Rowan's domineering presence, the usually fearless sea creatures didn't even dare to approach them. Such was the convenient part of possessing the Conqueror's Haki.
"We are barely moving at all. At this speed..." Carina gazed at the Log Pose on her wrist while evading Carmen with ease, "...Hehe, it's going to take around three weeks or so."
What if Bullet ended up leaving?
<Bullet isn't the type to leave. Trust me.>
That was Rowan's answer back then, and the Grimheart pirates trusted it without a doubt.
____________
[Foodvalten, two weeks after; August 25th, 1522]
"...Did they run away?" Bullet muttered with an evident annoyance, "According to the information, they left Risky Red already, and their ship is known to travel at a very fast pace. Yet... why are you still not here, Grimheart?!"
The short clash in the Impel Down in the past—Bullet still remembered the occasion. There, he could feel just how potent Rowan's Haki was, and after having been imprisoned for 21 years, Bullet wanted a thrilling battle that will quench his thirst for blood.
"Ha... no matter." Bullet stated as he stood up from the rock that he was sitting on, "I've been waiting for 21 years. For a time as short as this... I have no qualms in waiting for a little more."
Within the surrounding, there existed nothing but ruination. It was incredulous to think that this island used to be under Whitebeard's protection in the past.
From this scenery, Bullet walked out... searching for food.
"...Perhaps I shouldn't have destroyed everything in sight."
Bullet's stomach growled as his face darkened.
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