บท 63: Chapter 59

A day has ended. With all members of both pirate crew now fully awake and sober, they went into their respective ships for a proper rest.

Now, as the darkness fully consumed the surrounding, Rowan was seen sitting on the crow's nest, which was located high up within Prominence, with his eyes closed.

'Ability to feel a presence.' Rowan thought as he felt the sensation of the world around him.

The wind blowing at varying paces. The sounds of trees and plants rustling against the wind. The sounds of waves crashing against a shore. But... that was about it. He had no idea how to train for this so-called Observation Haki.

Worse, he was starting to feel itchy on his right arm.

'No. Get rid of such thoughts. Uhh, focus, concentrate, sage mode- I can't hold it!' Rowan moved his arm and immediately scratched his right arm in satisfaction, with a relieved smile forming on his face. Opening his eyes, Rowan sighed in frustration.

'Willpower? Convert it into spiritual energy to strengthen oneself? Sounds pretty similar to Reiryoku from Bleach, but I am alive, not dead.' Rowan thought while staring at the bright full moon atop the island. 'And Conquerer's Haki was it? Alfred said that he saw others lose their consciousness? Pressure? I am awfully suspicious that it may be something like Reiatsu...'

Truth to be told, Rowan began his life in anime by watching Naruto and Bleach when he was quite young. The issue was, the stories went south to an extent where Rowan couldn't afford to watch any further. He tried Toriko as well, but the anime was discontinued. Afterward, he vowed to never watch long animes ever again, and stick with relatively shorter ones instead.

Even aside from that, he barely remembers anything about his past life now. After all, eighteen years have passed since his arrival in this new world. Everything that he experienced here can be considered as extraordinary in his previous life; he used to wonder if he was dreaming until his family got brutally murdered.

'Physical prowess, devil fruit power, various techniques, and Haki.' Rowan looked at his hand, which was now hardened from many fights and contained numerous scars. 'How did this all begin?'

His family got murdered, and he decided to take revenge against Arlong. Now that he thinks about it, a decision to kill Arlong with just Saitama's training regime seemed dumb. 'In the end, the reason I'm still alive and healthy here is due to luck.'

He wasn't given any cheats whatsoever, but he wasn't born normal either. The heritage of Youchiha and rapid increase in strength with simple exercises. Without those, he wouldn't have been able to fight against Arlong.

'And afterward, my assault against Nezumi.' This was the crucial moment that gave him the bounty of 10 million Beli. 'Logically speaking, 10 million doesn't sound high enough for someone who defeated Arlong. Why 10 million? Because they understood that there were valid reasons behind those murders?'

For four years of living within a vengeance, Rowan didn't know what to do after he set sail. He wanted to return to his life before the death of his family and seek a way to live peacefully once again.

However, he then stumbled upon the Kneel pirates, followed by the devious scheme of Krieg.

'During then, my bounty poster only depicted my back. Most don't even recognize me, and if I didn't intervene, I might have achieved my goal.' Yet he decided to intervene. He couldn't afford to see the repetition of Cocoyasi village, and up to this day, he didn't regret it.

The problem was what happened before and after his clash against Krieg. First of all, how were so many pirates convinced by the Kneel pirates? A good human being joining under Krieg doesn't sound right. He suspects that one individual may have possessed a special ability related to mind manipulation, but he will never find out.

And after, forming a grand fleet full of pirates... that was the worst move Rowan ever made. He thought that the marines would appreciate his effort to neutralize the East Blue, but they were mostly corrupt. The seemingly nice marines were sharpening their knife, waiting for a perfect chance. Even worse, his action attracted the attention of the World Government, who never bothers to look at the sea as weak as the East Blue.

If not for Carina's help and Smoker roaming outside of the Logue town, he would've died, and it made total sense. He was literally asking to be killed.

'Mad Treasure.' Rowan's eyes hardened as he recalled the name of his enemy, who entered the Grand Line before from him. 'Additionally, Baten.' Those two individuals were the ones that defeated him.

'I can't lose my crew as I did with Rambo and the others, ever again.' To survive, to protect, and perhaps, to unveil the secret behind his heritage. Those three motives were what drove Rowan forward. 'That's why I must become the strongest.'

"And that's why I can't allow you to pass." Rowan jumped down from the Crow's Nest and landed on the sand, confronting the huge number of pirates sneakily walking from the forest.

One pirate's eyes widened, "We've been found-"

Before he could finish, Rowan blurred from his spot and appeared in front of the pirate, holding his index on his lips with a cold expression on his face.

"Shh, shut up, will you. My crew is sleeping." Rowan said in a cold tone. Right when he finished, the pirate in front of Rowan fell with a hole size of a fist on his chest.

The other pirate members saw the scene, horrified. They didn't even see when Rowan landed his attack, or how he managed to close the distance in an instant moment!

"R-Rowan the Grim...heart..." Another pirate muttered, collapsing on the ground due to immense fear.

Within the still darkness, Rowan's eyes gleamed in crimson under the moonlight. Reaching to his pocket, Rowan flicked up four bullets toward the air.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* A series of small booming noises were heard as the bullets rapidly gained speed, bouncing up and down in midair.

"Captain Crantin... how are we supposed to win against this monster?" Someone muttered in despair.

At the next moment, the bullets abruptly propelled from their positions, and one pierced through the nearest pirate.

*Puk* A sickening noise was heard as the said pirate fell down with a bleeding hole on his forehead.

The bullets chaotically pierced through the pirates at a blinding pace. The grunting sounds and small booming noises were heard everywhere around where Rowan was standing. Eventually, the whole area was covered by the dead pirates, as the trees and grounds were painted with blood.

Surprisingly, no blood landed on Rowan, who bounced it off from his body.

Rowan then shifted his gaze to the obese and huge woman holding a mace, who was frozen in shock as her eyes contained disbelief.

"H-how is this possible..." Gertrude shakily opened her mouth, as she watched Rowan silently walking towards her with his crimson eyes flashing dangerously.

Out of desperation, Gertrude lifted up her huge mace, in which its total size amounts up to four-meter, up high in the air, about to slam it down onto Rowan.

"RA-" Her cry was interrupted by Rowan, who appeared in front of her and punched her in the face, while easily grabbing her large mace with just one of his hands. He gently placed the weapon down on the ground.

Immediately after, Rowan appeared under the falling Gertrude, lifting her without any trouble and lightly placing her down.

Gertrude looked at Rowan pleadingly, spilling out the desperate tears from her eyes. "I-I am sorry. Please, spare me-"

*Crunch* A sound of bone-crushing was heard as Rowan stomped on Gertrude's neck, effortlessly ending her life.

Now standing, void of any emotion and the crimson glow from his eyes fading, Rowan looked at his hands, which were seemingly covered in blood.

In the past, he had a similar experience. After he killed over a thousand of Rowly and his fleet, he felt a pang of guilt and disgust creeping into his mind. But now?

He felt nothing. What was the point of being a saint who spares one's enemies? The World Government is manipulative, the Marines are corrupt, and the Pirates are evil. Call him biased, but this is who he is now. No longer the average Rowan he once used to be, but Rowan the 'Grimheart,' a notorious pirate who's feared by many.

"Did you really think we were asleep?" All of a sudden, Carina's voice was heard from behind him, causing him to jolt up and turn back.

All of them were there, Carina, Carmen, Dan, Cavendish, Alfred, and even Farul.

"I sensed the enemies approaching ages ago, captain Rowan." Alfred gently said with a calm expression.

"Uhh, you were there the whole time?" Rowan scratched his head in embarrassment, to which Cavendish snorted.

"Why of course! It was so loud that I was awoken from my fabulous dream!" Crossing his arms, Cavendish exclaimed with a grin.

Dan shrugged. He used to be repulsed by the sight of brutal murders but felt nothing now. "Well, we were going to help you, but they were too weak to pose any threat."

"And you took them out all by yourself, unfair!!" Carina pouted, "It was a perfect chance to practice my new ability in a fight, you know!!"

"Meanwhile," Carmen turned her head towards the silent ship belonging to the Fallen Monk pirates, Hanjomaru, "it seems that they are sleeping without any awareness. How amazing."

Rowan stood there, dumbfounded, before breaking out a burst of sudden laughter, "Hahahaha!!!"

The rest of the crew looked confused.

"Rowan, are you okay?" Carina said with a mix of concern and confusion.

'Forget about protecting them. They are potent enough to protect themselves after all.' Rowan thought as his laugh continued, further creeping out his crew.

______________

"What happened?" Urouge and his crew found their eyes widened as they sighted a scene where over two hundred pirates were lying in a pool of blood, dead.

While grinning, Urouge turned his head to Alfred, who was sitting on the chair atop the deck of Prominence. His eyes were full of inquiry.

"Hey Alfred!! Do you know what happened-"

"Shh," Urouge was interrupted by Alfred holding his index in front of his lips, with a light smile on his face, "please tone down, you might wake them up."