There was no shortage of troublesome matters in the Holy Land. Besides those that required Rowen's personal approval, there were also countless trivial affairs waiting to be handled.
Fortunately, Rowen temporarily had both Kong's men and Rob Lucci's subordinates available to delegate the workload. Once everything was arranged, he finally found a moment to breathe.
"Hey, Koby…"
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Koby had already been waiting for quite some time. Hearing Rowen's voice, he spoke urgently, his tone filled with anxiety.
"Master! Something big has happened!"
Rowen frowned, his expression darkening. "If you're calling to tell me that Lirisk escaped… heh." The unspoken threat in his tone said everything that needed to be said.
Koby shivered, shaking his head rapidly. "No, sir! It's about Shanks!"
"Oh? Interesting."
The news of the Holy Land's incident had yet to be made public. Everything had just happened, Rowen had only just taken control of power. Other than a few ambitious Allied Kingdom members who had spies stationed in the Holy Land and Sabaody, no one else should know anything yet.
So how had Shanks already caught wind of it?
That made Rowen suspicious, there was definitely something going on here. After a moment of silence, he asked in a calm but cold tone: "What's the situation?"
Koby's voice was tense and hurried: "Vice Admiral Dante just reported, Shanks, on behalf of the Red-Haired Pirates, has accepted a challenge from the Straw Hat Pirates! Both sides will be sending representatives to duel a month from now… Master, Nami will die!"
Rowen: "..."
He could literally feel a few crows flying over his head, cawing mockingly as they passed.
"Idiot… idiot…"
Grinding his teeth, Rowen forced the words out between clenched jaws: "That's… the big deal you're talking about?!"
"Uh…"
Koby froze, unable to understand why his teacher was angry. He knew that worrying over a pirate, especially Nami, was inappropriate for a Marine. But ignoring it entirely? That was impossible for him.
So he cautiously tried to explain himself. "It's… it's not a small matter, right? I mean, it's the Red-Haired Pirates! The Straw Hats can't possibly be their match…"
"None of your damn business!!" Rowen roared furiously.
Outside, the patrolling soldiers froze, trembling in terror at the sound of his outburst.
"You've got way too much free time, haven't you?!"
"I'm giving you 36 hours to get back here! If you can't make it in time, then pack up and get your ass back to East Blue!"
To Koby, who had sworn to one day bring Nami back, being sent back to East Blue was the most severe punishment imaginable.
He wanted to protest, to explain himself, but the thought of Rowen's ruthless ways silenced him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he saluted firmly and shouted:
"Yes, sir!!"
…
After hanging up, Koby stumbled out of the cabin, his mind blank and heart heavy.
Why… why was Master so cold and heartless? Did I miss something important?
A senior officer aboard the Qilin, seeing Koby's dejected look, patted him on the shoulder and sighed. "Got yelled at again? Don't take it too hard, kid. I told you before, Lord Soryu (Azure Dragon) might treat us kindly, but he has no mercy for pirates. You really shouldn't have called him about this."
"No… Master must have had his reasons. I'm just too stupid to understand them." Koby wiped his eyes, tears streaming down his face. "But… he said we have 36 hours to get back."
The deck went silent.
"T–Thirty-six hours?" The officer who spoke twitched at the corner of his mouth, unsure if he'd heard correctly.
"Yeah." Koby nodded earnestly.
"..."
With a heavy sigh, the officer's expression crumpled. Then, suddenly, he roared:
"All hands on deck, emergency speed! Move it!!"
Covering three days' worth of travel in just thirty-six hours, even for Rowen's flagship, the Qilin, that was a death march of an order.
The next morning…
As the Pluton, heading toward the Red Line, cruised at full speed, Akainu's fleet suddenly spotted a blur shooting past them. It was none other than the Qilin, Rowen's flagship, cutting through the waves like a rabid beast, whooshing past Pluton's massive hull in seconds!
Akainu didn't even have time to bark an order or show off his Fleet Admiral authority before the entire Qilin crew vanished over the horizon.
"..."
The group stared at each other in awkward silence. Finally, Masked Zero hesitantly asked: "Could something have happened at the Holy Land? Maybe they're rushing back because of that?"
Bald Zero shot him an irritated glance. "If there's something that urgent, why would they need to rush back and not us?"
Then, turning to another officer, he barked: "Vice Admiral Momousagi, can we push Pluton's speed any higher?"
Momousagi shrugged helplessly. "No way. Pluton's too massive. This is already the fastest it can go…" It was already moving three times faster than an ordinary battleship. What more could they ask for?
"Besides, this is the Qilin we're talking about! Lord Soryu (Azure Dragon)'s flagship, rebuilt with no expense spared and modified in every conceivable way!" Momousagi sighed, rubbing her forehead. "According to Vegapunk, the Qilin's final attack protocol is to fully unleash its speed, essentially turning itself into a giant cannonball and ramming the enemy head-on for mutual destruction."
Everyone: "..."
Turning itself into a cannonball?
…Yeah. That was so typically Rowen.
The group stared speechlessly as the Qilin disappeared into the distance, then cautiously glanced at Akainu's thunderous expression.
With an Admiral like that around, it's a miracle the Marines have managed to survive these past few years! But now that he's become the highest authority in the Holy Land…
Bald Zero's eyes suddenly widened in horror.
Damn it. From now on, nobody is going to have it easy!
In the Holy Land, Rowen woke up later than usual that day. On one hand, he'd spent the entire night on edge, worried that Im might change their mind and decide to kill him in his sleep, and on the other hand, the Holy Land was still in chaos, filled with noise and confusion. Getting a good night's rest was impossible.
After breakfast, Rowen recalled what Koby had told him yesterday. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"So… Shanks accepted the Straw Hats' challenge? Interesting."
Koby had only seen the overwhelming difference in strength between the two sides and feared for Nami's safety. But Rowen saw something much deeper in Shanks' actions.
In simple terms, this was called "building momentum." He was doing it for Monkey D. Luffy.
Because of Rowen's earlier interference with fate, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet never came into being. At this point, the Straw Hat Crew was still just a small-time group of misfits, three cats and two kittens, far from the "center of the new age" they were meant to be in the original timeline.
Never underestimate the influence of a Yonko.
Even though the seas now held only two of them, Kaido and Rowen, one couldn't forget that figures like "Moonlight" Moria, "Sand Crocodile" Crocodile, and the former "Assassination King" Jino were all renowned across the seas simply because they had once lost to a Yonko. That was enough to make them "great men."
In fact, the first two, Moria and Crocodile, were recognized by the World Government precisely for that reputation, and were appointed as Warlords of the Sea, gaining legal plundering rights.
So yes, the Yonkos truly are the backbone of the pirate world.
Rowen's own power had already reached a point where people couldn't even fathom challenging him. The gap was too vast; there weren't even enough people left to be jealous of him.
But that didn't mean the Yonkos' influence had disappeared. On the contrary, with Shanks and Kaido still active, the sea was now more united, and the presence of the "Thunder God" himself had made the Marine's dominance absolute. That, in turn, only made the Yonkos' legends burn brighter.
It wasn't hard to imagine: after clashing with a Yonko, no matter who won or lost, the Straw Hat Pirates would shed their "rookie" identity in the New World and rise as one of the most famous pirate crews in existence.
As for Koby's worries about Nami's safety…
Rowen rubbed his temples helplessly. "Shanks isn't the kind of man who kills without reason. He's not raising poison worms in a jar, he'll definitely hold back."
Then, his expression darkened slightly.
"But… Shanks has never been the ambitious type. This move doesn't fit his personality. Since this happened before I seized power… does that mean he's had a change of heart?"
Rowen frowned in deep thought.
"Always causing me trouble…"
After dealing with the Sea Kings, his next challenge would be far greater, Im, the unfathomable sovereign of the world, the mysterious weapon Uranus, and the delicate balance with the Revolutionary Army. Headaches upon headaches. And now, Shanks had to go and complicate things further.
Shua!
With a wave of his hand, an antique wooden box appeared before him. This was something Rosa, the former Queen, had brought him not long after Garp's death, Garp's personal keepsake.
Rowen glared at the box, his expression hardening.
"Don't test me… or I'll just publish the coordinates of the One Piece and ruin the game for everyone!"
It was from this very item that Rowen had come to understand two things.
First: The One Piece wasn't nearly as mysterious as people believed. Plenty of people already knew its location, it was practically a tourist landmark. The reason it became a legendary symbol of the "Pirate King" was because, much like the old Yonko balance, collecting all four Road Poneglyphs was nearly impossible. It was a title of victory and glory, not just discovery. To carve a bloody path through that chaos and reach Laugh Tale, that was what made one worthy of being called Pirate King.
Second: One of those red stones wasn't something pirates could ever hope to find. Rowen suspected its location, most likely within the Room of Flowers itself, guarded personally by Im. That's why Roger had left behind additional clues pointing the way. The old bastard had gathered all the hints and left behind this sea map.
Knock, knock, knock!
A knock came at the door. Rowen quickly put the box away and frowned.
"What is it?"
"Lord Soryu (Azure Dragon), Orrick has awakened."
The messenger was Rob Lucci. He had clung to Rowen's leg for dear life ever since that night, standing guard over Orrick's cell despite his severe injuries, and now rushing here in person to deliver the news.
Rowen had been considering granting him some authority anyway. After all, Bald Zero had been looking at him with disdain for a long time, Rowen didn't know the reason, but so what?
"So what if I'm petty?"
Thinking of his new position, Rowen let out a small chuckle, feeling surprisingly good about himself.
"Got it. I'll head there shortly."
"Yes, sir!"
(End of Chapter)
This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395