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"It's the Soryu (Azure Dragon)! Why is he here?! Quick, inform the General!" The nearby samurai felt their hearts suddenly race as they shouted in panic.
The name of Marine's Soryu (Azure Dragon) Rowen was known even in Wano Country. Not to mention that Kaido, an ally of Kurozumi Orochi, had lost an arm due to Rowen, making it impossible for these samurai not to recognize him.
"What a pain." Rowen turned his gaze quietly, frowning slightly, then said to Luffy: "I'll deal with you later."
"Need a hand?" Just then, Zoro stepped forward, tying his headband with a fierce glint in his eyes.
Their goal had originally been just to break through the defenses, but upon seeing Rowen, Zoro clearly felt the urge to challenge him.
To that, Rowen sighed helplessly.
"I said it's a pain. Don't you understand human speech? If you want to challenge me, wait until you can even see how I move."
Without waiting for Zoro to reply, Rowen stomped the ground and vanished into a black blur, disappearing into thin air.
No, not disappeared, his speed was just too fast for the eye to follow, like the spinning blades of a fan, effortlessly slicing through anything.
Shlick! Shlick! Shlick! Shlick!
"Thunderbolt Fury!"
Rowen's voice echoed from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint his location.
Without a weapon, he simply raised his hand and used it like a blade. Almost simultaneously, samurai stationed across the field, up to over ten meters apart, spurted blood from their necks and collapsed in perfect unison.
"Run! Qui, ARGH!"
One samurai standing farther back shouted loudly, trying to give orders. But the moment Rowen locked onto him, when the wind gusted past, he froze on the spot.
Crunch…
A second later, the sound of bones cracking echoed, causing teeth to ache just hearing it. His entire frame twisted grotesquely and then collapsed into a heap of mangled flesh on the ground, no longer breathing.
Shuā!
Three seconds later, Rowen reappeared in front of the four of them, calm and composed, breathing naturally, as if nothing had happened.
If not for the blood dripping from his fingertips, one might really think none of it was his doing.
Gulp…
This wasn't the first time Luffy had seen Rowen fight. However, he still swallowed nervously.
"S-So strong!"
To wipe out an entire coast full of enemies in mere seconds, using nothing but raw speed and strength, this kind of power was beyond anything he could even imagine.
"Hey, green seaweed-head, did you see anything?" Sanji lit a cigarette silently, stepping up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Zoro. His expression was heavy, and his voice carried undeniable tension.
"I… didn't see anything at all."
"Two moves!"
Zoro clenched the Wado Ichimonji, teeth gritted: "The first strike and the final finisher, that's it. The rest was just like you: total blur."
Because those two attacks involved a brief moment of acceleration and deceleration, Zoro's swordsman instinct had barely caught a glimpse. Thunderbolt Fury was, after all, a move Rowen had developed back when he used a sword along with Thunder Cloud. As a swordsman, Zoro had some advantage in predicting parts of it.
But beyond that, even Zoro's swordsman eyes were no better than Sanji's. Neither of them could track Rowen's movements.
"Ever since I killed Mihawk and triggered a wave of swordsmen setting out to sea, Marine HQ has been bombarded with challenge letters, all from swordsmen naming me, wanting to reclaim the honor of their kind. Do you know what difference I see between you and them?"
Still puffing calmly on his cigar, not even dropping it during battle, Rowen exhaled and said flatly:
"None at all!"
He didn't even wait for Zoro to respond before continuing:
"You're all worthless, except for your mindset! Come challenge me again after you're able to even see my movements. Otherwise, you'll lose the last bit of pride you're holding on to, and become a total joke."
After a glance at Zoro, who stood silent with lowered eyes, Rowen turned away.
"So… why are you all here?"
"We came to rescue Momonosuke. Back on Zou Island, he was captured while trying to cover our escape."
Speaking of this, Luffy's face turned serious as he replied.
Two groups met just as they had in the original story, only this time, Kin'emon and the others were brought over by the Marines…
Then Kaido's forces invaded, Smoker fled with the Road Poneglyph, and was hunted down by Kaido.
Coincidentally, that was when the Straw Hats arrived at Zou Island. Upon discovering that the Marines had abandoned Zou in order to protect the Road Poneglyph, they were enraged and immediately declared war against the Beasts Pirates, the fight raged on until Kaido was finally scared off by Rowen, and it all came to an end.
But during Kaido's retreat, "Plague" Queen captured Momonosuke. It was Momonosuke himself who had ordered Nekomamushi, the Old Boss, and others to fight to the death in support of the Straw Hats, and in doing so, exposed his true identity. Naturally, the enemy wouldn't let that slide.
Upon hearing all this, Rowen suddenly understood.
That had been a situation where no one could truly be judged right or wrong.
If Smoker hadn't run, Kaido would have stayed, and against that monster's overwhelming durability, even if all of Zou Island died in battle, it wouldn't have made a difference. But because Smoker escaped, he left behind a deadly enemy for Zou to face alone, and in the end, Zou suffered massive casualties.
"Wait, didn't the Marines go to war with Kaido?!" Nami's eyes lit up: "Then doesn't that mean we have a common enemy now?"
They weren't completely in the dark about outside events thanks to the help from Resister. With Orrick's military openly declaring war on the World Government, you didn't even need newspapers; the flames of war were visible everywhere.
If they were going to rescue Momonosuke, then neither Kaido nor Kurozumi Orochi would agree. With two-thirds of their alliance opposed, it was clear that their goals were aligned.
"Anyway… why don't you start by telling me what you found?" Rowen spoke calmly.
"Don't forget, you're pirates. Compared to letting you walk away famous after helping me, wouldn't it be more efficient to just capture you now and kill two birds with one stone?"
Unexpectedly, Nami grinned cunningly and leaned closer.
"Hehe, it's not that simple, is it?"
"Oh?"
"Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon), don't forget your nickname at sea, 'Thunder God'.
You control lightning and are the brightest symbol of the Marine era."
Nami flailed her arms and exaggerated her praise dramatically. But when she saw Rowen's poker face, she finally lowered her hands and smiled sweetly: "And yet… You haven't used a single trace of lightning since arriving, not even a flicker. That's very telling, don't you think?"
"You don't want anyone to know you've come to Wano, right? Are you on a covert mission?"
Rowen: "..."
'This brat!!'
He swung his arm in frustration, grabbed the wide-eyed Luffy, and slammed his fist into the ground with Luffy still in tow.
Zoro and Sanji: "..."
Clap!
The two exchanged a look and high-fived with perfect timing, the sharp smack echoing crisply.
If it weren't for Luffy's stupidity, Rowen wouldn't have had to be so cautious.
After letting off steam, he tossed the dazed, butt-up, smoke-emitting Luffy aside and took a deep breath.
"As expected, Nami, you've totally been corrupted by pirates."
"Correction… I was never that innocent to begin with. Even Vice Admiral Smoker couldn't do anything about me, hehe (=ω=)!"
Nami playfully stuck out her tongue. Then she extended her hand.
"We only made it this far before getting spotted thanks to the intel provided by Foxfire Kin'emon and the others. Want it?"
Rowen paused for a moment, then raised his hand.
"You're seriously wasting your talent being a pirate, Nami. Want to come manage my assets instead? We're talking trillion-level."
Upon hearing that, Nami's eyes lit up like gold coins and she nodded rapidly.
"Really?! Sure, sure!"
"Huh?!!" Zoro and Sanji's eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
"Uh… no no, I mean… at least not right now."
Forcing herself to resist the temptation, Nami yanked Luffy upright and wrapped his neck in a chokehold.
"I've still gotta help this idiot become the Pirate King. Right? Isn't that right, Luffy?"
Luffy: "C-Can't… breathe… Help!"
Zoro, Sanji, Rowen: ((--)--)-_- )
(End of Chapter)