40 Chapter 40

Shooting Star sailed through the vast sea bravely. With the flame blazing at its booster, the speed at which it travelled was quite phenomenal.

"Remember the plan!"

With seriousness, Nami spoke. Currently, her hair colour was was brownish black due to the effects of a hair dye that she previously applied.

Deuce and Bartolomeo were no different. Their hair colours, which used to be light-blue and green, have now become the similar colour as Rowan.

"And above all, remember! The signal that I will use when the record has been filled will be—"

SPLASH!

Everyone in Shooting Star took a note of the splashing noise just by the side of the ship, which was then followed by the violent shake of the ship.

"...We've entered their sight."

Rowan grinned,

"Stay calm, even if Shooting Star were to receive some damage."

He then patted the wall of the ship,

"I know you can handle it, girl."

Deuce sweatdropped at Rowan's antics,

"You speak as if the ship's alive."

"Because she is."

"Huh?"

Deuce's eyes widened,

"In my heart."

before he fell head-first, in a comical manner.

<<You folks are surrounded! I repeat, you We have already identified your ship, and identities known to us! Surrender immediately, Grimheart Pirates, there will be no further violence!>>

Nami held a finger on top of her lips, indicating them to quiet down. Rowan stretched his body casually, while Deuce and Bartolomeo gulped.

Then, Rowan blurred out of the room, while Nami turned into a torrent of fire. They, having hidden in an instant, managed to hide skillfully—especially thanks to their experiences from the past. Deuce and Bartolomeo immediately ran toward the planned locations—the hidden spots that will be extremely difficult for marines to find.

After everyone managed to hide themselves, a few moments passed, before the door was barged open.

"Er, ensign Shucks? This ship seems to be empty."

One marine soldier revealed himself and after a quick inspection, scratched the back of his head. A shout was heard from his back,

"Say that after you search thoroughly, soldier! Also, if you were to find anything valuable, report it to me before you do anything!"

Following said marine soldier, more entered. Soon, the full inspection of the ship began.

"L-LOOK!!! LOOK AT... all this... money...!" The marine who was initially shouting quickly lowered his voice to ensure that 'ensign Shucks' didn't hear.

"Hmph! Look at all of you, calling yourselves marines when you succumb to your greed like that..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Cindy~!"

Rowan, while watching this from his spot, sweatdropped as he saw Nami, who was slightly visible from where he was at, trembling in rage.

'Alright then. Let's see...'

Dismissing the trivial thought, Rowan examined the faces of marine soldiers who were put into the inspection.

"Hi, Bob! Wait, Bob is me, hehe!"

Among them, there was one marine soldier in particular whose overall physique looked similar to Rowan from a glance. Though their faces were slightly different, judging by how this guy was calling his own name yet no one was giving any attention to him, Rowan assumed that this fellow named Bob may be the best candidate for him to...

...Impersonate.

"I—"

Dropping to the wooden floor without making any sound, Rowan knocked out the marine named Bob with a quick hit on the neck, grabbed him, and immediately returned back at his hidden spot.

'Endure a while for me, okay?'

Making such a thought, Rowan swiftly exchanged the attires with this unconscious marine—save the underwear though. Reaching into the pocket, he found the ID card that detailed Bob's rank,

'Seaman recruit... that's the lowest rank, if I remember correctly.'

Upon checking where other members hid themselves, Rowan saw that Nami, and Deuce too, managed to seize their opportunities. Looking down and seeing that everyone was invested in the wealth that his crew accumulated, Rowan silently dropped down while leaving Bob, now wearing his clothes, in where he was hiding.

"Hi Bob! Wait, Bob is me, hehe!"

Rowan then made a remark he just heard before, as he walked toward where the marine soldiers were quickly pocketing stash of bills in their pockets.

"Huh?"

One marine turned and raised his eyebrow at Rowan.

"Oh... you're that weirdo guy."

Uninterested, said marine turned back and returned to counting the money in his hands.

'Hmm... weirdo, huh?'

Looking back, Rowan saw that Nami has now become a female marine soldier with rectangular glasses.

"Hi! Do you know Bob? That's me!"

Nami frowned,

"Must I remind you what we're here for? What's your rank?!"

"Ehehe! Bob is the fleet admiral!"

Upon hearing that, one marine soldier turned and laughed.

"Pfff-hahaha! Wake up from your delusion, buddy! You're nothing but a seaman recruit, for Nika's sake!"

Another marine snorted at Rowan as he spoke to Nami,

"Ignore him, Cindy. You know that this newbie has a few screws loose in his head. Instead, come and take a look at the money over here! Like wow, where did all this money come from?"

Rowan saw that for a split second, Nami's stoic expression twitched a little.

"Hmph, I touch no money from filthy pirates!"

"Well, this ship may not have belonged to pirates, y'know? All good—"

"T-That's wrong."

Deuce, sweating profusely, decided to join in. Rowan, upon seeing Deuce without his mask for the first time, felt like laughing.

"Gibson?"

Deuce spoke, "T-This is the ship of Grimheart Pirates, remember..."

"Oh, who are they again?"

"Dunno. Think they were some randoms from East Blue."

One marine asked, and the other shrugged.

"How are they this rich though?"

"Dunno. Guess East Blue is the richest sea."

""Hahahaha!""

Though the process was slow, the inspection continued. Finally getting their hands off the money, they thoroughly looked up and down, left and right.

Eventually,

Creak.

"H-Huh...?"

One marine found a secret space behind a hidden door. As he opened it, the unconscious Bob in Rowan's attire fell with a thud.

"G-GUYS!!"

'And there it is.'

Revealing a sharp grin when his face was facing away from everyone, Rowan walked toward where the commotion arose.

"Isn't this—"

"This must be 'Grimheart' Rowan, the captain of the crew!"

"...Why is he unconscious though?"

One marine pointed at Bob's bruised neck,

"Look! He must've bumped his neck into something!"

Another marine turned to Rowan and remarked,

"This man's just like you, Bob!"

""Hahahaha!""

Grinning, Rowan flexed his arms,

"That's right! Bob! That's me!"

"Seriously, man!"

The first marine who spoke snickered,

"You really need to get your brain checked!"

"B-But..."

Deuce then joined in,

"W-We get a monthly check-up, so I don't think that's necessary..."

Annoyed, said marine eyed Deuce,

"And how about you stay with your mouth shut, Gibson?"

"All of you, shut up, hmph!"

Then, Nami barked, placing everyone in silent. Crossing her arms, she then took a step sideway to make a way for the ensign who was to oversee this inspection,

"Ensign Shucks is about to... huh?"

Nami paused.

"Soo, how is everything going, everyone?"

"Ensign Shucks...?"

Rowan, Nami, and Deuce's eyes trembled as they saw the appearance of 'ensign Shucks'.

Though the hair colour was dyed, his physique and facial features were far too different than this man named Shucks. Rowan, Nami, and Deuce couldn't help but think,

'''BARTARD!!'''

"...Who are you?"

A marine raised his caution at Bartolomeo.

"What do you mean? I'm everybody's favourite ensign, Shucks!"

Marines growled,

"Ensign Shucks is loads shorter than you'll ever be!"

"His nose takes up half of his face, unlike yours!"

"Everybody's favourite? You mean everybody's mutual enemy!"

"W-Whaa—"

Overwhelmed by the accusing looks, Bartolomeo took a step back.

'I don't know anymore...'

Rowan blankly stared at Bartolomeo.

"Uh, hmm... ugh..."

Bartolomeo, realizing that he's reached the deadend, grabbed his head as he tried to think of a way out. Nami, with her eyes narrowed at Bartolomeo, said coldly,

"So, care to explain who you may be, imposter?"

"Uh, I am..."

Then, from his pocket, Bartolomeo took out several gold rings.

"I am actually the replacement of ensign Shucks starting from today! My name is ensign Bar—"

Rowan heard a small groan. Turning to the source of the sound, he saw Deuce glaring at Bartolomeo heatedly.

"—Bartard!"

Nami immediately retorted, "As if we're going to believe in that—"

"""We'll be in your care, ensign Bartard!"""

The marine soldiers, immediately snatching the gold rings offered by Bartolomeo, saluted back at him. Nami and Deuce were dazed, before the marine soldiers suddenly grabbed them by collars and threatened them,

"Don't you dare say this to anyone else, got that?"

"Ensign Bartard is who he is! Report this to higher ups, and I'll ensure to have your lives ruined even if I were to be killed!"

"Our loyalty belongs to ensign Bartard and no one else!"

"E-Ehem!"

Bartolomeo, with blush on his cheeks, smirked,

"T-That's right! I'm ensign Bartard!"

Rowan, Nami, and Deuce were confused beyond belief. Rowan couldn't help but think,

'And these people call themselves a marine?'

He had to resist a frown as the face of Nezumi popped up in his head.

__________

"Where is ensign Shucks, and who are you?"

After the full inspection, the bodies of 'Cindy as Nami' and 'Gibson as Deuce' were found. They, together with 'Bob and Rowan', were locked up in the jail. In front of Bartolomeo and other marine soldiers stood another marine officer, whose rank was at least lieutenant from a glance. Bartolomeo, while lowering his head with a shameless smile on his face, handed said lieutenant a fine-looking diamond.

"Ensign Bartard reporting in! Starting from today, I am to replace the duties of ensign Shucks! Pleased to meet you—"

"Hm, hm!" The marine officer coughed while pocketing the diamond, "Cough, captain Fuga, cough!"

"—Captain Fuga!"

"Mhm!"

Said marine officer, captain Fuga, nodded firmly,

"I always hated that Shucks guy anyway!"

He patted Bartolomeo's shoulder.

"Welcome to marine base G-11, ensign!"

"Thank you, captain Fuga!"

Then, Bartolomeo leaned in and whispered into Fuga's ear,

"If you can please speak well of me to higher-ups, I promise to give you something that's even more valuable!"

Fuga's eyes flashed in greed, before he shook Bartolomeo's hand with eagerness.

'What the hell is with this marine base?'

From the back, Rowan's mind was undergoing chaotic thoughts.

'No, before that, are these people marines even? What happened to protocols? Is the life of their superior worth less than a few golds and gems? Are they not afraid of who Bartolomeo may be?'

"Ookay, then!"

Bartolomeo then shooed off the marines behind him,

"Go do whatever you want to do until, uh, dinner time!"

"""Yes, sir!"""

Rowan came to think that perhaps the infiltration was not necessary in the first place. Given the current state of this base, he believed that it won't be long until this base falls by its own.

'As to where that ensign Shucks may be...'

Rowan recalled that Bartolomeo's hidden spot wasn't found during the inspection, so that's where he assumed said ensign was at.

'Guess I should go and fetch that guy before he does something.'

But nonetheless, Rowan supposed that their infiltration... could be considered a success.

'Well, should anything go wrong, Bartolomeo will be the one to take all the attention. In that sense, the situation is at our hands.'

Seeing that Nami briefly eyed him with her hand hovering over her chest, Rowan immediately caught onto where she hid the log pose.

'Need a place to hide it, huh.'

As marines dispersed, Rowan saw Deuce, whose character, Gibson, was relatively normal compared to Bob, going with the group of marines.

Several female marine soldiers were seen approaching Nami, to which Rowan deduced as them being the fellow colleagues of 'Cindy'.

Making a wide smile, Rowan ran at female marines. As said female marines stopped upon seeing Rowan's approach, Rowan arrived at their front and boldly claimed,

"Become Bob's harem! Bob is strong!"

"...Hah?"

Nami was gone from the site, but none of the female marines noticed that.

And a few moments later, Rowan was seen walking with a comically swollen face.