Chapter 41

"Yo, Bob! Are you on duty today?"

A week has passed since Rowan and his crew's successful infiltration into G-11. In other words, a week had passed, and there still was no sign of their log pose finishing its recording process of this island.

"Bob is free today."

A fellow marine who called Rowan just now was named Fob. Upon a few interactions, Rowan came to learn that Fob is a corrupt marine who fares more like a pirate than a marine.

"Heh, perfect!"

Grabbing Rowan by the arm, Fob dragged him along. Curious, Rowan let the fellow guide him on, wondering what kind of plot he's setting up.

"Let me show you what we do around here when we're free!"

Diligence was the antonym of marines in this base. No one in G-11 trained, studied, or did something productive when out of their duty.

After digging into the ins and outs of this base, Rowan learned that the overall system of the base was in disarray. The commander of the base, Rear Admiral Gasparde, didn't care whatever happened in there as long as it didn't tarnish his reputation. Every time the supplies and funds arrived from Marineford, Gasparde and his fellow marine officers proceeded to use them for their own good.

'Why is he a marine even, instead of being a pirate?'

Such was the thought that entered Rowan's mind whenever he learned something new about Gasparde.

"And here we are!"

At last, Fob stopped in front of a washroom where one marine, who was smoking a cigarette, was standing at the entrance.

"Bob doesn't need to pee."

"That's not it, idiot!"

Fob dismissed Rowan's words and spoke to the smoking marine,

"Open sesame!"

The smoking marine looked at Rowan for a second before snorting in amusement. Nonetheless, he pointed his thumb to his back while taking a step to the side,

"Go in."

Dragged in by Fob, Rowan entered the washroom...

'...?'

It was just a regular washroom with nothing special, except for the fact that there stood 9 burly marines who seemed to be waiting for Fob and Rowan's arrival.

Then, Fob's demeanour suddenly changed, which Rowan expected a century ago. The smoking marine too entered as he closed a door behind.

"So,"

Fob then spoke to Rowan,

"A week ago, you were on that duty, right? The search in the ship that previously belonged to Grimheart Pirates."

'Oh, that.'

Rowan shrugged, "Duty? Bob has a duty today?"

"Listen carefully when a person speaks!!"

Fob, snarling, punched Rowan in the cheek. Rowan, not feeling a single bit of pain, had to resist his urge to laugh out loud. Keeping his laughter contained, Rowan overreacted,

"GAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Screaming at his lungs, Rowan began to run around hysterically. Other surrounding marines expressed confusion, and Fob stared at his fist,

"H-Huh...? I'm... strong...?"

His fist was red and swollen, but that wasn't what he cared about.

"IT HURTS!!!!!"

Rowan reached the closed door and slammed his head against it, creating a dent.

"W-What the fuck?!"

One marine cried, feeling a sliver of fear entering his mind.

"You...!!"

Then, Rowan turned and glared at Fob murderously, which made Fob flinch.

"H-Hey!"

At this point, Fob knew that something was wrong. Eyeing the smoking marine, he quickly shouted,

"O-Open the door! Just let this guy go!"

However, Rowan was standing in front of the closed door now, they realized.

"Bob angry!! Bob hurt!! Bob wants revenge!!"

Rowan found within last week that Bob was a newcomer to the base, and that he had no acquaintance. The only characteristic of Bob that was known to marines here was that he was weird, idiotic, and abnormal. Rowan decided to expand on the 'abnormal' part.

'A strong dumbass. Cliché.'

A few minutes after, Rowan was the only one who exited the washroom, with everyone inside beaten up to a pulp.

"Hm?"

And the first thing Rowan saw upon exiting the washroom was another marine who was passing by. The two of them, stopping on the spot, blankly stared at one another.

'...Who is this man.'

He was at a similar height as Rowan. His features included the long black hair that reached past his shoulders and blue-coloured eyes; anyone would've thought of him as a good-looking fellow from one glance.

However, that wasn't in Rowan's interest. What he was cautious of, was what he felt upon the operation of Observation Haki.

This marine, for sure, was just as strong as Rowan—even though his attire suggested that he too was near the dead bottom in terms of rank.

The marine in front of Rowan then sighed while running his hand down his long hair.

"Haa... yet another fan of mine, engrossed by my beauty!"

Rowan refuted,

"But Bob is not your fan—"

"My my, what a sinful man I am!"

The marine clearly wasn't listening. Instead, he then patted Rowan on the shoulder. Then, in the next second, his hand was holding onto a pen all of a sudden.

'This guy... he's fast.'

Rowan didn't pretend to exert his full strength and risk blowing his cover. Therefore, he simply watched as the marine proceeded to sign on his hand without his consent.

"I, Cave—Nelson the Seaman Apprentice of G-11, the glorious base that serves to prevent a single evildoer from inflicting harm upon innocents, have not bestowed you the sign worth millions. Cherish my gift!"

Rowan gazed at the sign on his hand and read what was written aloud.

"Caven... dish."

"...Eh?"

The marine who called himself Nelson blinked his eyes. He looked at Rowan's hand which he wrote on. He then sweated profusely, realizing his error.

'Cavendish?'

Rowan instinctively felt that this marine, Nelson, may also be another infiltrator on this base. Nonetheless, in this situation, Rowan decided to act as 'Bob'.

"Ohh, your last name is Cavendish. Bob knows! Hi, Nelson Cavendish, Bob is Bob!"

"...Eh?"

Nelson looked at Rowan as if looking at the stupidest thing he's ever seen in the world. He then whispered among himself, which Rowan eavesdropped just fine,

"...No, Cavendish, he may be acting. I can't ascertain just because he said that. If my cover's blown, imagine the situation that my crew will be placed in! Think, think with your smart brain, of what I should do next!"

Rowan felt like deadpanning,

'...I can hear you, idiot.'

Keyword was 'crew'. That's all the information that was needed for Rowan to conclude that this man named Cavendish was a pirate just like him. Judging by his state, Rowan assumed that he too was trying to get his log pose fully recorded to move onto the next island. Staying low via infiltration meant that his crew didn't have the power to go against the entire marine base G-11, and knowing that this was the early part of Paradise, Rowan deduced that it was likely for Cavendish to be the captain and strongest of his crew.

'Tch. Then...'

Rowan has never come across someone named Cavendish before, and in order to reach G-11, one must typically pass by Apple island. This suggested three possible options:

1. Cavendish left Apple island before Rowan's arrival 6 months ago. He reached G-11 far earlier on and is still waiting for the log pose to be filled.

2. Cavendish for some reason decided to put on a disguise and hide his identity as he reached and left Apple island, while Rowan was there.

3. Cavendish arrived here through unconventional means. It isn't the log pose that he's waiting for, but navigation tools in general that he's seeking to obtain.

'Either way, the first option seems the most likely, which means...'

Rowan felt like groaning, for this meant that more than 6 months were required for the log pose to record here and start pointing at the next island.

'As if I'm going to let myself rot here.'

"Oi! Oiiii!!"

Rowan then jolted up in surprise as Cavendish or self-proclaimed Nelson waved his hand in front of Rowan's face.

"WAHHH!!"

Making an exaggerated response, Rowan jumped up high while flailing his arms.

"Finally, you're listening! Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

Cavendish then asked with his arms crossed,

"Name and rank?"

"Bob is Fleet Admiral!"

"AS IF!!!"

Cavendish grabbed Rowan by the collar and barked at him,

"Quit joking and give the actual information!!"

Rowan smiled in a Bob-like fashion,

"Bob appreciates a fan, but Bob likes privacy!"

"Urghhhh! Who's your fan?!! You're my fan, instead of me being yours!!"

"But Bob is not the fan of Nelson Cavendish! Nelson Cavendish is Seaman Apprentice while Bob is Fleet Admiral!"

"Graaaaah, whatever!! At least say your name then!!"

Rowan couldn't help but think,

'...Is this guy alright in the brain?'

While being yanked to the left and right due to Cavendish's grip on his collar, Rowan chuckled in his mind. Rowan lost count of how many times he said the name 'Bob,' and yet, Cavendish was asking him what his name was...

Rowan could already tell what Cavendish was going to do. Killing and disposing of a body is too risky when one doesn't know the time required for a log pose to fully record this base. Cavendish probably wanted to monitor Rowan from up close to ensure that he doesn't speak out loud the name 'Cavendish'.

'And to use this situation to the advantage of my crew...'

Stealing was Rowan and Nami's suit—though they weren't as good as Carina. Nevertheless, if Cavendish were to have a log pose that is at least 6 months older than his...

'Sounds like a plan.'

With a rough plan set, Rowan pretended as if choking from Cavendish's aggression. As he did so, he intentionally moved his legs such that his ID fell out of his pocket.

"Huh?"

Cavendish, having found the ID, released Rowan as he leaned down to pick it up.

"Bob, Seaman Recruit."

Out of energy, Cavendish sighed as he read the personal details of 'Bob' from ID.

"Sector 5, division 3. C-3 schedule."

Rowan could hear the gears running in Cavendish's head, knowing that the latter would do anything he could to place Rowan in his proximity.

...

As the night arrived, Rowan reached underneath the pillow of one standard bunker bed that was distributed to him. Feeling the downside of the pillow, he found a slight gap. Reaching his hand into it, he found a slip of paper through the cotton. Taking it out with ease without producing any noise, Rowan opened the paper and used the moonlight as the source of light to read what was written. It read:

*NDB - C. LP - N.*

'C' meant 'checked'. For the past week, the crew members purposely minimized contact with one another to prevent any form of suspicion. Instead, Nami, by using the nature of logia devil fruit to her advantage, was to send in a brief report as such at her convenience.

Rowan, after a brief thinking, reached his hand to the dark corner and lifted an old-looking, nigh-dry feather pen that was lying down. He wrote on the same paper,

*LP R - D>6m. Nelson - Cavendish - #2 LP (maybe).*

before folding it back up and placing it back in the pillow.