Chapter 42

*'Grimheart' Rowan. 40,000,000 Beli. Wanted Dead or Alive.*

*Eustass 'Captain' Kid. 55,000,000 Beli. Wanted Dead or Alive.*

*'White Knight' Cavendish. 70,000,000 Beli. Wanted Dead or Alive.*

In front of the wall where bounties were pinned, Rowan stood with his arms crossed.

'Cavendish, captain of Beautiful Pirates. Beautiful Pirates originally consisted of over a hundred members, but the majority of them were 'fans' of Cavendish. Currently, the estimated size of the crew is around thirty in number.'

To think that another pirate crew, who entered the Grand Line at a similar point in time as his crew, would be hiding in this marine base... Rowan couldn't help but smell an opportunity here.

Adjusting the standard marine cap on top of his head, Rowan turned away from the posters and resumed his walk.

'And now,'

For the past 2 weeks, Cavendish didn't approach him. However,

'That marine over there...'

There was a burly marine with a curly mustache who was placed in the same sector as Rowan. This one has begun to monitor him since he met with Cavendish; it didn't take much for Rowan to learn that he was the no.2 of Cavendish's Beautiful Pirates, Vasco the 'Crimson Butler'.

'Now, let's see.'

Their pattern was far too obvious in Rowan's eyes once he noticed the relationship between Cavendish as 'Nelson' and Vasco as 'Kane'. Around this time, Vasco would leave the sector, and—

'There.'

Vasco, turning around, began to walk out of Rowan's view. Rowan, after some time had passed by, utilized his Observation Haki to track Vasco down. As Rowan walked and no more other marines were found around the path, his steps began to quieten down to an abnormal extent—until his movement became completely silent.

With his hands in his pockets, Rowan looked up at the ceiling. There was a faint wisp of fire that could only be seen if one paid close attention; Rowan nodded slightly as he continued walking.

"...Still no?!"

Eventually, he reached a relatively dark corner that was located at the edge of the base. Placing his back against the wall, Rowan eavesdropped the conversation.

"It's been 7 damn months since we came here!!"

Without a doubt, the voice belonged to Cavendish.

"And you're saying that log pose is still not done recording?!"

"...Prince Cavendish, we simply have to endure a little more. Please have some patience."

"What patience?! What if we need to wait for 10 years to finally leave this island?! I might as well become an actual marine at this point!!"

"...Worry not, prince. I managed to learn just yesterday that the exact time required to record this island is 7 months and 7 days."

Rowan's eyes widened.

"What? How do we know it's true?"

"...It was the word spoken by Gasparde himself."

"So we only have to wait for 3 more days? We can finally get the fuck out of here?!"

"Prince Cavendish, please refrain yourself from using vulgar language!"

Easily hopping up, Rowan entered the ceiling vent where Nami kept herself hidden and swiftly closed it. Right after he did so, Cavendish and Vasco walked out of the corner, and after checking their surroundings carefully, left the scene.

After some time passed, Nami whispered,

"So if we can locate where they hid theirs..."

Rowan grinned,

"We'll be able to leave this place in 3 days."

He then turned to Nami and said,

"But monitoring their whereabouts for the next 3 days will be far too troublesome."

"True, and it's not like we can do that 24/7 without sleeping."

"Therefore, the best way to do so is 3 days after, the period right before they escape from this base."

__________

Bartolomeo was in a pinch.

<Ensign Bartard, I am short of money! By the way, wonder where Ensign Shucks have gone to... huh? Threaten you? Why would do that?>

<Ensign Bartard, mind if you substitute someone else in for my duty tomorrow? I feel, cough cough—Shucks—cough, sick.>

His blatant attempt to infiltrate G-11 has become his weakness—one that marines who were present during the inspection of Shooting Star used to their advantage.

'Fucckkkkk.'

Their demands were getting worse day by day. The marines have gone to an extent where fulfilling their wishes will put Bartolomeo in a tight spot—even after accounting for the fact that G-11 was full of corrupt marines.

'Just how much more must we wait before we get to leave this freaking hell-hole?!'

For years in East Blue, Bartolomeo used to be the head of a snake, the Barto Club. Back then, anything that he wanted was easily acquired through his power. However, due to this environment that Bartolomeo was exposed to, he lacked patience and the ability to think critically—hence 'Bartard', the nickname that was given to him by other crew members.

'If only I was more thoughtful back then...'

3 weeks have already passed since their arrival. Every day in this marine base was torture for Bartolomeo, and every night he lamented the fact that he brought this situation upon himself.

Regardless, Bartolomeo shook his head to erase those thoughts. Currently, he was standing strictly among fellow Ensigns, in one line.

He was in the office belonging to none other than Rear Admiral Gasparde—the commander of the base himself.

"Starting next week, there will be a shift in schedules. Hear the specifics from Lieutenants later on."

In a sitting position, Gasparde lazily spoke. Then, he leaned forward while forming an amused grin.

"But of course, there would be no need to call you folks if that was the only reason why I called you into my office."

The Ensigns, including Bartolomeo, maintained their strict postures as their eyes stared off into the air.

"You see... I picked on a rumour just yesterday, that a fly has gotten into my base."

It didn't take much for listeners to know that Gasparde was using a metaphor. By saying a fly...

"...And that fly is one of us?" One Ensign asked.

"If it's a simple rumour and nothing more, I just have to kill whoever spread that rumour to solve the problem."

Gasparde snorted.

"The thing is, the rumour was awfully specific to treat it as nothing more than a rumour. Let's see... ah, here it is."

Taking out a piece of paper from a nearby drawer, Gasparde read,

"If there is anything that you want, just go to that new Ensign who just came and mention the name of Ensign Shucks!"

Snickering, Gasparde pulled out another piece of paper.

"Then, let's talk about Ensign Shucks, shall we? Shucks, he's the former Ensign who's been working in this base for quite some time. One day, he was abruptly transitioned to another unspecified base... without reporting or relaying any kind of information to me, the commander of the base."

Bartolomeo, at this point, found his face turning pale. However, there was nothing that he could do other than to gulp, and Gasparde continued.

"Coincidentally, another Ensign who just arrived 3 weeks ago—his point of arrival was exactly the same as the disappearance of Ensign Shucks..."

Ripping papers and throwing them into the air, Gasparde grinned.

"Must I speak more?"

Turning his eyes at where Bartolomeo stood, Gasparde said,

"Bartolomeo the 'Cannibal'. A pirate from the East Blue, wanted dead or alive for 7 million Beli. Now..."

Bartolomeo realized that he was trapped with no way out. He unconsciously took a step backward but found loads of guns pointed at him at the next moment. Gasparde, with his arms resting on the table, narrowed his eyes,

"Where is your captain?"

Knowing what kind of consequence he was facing, Bartolomeo quickly tried to think of a way out. However, before he could do so, he found a punch to his gut, and was flown to the wall at the back. Coughing blood, Bartolomeo looked up as he skidded down the wall and saw Gasparde standing with his fist extended out.

"Grimheart Pirates... and Beautiful Pirates. Imagine my surprise when I learned that two flies were hiding on my turf."

Hahahaha!!

Garparde laughed as he slowly approached Bartolomeo, who was holding his stomach in pain.

'Come on, Bartolomeo, think of something! Should I just use my devil fruit power? Will I die if I don't?'

"I was initially annoyed, but now, am delighted above all. In my mundane life, the gifts have arrived. If so..."

Gasparde, standing in front of Bartolomeo, then sent another punch right at Bartolomeo's face before the latter could do anything,

"Who am I to refuse?"

And Bartolomeo's vision turned black, with him having lost his consciousness.

__________

It was the night of 3rd day. Rowan was placed on watching duty along with other fellow marines and was standing at the watch tower of the marine base, shining down the flashlights to wherever they wished.

Rowan's eyes were quite special. Though they didn't necessarily have better eyesight than normal people, they were well-adapted to the darkness thanks to his experience as the bounty hunter in the past.

Nami and Deuce were sneaking across from their sectors to where Rowan's sector was. Rowan, who was on hold of the flashlight as marines around him jolted off, intentionally flashed elsewhere and allowed Nami and Deuce to pass by swiftly.

'...Where is Bartolomeo though.'

Rowan had a bad hunch in him. The fact that Bartolomeo didn't join up with Nami and Deuce... Rowan wondered if something happened to him.

'Guess I'll have to look for him after the log pose is taken care of.'

After Nami and Deuce entered, Rowan placed the flashlight in the hand of one asleep marine by his side. Silently, he jumped and dove down the tall watch tower, before latching onto a ladder by the side and stopping the fall with pure strength alone.

Landing on the ground, Rowan joined up with Nami and Deuce.

"Where's Bartolomeo."

Deuce shook his head,

"I tried looking, captain, but he's nowhere to be found. In fact, no one has seen him for the past 3 days—"

Rowan at the next moment placed his hand over Deuce's lips as two figures were seen sneaking into the dark hall. Without a doubt, they were Cavendish and Vasco.

Full of seriousness, Rowan stated,

"Deuce, you'll have to go get Shooting Star by yourself. Nami, as I interfere with them, replace their log pose with ours."

"Roger that."

"Got it, captain."

Rowan finally asked in confirmation,

"You remember our meeting spot, right Deuce?"

Deuce tapped his brain with a confident smile,

"You know me."

"Good."

Rowan grinned back before the three of them separated.

Entering the hallway, Rowan utilized his Observation Haki to track down the two. Nami followed him from the back before entering the ceiling vent once more. Upon following for some time, Rowan noticed that the two of them were likely heading to the storage room just ahead.

'Is it somewhere in that room?'

As the thought reached his head, Rowan went on a separate path, dashing through the shortcut to reach the storage room before the two arrived. Rowan was about to place his hand on a door handle and enter the storage room—

'...Huh?'

—but stopped, upon noticing numerous presences inside the storage room.

Caught completely off-guard, Rowan quickly jumped up and entered the vent. Nami, confused by Rowan's sudden retreat, whispered at him,

"What's happening?"

Rowan wrinkled up his face,

"Marine set a trap."

Just as he said so, two figures—Cavendish and Vasco—opened the door and entered the room. Immediately after they did so, the light of the storage room was suddenly turned on.

"Hah?!!"

Cavendish cried in panic as he unsheathed his blade. Vasco, lowering his posture in caution, immediately drew out the pistol and pointed forth.

However, their actions were futile. Around them were numerous marines whose firearms were loaded and ready to fire. Behind them stood the tall and muscular man wearing the justice coat, Rear Admiral Gasparde himself.

"Are you here for this, 'White Knight' Cavendish?"

Gasparde revealed the log pose in his hand, to which Vasco widened his eyes at.

Then, in front of them, Gasparde shattered the log pose in his grip, causing Rowan to facepalm from afar.

Cavendish, seemingly in disbelief, growled,

"How did you find us out?!!"

Gasparde cackled in amusement.

"I am the commander of this base. Bold of you to assume that you will be able to sneak your way in without me knowing...!"

Cavendish, growling in rage, was about to charge impulsively at Gasparde, however, then stopped in confusion as Gasparde held his hand out.

"And hold on for a second. Before you do your stuff, I have one announcement to make."

Gasparde held his hand out, and a marine soldier immediately brought the dial connected to a Den Den Mushi. Gasparde spoke into it,

<<Ah, ah, can everyone hear? This is Rear Admiral Gasparde, commander of G-11. If you were asleep, feel free to go back sleep—except for one person.>>

Gasparde revealed a shrewd smile as he said,

<<'Grimheart' 3 Rowan. A member of your crew, Bartolomeo the 'Cannibal', is with me. If you wish him to live, then come storage room at sector immediately.>>

"Hah,"

Sighing, Rowan leaned back and rested his back on a metallic vent wall. Without losing his calm and maintaining his head cool, Rowan placed his hand below his chin and hummed.

"...What now, Rowan?"

Rowan chuckled as Nami asked him out of a subtle worry in her.

"Using head isn't my thing, really. Should've done it this way since the start."

Kicking the vent open, Rowan ordered,

"I'll leave two objectives with you, Nami. One, rescue Bartolomeo in who-knows-where. Two, log pose, eternal pose, whatever it may be, find one for us to use."

"And you?"

Rowan grinned,

"Wreak havoc. What else?"

Though the situation was quite detrimental, Nami found Rowan's grin contagious. Smiling in confidence, she stated,

"Aye aye, captain!"

And Rowan, standing in front of the storage room, walked into the light without any hesitation.

...

"...Heh, there you are."

Gasparde revealed his glee with his eyes gleaming in thirst for blood.

Cavendish, on the other hand, revealed yet another disbelief,

"Bob?!"

It was a dark night where the moon was covered by the cloud. The marines gulped as they held their weapons. Gasparde readied himself for the fight that he had been anticipating. Cavendish, although full of confusion, held his sword with grim intent, knowing that a fight would soon break.

Rowan, unsheathing his 'Sting', spoke impassively,

"So, where is Bartolomeo?"