8 Chapter 8

"Captain Ugliano!" Among the group of pirates covered by dusts and dirts, one pirate goon, wearing a bandanna on his head, said excitedly, "Today, we managed to dig ten meters more!"

"Hm, very nice," Said the captain of the crew named Ugliano, who rubbed on his thick, green-coloured beard, "And? Have you found anything?"

The bandanna goon shook his head with an oblivious smile, "Nope!"

Bam! Ugliano slapped his hand onto the back of the goon and barked, "THEN WHY ARE YOU SMILING LIKE AN IDIOT?!!"

They were the Vomitbeard pirates, one of the pirate crews that could be considered 'below average' to the standard of the East Blue pirates. Their captain, 'Vomitbeard' Ugliano, was a man wanted for 1 million Beli, in pursuit of treasure to become wealthy and expand his crew.

"...Years, Five years!!" Ugliano shouted with a bad temper, "For five years, my bounty hasn't gone up... not even once!!! And look at this sea, where hundreds of other pirate crews dig and find treasures—while we are stuck with nothing, nothing at all!!!" He gripped on his beard out of frustration, "When am I going to enter the Grand Line at this rate?!! During the afterlife?!!"

Currently, they were in the Mine village, out of hopes that they will be able to unveil the mystery of 'Ore Seeker' Gouma and discover his wealth. Sending out his subordinates—whose faces are unknown to marines—to an abandoned hole situated at the western outskirts of the village, Ugliano had them digging every single day; this has been continuing for a year now, which was enough for the villagers to memorize the faces of Ugliano's crew members.

"Heheh..." The bandanna goon rubbed the back of his head, "Honestly, captain, I don't mind settling down here. The townsfolks, man, they are so nice. I think you should come also and join us! Doesn't getting stuck here for a year suck?"

The others too nodded with sparkling eyes,

"Yeah! I mean, what about the Grand Line, captain? Heh, I doubt that we'll ever make it!"

"We didn't get to find any treasure, but hey, we did found some irons and coppers and ya know, captain, they're giving much more money than we thought!"

"I don't think there is any treasure here in the first place, captain! We looked for years, and other people looked for years also, and yet, no one found it! We—"

BAM! Ugliano's body shook in a rage. His subordinates gulped as they shut their mouths, and Ugliano then growled in a low tone,

"...All of you..." Ugliano glared at them, "Have you forgotten who we are?!" He held his arms wide open and roared, "WE ARE THE PIRATES!!! We kill for living, and plunder!! We live freely without being bound by the land!! And what...? Settle down...? ALL OF YOU—"

BANG.

At the next moment, a bullet pierced through Ugliano's neck. Blood was spilled, and Ugliano, chocking from his own blood, shook from the mix of shock and pain, before falling face-first, dead.

All the present pirates froze as their captain abruptly met his end. Their faces autonomically turned to one who was standing in the middle of them, a seemingly teenager with black-coloured hair: Rowan.

"W-wait," One pirate stuttered, "Who... who are you...?"

"...Wait," Another whispered to himself while checking his gun holster, "That's... mine..."

Rowan, flipping the pistol in his hand, said lazily, "A bounty hunter." He, casually walking through the crowd, took out a sheathed knife from his jacket, unsheathed it, and beheaded the dead Ugliano without any care for the blood that squirted out as he did so.

"A pain in the ass to leave a target's facial appearance intact. Forehead is a much easier place to aim than a neck, and one bullet on a chest tends not to be enough..." Rowan muttered, before raising his head up and meeting the eyes of pirates, "Which is the reason why I prefer blade over gun."

"C-captain..." The bandanna goon, ignoring Rowan's remark, mumbled before angrily taking out his shovel—

—only for his forehead to met the barrel of the pistol in Rowan's hand in an instant, before anyone could move.

"You don't have a bounty on your head, do you?" Said Rowan, darkly, "Then what I previously said doesn't apply to you."

The bandanna goon helplessly dropped the shovel from his hands. Rowan, gazing at the dropped shovel, before retracting his pistol, "And at the same time, there is no reason for me to kill you either." He lowered his body and lifted up the head of the dead Ugliano, "Forget this man. Forget this ship. Instead, live your lives as villagers here. After all,"

Rowan said with a sense of familiarity,

"all of you wished for peaceful lives, right? Lives in which you don't need to be chased by marines, that is."

It was something that Rowan wished for in the past, before the invasion by the Arlong pirates.

'...How idiotic,' Thought Rowan as he looked at the pirates who looked convinced by his words, 'Peace doesn't exist. In this versatile world, one way or another, you will eventually come to face a calamity one day. Sitting still and merely hoping to lead a same life as yesterday... heh, you're placing your loved ones at risk.'

The pirates, staying silent with stern expressions, then turned around and began walking out of the ship, one by one.

"O-oi, you guys!" One among them, who had a particularly big nose, spoke up while sweating profusely, "Where are you going?!"

The bandanna goon, who too was walking out, turned around and said, "...What he said isn't wrong."

Another added on, "If we were to continue our piracy, we'll be locked up soon or later, until our deaths."

"...And it's not like captain—no, Ugliano, was ever capable like that Krieg, and even Krieg is bound in this sea, unable to advance to the Grand Line."

The big-nosed pirate gritted his teeth. He looked at the head of Ugliano with a complex emotion, before turning around and following his fellow 'villagers' also.

"...Bounty hunter guy," The bandanna goon, before exiting the ship, said to Rowan with his back turned, "...This ship's name is 'Ugly Adventure.' Take good care of her, will you?"

'...What kind of name is that...?' Thought Rowan, before replying in a monotone,

"Sure."

Just like that, the Vomitbeard pirates disbanded. Apart from the headless corpse and the head in Rowan's hand, Rowan was the only one left in the ship. Impassively throwing out the headless corpse into the ocean and placing his knife back in, Rowan thought to himself,

'Free ship and an additional 1 million Beli, huh.' Rowan chuckled hollowly, '...I've come a long way.'

For the past two years, Rowan lost the count of how many he has killed. The countless occasions rendered him dull, and the fact that not even a single bit of reluctance entered his mind—he felt a little creeped out at himself.

However, he didn't mind. If Rowan could protect himself and his close ones,

'...I am fine with destroying this entire world.'

__________

"'Vomitbeard' Ugliano confirmed! H-here's your 1 million, sir!"

After some time passed, Rowan was in the Mine village's police station, claiming the bounty of Ugliano. The receptionist across the table, gulping in amazement, murmured,

"With due respect, sir, I recall... you having claimed the bounty of 'Bad Boy' Futa just yesterday. He was a troublemaker in our town, taking over a normal bar and threatening the villagers. With there being no marine branch nearby, we were unable to do anything against them. And from your appearance, I came to think..."

The receptionist asked warily,

"...are you, by chance, the recently rising 'Pirate Slayer' Rowan...?"

Rowan, pocketing the money, expressed a mild surprise, "Have you heard of me before?"

"Of course!!" The receptionist nodded vigorously, "In every single island that you've come across up until now, you showed up with at least one criminal's head! Ranging from as low as 10 thousand to 3 million... when people discuss as to who's the best bounty hunter of the East Blue, you are always a candidate along with the infamous Daddy the 'Father!'"

"...Cool," Rowan replied before walking out of the station, unwilling to carry on the conversation.

'Weakest sea indeed,' Thought Rowan as he now walked across the street, 'Only the weak remains here and get themselves adjusted to the calm weather. Arlong too...' He frowned, with anger rising just from the thought of the fish-man, '...probably came here due to having failed to resist the calamity in the Grand Line. Then, when all matters here are dealt with...'

...sailing into the Grand Line, may not be a bad decision to make... Rowan thought.

Eventually, he came to a stop in the middle of the town, where a huge boulder with an extremely smooth surface lied.

'Nami and Carina probably began their work by now,' Thought Rowan, 'and Mad Treasure, the man of 8.5 million Beli... I can't estimate his strength.'

He initially thought of watching Nami and Carina for their safety, but they refused, saying that revealing any form of relationship between him and two girls may flunk the plan. He thought that they were being paranoid, but hey, they were the experts when it came to an art thievery rather than him.

Eventually, sitting down, Rowan made an aimless thought'...Man, what a cloudy week—'

"Young man, are you here to look at the village's most renowned attraction?" An old man's voice was heard from the side, cutting Rowan's thought. Rowan turned to the direction of the voice, and found one old-looking man indeed, with a cane to support his thin body. This old man, looking at the smooth boulder, then continued before Rowan said anything in return,

"The rock of beginning. Ah, yes... when many individuals came here—the Gloomy island—hundreds of years ago, to seek for the treasure of Ore Seeker Gouma... there lied many danger. Fights all over, accidents while digging, and above all... a giant boulder of unbelievable size, which brought many people to a suspicion." The old man smiled softly, "People dug and dug more, but discovered nothing. Eventually, they came to think that the treasure must lie underneath the huge boulder. However, the boulder was far too big for them to move it; every competitors, eventually, began to cooperate to move it. The bonds grew, and the loves bloomed. Together, they managed to roll the boulder, and though it was discovered that nothing lied underneath, they smiled. Though the gold wasn't found, the treasure named family—they gained something worth much more—"

"Jararara... what a boring story."

Rowan and the old man turned around and found a muscular man with sunglasses over his eyes, tanned skin, and red hair, grinning as he walked toward the two of them.

'...Mad Treasure.' Rowan instantly recognized the man. His eyes became cold, and he slightly raised his guard just in case.

"Family? Worth much more? Jararara, don't make excuses!" Mad Treasure exclaimed in mockery, "If you fail to find the treasure, you are a loser! You gave up and decided to come up with those lame excuses!"

Old man, grimacing, refuted, "...Wrong! Those people, in the first place, began searching gold in hopes of attaining a better life, in hopes of escaping from the misery!" His grip on a cane tightened, "It wasn't the gold that they were really after, but happiness instead!"

Rowan gazed at the old man with a complicated emotion.

'...You know that the one standing in front of you is much stronger. You know that you can potentially lose your life from that statement.' Rowan thought while reminiscing his past, 'But you didn't yield. Expressing your will and upholding your belief even until the end... just like Bell-mere and my old man, eh...'

Mad Treasure, growing a tickmark on his forehead, approached the old man, "...I despise ones like you," and grabbed the latter by the neck. As the old man wriggled with a pale face, Mad Treasure snorted, "Look how weak you are. Weak and incompatible. You senile old man... what did you do within the years of life that you had? Nothing, nothing but making excuses, saying that it's okay to be weak because you are happy, blah blah blah."

However, even under the pain of suffocation, the old man glared at Mad Treasure with all his might. Eventually, Mad Treasure then loosened his grip, causing the old man to helplessly fall to the ground. The old man coughed out while huffing rapidly, with his eyes headed on the ground. Mad Treasure crouched down and grinned at the old man, before stating,

"Watch. Jararara... watch as I find the treasure that you and your ancestors were seeking for hundreds of years. Then, live miserably for the rest of your life, for the weak ones don't deserve to live happily."

Mad Treasure, snorting at the smooth boulder, then walked away—to the west where the big hole lied.

'...'

The old man was left on the ground, still huffing rapidly. Without the presence of the red-haired pirate/treasure hunter, the peaceful atmosphere seems to have been restored. In this state, Rowan spoke up gently,

"...This was your victory, gramps."

The old man raised his head up and looked at Rowan with widened eyes. Rowan, grinning, approached the former and held his hand out,

"You didn't yield. That guy, he resorted to a physical force to make you submit, and yet, your will withstood."

The old man slowly reached out for Rowan's hand, and with Rowan's help, stood back up wobbly. Rowan, turning his head and looking at the boulder, commented,

"...Each and every single individual has a life of his or her own. What is the purpose of my life? What's my goal? What do I value the most? In regards to those questions, we all have answers for our own. And there are no right answers for them."

Rowan spoke truthfully,

"Thus, the questions like, 'Am I right or wrong?' doesn't matter. Whoever calls out that your perspective is wrong," Rowan frowned, "are the ones who desire to manipulate you. What matters in the end, is to believe in yourself, and in this aspect, I believe," loosening up his face, Rowan chuckled lightly, "that you lived a successful life."

The old man looked at Rowan with a sense of gratitude. His eyes contained an awe, and as the wind gently breezed through the street, he leaned down and reached out for his cane. Finally, he turned around with a slight smile of his own,

"...Enjoy your time in our village, young man."

before walking away.

...

Rowan, now left alone, continued staring at the smooth boulder, so smooth that he could see the image of cloud above, reflected on the surface of the boulder—

'—Hang on.' Rowan, whose lips parted slightly from a realization, raised his head up, '...When was the last time that I've been under the sunlight?'

Sky. The clouds. it was an idiotic thought to make, but Rowan nonetheless wondered...

...if the clouds can be dense enough for a person to stand on top of.