29 Chapter 28

'Now is the time to use your smooth-talking ability, Rowan!' Rowan thought to himself as he walked towards Carmen.

"Hm? Who are you?" Seeing Rowan, Carmen raised her eyebrow. "Are you an another fan of mine, here for a sign?"

"Why, yes! Fiery Carmen! I've been anticipating to meet you, every since I heard of your unparalleled culinary skills!" Rowan said excitedly.

"Hmph, of course, no one can rival me when it comes to cooking!" Carmen raised her head up high in confidence, before whispering, "Except maybe him..."

Rowan nodded with his eyes closed, in an exaggerated manner. "I assume that your goal is to continue challenging other well known chefs and exert your dominance?"

"Of course! No one but me can claim the title of the East Blue's best cook!" Carmen boldly claimed, while making dramatic pose with one of her hand up in the sky with curled finger, as if trying to grip onto something. "And my conquest shall continue until I am able to defeat that man!"

Rowan too a deep breath. 'This is where it starts.' He calmed his mind before speaking with sad tone. "Then I must say, that I am disappointed."

"Huhh?! Disappointed?! To me, the Fiery Carmen?! And who decided that?!!" Carmen immediately retorted with a tick mark on her forehead.

"Fiery Carmen! You are an exceptional cook! Number one chef of the East Blue?? Will you really be satisfied, simply by being the best frog within a small well?" Rowan said passionately, while making exaggerated poses of his own, as he spun and placed one of his hand onto his chest. "Why not dream bigger? Why not aim higher? Why not look for the top, the number one chef of the world!!"

Hearing this, Carmen was surprised. Although she had many followers that admired her skills, this was the first time she has ever received such praises. "I, Fiery Carmen, know my own limit! Even though I am skilled at the arts of cooking, I hold no strength to survive against the harsh seas of the Grand Line!" Carmen exclaimed while making another exaggerated motion. "Ah, if only I have a knight in a shining armour who would take me to the sea of wonders! Pity that such dream will never come true, and I have succumbed to such reality!"

Rowan clenched his fist and shook it, while showing a determined emotion. "Fear not, Fiery Carmen! Your dream will not trampled upon! Can't enter the Grand Line?! No, you are destined to sail through the seas of the Grand Line, and stand proudly as the every single chef of the world bows down to you in awe!" Rowan took glance at Carmen, who seemed to be bewitched by his words. "The East Blue cannot hold you! Are you really willing to let yourself ignore various techniques, foods and cooks that you haven't explored yet?! Are you willing to hamper your growth, just because of the fear that the Grand Line imposes?!"

"Then what shall I do?! Do I simply sail off of the boat by myself, to the dangerous sea, without any knowledge whatsoever?! What are you trying to say?!!" Broken out of her dramatic acts, Carmen shouted angrily.

And this was where Rowan would throw in the key verse. "Simple. Join my crew, Fiery Carmen. Witness as we defeat all foes, as we adventure and discover the vast ocean of the Grand Line! We will sail through the seas, unyielding to the chaos that may be lying in front of us!" Rowan cried out with utmost passion that he could muster.

"I promise you, that you won't regret the decision, if you were to join us! This offer isn't out of pity, but out of admiration, that I want to take you within my crew, whose journeys will be engraved in the history books in the future, as the greatest adventurers of the whole history!!" Huffing to exaggerate even more, Rowan carefully observed Carmen.

"I..." Carmen was at the loss of words. One moment, this black-haired man came up to her, claiming to be her fan. However, the next moment, he said that she can go much further, and that the East Blue is too small for her! Never in her life did she think of heading off to the Grand Line, however, once Rowan spoke of what kind of fame and skills that she can attain, Carmen can't help but be tempted.

"Will you give me a time to decide?" Carmen said weakly. Rowan nodded vigorously, with exaggerated nod.

"Yes, of course! After all, what kind of person would I be, if I don't even respect the will of my future nakama?" Rowan inwardly smirked as he said this. 'Thank you, Fairy Tail.'

Carmen nodded, with her eyes indicating that she was in a deep contemplation. "Give me 3 days. I will definitely have an answer by then." After all, Carmen didn't know anything about Rowan.

"Do not worry, take as much time as you want. I will be awaiting for your answer with eager! Until then, adios, Fiery Carmen!" Rowan gave her one last nod containing a resolute look, before turning back with his hand up as a salute.

With his hands in pocket, he walked towards where Carina has gone off in pursuit of Mooshu. However, when he arrived at the sight, he noticed that something was wrong. Mooshu could be seen cowering at a corner, while Carina seemed to be defiantly facing off against a horde of people that seemed to be pirates, with her hands on her waist.

"Gyahahahaha! Who do you think you are, to interrupt our way to fortune!!" A pirate who seemed to be the captain, wearing a red captain hat, and seemed to be resembling a clown with his red nose and blue hair, glared at Carina. "Lay your hands off of my golden salt at this moment, and I may let you live!"

"Hmph, you are Buggy the Star Clown! You think you have a chance against my captain?! You should be the one to back down!!" Carina growled as she crossed her arms, with one of her hand holding onto a knife.

"Captain, no need to exert your strength! I will teach this girl a lesson!" Cabiji, Buggy's right-hand man, who had an appearance of pointy black hair covering half of his face, snarled as he stepped out with a sword in his hand, while riding a unicycle.

"So, what's going on?" Rowan said as he arrived next to Carina.

"Ugh, they are known as the Buggy Pirates. Not too famous or strong, but they are known to be quite shrewd at their methods. They're trying to lay their hands on our golden salt!!" Carina exclaimed in anger, as her grip onto knife tightened. "Watch captain! I will show them the lesson!"

"Hmm... who is that guy? I think I've seen him somewhere before..." Buggy squinted his eyes towards Rowan.

Carina began to run towards Cabaji, who also rolled his unicycle at a fast pace.

*Clang* Carina's knife and Cabaji's sword met in the middle, making a creaking sound.

"Heh," Cabaji made an evil smile. "Acrobatic special, old man's flame!!" He breathed out a fire from his mouth as a surprise attack, but Carina flawlessly dodged it with her flexibility, by bending her body backwards.

"Tch," Cabaji frowned at the failed surprise attack. "Acrobatic special, murder under a cloud of smoke!!" He rotated his sword at a rapid pace, and caused it to scratch the ground. The large amount of dust arose, enveloping Carina and Cabaji.

"Not a good decision." Carina simply smirked, as she easily identified Cabaji's location through her sense of hearing. As Cabaji's sword slammed down towards her from nowhere, she easily dodged the strike with nimble movement. Immediately following, Carina jumped from her spot and made rapid slashes towards Cabaji, causing him to bleed in various spots.

When the dust cleared, Cabaji was seen to be moderately injured, with one of his eyes closed due to the blood from the cut above the eye.

"Cabaji!" Buggy shouted in disbelief as he saw Cabaji losing against who he thought of as a mere girl.

"It's not over yet! Acrobatic special, hundred spin tops wind attack!" Cabaji took insanely abundant number of sharp spin tops out of the pockets within his black cloak, before throwing them towards Carina consecutively. They flew towards her at the rapid pace.

However, Carina didn't seem to be troubled. With a casual smile on her face, she dodged the dangerous spin tops with incredible nimbleness and reflex!

Seeing that Carina wasn't struggling at all against Cabaji, Buggy began to sneak his hand out, by using his devil fruit power, Chop Chop fruit that allows him to split part of his body at his will. Said hand was holding onto a sharp knife, intending to stab Carina.

*Bang* All of a sudden, a sound of gun was heard.

"Ahh!!" Buggy cried as he stared as his hand, which was bleeding due to a bullet that penetrated in the middle. Buggy shifted his gaze from Carina, and saw Rowan casually pointing his revolver towards him!

"Try again and you're dead." With Rowan's threatening words, Buggy frowned in a pain

"Just who are you?!" Buggy seethed while glaring at Rowan, before his eyes widened. "Wait, he's-"

Cabaji jumped up high in the air with a grimace, after he saw that his attack didn't manage to harm Carina at all. "Let's see if you can dodge this too! Acrobatic special, rising fireworks, single flower vase!!"

Carina stared up at Cabaji while grinning, while flawlessly rotating the knife in her hand. "Time to end this, once and for all."

Carina held her knife in a reverse grip and crouched slightly. "Blade storm."

On the next moment, Carina jumped up towards Cabaji, who was descending with his sword pointing towards Carina. She dodged Cabaji's sword before slashing Cabaji countless number of times in an instant moment, turning him into a mincemeat.

Bleeding severely, Cabaji crashed onto the ground, unconscious. The other crew members of Buggy pirates saw this scene in fear. "Captain, what do we do?"

However, Buggy didn't respond, but instead, began to sweat while gritting his teeth.

"...Grimheart Rowan, the Demon of the East Blue! So it was you all along!!" Buggy said with a tone of nervousness. "No choice! I will fight you!"

Buggy started to charge towards Rowan, before quickly grabbing unconscious Cabaji and running away instead. "Everyone, retreatttt!!!"

All of Buggy's crew began to run with a scream. Rowan simply deadpanned, while Carina grinned and began to approach Mooshu, who was still shivering in the corner.

"Hehe, golden salt is all mine now!"