Chapter 69

[Nanohana, Alabasta]

After a quick spar between Cavendish and Ace, the Grimheart pirates and Ace partied and enjoyed their time in Nanohana. Now, some time has passed. Carmen, Dan, and Cavendish were seen to be snoring on the ground without any care, while Carina and Alfred were sleeping on the chairs within the restaurant. Although blindfolded, Robin too seemed to be sleeping, due to the fatigue that accumulated from being cuffed by Seastone 24/7, with Farul lying down next to her as a guard.

In contrast to his crew members, Rowan was sitting outside on the roof of the restaurant, in deep thought.

'Everyone evacuated from Nanohana due to Crocodile... according to Ace.' Rowan thought with a serious expression evident on his face. 'It's as if he's preventing us from gaining any piece of information. Unless we move to Galzalum, we will have no choice but to stay clueless.

However, this... looks like a trap. He's intentionally luring us to Galzalum. Ugh, think Rowan, think!' Scratching his head, Rowan took out a map of Alabasta, and feather pen, which he 'borrowed' from Dan. Although it was dark, Rowan had no problem seeing the map in front of him.

He drew an arrow pointing from Katorea to Tamarisk, then from Tamarisk to Alubarna, 'Rebels would likely follow this direction. They will clash with the royal armies. But... what's Crocodile's objective? Money? Power? I can't just assume where he's gonna go to.'

'Is she my only option then?' He shifted his gaze to Robin, who was quietly sitting down on the corner of the restaurant. 'But what if all of this is something planned by Crocodile? Have Nico Robin be caught by us on purpose, have her gain our trust, before telling false truths to help his plan.'

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Suddenly, Ace landed on top of the roof Rowan was sitting on, before taking a seat next to Rowan.

Rowan shrugged, not surprised of Ace's arrival, whom he sensed ages ago, "Thinking how to beat Crocodile up. You?"

Ace grinned in response, "Thinking how to beat Blackbeard up, though he doesn't seem to be here."

"Blackbeard? A new name for me." Rowan said as he laid the map and feather pen down, not being able to think any further without getting a headache.

"A betrayer. Marshall D. Teach, also known as Blackbeard, used to be one of us—until he killed one of us and ran away." With a grin dissipated from his face, Ace said coldly. "He's the reason I came all the way here."

"Marshall D. Teach..." Rowan muttered the name before stopping himself, 'Wait, Portagus D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy, Marshall D. Teach... what the hell? What's with the D?' His eyes slowly lowered to Ace's crotch, but were stopped immediately as he realized what he was doing.

Staying silent for few moments after the mention of Blackbeard's name, Ace looked up at the dark sky solemnly and hesitantly spoke up, "Say Rowan... do you think I can trust you?"

Waking himself up from sidetracking, Rowan lied down on the roof, watching the vast number of stars that filled the sky. "That's for you to decide." Rowan said truthfully. The matter of trust was something entirely subjective in the end; Rowan had no answer for a question like the ones Ace asked.

Ace chuckled, "You know, when you first made me get out of your ship at the first island, I was pretty hurt to be honest. But you know what? After Teach betrayed us, I kinda understand why you kicked me out, and gotta say, you are a great captain Rowan, just slightly paling behind my captain..."

Ace halted his talking. His mouth opened and closed, as if he's contemplating whether he should say the next word or not. Rowan noticed this, and waited patiently.

"I already told you, but I have a little brother. Well, used to be two, but... yeah. I've always been the oldest." Ace finally opened his mouth once more, speaking emotionally, "You kind of feel like an older brother, with how you seem calm and, you know, stronger than me all the time. So tell me,

do you think... it would've been better if I was never born?"

Rowan was flabbergasted. Ace always seemed bright and optimistic—he never would've guessed that Ace would be thinking of a question like this. 'It feels like something is missing here. What could he possibly have gone through, to ask a question like this?'

Nonetheless, he answered sincerely. "Ace, even if you were the son of the world's worst criminal, my answer would always be the same—I am glad that you are born."

"...Yeah?" Ace weakly smiled. Rowan felt conflicted seeing this; all he could do was to give Ace a pat on his back.

Unknown to Rowan and Ace, Robin was awake behind her blindfold, silently listening to their conversations as she leaned onto the wall.

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The night has swiftly passed by, and everyone was full awake, ready to move out. Rowan, his crew and Ace were seen to be standing at the edge of Nanohana.

"Don't worry about it." Ace said as he flashed a grin with a thumbs-up, "Since I suspect that Scorpion may have moved along with the other civilians, I am going to Galzalum. If I find anything about Crocodile, I will call you guys right away."

Holding a small Den Den Mushi in his hand, Rowan nodded, "Thanks Ace. If that's the case, we'll head off straight towards Yuba. Let's just get this Crocodile problem over with, so that we can focus on our main objectives."

"So..." Ace placed his hand into his pocket and took out a Vivre Card, "I guess this is where we part, huh?"

He handed the Vivre Card to Rowan. "Originally, I was planning to give this to Luffy, but it seems that he's still in the East Blue. I'll leave it with you."

"Ah. Vivre Card, huh." Rowan said as he held the paper in his hand. Naturally, he learnt the existence of the Vivre Card during their stay in Nidaifuku, by Cavendish and Alfred. Naturally, each member of the crew, including himself, possessed the Vivre Cards of one another.

Ace nodded, "Nice, I won't have to explain." He held out his hand to Rowan.

Rowan smiled as he grabbed Ace's outstretched hand and shook, "Well, see you later Ace."

"Haha, see y'all later." Waving his hand, Ace turned around and propelled himself up, parting with Rowan and his crew.

Rowan briefly watched Ace before turning back to his crew, "Alright, everyone ready?"

"""""Yes captain!""""" Carina, Carmen, Dan, Cavendish, and Alfred all responded with a grin on their faces.

"Neigh~!!!" Farul cried out loud while raising his forelegs up high; Robin almost fell off from his back.

Watching his crew's confidence, Rowan too felt a grin creeping up onto his face, and his eyes flashed dangerously,

"Good. Everyone, prepare yourselves. We aren't that far away from Crocodile."

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[Yuba, Alabasta]

Within a large and unkempt building, the agents of Baroque Works were seen to be awaiting.

"You are Mr. 3?" A tall and muscular man with tanned skin, shaved white hair, and unibrow, Mr. 1, spoke with a deep tone, to another man with a unique hairstyle that resembles number 3.

"M-Mr. 1..." Mr. 3 gulped fearfully.

"Haa, this is Mr. 3? Looks weak to me." A woman with curly dark-blue hair and thick lips, Miss Doublefinger, spoke in disappointment.

"Woow~! Everyone is gathered up here, how amazing!!" Mr. 2 spun while standing on tip of his foot, like a ballerina.

The officer agents, all the way from Mr. 1 to Miss Valentine, were sitting down in front of a long rectangular table. Behind them, the frontier agents from Mr. 7 to MIss Saturday, with the exception of Mr. 8 and Miss Wednesday, were seen to be standing. On the outside of the building, there were rest of the agents, Billions and Millions, standing in disordered manner.

On one corner of the street, one old man was seen to be unconscious, with bruises all over him.

"Where is Mr. 0?" Mr. 5, a man with spiky black hair and sunglasses, said in annoyance. His partner, Miss Valentine, shrugged.

"We don't even know who's Mr. 0. Never met him." Miss Goldenweek, a teenager with dark red hair in twin braids and a wide-brimmed pink hat, said in a monotone.

Under the confusion, all members of Baroque Works continued to wait in Yuba.

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[Rainbase, Alabasta]

A troop of marines was seen to be standing in an orderly manner, as the marine officer with a justice coat draped over his shoulder, stood in the front with a domineering manner.

Said officer had an approximate height of 360cm. His face, full of wrinkles and frowning, had its teeth biting onto a cigarette, as his semi-closed eyes glared at Crocodile. He was Vice Admiral Onigumo, believer of the 'Absolute Justice.'

On the right of Onigumo, a pink-haired woman with a black suit and a same justice coat over her shoulder stood. She was Captain Hina, who happened to be called under Onigumo's command due to the fact that she was situated nearby.

Crocodile was seen to be standing on the other side, alone, facing off the whole army of marines and Onigumo, unfazed by the display.

'They already had the troops positioned near Alabasta, ever since the news regarding Grimheart reached them.' Crocodile thought intuitively as his eyes swept through the marines. 'Just as I expected.'

"To think you would bother to come all the way down here, and with a speed this quick," With his right hand in his pocket and his left arm with hook hanging, Crocodile said casually with a cigar in his mouth, "Vice Admiral Onigumo."

"Shut your mouth, filth," Onigumo spat in disdain, "name the location of that Grimheart. I got no patience to spare for a pirate."

Crocodile chuckled as he watched Onigumo's offensive behaviour, with his eyes flashing murderously, "Let us make this meet a swift one, shall we? Or else, one of us may end up dead." Taking his hand out of pocket, Crocodile pointed his thumb to his back.

"Over the years, I've noticed that something wrong was happening in this kingdom, and found out the existence of a criminal organization called Baroque Works. Subsequently, I found that the organization is in alliance with the Grimheart pirates and royal armies. I have yet to identify the leader of such an organization, but I suspect that it may be Grimheart himself, who disappeared for three years." Crocodile lazily stated without any stutter.

Onigumo's eyes narrowed hearing this. He took the cigarette away from his mouth and threw it away on the sand.

Subsequently, Crocodile took out a map of Alabasta from his coat and threw it to Onigumo, who caught it with a frown.

"As of the current moment, Grimheart is near Nanohana, traveling in an upward direction to here, Rainbase. However, having a large fight to break out here would result in large casualties of innocents; I suggest we meet them down," Crocodile puffed smoke with Onigumo's eyes locked onto the map, "in Yuba. With the rebellion having moved their base to Katorea, Yuba is left completely uninhabited."

'And known as the Oasis that has completely dried up.' Crocodile inwardly thought maliciously. 'Best place for me to bury all of you at once.'

Onigumo's grip on the map tightened, crumbling up the paper. Deepening his frown, Onigumo angrily muttered, "Which means, as long as the Grimheart pirates are gone from the picture, all problems will be solved." Having finished his thought, he turned to the marine soldiers, "Move out!! We are departing to Yuba immediately!!"

With the marines joining, the situation has become much more chaotic; the Grimheart pirates, Baroque Works, Marines, and finally, Crocodile who betrayed his own organization. All of them are destined to meet in the middle of Alabasta: Yuba!