91 Chapter 86

[Foolshout island]

"Finally found you." One middle-aged man with a black mustache and cowboy hat grinned, as he faced a huge man amounting to the size of four meters.

Said huge man was seen to be sitting on the rock. His hands were shakily holding onto the pieces of bounty posters, intently staring at them crazily.

"95 million Beli... Baten. Mhm, how delicious." The grin on the man with cowboy hat widened, not bothered with Baten's ignorance, "I, 'Cowboy' Woody Bobep, shall be your doom!"

Regardless of Bobep in front of him, Baten's eyes ceased to leave the bounty posters, which were the renewed bounties of Rowan and his crew.

"One, two, three..." Baten muttered, causing Bobep's eyebrow to be raised in confusion.

Nonetheless, Bobep took out a rifle from his back, before loading the gun, ready to fire.

"Kekeke, free money!" Bobep licked his lips as he raised the rifle, aiming at Baten.

"Four..."

*Bang* The rifle fired, and a bullet traveled to Baten at a rapid speed. However, Baten effortlessly dodged by tilting his head.

"Five..." Baten flipped Cavendish's bounty poster to the back, revealing Alfred's bounty poster. "Six..."

*Bang* Another gunshot was fired at Baten.

Lazily raising his hand, Baten flicked his finger at the bullet.

The bullet abruptly changed its trajectory path upon Baten's flick, travelling back to where it came from: Bobep's rifle.

*Boom* Bobep's rifle burst into pieces in an instant moment. He shrieked and jumped back, before growling and taking out two rifles from his back.

"Fine, you are a bit strong, alright?!" Bobep shouted before aiming his two guns at Baten.

"...Seven." Baten stated while looking at Farul's bounty poster.

*Bang* *Bang* Two rifles fired simultaneously toward Baten. However, before the bullets even managed to reach him, he vanished.

"What?!!" Bobep cried out in a confusion, before gritting his teeth and turning his left and right, trying to sight where Baten disappeared to.

"Finally... finally... finally finally finally..." Baten whispered with a crazed expression, as he appeared behind Bobep with the bounty posters crushed on his left hand.

"What?! When did you get behind me- *Cough*." Bobep shouted in confusion, before coughing out blood. In a shock, he shakily moved his gaze down onto his chest, only to find a large bleeding hole in the middle.

Not being able to comprehend what he saw, Bobep remained frozen on his spot, before falling to the ground, dead.

"After three years, you finally decided to show yourself, Grimheart. Finally, after years of endless pursuit. Alabasta? If so, where shall your next destination be? Jaya? The sky? Somewhere else, just like how you hid three years ago?!" Baten growled, with his disheveled and long black-coloured hair covering his eyes, "Doesn't matter. Soon or later, you will be dead anyways."

Shredding the bounty posters into pieces, Baten walked away from the site. All that remained were those paper pieces that fell onto the corpse named Bobep.

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[Unknown location, Paradise]

In a cave with dim light provided by the torches on the wall, the man with long, wild, and red-coloured hair was seen to be kneeling down in front of the treasure chest.

"Jararara, would you look at that?!" Mad Treasure said in glee, scooping up the gold coins and jewelry into his hands from the chest in front of him, "The hidden treasures of 'Goldtooth' Henry. No one has discovered it for years except for me, Mad Treasure!"

*Tap* *Tap* Suddenly, from the entrance of the cave, a short man wearing a pink-coloured jacket and black sunglasses, Psycho P, ran in. He was seen with a worried expression while grasping onto the rolled bounty posters.

"Yo boss, you got-ta take a look at this." He spoke up with an urgency in his tone, as he brought the bounty posters in front of Mad Treasure.

Mad Treasure's expression turned into that of annoyance as he heard Psycho P. Standing up, he turned to face Psycho P with a frown on his face, "...It better be something worthy of my time."

Snatching the bounty posters from Psycho P, Mad treasure lowered his eyes to the wrinkled bounty posters that he was holding.

"Hm?" Immediately after, Mad Treasure's eyes widened in shock upon realizing whose bounty poster he was looking at, "Grimheart... jararara, how interesting."

"B-boss yo, he's still alive!!" Psycho P exclaimed with anxiousness, "He wrecked the whole ma-rine base, and now, killed Cro-co-da-ile! If he comes a-cross us, we are done for, yo!!"

"Shut up, will you?" Irritated by Psycho P's words, Mad Treasure shifted his gaze to Psycho P angrily, with the veins on his forehead popped up and his teeth clenched.

Realizing his mistake, Psycho P instantly closed his mouth shut, and sweated profusely, intently observing if Mad Treasure was going to lash out at him. Thankfully, Mad Treasure seemed not to care as much, as he threw the bounty posters away with disinterest, and turned back to the treasure chest that lied in front of him.

"Grimheart or not, why should I care?" Mad Treasure said with a ferocious grin, before pulling out a piece of folded paper beneath the treasure chest, "Ho, what can this be?"

Unfolding the paper, Mad Treasure was greeted with a map of a particular island. On top of the map read: Jaya. Additionally, a note was written on the bottom of the map.

"Jaya, and sky island." Mad Treasure's grin widened as he excitedly observed the map, "Is that a challenge for me, the greatest treasure hunter of the whole world?"

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[Alubarna, Alabasta]

"So captain, what do you think about my proposition?" Facing Rowan with determined eyes, Dan spoke up.

Rowan, who was seen to have the blindfold on him, remained silent with his hands in his pocket.

"Captain?" Dan asked once again.

"...Dan." Lowering his head, Rowan finally opened his mouth, "I know that your logic is plausible. It may be a big help for us. Yes, we are the pirates. Yes, we kill and steal. Yes, we are not the saints." Rowan momentarily paused, before raising his head up, with a casual expression on his face.

"However, I can't agree with your idea. Those agents, whether they were betrayed by Crocodile or not, wreaked havoc in this kingdom. Many innocents suffered from having no rain for years, and the wise king became the scapegoat. Do you know who they remind me of?" Rowan said with a firm tone, "Arlong."

Dan sighed in response, "If so, please do explain to me, why would you recruit Robin into our crew? She was literally Crocodile's right hand! Aren't you being a hypocrite?"

Rowan laughed lightly, "I am. It's weird, isn't it? When I see the rest of those agents, I feel nothing but sympathy for the civilians of the Alabasta kingdom. Yet, when I see Robin, I feel sympathy for her—who ran away from the World Government for twenty years, ever since she was eight."

The sun was setting by, and the bright orange light illuminated the hall they were standing in. Dan seemed to be conflicted with his fists clenched and his posture slouched.

"Besides, why are you so worried over something like this?" Rowan said as his lips curled up into a smile, "Aren't you supposed to be that adventure-loving Dan that I knew of? How are we supposed to enjoy our adventure, with all those underlings that we can't trust?"

"I... just believe that we should be prepared for what lies in front of us. The Yonkos, the marines, the World Governments, and many more." Dan stated with seriousness in his eyes.

"And I believe that we are getting there." Rowan replied, "We have the support of the Alabasta kingdom, although in secret. We are allied with the Twin Cats pirates, and you'd be surprised to see that they are actually quite capable. Additionally, we are familiar with Ichiro and his Nidaifuku kingdom, Urouge and his Fallen Monks pirates, and Ace, who is the 2nd commander of the notorious Whitebeard pirates. Why care about those Baroque Works agents?"

"Well...

if you say it like that, I can't refute against." Dan scratched his head with a sheepish smile, and the gloomy aura around him abruptly disappeared, "Damn, thought I had you there."

Rowan chuckled as Dan's demeanour suddenly changed, "So what was the real reason behind you wanting to recruit the Baroque Works agents?"

Dan made a troubled grin on his face, "Haha, they called me 'commander Dan.' Just imagine! Our pirate crew becomes so large that it's divided into divisions like the Whitebeard pirates, and the great Dan, the 1st division commander and the right-hand man of-"

*Bonk* Suddenly, a fist landed on Dan's head, and before he could finish his words, he found himself holding his head in pain and rolling on the floor.

"Urgh, C-Carina?!" Dan cried out with pain written on his face, as he looked up and sighted Carina, who was holding her smoking fist with closed eyes and a tick mark on her forehead.

"Don't take my spot just like that, will you?!" Carina said as she pointed her finger at Dan, "If you are unsatisfied, I can give you the same beating I gave to Carmen."

"Oh no." Rowan muttered while trying to conceal his laugh from the comical scene that unfolded in front of him.

During the three years, Carina and Carmen initially sparred against one another frequently. However, as time passed on, Carina quickly outclassed Carmen, as soon as she managed to awaken and utilize the Armament Haki. Ever since that day, Carmen had to carry a dent in her pride, vowing to catch up to Carina—only for the gap to widen up to the present.

"Can't you see that I was joking? Besides, were you eavesdropping on us?" Dan retorted with a clear surprise on his face.

"Well, I already knew, just saying." Rowan spoke up with a shrug, "And in case you still haven't realized, there are more."

He turned his head to the particular wall, where a human ear was grown on top. Behind that wall, Carmen and Cavendish were seen to be peering in a comical manner.

Dan too turned his head to where Rowan was facing, and sighed upon witnessing Carmen, Cavendish, and Robin's ear, "I need to up my Observation Haki. Seriously, thought it was just us two, but everyone was here altogether."

*Slam* Suddenly, the entrance to the hallway opened harshly, before Nami hastily rushed in. Upon sighting Rowan, her eyes turned to that of a delight.

"Rowan!" Nami cried as she ran towards Rowan, ignoring Carina's glare, "Quick, you have to come and see this!"

Rowan tilted his head in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Just follow me! It's about Vivi!" Nami grabbed Rowan's hand and began to guide him out of the room. Watching this, Carina snarled before holding onto Rowan's other hand.

"Let go of his hand!!" Carina gritted her teeth as pulled Rowan in the direction opposite from Nami, causing Rowan to be pulled to both sides.

"I said it's important!! You let go!!" Nami growled as she pulled harder.

Rowan turned his head left and right with an amused smile. The truth was, he didn't even budge from his spot; their pulls were too weak to make him move. He effortlessly raised his arms, causing Carina and Nami to be lifted up as well.

""Eh?"" Upon their feet leaving the ground, Carina and Nami expressed their confusion.

"I can sense where Vivi and Nami's crew are." Rowan remarked with a grin on his face, "Let's see what Nami got to show us."

*BOOM* With a booming noise, Rowan, along with Carina and Nami still attached to him, disappeared at an inconceivable speed, leaving the rest in the hallway.

"Haa," Remaining on the ground, Dan sighed, before lifting his head up with a determined gaze and an evil smile, "attempt number one failed. Modify and improvise. Kuku... just you wait, captain. Soon or later, I will make you the second coming of 'Golden Lion' Shiki!!"

Meanwhile, Rowan, Carina and Nami appeared in a different room with a burst of speed. Immediately after, Rowan and Carina widened their eyes in surprise.

In front of them, with Nojiko and her other crew members staring in amazement, Vivi was seen to be looking at her hands, where the sands were swirling atop her open palms.

"What... is going on?" Vivi muttered in confusion.

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