"Eight entire mountains?! A pirate with a bounty over five hundred million?!"
Luffy's face instantly flooded with admiration, his eyes shining like stars. "Grandpa is amazing!"
Ever since he had seen Ace's bounty reach 650 million in the papers, Luffy had secretly wondered if Ace had surpassed their grandfather. But hearing his Great-Grandpa put it that way, he realized Grandpa Garp was still on a completely different level.
"A mere five-hundred-million pirate... that's nothing special."
Rowan didn't mention the rest to Luffy. He didn't tell him that the man Luffy admired most—the Pirate King, Gold Roger, with a bounty exceeding five billion—had been chased across the world by Garp and driven to the brink of death on several occasions.
Looking at the star-struck Luffy, who was lost in his own imagination, Rowan suddenly snatched the straw hat right out of the boy's hands and broke into a sprint.
Though he looked relaxed, he moved like a gale. In a few heartbeats, he was already dozens of meters away from the stunned Luffy.
"My hat!"
Luffy snapped out of it, his eyes bulging. He let out a yell and gave chase with everything he had, gnashing his teeth.
"Great-Grandpa! Shanks gave me that hat! Give it back!"
Using every ounce of strength in his body, Luffy finally managed to catch up to Rowan's stride. He leaped onto Rowan's broad back, wrapping his legs around the old man like coils of rope and refusing to let go.
"Fine, fine. Your hat, your hat. Here." A helpless Rowan handed the straw hat back.
"Hmph."
Luffy gave a small snort and carefully inspected the hat. Only after confirming there wasn't a single scratch on it did he relax. Pouting, he jammed the hat back onto his head, finally satisfied.
Rowan laughed, using his left arm to hoist Luffy up by the rear, carrying the boy piggyback. With his other hand, he lifted his pipe and began to smoke again.
"Hey, Luffy," Rowan said suddenly. "You know Shanks is a pirate, right?"
"Of course I do!" Luffy nodded without a second thought. It was because of Shanks that his resolve to walk the pirate's path had become ironclad.
Then, a thought struck Luffy. His expression tightened, and he grabbed Rowan's shoulders nervously. "Great-Grandpa, me wanting to be the Pirate King is my own thing! It has nothing to do with Shanks! You can't go and arrest him because of me..."
Luffy was well aware that both his Grandpa and Great-Grandpa were Marines. He knew they desperately wanted him and Ace to join the Navy—to become powerful soldiers who upheld justice on the seas.
But Luffy never wanted to be a Marine, bound by rules and orders. His dream since childhood was to be a carefree pirate. To be the freest man on the ocean, just like Gold Roger.
That was why, no matter how many times he felt the Fists of Love from his elders, he would always shout the same thing:
"My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm the man who's gonna be the Pirate King!"
"Arrest Shanks?" Rowan glanced back at the frantic boy and shook his head. This kid... does he really think Shanks is some small-time crook?
Rowan wasn't Garp; he couldn't just arrest whoever he pleased. If he actually had the desire—and the ability—to do so, Shanks would never have been able to leave Foosha Village years ago.
"Not exactly," Rowan replied. "Luffy, do you have any idea what level of pirate Shanks actually is?"
Luffy tilted his head, thinking hard for a moment before shaking it. "No idea. I just know he's incredibly strong. He scared off the Lord of the Coast with just a look! If he hadn't jumped into the water to save me, I might have..."
"Shanks... he is currently one of the most powerful pirates on the sea," Rowan said, his voice dropping into a serious register. "And that straw hat on your head? Its history isn't simple, either..."
As he was speaking in his best "wise mentor" tone, Rowan suddenly heard a rhythmic snoring by his ear. He looked back to find that the little rascal had already fallen fast asleep. A massive snot bubble expanded and contracted at the tip of the boy's nose.
The kid was truly exhausted.
"That habit of falling asleep in seconds... it really does run in the family," Rowan muttered with a smirk.
He didn't wake the boy. He simply picked up his pace, walking with a steadier, smoother gait. He had been so busy chatting with Luffy that he hadn't yet had the chance to properly examine his newly activated system.
...
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was the following morning.
"Little brat! Give me everything you've got! Come at me!"
In a clearing not far from Dadan's residence, Rowan's resonant voice echoed. Moments later, a blur of yellow streaked across the treetops, charging toward him at high speed. It was Luffy, now wearing a yellow vest.
"Gomu Gomu no... Rocket!"
Luffy, weaving through the brush, whipped his arm out to snag a thick tree limb. He kicked off the ground, using the massive contraction force of his rubber arm combined with the explosive thrust of Soru to launch himself at Rowan like a missile.
"This brat... he might be a bit dim-witted normally, but his combat instincts are pure monster," Rowan thought, his lips curling into a grin. His eyes flared with a sudden, sharp battle intent.
This time, Rowan had no intention of using Haki to bully a boy who hadn't even awakened it yet.
"Marine Rokushiki: Soru!"
With a sharp stomp, Rowan vanished. Even though Luffy's "Rocket" was moving at terminal velocity, Rowan evaded it with ease. His current speed was several times greater than it had been during their skirmish over the roast goat the previous day.
Last night, he had done a deep dive into his system. What he found had left even him stunned.
Putting aside the Faith Point Shop for a moment, the Constitution Strengthening Serum from the Starter Pack was the real prize. The system had warned him that it was a "fermented" product—that the longer it waited, the more powerful it became. It had even suggested saving it for a bottleneck.
But after using it yesterday, Rowan realized the effect was beyond "powerful." The surging, overflowing strength in his veins allowed him to deliver a simple, unrefined punch with more destructive force than his prime self could have achieved with full effort.
The system had eventually explained: the serum had been fermenting since the moment the system began loading.
A hundred years of fermentation had turned a simple "starter" item into a god-tier elixir. His physical stamina and raw power had been bolstered to an unbelievable level. In terms of pure physical constitution, the current Rowan had reached the absolute peak of this world.
That physical boost alone pushed his combat capability far beyond that of a standard Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral. Combined with the fact that his already proficient Rokushiki and Haki had been further refined by the gift pack, Rowan felt a surge of confidence.
He wasn't just a legend anymore. Even if he hadn't quite hit the absolute peak of an Admiral yet, he was damn close.
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