"You lost! Want another game?"
Rowan rearranged the chess pieces, then rubbed his shoulders, took off his eagle-shaped helmet, and set it aside.
The others finally had a chance to observe Rowan's real face in a relatively safe setting.
It was indeed the face described in the records.
A firm and angular face, a peaceful smile, and eyes as sharp as an eagle.
He truly lived up to the almost unbelievable praise in the history books!
But at this moment, the others were more concerned with what Rowan had just said:
"The name Ryan Rowan, and what it means, are far beyond your imagination."
Crocodile frowned, deep in thought.
Cobra asked directly, "Ancestor, what exactly are you planning?"
Rowan touched his chin, placed the first piece in a new game of chess, and said with a smile:
"Celestial Dragons are annoying things. People fear them not because of the Celestial Dragons themselves, but because of the World Government behind them."
"Therefore, whether we clash with them or kill them directly, there will be a lot of trouble later."
"But Cobra, let me teach you something…"
Rowan slowly said:
"The dead only have two possibilities: either very useful, or completely useless."
"If that Celestial Dragon died here, he would be the second type: useless."
"But the living can always be somewhere between useful and useless, so there is much that can be done."
As soon as he said this, the other three present fell into contemplation.
Vivi scratched her little head. Being young, she couldn't fully understand Rowan's words, only feeling that she didn't quite understand, but it seemed to make some sense.
Crocodile curled his lip in disdain. As a pirate, he didn't completely agree with Rowan's approach.
Thinking back to the situation.
If Crocodile were in Rowan's place, and he had to save someone from the Celestial Dragon's gun, he might choose to secretly use his sand to flick the lead bullet away, and then stab a non-lethal wound into the person being saved.
Then, he would knock them both over, creating the illusion of being killed, to calm the Celestial Dragon.
This way would be the least noticeable and the most stable.
But Rowan's approach was clearly too showy, and Crocodile became even more certain of his previous feelings:
What a conceited old monster!
As for Cobra, after thinking for a moment, he roughly understood Rowan's idea.
"Ancestor, you don't plan to hide your revival… no, rebirth… no, awakening… that's not right either…"
Cobra said several descriptive words in a row.
Rowan waved his hand helplessly, "Just 'awakening' is fine."
Cobra then continued,
"Ancestor, you don't plan to hide the news of your awakening from the World Government?"
Rowan raised his eyebrows, "Why should I hide it?"
"Because the current World Government… has changed."
Cobra had attended many world meetings, so he knew a lot about the World Government and the thoughts of its member states.
"The World Government's main goal must be to eliminate any unstable factors that might threaten the World Government's rule, rather than accepting a 'ancient person' who has just awakened."
Rowan grinned.
"Indeed, the World Government will definitely try to do that, but if that unstable factor cannot be eliminated, they will definitely try to settle it down."
Cobra frowned slightly, not understanding his meaning.
Rowan continued to explain: "In the past, many countries made permanent non-aggression pacts with the emperor of the Alabasta Empire— that is, me— either willingly or forced."
"Huh?"
Cobra was taken aback, guessing that Rowan wanted to use a piece of paper to restrain the World Government's actions.
But, he couldn't help but wonder if that would really be useful.
Crocodile was even more direct, shaking his head and sneering, "Hey, you don't think the World Government are a bunch of treaty-obeying good guys, do you?"
"Of course not."
Rowan shook his head with a smile, correcting him: "They are a bunch of bad guys who are very good at 'using' treaties."
"Pfft!"
Vivi was amused by Rowan's statement, and Crocodile and Cobra seemed to realize something.
"That Celestial Dragon will take my news back to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, and the World Government certainly won't easily accept someone who died once eight hundred years ago."
Rowan's fingers moved gently, and a chess piece turned back and forth in his palm.
"Therefore, they will first choose to test me."
"The result of the test will determine whether that pact is just waste paper, or whether it will continue to be effective."
As soon as he finished speaking, Cobra's and Crocodile's pupils trembled slightly.
They didn't expect that in such a short time, Rowan could figure out this much!
Was this the legendary emperor who led a large army across the seas eight hundred years ago?
Cobra paused, and finally said with some bitterness and helplessness, "Ancestor, when do you plan to take the throne again?"
Rowan was puzzled by this.
He asked in surprise, "What throne?"
Cobra thought Rowan was testing him, so he honestly replied, "After you died in battle, ancestor Nefertari followed your wishes, took the throne, was crowned king, and then changed the empire to a kingdom."
"Now that you have revived… awakened, according to the old agreement, Alabasta should still be yours."
At this point, Cobra seemed a little reluctant.
He wasn't reluctant to give up the throne, but he was reluctant to give up his people.
Finally, Cobra bowed his head and requested,
"I hope you will treat this country well!"
But to everyone's surprise, Rowan waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, you should still be the king of the kingdom, everything stays the same."
Cobra was surprised, and even Crocodile couldn't help but be curious.
"Why?"
"I can't handle internal affairs!"
Rowan scratched his head and said with a helpless smile, "It was like this back then. I mainly handled external affairs, and Nefertari helped with domestic affairs, so I was confident in handing the throne over to him."
"But…" Cobra wanted to say something.
Rowan understood that this king had always been uneasy about the Alabasta Empire being changed into a kingdom.
He was worried that this emperor of the empire would be unhappy about it, and then get very angry.
Rowan placed a piece, winning another game of chess.
He patted Cobra on the shoulder, stood up, and said with a smile,
"What Nefertari did was just a difference in ideas, there is no right or wrong."
"Besides…"
"I am the emperor of the empire, not a king, and I don't want to be a king."
Cobra thought about Rowan's words.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "Ancestor, what are we going to do next?"
"Wait."
Rowan said with a smile, "Wait for the World Government to send someone to test us, and then make the World Government actively 'remember' that agreement."
…
How long to wait?
Rowan estimated that, including the time for communication and travel, it would take at least three to five days.
But the next day, Cobra suddenly received a report from the port town of Yuba.
He also asked someone to give the report to Rowan.
The content of the report was something Rowan never expected.
There were indeed outsiders coming to Alabasta, but they were not from the World Government.
It was a refugee ship, and the ship was full of refugees—
Fish-man refugees.