"Ah."
An ice spike shot past Rowan. When he turned around, he spotted a familiar figure leisurely sitting on the back of a Sea King.
The Sea King was clearly already dead, yet its body continued to drift and sway back and forth on the surface of the sea.
Rowan turned and used Geppo, landing on the Sea King's back as well, hiding himself behind its dorsal fin.
"How long have you been here? You hid yourself pretty well. I didn't notice you at all."
Kuzan tossed over a canteen. "I originally planned to take out some pirates along the way so I could delay my arrival without raising suspicion. But I didn't expect Sakazuki to be able to take this much punishment. I've been here for more than half a day."
Rowan caught the canteen. After opening it, he discovered that it contained alcohol.
He took a couple of sips before sitting down beside Kuzan. "I only came after clearing out all the pirates around G5 Branch. But judging from the situation, it should be about the same."
After hesitating for a moment, Kuzan looked at Rowan and asked, "How are things at home? With pirates suddenly launching attacks on towns in waves, they must have taken action. I'm just worried that they might get exposed."
"Don't worry." Rowan reassured him. "Sengoku can't possibly abandon the Four Seas, so the pressure on our side there isn't too bad. It's only the New World that's become a complete mess. But our people here have another layer of cover, so there's no need to worry about exposure."
Kuzan relaxed after hearing this, then took the canteen back.
"We've been talking about this for years, yet you still haven't taken me to meet the people at home. Aside from you, and perhaps Nomi, I don't even know who else is one of our people."
That made Rowan awkwardly scratch his head. "They know you exist, but you should understand. Admiral Kuzan is much more valuable."
As he spoke, Rowan gave him some good news. "Borsalino has also been convinced by the Teacher. He's one of our people now too."
???
Kuzan's eyes widened.
Borsalino had always maintained that lazy, ambiguous attitude. After joining the Revolutionary Army, Kuzan had even learned to imitate this senior's habit of speaking ambiguously.
He never expected Borsalino to become one of their own now.
Come to think of it... of the three Admirals originally destined to become the Navy's highest combat force, two were now members of the Revolutionary Army.
"Tsk..."
Kuzan clicked his tongue and sighed. "The Teacher's goal is probably the entire Marine force, isn't it?"
Rowan looked at him. "Why do you say that?"
Kuzan replied, "The Marines have an ideological foundation. Basically, most Marines were born as ordinary people, and when they first joined the Marines, most of them did so because they wanted ordinary people to have a way to survive."
"With that foundation, there's no reason the Marines couldn't become the Revolutionary Army's Marines. Their submission to the World Government itself contains an element of helplessness."
Rowan smiled and patted Kuzan on the shoulder. "Not bad. Looks like all those books weren't a waste. You've actually made some progress."
Kuzan gave him a sideways glance. "I haven't been sitting around doing nothing either. Since you won't take me to meet the people at home, I've developed some people myself. I just haven't told them about the Revolutionary Army yet."
This time, it was Rowan's turn to look completely dumbfounded.
Had Kuzan established a new base of operations himself?
"Vice Admiral Saul has already made his stance clear. There are also two of my classmates. How about it? Not bad, right?"
Saul?
Because Rowan had intercepted and released Olvia himself, the giant Vice Admiral hadn't gone through the betrayal of the Marines that he originally experienced.
Yet in the end, because of Kuzan, he had still embarked on the path of resisting the World Government.
After thinking it over for a while, Rowan nodded. "You can act freely within the Marines, but you need to keep your identity confidential. If your identity is exposed, a position like Marine Admiral, one capable of influencing so many things, could trigger a major upheaval."
"At that point, it wouldn't just be you. Borsalino would also come under suspicion. And if those people are pushed too hard, something unpredictable could happen."
"Something unpredictable?"
Kuzan looked puzzled.
Rowan looked into the distance. Molten lava rained from the sky like falling meteorites, but in the next instant, a terrifying slash split the magma in two.
The force of the slash seemed capable of cleaving through the sea itself, sending enormous waves surging into the air.
As seawater rained down, a dome of ice formed around Kuzan, shielding him. The corpse of the Sea King continued floating steadily on the surface, showing no sign of revealing their presence.
"Mr. has received some even more secret intelligence. There are certain forces of resistance that are still growing. Before that happens, we need to maintain stability in the world."
Ikoku!
"BOOM!"
Napoleon, which had taken the form of a massive blade from Big Mom's hat, was swung down with tremendous force, cleaving the magma in front of her in half.
"Mamamama!"
"Little Magma, I didn't expect you to be able to last this long!"
As she spoke, Zeus, who had already transformed into a black thundercloud, was grabbed and yanked down.
In an instant, lightning erupted in all directions.
"BOOM! BOOM..."
Sakazuki's face was filled with fury as his lightning-covered left hand swung down.
"AAAH!!! You damn hag, die!"
Amid his roar, magma surged forward like a vicious hound.
"BOOM!"
Black lightning exploded, sending Sakazuki flying backward.
At this point, his upper body was covered in blood. Compared to the lightning, he wasn't particularly concerned about the thing capable of spewing flames.
The temperature of ordinary fire was inferior to magma, and even lightning wasn't something he feared.
There was only one thing he truly needed to worry about. As long as his Observation Haki was even slightly too slow, if he failed to evade the enormous blade wielded personally by BIGMOM, it could break through his Armament Haki defense.
There was a monster hidden inside this woman's body. Her physical strength was simply beyond anything a human should possess.
Even though he had been called a monster back when he was in the Marine training camp, compared to the mad woman in front of him, she was the one who truly resembled a monster.
Unless he used Armament Haki to inflict internal damage, even the extreme heat of his magma was incapable of causing her any meaningful harm.
"Mamamama..."
BIGMOM laughed viciously. "Little Magma... your insults really pissed me off!"
She swung the massive blade again. BIGMOM leaped into the air and came crashing down, splitting the entire island in two.
Sakazuki narrowly dodged the attack, but by now, he had already reached the brink of exhaustion.
Those bastards, why haven't they arrived yet?
The original plan had been to hold out for three days, but it had now been almost a week, and reinforcements still hadn't arrived.
And now, he could no longer contact anyone. His battleship had been destroyed, and all the Den Den Mushi had been burned to death. He had truly reached a desperate situation.
Yet, without his knowledge, in the distance, two people sat atop a drifting Sea King, hidden behind its fin. They were drinking, bragging to each other, and enjoying the gentle rocking caused by the shockwaves of the battle.
"The world's hidden secrets, huh..."
Kuzan frowned and thought for a moment before speaking. "No matter what, the meaning of life isn't supposed to be like this. Waiting is also for the dawn that is about to come."
Hearing such flowery words come from Kuzan's mouth still felt somewhat strange to Rowan.
But for now, they really did need to wait.
Poseidon, the Sea King, was only one year old. If Imu truly had the ability to sink the world beneath the sea, then Shirahoshi's power would be indispensable.
Of course, Vegapunk's technological capabilities would be equally essential.
"Should we make a move?"
Kuzan turned to look at the island in the distance, where enormous waves were surging. That previous slash had split the entire island in two, and the battle seemed to be nearing its end.
Rowan looked over as well before replying, "Sengoku personally notified both you and me to come here. I have a battleship with me, and there must also be people who saw you leave. It wouldn't look good if we didn't go over."
"Besides... BIGMOM may be crazy, but as a great pirate from the old era, she isn't stupid enough to actually kill Sakazuki. So that bastard won't die."
Kuzan sighed when he heard this. "I deliberately sped up on my way here. Later, that bastard personally contacted me through a Den Den Mushi. That's when I realized the Marines who had set sail with him were probably all dead."
Rowan replied, "Sakazuki acted on a momentary impulse. That bastard has never truly valued life in the first place, whether it's the lives of Marines or ordinary civilians."
Just as he finished speaking, a deafening explosion came from the distant island.
"BOOM!!"
Immediately afterward, a bloodied figure was sent flying.
Following close behind was BIGMOM, standing atop Zeus's thundercloud, both hands gripping the enormous Napoleon blade.
Emperor's Sword, Broken Blade!
Prometheus burned with enormous flames as Napoleon descended like a flaming blade.
"Bastard!"
"Little brat, take some punishment!"
Amid Sakazuki's furious roar, his arms spread apart like flowing magma, but the massive blade still swept across him, striking his physical body directly.
"Ugh..."
Sakazuki desperately used Armament Haki to withstand the incomparably tremendous force, but he was still sent flying by the horizontal slash, blood spraying from his mouth.
Rowan and Kuzan, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, could no longer remain calm. By sheer coincidence, that powerful slash had struck Sakazuki's physical body and sent him flying straight toward them.
"What do we do?"
"How about we kill him?"
Before they could make a decision, the blood-soaked Sakazuki came crashing toward them atop the Sea King's corpse.
"BOOM!"
Seawater splashed into the air. The ice beneath them didn't provide enough buoyancy, and Kuzan, afraid of falling into the sea, immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability. Within seconds, the entire surface of the sea had been covered in a thick layer of ice.
Sakazuki collapsed onto the ice, a massive wound stretching across his abdomen. After coughing up two mouthfuls of blood, he finally noticed that something was wrong with his surroundings.
Ice Age? Kuzan?
A Sea King corpse?
A Sea King corpse that had been drifting around for almost a whole day?
Several pieces of information suddenly connected in Sakazuki's mind.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Agitated, the pressure on his injured internal organs caused him to cough up blood again.
"Ku... Kuzan... you bastard!"
Rowan sighed from the side. "So you've fallen to the point where you need us to save you, yet you're still being this stubborn?"
With that, Rowan stepped forward and kicked Sakazuki out of the way.
The smooth surface of the ice sent him sliding and rolling for a distance before he immediately struggled to sit up, glaring at Rowan with flames in his eyes.
"Bastard! You two, I'll definitely kill you!"
The fury in his words made Rowan frown. He glanced at Kuzan before walking straight over.
The Shallow Blade was drawn and suddenly swung down.
He didn't use much force, but Sakazuki still had to cover himself with Armament Haki to block it.
"Rowan! Do you know what you're doing? Attacking a fellow Marine will make you a wanted criminal, you..."
Rowan interrupted him. "I didn't attack a fellow Marine, Sakazuki. After receiving your distress signal, I rushed here as quickly as I could, only to discover that the great Vice Admiral Sakazuki had already been killed by BIGMOM."
"To avenge Vice Admiral Sakazuki, G5 Branch Base Commander Vice Admiral Rowan fought the BIGMOM Pirates for three days and finally drove them away."
Having said that, Rowan looked back at Kuzan. "Don't you agree, Vice Admiral Kuzan?"
Kuzan deliberately sighed. "Vice Admiral Sakazuki, I think you should recognize the situation you're in. We came all the way here at great effort, not to listen to you order us around."
"We're all Vice Admirals, and we're all Admiral candidates. If you're asking for help, you should have the attitude of someone asking for help. With you being this furious, we could actually just leave right now."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sakazuki spat out another mouthful of blood.
"You! You two..."
Driven into a rage, Sakazuki's eyes turned bloodshot. His fists clenched tightly, faintly showing signs of transforming into magma.
"If the ice melts and you fall into the sea, no one's going to save you. I could always go eat a Devil Fruit later. Then the two of us being Devil Fruit users would naturally mean we can't go into the sea to save you!"
Rowan's final blow landed, and Sakazuki immediately spat out a mouthful of blood before passing out.
Rowan spread his hands and smiled. "Looks like he really can't take much provocation."
At this moment, BIGMOM, riding on the thundercloud Zeus, came speeding over the sea. At a glance, she spotted Rowan and Kuzan, as well as the unconscious Sakazuki behind them.
Her gaze sharpened. BIGMOM swung her enormous blade in a wide arc, black lightning exploding around it as her Haki locked onto Rowan and Kuzan.
Ikoku!
In an instant, the slash formed from tremendous force was covered in black lightning, shooting straight toward Rowan and Kuzan.
Steel Bone!
"BOOM!"
Conqueror's Haki erupted with equal intensity. Rowan held Kuzan back with one hand and leaped into the air from the surface of the ice.
"I've wanted to try this for a long time!"
"Kid, your Haki isn't bad!"
As their voices rang out, black lightning spread across the entire sea. The frozen ice shattered apart.
The sea shook violently, waves rippling outward and forming enormous swells.
"Crack..."
Kuzan, who had been blocked from the clash, had no time to be shocked by Rowan's Conqueror's Haki. He hurriedly reinforced the shattered ice.
The two attacks collided, and it took a long while before the aftershocks finally subsided.
BIGMOM leaped down from Zeus's thundercloud and looked at Rowan with an uncertain expression.
Back when they were both members of the Rocks Pirates, she had believed Kaido had the potential to grow stronger, so she had deliberately given him a warning. Later, at God Valley, she had even given him a Devil Fruit.
But now, she had discovered that this Marine brat standing before her could actually contend with her in terms of raw physical strength alone.
It should be known that even Kaido or Whitebeard couldn't match her in terms of raw physical constitution.
What's more, she also possessed the disposition of a king, Conqueror's Haki.
[Note: BIGMOM's most absurd feat was that even without using any Haki, her skin couldn't be pierced when she was caught off guard. This was stated by Capone Bege during the Whole Cake Island arc. Only when she was in a frenzy could her defenses actually be broken.]
[Whitebeard likewise didn't use Haki when his own son stabbed straight through him.]
"BIGMOM."
Rowan, who had also landed on the ice, looked at the enormous figure in front of him. "If you want to kill the guy behind us, we can leave."
"Hm?"
BIGMOM's expression froze for a moment before she burst into laughter. "You're both Marines, and you don't want to save him?"
Rowan spread his hands. "We were unable to rescue him in the chaos, resulting in a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral being killed by BIGMOM. That kind of report should be perfectly understandable."
With that, Rowan and Kuzan stepped aside, leaving the unconscious Sakazuki directly in front of BIGMOM.
However, BIGMOM hesitated this time.
The power of the Logia Magma-Magma Fruit, the rank of Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, and the qualifications to become an Admiral, making him one of the future pillars of the Marines.
She had never intended to kill this guy in the first place. Having witnessed the battle at God Valley, she understood very well why pirates were able to exist in the first place.
Her relentless efforts to expand her strength through political marriages and establish herself in the New World already proved that she wasn't stupid.
The balance of the seas was something certain people wanted to preserve. The rise of the Great Pirate Era had already left the Marines struggling to keep up, while the positions of the three Admirals still hadn't even been filled.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea system existed to maintain balance.
The bait of the Four Emperors existed to maintain balance as well.
To shatter that balance once again.
----------
Advance Chapters: patreon .com/OneFic