"What are you doing?"
The boar that Saint Topman Warcury had transformed into had suffered only a few burns, yet he was still as lively as ever.
Rowan secretly clicked his tongue at the sight.
In his memories, this boar's defensive power was astonishing. Even Luffy's Red Hawk had failed to damage him, and the recoil had instead caused Luffy's entire arm to swell up.
Even an attack from Luffy in his Nika form had failed to break through his defenses.
With Ryujin Jakka currently only at its Shikai state, with a temperature of six thousand degrees, even an attack like Flame Hell had merely managed to barely break through his defenses.
From this alone, Rowan knew that he had no chance of defeating them.
However, his strategic objective of luring all five old monsters here had already been accomplished. The only question was whether Saturn, who had brought them here, had the ability to teleport them back to Mary Geoise from Baldigo.
The boar that Warcury had transformed into glared at Rowan and roared, "I am a Fengxi! Not a pig!"
"Rumble..."
A series of noises echoed underground. Immediately afterward, the entire ground beneath Rowan collapsed, and Peter, who had transformed into a sandworm, burst out once again.
The damage caused by the fire tornado created by Ryujin Jakka's Shometsu, which had exploded inside its mouth, had actually completely healed?!
Rowan had no time to think. He swung his blade horizontally, and flames cleaved the creature in two.
But in the next moment, a torrent of sand surged toward him. After being scorched by the flames, the sand had turned pitch-black, yet it still tried to bind Rowan.
"Ah!"
His figure vanished and reappeared elsewhere, only for a beam of light to descend from above. It was the gigantic bird, Saint Marcus Mars, who had been circling overhead.
Just like the scene his Shadow Clone had witnessed when infiltrating Mary Geoise, the entire Room of Authority seemed like hell itself.
The five men who held the highest authority in the world looked as though they had crawled out of hell.
"Boom!"
Rowan blocked the beam with a horizontal slash of his blade.
But Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, transformed into a skeletal horse, leaped into the air and brought the First Generation Kitetsu crashing down.
A chill swept through Rowan's entire body, forcing him to disappear once again.
"Ah!"
A beam of light suddenly shot out. Countless points of light densely peppered the location where Rowan had appeared, turning the ground into a hornet's nest.
Yet such an attack failed to injure Rowan in the slightest. Kizaru, who had recklessly rushed forward, was instead slashed away by a single stroke of Rowan's blade.
Amidst the thunderous clash, the two exchanged a brief conversation.
"Do I?"
"The plan is proceeding as intended."
Kizaru was asking whether he should betray the Marines and help Rowan. After all, the battle looked extremely difficult for Rowan. Almost every time, he was forced to use teleportation simply to survive, barely keeping the situation under control.
If the Revolutionary Army truly had not been able to evacuate everyone because of how little time they had, there was a real possibility that Rowan could be killed if he continued fighting to the death.
If that happened, then even knowing that Kizaru's future role as a Marine Admiral would be more valuable, he would have no choice but to immediately betray the Marines and help Rowan hold back the Five Elders.
But Rowan's answer was that everything was proceeding according to plan.
That clearly meant that Rowan was confident in his own safety and did not need Kizaru's assistance.
Moreover, if everything was going according to plan, then the Revolutionary Army on this island must have already evacuated.
"Borsalino."
Saturn looked over and said, "Go and stop those people, but don't stop them completely. Delay their evacuation. If anyone tries to send a ship into the sky, or if Bartholomew Kuma appears, stop them with everything you've got and prevent the Revolutionary Army from escaping."
Kizaru immediately transformed into a beam of light and shot toward the distance.
For a moment, Rowan appeared to lose his composure, seemingly trying to break through the Five Elders' encirclement.
But just as he teleported beside the corpse of a CP agent, Warcury's Fengxi form suddenly charged straight toward him.
Rowan did not dodge this attack. The flames in his hand suddenly contracted into Ryujin Jakka, causing the entire blade to glow with an extreme heat.
"Get out of my way!"
"Boom!!"
The blade slammed into Fengxi's head. A tremendous force surged through the impact, and Rowan, who had gained the Steel Bone talent, was suppressed in terms of raw strength for the first time.
At the same time, the moment the blade struck his opponent, a powerful counterforce rebounded through it, sending Rowan flying back into the encirclement.
"Cloaked Man, this ends here!"
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro swung his sword, the bone-chilling cold striking directly at Rowan's internal organs.
Flame Hell!!
Towering pillars of explosive flames erupted. Four pillars of fire separated Nusjuro from the outside world, and the terrifying force within them produced a massive explosion.
"Crack....."
The sound of the ground splitting apart was clearly audible across Baldigo.
The next moment...
The island split apart along the line formed by the pillars of explosive flame, the two sides tearing open and forming a massive fissure that extended all the way to the seabed.
"Whoosh..."
Eight sharp black spider legs suddenly stabbed toward Rowan.
Rowan swung the flaming blade in his hands, putting all his strength into every collision.
The giant demonic spider that Saturn had transformed into was inferior to Warcury's Fengxi in terms of raw strength, but its agility was on an entirely different level. Moreover, those black, razor-sharp limbs were coated with a deadly poison that could kill with a single touch.
With Kizaru delaying the Revolutionary Army's evacuation, the longer he could stall them, the more time the Five Elders had to keep the Cloaked Man here.
At the same time, they could not simply prevent the Revolutionary Army from leaving altogether. If Rowan realized there was no hope of evacuation, he might very well abandon the fight and leave himself.
Baldigo had originally been nothing but a barren wasteland, which was precisely why it was known as the White Soil Island.
The Revolutionary Army had chosen it as their headquarters partly because of its high degree of concealment.
But now, Baldigo was covered in scorching flames. Towering pillars of fire erupted from the ground, and the entire island shook incessantly.
Crimson lightning intertwined and exploded across the sky. The once-bright heavens had turned dark, and every clash between Rowan and the Five Elders sounded like the roar of an approaching apocalypse.
When Rowan saw Kizaru transform into a flash of light and head into the distance, he paid no attention to him.
The flying machines that had originally been circling high above had retreated after the Five Elders descended.
When Kizaru approached the center of Baldigo, the cloud processor analyzed the situation, and five flying machines immediately dove toward the locations where the flash would arrive next.
The flying machines charged toward five different directions. Through precise calculations, they left the elementalized flash with nowhere to evade.
Kizaru's heart skipped a beat.
He had originally thought that, as an actor, he was already convincing enough. He hadn't expected that the other side would be even better actors than him.
They're not actually going to blow me to death, are they?
The thought flashed through Kizaru's mind, and his Observation Haki immediately activated to its absolute limit.
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
All five flying machines detonated simultaneously, blasting out the P-Material-coated steel pellets they carried.
In an instant, Kizaru, who had transformed into light, felt as though his brain was about to burn out. His elementalized body began partially evading the incoming pellets.
One after another, holes appeared in his body ahead of the pellets. The steel balls passed straight through without making contact, naturally unable to hit his physical form.
But clearly, with so much attention focused on protecting his vital areas, Kizaru's left shoulder was struck again, blasting open another wound.
Kizaru immediately retreated, clutching his shoulder, before transforming directly into a flash of light and shooting into the sky.
Hachiman Kagura!
In an instant, a circular flash of light appeared in Borsalino's hands.
"Shing! Shing! Shing..."
The next moment, countless beams of light shot out from within, launching a wide-area attack toward the flying machines.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
One after another, the flying machines that failed to react in time were reduced to wreckage amid the small craters scattered across the ground.
However, the flying machines that attempted to circle around were still no match for the speed of Borsalino's waving hand. Under the Gatling-like barrage of lasers, the entire ground was riddled with holes, and all thirteen flying machines were destroyed.
But just as Borsalino was about to advance, another group of five flying machines appeared. They accelerated to their maximum range and, without giving him any time to react, immediately detonated themselves.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Caught off guard, Borsalino's Observation Haki calculated the trajectories of every steel pellet, allowing him to emerge completely unharmed this time.
The scattered light gathered together again, and Borsalino discovered that the other side still had more of these things.
"Really... what an annoying number of them."
He pursed his lips. Fortunately, these things were steel pellets.
They had been designed with tremendous penetrating force to ensure that they could break through defenses, so once they struck his physical form, they simply passed through instead of remaining inside his body.
Otherwise, just one hit would be enough to cripple an ability user.
Not far away, Saint Saturn, who was engaged in the battle, also witnessed this scene.
With injuries appearing twice, it was obvious that Borsalino wasn't slacking off. He was genuinely fighting for his life.
The Revolutionary Army's technological capabilities, however, were not to be underestimated. They had actually managed to turn P-Material, which could be used to produce Seastone, into a coating.
This was a technology that even the Marines didn't possess.
So far, the only comparable technology was the coating technology developed while Vegapunk was still with the Marines, which allowed Marine warships to cross the Calm Belt.
Wait!
A flash of inspiration struck Saturn.
He completely ignored one of Rowan's slashes. The flaming blade severed three of his sharp spider legs, yet Saturn didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Amid the black clouds of smoke surrounding his body, the severed spider legs completely regenerated in no time.
Rowan was just about to press his advantage when Warcury's Fengxi form charged in from behind and slammed into him.
"Cough, cough."
The tremendous impact caused blood to trickle from the corner of Rowan's mouth.
This pig's strength was simply too great great enough to injure him even after the enhancement from his Steel Bone talent.
One had to know that even without using Haki, Big Mom's skin could withstand a thrusting sword strike coated in Haki without suffering any damage.
"Bang!"
Ryujin Jakka collided with the First Generation Kitetsu. The flames surged forward, contending with the freezing chill originating from the underworld.
In terms of strength, Rowan had a slight advantage, and he sent Nusjuro flying with a slash.
"Hey..."
Amid the tremendous buzzing sound, a beam of light descended from the sky.
"Boom!!"
The already shattered ground was pierced by Saint Marcus Mars in his Itsunademo Ten form. Rowan threw out a kunai and vanished from the spot.
By this point, all the CP agents who had originally formed a surrounding formation had already sunk to the bottom of the sea.
After the Five Elders appeared, their overwhelming pressure had left the agents completely unable to move. The aftershocks and collapsing ground had simply claimed their lives.
"Get lost!!"
With an angry shout, Rowan swung his blade.
Massive flames engulfed the sandworm, and the slash directly split its enormous body in two.
Yet not long afterward, the worm completely recovered. A terrifying suction force emerged from its enormous mouth.
"Crack!"
On the shattered ground, the rocks Rowan had burned into charcoal rose into the air and were directly swallowed into its stomach.
Immediately afterward, the corpses of the CP agents who had been killed by the shockwaves were also devoured by the enormous worm. Its gigantic mouth seemed like a bottomless black hole.
Rowan swung his blade, and even the flame-shaped slash was swallowed without exception.
When he saw Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro charging toward him, Rowan could only teleport repeatedly, slicing apart the force that devoured everything.
Yet the instant he reappeared, his Observation Haki failed to detect an attack from Fengxi. Nor did he detect anything from Itsunademo Ten hovering in the sky.
"Oh? Taking a break?"
Rowan casually waved Ryujin Jakka, his expression completely relaxed. Apart from a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, he looked as though he hadn't suffered any injuries at all.
The reason the Five Elders had stopped was precisely because of Saturn's recent communication with the others.
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter returned to his human form and looked at Saturn. "This isn't the time to be wasting time."
Saturn's eyes narrowed slightly, indicating that he understood.
He then stared at Rowan and said, "The mechanical soldier that just appeared on this island, those flying machines, and those steel-pellet bullets capable of injuring Borsalino... They remind me of someone."
"So, Cloaked Man... Vegapunk, who disappeared from Ohara nearly eight years ago, was kidnapped by your Revolutionary Army?"
For a moment, the Five Elders returned to their human forms and stopped attacking Rowan.
However, they maintained their encirclement, preventing him from breaking through and interfering with Borsalino's operation.
Peter spoke up. "Ohara? If that's the case..."
Nusjuro rested the First Generation Kitetsu against his shoulder. "Then those scholars who committed the unforgivable crime of researching history didn't all die?"
Warcury frowned. "So from eight years ago, when the Revolutionary Army was first established, you had already committed the gravest crime."
All five Elders simultaneously turned their gazes toward Rowan, staring intently at his expression for any change.
But just as in the past, the five men who possessed the highest authority in the world often had no need for so-called evidence.
When it came to the history of the Void Century, mere suspicion was enough for them to take action.
Ohara had been nothing more than a group of defenseless scholars, yet that alone had been enough to warrant the military force of a Buster Call and the destruction of the island.
As for a force like the Revolutionary Army that had already grown into a major power, it was only natural for all five of them to appear personally and suppress it.
Although the source of the Revolutionary Army's technological power had been exposed, Rowan continued maintaining his altered appearance.
He did not rush to answer. The longer he could stall for time, the greater the chances of success for the Shadow Clones that had already gone to Mary Geoise.
With the Five Elders having left the Room of Authority, there was still the Holy Knights who governed the Celestial Dragons.
As for Imu in the Garden of Flowers, they most likely wouldn't appear directly.
The legend of the Phantom House on Mary Geoise had already proven that Imu's existence could not be made public.
So... as long as these five old monsters remained here, at the very least, Rowan could kill one of them.
"Taking that as a confirmation?"
Saturn's voice rang out. "It seems the reasons for killing you and completely destroying the Revolutionary Army have increased yet again."
Seeing that the five intended to resume their encirclement, Rowan immediately seized the opportunity to speak.
"There is more than one smart person in this world. Baltimore is a place blessed with remarkable people. There was once someone there who surpassed even Vegapunk in terms of technology. He simply died unexpectedly."
Sure enough, those words caused the five old men to pause.
As ancient beings who had lived for who knew how long, there were very few secrets in this world that remained unknown to them.
If Rowan wanted to divert their attention, he naturally couldn't give them information that was completely fabricated.
Baltimore the hometown of Vegapunk.
In the cover stories from his memories, there had once been a top scientist there named Dr. Tsukimi.
The technology he possessed most likely originated from the moon. As for his accidental death... it was rather similar to Kuina's cause of death: he choked to death while eating a mooncake.
One supreme staircase and one supreme mooncake had somehow become a pair.
For a moment, the Five Elders exchanged glances.
Clearly, after MADS, the World Government had also once paid attention to Baltimore, Vegapunk's hometown.
They likely knew something about Dr. Tsukimi, who had once appeared there. At this moment, they found some credibility in Rowan's words.
Saturn slowly closed his eyes.
After pondering for a long time, he finally spoke.
"Cloaked Man, as far as I know, during the God Valley Incident, Saint Semitt the man who killed your entire family was eventually killed by you in revenge."
"Your greatest hatred has already been avenged. After that, you went on to kill four more Celestial Dragons. Before that, you even invaded Mary Geoise and committed an unforgivable crime."
"And now you're staying here because you want to save those people, aren't you?"
Saturn looked toward the distance. Borsalino repeatedly attempted to advance, but his progress was continually delayed by the successive suicide bombings.
Even when he retreated and tried to attack from another direction, the omnipresent flying machines obstructed him.
After Borsalino became much more cautious, these small machines could no longer injure him, but their sheer numbers were still enough to delay him.
"Saint Peter, I'll leave that side to you."
Saturn's voice rang out.
----------
Advance Chapters: patreon .com/OneFic