Chapter 77

In the middle of the desert, Rowan was seen to be standing in between the marines and the Baroque Works agents. Neither side dared to make a sound, knowing well enough that the man in front of them had a power to wipe them off with a single punch.

"What's your name again? Hina?" Rowan squinted his eyes and scratched his head.

Gulping under Rowan's stare, Hina nodded slowly. Rowan turned his head around to the other side, facing Miss Doublefinger.

"And you are Zala." Miss Doublefinger, now identified as Zala, nodded in a strict posture, afraid of angering Rowan.

"You two seem to be the leaders of both groups here, so," Rowan crossed his arms as he said impassively, "explain your side of story."

Both women stood frozen, not knowing what to do. They kept looking at each other with uncertainty, before Hina finally spoke out.

"All... that Hina knows is that you are likely to be the boss of Baroque Works, and that you are in the alliance with the corrupt royal armies..." Hina said slowly while occasionally gazing at Rowan fearfully, completely dominated by his presence, regardless of her belief in justice.

Rowan didn't react and turned his head other way, signalling Zala to speak.

"Uh," Zala stood there restless, "alright. Um, the purpose of our organization was to build an ideal nation. We were hired for that purpose. Few days ago, we were called by our unknown boss to gather here in Yuba. We did, and bam, the marines and you showed up, and before we even knew, we were f*****."

After Zala's words ended, Rowan sighed, as he reached a conclusion by assembling the information from both sides.

'Basically, Crocodile is the boss of the Baroque Works. He made his subordinates to gather in Yuba, and told marines that I am their boss to escape from suspicion.' Rowan thought in annoyance, 'He betrayed his own organization, but for what purpose?'

"Apart from the unknown boss," Zala spoke out once again, as she got a sense that Rowan wasn't hostile, "there was one woman who relayed his messages to us, known as Miss All Sunday."

'Miss All Sunday... I see.' It didn't take long for Rowan to realize that Miss All Sunday was Nico Robin. 'I suppose I can hear the rest from her.'

"One last thing," Rowan asked once more to Zala, out of pure curiosity, "is the king of Alabasta really corrupt?"

Zala hesitated for a bit, but under Rowan's gaze, remained truthful, "No. Every rumours about him was devised by the Baroque Works."

Rowan ceased to ask any more question after Zala's response. While he was busy thinking, the marines and Baroque Works stood on their spot silently.

Watching Rowan and the marines back and forth, Mr. 3 gulped before slowly speaking out, "I-"

*Vrooooom* Suddenly, a sound of motor running was heard from some distance away, interrupting Mr. 3, who awkwardly froze in a weird posture. On the other hand, Rowan turned to the source of the sound, and was met with the sight of Koza, Igaram, and few others riding on top of a boat-like vehicle.

They were seen to be shocked at the sight of what happened to Yuba, where the buildings and constructs were completely demolished and buried under the sands, leaving nothing for the view.

The vehicle stopped near Rowan, before all of them jumped out of it. Koza immediately rushed out of the group, frantically searching for his father.

"Father!!!" Koza cried out, looking to his left and right, but to no avail; the desert around him was too chaotic to get a good sight. Koza's expression became that of a sorrow, and he seemed to have lost himself, as he rushed to Rowan with a furious expression without a regard for a consequence, "What have you done to my father, Grimheart?!!"

Rowan watched Koza's angry outburst stoically. As Koza was about to grab him by the collar, Rowan's hand latched out instantly, tightly gripping onto Koza's outstretched arm.

"If you cared about your father so much," Rowan growled to Koza while leaning his face in, "you shouldn't have left him alone here in the first place."

Koza's desperate search reminded Rowan of how he lost his family. However, unlike him who was powerless back then, Koza could have prevented such a situation.

"Father..." Kneeling with a shock on his face, Koza grieved over the death of his father, until...

"Yo, is this him?" Dan suddenly approached with a skinny old man slouched on his back, "Captain, this is the one you saved, right?"

Upon witnessing Dan, Sho's eyes widened, wondering what happened to the Commodores.

"Yeah, what about him?" Rowan turned to Dan and sighted the man, before widening his eyes in realization, 'Don't tell me...'

Koza abruptly stood up with a disbelief written on his face. Slowly walking step by step, he reached to Dan and gently placed his hand on his unconscious father.

"F-father... you saved him?" Koza lifted his head up to Dan, who shook his head negatively and pointed at Rowan.

Koza's eyes widened and slowly turned his head to Rowan, who was staring at Koza with a weird expression, with his hands in his pockets.

Rushing back to Rowan, Koza knelt down immediately, with his head touching the ground, "I'm sorry for my rudeness just now! Pirate or not, you saved my father. Thank you!!!"

All Rowan could do was to stand on his spot, for the situation turned awkward.

Seeing the chance, Mr. 3 attempted to speak up once again, "I-"

"Oh, you guys." Trying to hide his awkwardness, Rowan turned around and faced Carmen and Cavendish, who were using a stick and sword to support themselves, completely ignoring Mr. 3, who froze in a weird posture. "How's Onigumo?"

As a response, Carmen tiredly raised her hand with a V sign. The marines were terror stricken, after they realized that Vice Admiral Onigumo and the Commodores were all defeated. Hina and Shu looked at each other uneasily.

Sighing, Rowan rubbed his back out of awkwardness and turned his gaze back to Koza, who was still kneeling in front of him, "Stand back up. If you are thankful about me saving your father, just help us get what we need."

Koza stood back up and nodded with eagerness.

Watching from nearby, Dan spoke up, "Hey captain, what happened to Crocodile?"

Rowan pointed at the back with his thumb, "There. Go and you'll find him dead."

"D-dead?!" Suddenly, Igaram, who was also nearby, expressed his shock. "In the desert?!!"

Hearing Igaram's sudden outburst, Rowan turned to the man, whom he never met before.

"Mr. 8?!!" Mr. 2 said in a visible confusion on his face, but before he could speak any more, Mr. 3 hurriedly placed his hand on Mr. 2's mouth.

"How the hell is he alive?" Mr. 5, who was still bound by the iron bars, muttered with broken sunglasses. "I thought I killed him!"

"And you are?" Rowan raised his eyebrow.

Igaram gulped at Rowan's caution, but nonetheless, approached the latter and whispered, "I am the captain of the Alabasta royal guard, Igaram. I have received a message from the Twin Cat pirates to wait for their arrival in Alabasta."

Hearing this, it was Rowan's turn to be shocked.

'Wha- Nojiko and Nami?! Since when did they enter the Grand Line?!' Rowan had an urge to rip his hairs off. From what he remembered, they weren't as strong to harbour in sea as dangerous as this.

"Haa, I don't even know anymore. Life surely is unpredictable." Eventually, Rowan simply stopped thinking before it gave him a headache. He simply gave a nod to thank Igaram for the information; any friend of his friend was his friend.

"So... captain," Dan opened his mouth, with his finger pointing at the marines, "what should we do with them?"

________________

"Hina hates this." Hina said in a grumpy tone as her, Shu and the other marines, amounting up to three hundreds now, were all tied by the ropes. Hina, with her devil fruit granting her an endurance and strength, is able to break out of it, but did not dare, fearing what would happen if she did that.

"Hahahaha!!" A laugh was heard from the other side. Hina turned and glared at the source of the laugh, Zala. Similar to the marines, Zala and the other former Baroque Works agents, only amounting up to a hundred or fewer now, were seen tied to the ropes. "The marines, arrested by the pirates!!"

"Hina advises you to shut your mouth." Hina growled, but Zala snorted and turned her head away, blatantly ignoring Hina's words.

"W-w-what's going to happen to us now?!!" Mr. 3 stuttered in worry, with his eyes full of concern. However, no one paid mind to him, as they grew used to his cowardly antics.

"Hey," Dan grinned as he turned to exhausted Carmen and Cavendish, "they kind of remind me of you two, don't you think?"

Cavendish grew a tick mark hearing that, "I am not a woman."

"I'm not as weak as them." Carmen said sluggishly.

Koza and few others stood nearby, keeping a watch on two groups intently.

Meanwhile, from some distance away from the rest of the group, Rowan and Igaram were seen to be standing in the middle of the desert with a Den Den Mushi on Igaram's hand.

"Three... five... one... there we go." Igaram said as he pressed the numbers on a Den Den Mushi, dialing for a call.

"Purururu, purururu- Alabasta exclusive call service here, captain Igaram." A stern, low voice was heard.

Igaram spoke into the dial."Connect me to the following number. Eight nine zero..."

"Connected." With a word of confirmation, the ringtone of Den Den Mushi was heard again.

Igaram passed on the Den Den Mushi to Rowan, who grabbed it with his heart beating in anticipation, and walked back to the rest of the group.

"Pururu- hello?" A feminine voice, in which Rowan did not recognize, was heard.

"I'm Rowan. Whoever you may be-" Rowan was suddenly interrupted by the loud shriek from the Den Den Mushi, nearly making his ears bleed.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!!! Hi hi hi hi!!! I'm Spadina, and I've heard a lot about you!! Are you really THE Grimheart Rowan?!! No way no way, I can't believe it!!! Wow-"

*Crunch* A bone-crashing sound was heard from the Den Den Mushi, causing Rowan to raise his eyebrow in confusion.

"Haha... sorry about that, ignore her." Another voice, which sounded so familiar to Rowan, was heard from the Den Den Mushi.

"...Nojiko?" Rowan spoke up slowly, with his eyes gleaming in a joy.

"Hey Rowan. Do you know how much we missed you-" Before Nojiko could finish, Nami's voice intervened.

"Rowan, I thought you were dead!! Whaa-" As Nami was speaking, her voice was cut off suddenly, rendering Rowan confused.

"It was me first- hey! What- why- take turns!!! Freaking stop!!!" Various voices were heard from the Den Den Mushi; Rowan found himself dumbfounded.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Then, many women's voices cheering on was heard. Rowan scratched his head, not knowing if he should just hang up the call or not.

"Hello hello, it's me again, Spadinaaaa- ow ow ow ow!!" Spadina's voice was heard momentarily before she yelped in pain, being yanked by someone from what Rowan could deduce.

At this point, Rowan found the call hilarious. In his mind, he was imagining Nojiko and Nami angrily grabbing one another's hair, fighting for the Den Den Mushi.

"Geez, I don't remember myself being this popular." Rowan spoke into the dial with a chuckle, but the chaotic noises continued from the Den Den Mushi, ignoring his words. Rowan couldn't help but blush slightly from an embarrassment.

"Anyways!!" Nami's voice was heard once again, seemingly rushed, "Don't you dare go anywhere else!! Wait in Alubarna for us, okay?!!"

Then the call was hung up. Rowan dully stared at the Den Den Mushi with a tick mark on his forehead; the call left him speechless.