Chapter 11

BOOM. Mad Treasure's chain-covered fist smashed onto the ground, showcasing vigorous strength. Immediately after, twisting his body to his utmost effort, Rowan barely managed to dodge a straight chain from puncturing his chest.

Just when he landed, Rowan had to lower his body to dodge an incoming punch from Mad Treasure, who was standing right in front of him.

"JARARARA!!!"

While throwing one punch after another, Mad Treasure laughed. Tall and broad posture, the dark silhouettes of chains madly flailing around him, and the fact that Rowan was notably smaller than the man in contrast—in the eyes of Nami, Mad Treasure was akin to a demon from hell.

Nami's lips quivered. At every second, Rowan was escaping his death by an inch, and Nami felt as if her heart was going to stop at any moment—afraid that she will lose her closest companion.

SWOOSH!

Mad Treasure's punches were strong enough such that the air whistled from the stress. Rowan, whose whole body was tensed up, used his utmost reflex not to allow a single blow onto him.

BOOM.

As Mad Treasure's punch missed once more and struck the ground, Rowan, seeing that Carina was behind a bush nearby Nami, back-flipped as a kick came in flying this time around.

Then duck. Kick, punch, chains that suddenly shot out from the sides—ones that attempted to pierce him and also the ones that attempted to coil around him—jump up to dodge it, then grab a tree branch and propel downward.

Tap.

"...Hah?" Mad Treasure raised his eyebrow in slight surprise. As all his chains were soaring up, Rowan was already down, right in front of him, with his fist cocked back.

PUK.

Mad Treasure's eyes widened before Rowan slammed Mad Treasure's face hard, causing the man to take a couple of steps back to prevent himself from falling. Nami, also shocked by the sudden development of the scene, dropped her jaw.

'...Mad Treasure, position-wise, is currently standing between where Nami sits by and me here. The fire burns pretty near Nami, and though it is thanks to that fire that I am able to barely dodge those chains...'

Rowan dashed toward Mad Treasure, who held his bruised cheek while gritting his teeth in fury.

'My first and utmost goal here is to ensure that Nami gets away safe. Then, I must...'

"...Oi, don't think you'll be able to do something just because you managed to land a shot on me." Growled Mad Treasure, "I was going to play around with you for some time, but screw that."

BOOM.

Just after he said so, from Mad Treasure's right palm shot out multiple chains, which pierced through tree bark. Rowan, feeling a cold sweat on his back, began running toward Mad Treasure at the utmost speed. Then,

"HAAAA!!!"

Upon Mad Treasure's roar, the entire tree was plucked out from the ground, much to Rowan's devastation.

"Chain Ram!!!"

BOOOM!

Though Rowan managed to leap to his left at the last moment, the shock from the impact caused him to roll on the ground. Standing back up right away, he saw that the tree was now broken into many parts, and those parts lied scattered in the scene, mixed with corpses.

"...Again, just barely." Mad Treasure muttered, "You indeed are sneaky and annoying to catch, much more so than those two girl-thieves." The chains retracted back and coiled around his right arm. At the same time, another set of chains arose from his left arm, coiling around in the same manner. While this was happening, Rowan, in Mad Treasure's viewpoint, was running toward Nami, to which Mad Treasure watched with nothing but annoyance.

'And he isn't letting himself be caught by my chain again... tch,' Mad Treasure thought, before smiling shrewdly as his eyes headed to Nami, '...then, there is no point in attacking him, since there is a better target—'

"—Huh?" Mad Treasure exhibited confusion as Rowan stopped next to a bonfire instead. He frowned in thought, '...Fire. Light. Night and cloudy. Blood covering the scent of my chains. Light, sense of sight—aha,'

Mad Treasure chuckled in realization,

"Jararara... so you, in the end, found it hard to continue evading my attacks in the dark."

Rowan didn't reply.

"But it's futile," Said Mad Treasure as he blasted himself toward Rowan with body chain-covered arms ready to slam into the 15-year-old, "if you are able to see better, so do I!!"

"Hu..."

Rowan took in a deep breath. As Mad Treasure's chain-covered punch came in flying, one that knocked him out few hours ago, Rowan reacted as quickly as he could. Sidestepping and barely dodging the punch, Mad Treasure's chain-covered punch slammed onto the very fire itself, and due to its sheer size, and the blood across the grass making it wet,

the fire went off—placing the coast in complete darkness where no one was able to see properly.

SWOOSH!

And as Rowan, in the darkness, reacted at the last moment and had Mad Treasure's chain-covered fist skid on his cheek—generating a gash, Carina began sneaking her way in.

"C-Carina...!" Nami whispered,

"Shh... don't make a sound." To which Carina shushed while untying Nami skillfully.

BOOM.

Mad Treasure, unable to see or notice Carina's entry, was busily smashing his fists toward the darkness, to where he heard Rowan's movement.

BOOM. His punch landed on one corpse that Rowan threw at the last second. The intestines spilled out, and Mad Treasure was soaked with blood and a disgusting stench. But uncaring of it, he continued his pursuit for Rowan—or not, as he suddenly turned his focus elsewhere,

"...Heh, if you are going to keep on dodging," Mad Treasure snarled with a grin, "might as well go after that girl. She's tied up anyway, and knowing you—"

PUK.

"—just as I thought," Said Mad Treasure as Rowan's punch slammed onto his cheek.

Intentionally loosening the strength in his body, Mad Treasure fell to the ground. And, as the darkness prolonged, some vision was returning back to him; he opened the palm of his chain-covered right hand, and as Rowan began running,

"Chain Arrow."

shot a fast-paced chain that flew toward Nami, and also Carina who was with the former. Though dodging it easy, parrying it was a different question. Its strength, as well as its speed...

'DAMN IT!!!!!' Rowan cursed as he ran. He ran as fast as he could, and just before the chain penetrated the vulnerable Nami,

PUK.

Rowan took the shot himself, to his shoulder.

Nami, as Rowan's blood splashed onto her face, cried, "ROWAN—" before her mouth was closed by Carina's hand. Carina, grimacing, pulled now-freed Nami back without any word, knowing that getting away was the best way they could help Rowan.

"Finally..." Mad Treasure growled while taking steps forth, "After a long-endured time, I'm seeing some blood."

Rowan quickly plucked the chain out, and uncaring of the fact that blood was squirting out of his shoulder, stood back up wobbly. He gazed at his side, where Carina was getting away with reluctant Nami held by her.

"Huff... huff... vahahaha..."

Before the pain itself, Rowan felt relief. Nami managed to get away. His goal of coming here was achieved. With the ship already having been secured, there was no problem in getting out of here.

…

But... what of Arlong?

Mad Treasure is a pirate with a bounty of a mere 8.5 million Beli. In contrast, Arlong was the pirate with the bounty of a sheer 20 million Beli.

Rowan bit his lips out of frustration, as he watched Mad Treasure flying at him with those chain-covered fists once more—

'—Ugh…'

before a sudden nausea hit him, and,

BOOM.

Mad Treasure's punch struck on Rowan's face.

Was it that he ran out of energy or that Mad Treasure was hiding his strength? As Mad Treasure laughed madly, Rowan was blasted away to the edge of the coast, rolling.

"Cough cough…"

Blood dripped from Rowan's mouth. He shifted his foggy vision to Mad Treasure, who was approaching him from within the dark, with murderous gleam in his eyes.

"H-hu…"

Gathering all his will, Rowan stood back up, just barely.

"Finally!!" Mad Treasure expressed delight, "It took a damn forever to hit you!!"

"ROWAN!!!!!" Nami, unable to conceal her voice, screamed in horror. She attempted to run into the fight, which Carina prevented by hugging Nami tightly.

Boom.

Mad Treasure propelled himself, rapidly toward Rowan. Rowan watched as his foe cocked his chain-covered fist back, before launching it forth.

Ba-Bump.

Rowan's heart thumped as Mad Treasure's chain-covered fist was approaching his face.

"JARARARA!!"

Ba-Bump.

Time seemed to be slowing down. The air pressure, generated by the punch, breezed on his skin.

<Kiddo.>

And he recalled, the face of his deceased father.

<…Rowan.>

Ba-Bump.

'Am I about to join mom and you, old man?' Rowan thought with a strange calmness in him, 'And when I get there, she'll sing me the Bink's Sake like she always did… or perhaps, I won't reach there in the first place.'

Watching as Mad Treasure's fist approached slowly, Rowan's life flashed in him; one filled with nothing but helplessness and uselessness.

Are you going to end your story like this?

<Shahaha! Look at you miserable humans!!!>

…

No.

Bizarrely, Rowan's head naturally moved, tilting just enough such that Mad Treasure's fist missed.

SWOOSH!

"..." As Mad Treasure's motion stopped, Rowan's eyes widened. The slowed down time then seemed to have resumed.

'What did I just—'

Then Rowan felt, another punch approaching. He leaned down at a casual pace, just before Mad Treasure's punch blasted through an empty air once more.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!

It was strange. It felt as if he grew a sixth sense. He didn't necessarily become faster, and yet, he was dodging Mad Treasure's attacks with ease.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!

Rowan didn't move a single step back. Tilting, lifting his legs up, twisting his body around—none of Mad Treasure's huge fists managed to hit him.

"...What?" And Mad Treasure too began to realize this, expressing disbelief. He angrily cocked his fist back, about to punch once more, however, Rowan then simply held his leg out, causing the former to trip and fall down face-first on the grassy plain.

"Grrr..." Mad Treasure gritted his teeth, before immediately jumping back up and punching, kicking, sending out multiple chains—to Rowan, at point-blank range.

SWOOSH! BOOM! BOOM!

No attacks managed to reach the black-haired teen. Nami and Carina—now forgotten by Mad Treasure—watched this with awe and worry for Rowan. However, contrary to worry, Rowan's facial expression was calm and focused.

'...Within the darkness, sense of sight isn't much of help. Sense of smell isn't either, with the metallic scent of blood mixing with the chains. Sense of touch... is of no use unless Mad Treasure's attacks are a millisecond away from impacting me. With only the sense of sound to rely on—no.'

Rowan thought as he leaped back to dodge an entire tree that slammed down,

BOOOM!

'...Rather, it's as if I'm sensing Mad Treasure's intent itself. Somehow, I can feel what his next move will be... I see.' Rowan slowly formed a genuine, yet shaky smile,

'This must be the Observation Haki, isn't it...?'

SWOOSH!

"What's with that smile of yours, weakling?!!" Mad Treasure, growling out of frustration, punched his fist at Rowan who again dodged with ease. Engulfed by the anger, he turned around and punched once more—

Tap.

—Rowan, at the last moment, turned around also and placed his foot onto Mad Treasure's back. And that's when Mad Treasure realized, that they were standing at the edge of the coast.

"Huff... huff... weak, you aren't wrong about that one." Rowan muttered, just as he pushed Mad Treasure off the ground, into the water,

SPLASH!

"But you aren't that strong either."