12 Chapter 11

"Hey! So why did you prank me?!" The girl angrily remarked as she pointed her finger at Rowan.

"Well, I wasn't planning to show up in the first place, to be honest." Rowan shrugged. "I mean, what if it was a trap?"

"Ughh... fine!" The girl seemed to be in a thought before talking, "I just wanted to make a deal with you, the man with 10 million Beli, Youchiha Bob."

Hearing that name, Rowan wanted to cry. Nonetheless, he nodded. "Go ahead."

"Have you heard of Mad Treasure?"

"Mad Treasure? That's not even funny. How can a treasure be mad?"

The girl seemed to be dumbfounded by Rowan's response.

"Mad Treasure, as in the strongest man of Tempus island, with 25 million Beli on his head!" She pulled out a bounty from her pocket, before showing it to him.

"Oh I see. Hmm, huhh??" Rowan recalled the man to which he threw 15,000 Beli to. Coming to a realization, his face turned pale. "Oh no..."

"Anyways, he is known to hoard tons of treasures, which is currently stored here, in Aurum city!" The girl exclaimed excitedly.

"So what?! If I meet him again, I am done for!!"

"No no, hear me out! If you are able to distract him, I can infiltrate his safe and steal the goods! Afterwards, we can split, you know!" The girl made a gold sign with her hand by connecting thumb with index. "Once you reveal yourself, Mad Treasure surely will be interested! How does that sound!"

"Yeah, as if. I can see what's going to happen. I serve as a distraction, and Mad Treasure kills me in seconds, or even if you manages to steal the treasures, I can't run away from him. Oh, even if I were to run away successfully, I would gain nothing in the end. You know why? Because you will take everything and disappear without splitting with me!" Rowan rolled his eyes.

"if you know that I am a criminal with 10 million on my head, why don't you think that I will brutally kill you before making any suggestions?"

"Are you going to do that to me?" The girl said with puppy eyes.

"I might if you annoy me. Huhuhu, I am the big bad criminal." Rowan replied sarcastically.

"Alright, alright, enough joking. I will see you tomorrow in the morning, at 10am, in this exact same spot!"

"Girl, I already told you that I am not doing it."

"See you!" The girl walked away.

"Is she deaf??" Rowan could not help but make a remark. "Well, prepare to be disappointed. I am not some simp that wooing can make me blind"

Shaking his head, Rowan went in search for a nearby inn.

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On the following day, Rowan woke up at 8am from the rented room.

'So what to do now...' Rowan contemplated. 'Perhaps, hiding in the most unexpected place is the right decision. Travelling straight to east seems to lead me to Tatami island, where there is 136th marine branch. Honestly, at this point, it's here or downward towards Jazz town. I have to decide quick, though.'

Checking time, Rowan got up and started to make his way outside. 'Issue is, I am running short of money. How do I make more?'

On his way out, he spotted the owner of the inn, sitting at the counter.

"Hey, just wondering, do you hire workers here?" Rowan asked.

"Sorry, but we don't hire criminals."

Hearing such response, Rowan felt that the people in the world of One Piece lacked the danger awareness. What would the actual criminals do, when they hear such words?!

Exiting the inn, Rowan went to the nearest hub to get breakfast.

"Give me the cheapest meal." Rowan ordered, and to his surprise, it was served immediately; an apple. "Huh? How can this be a meal?"

"You ordered the cheapest one. Eat up or leave it." The owner replied without a care.

Stupefied, Rowan stared at the owner, before taking a bite of the apple. To his surprise, it tasted absolutely horrible!

"What kind of s*** is this!!!" Rowan screamed as he stood up from his seat, dropping the apple from back on the plate. "Hey!! You call this a food?!!"

He picked up the fruit, before inspecting it.

"Now that I look carefully, this isn't an apple! It looks horrendous!!" When Rowan looked back to the owner, he had jaw opened wide.

"H-how??? A devil fruit, out of nowhere? I thought it was just a myth!!" The owner shouted out of shock. "No... if only I was able to stop you for a second!! I would have become filthy rich for life!!"

"What? Devil fruit? What kind of excuse is that? Just admit it, you failed." Rowan deadpanned, before his eyes widened. "Wait, devil fruit? Didn't dwarf duo mention that? Hmm, what exactly is that?"

"Basically, a fruit that grants you power in exchange for the incapability to swim... and very expensive!!"

"Power? What power? I feel nothing... huh?" All of a sudden, Rowan bounced from his spot. "What is this?!!"

"How should I know?? Do you expect me to be an expert at devil fruit, something I've never seen before? Just pay and get out!!" Due to the owner's violent outburst, Rowan was kicked out of the hub, with his stomach filled with nothing but a devil fruit.

Rowan did not pay any mind, however, and focused on his newly acquired ability instead. "What's going on??" At his will, Rowan, although wasn't doing anything, his body was bouncing on the ground, as if he was jumping up and down.

"Well, this is fun. However, I have no idea what kind of ability I got."

Thankfully, he was within the Aurum city, where large amount of information gathered. He visited the store and found what he was looking for: Devil fruit encyclopedia. Although it cost him another 15,000 Beli, causing him to go almost broke now, figuring his ability out was of the utmost priority.

"Nope, not this one, uh, wait, this seems like the one." After hours of flipping through, Rowan finally found the apple-like fruit that he ate.

"Bounce Bounce fruit. Classification: paramecia. Hmm... bounce?" Rowan scratched his head. "That explains it. So I can bounce anything?"

Rowan stood up from his spot. He tried to concentrate on his feet, and imagine himself "bouncing."

Suddenly, with a weird sensation, he was bouncing on the spot again.

"Haha, this ability seems a bit too overpowered. Theoretically, won't I be able to 'bounce' off the attacks aimed towards my body?" Rowan couldn't help but become excited. For once after arriving at the world of One Piece, he finally acquired a power that screams of fantasy.

This was the power he needed; an ability that grants him an absolute defence. Coupled with his trained strength, Rowan thought that perhaps, defeating Mad Treasure is no longer impossible.