55 Chapter 52

"Hey Carina, do you know what's wrong with captain?" Dan whispered to Carina as they sighted Rowan, who seemed to be exercising furiously. "I know how ridiculous his training routine is, but I've never seen him going this hard."

Currently, Rowan was simply punching on the air, due to the fact that a simple punching bag can't handle his strength. Issue was, he was punching at a blinding pace, to a point his fists couldn't be seen. His rapid punches generated a wind, which blew furiously towards all direction. He's been continuing this for two hours by now.

Carina could see that something has been troubling Rowan since the night before. "Don't worry about it; I will go talk to him later."

At the same time, Carmen was up in the sky above Prominence, flying freely by propelling herself with the fire.

"Phoenix Descent!" Carmen stretched her limbs as they were enveloped in the fire, which eventually formed a shape of a large bird. Subsequently, at Carmen's will, the phoenix folded its wings, before rotating rapidly like a drill and flying downwards, towards Prominence.

Even while facing a sudden urgency, Rowan, Carina, and Dan didn't seem to be paying any attention.

Right before the phoenix collided with Prominence, the fire dissipated instantly, revealing Carmen who landed without any harm. Carmen stomped her foot in frustration as she saw how no one reacted.

"Where is my round of applause! This Flame Empress shall gain the recognition she deserves!!" Carmen growled in frustration, causing Carina to sigh.

"Come on Carmen, this is like the twentieth time you've done this. Seriously, once is enough." Face palming herself, Carina dully replied to Carmen.

Rowan's exercise also stopped at the same time. Wiping his sweat with a towel nearby, he walked to the group.

Watching as Carina and Carmen bicker with each other, he gave out a light chuckle.

"Rowan, can you tell Carmen to stop? This is getting real tiring." Carina pleaded while holding her hands together and faking a tear.

"Captain, how can I, the Flame Empress with the bounty of 200 million Beli, accept this kind of treatment?!"

"Okay, calm down for a second guys." Rowan held his hands up, thinking. 'Carmen seemed to have recently gotten quite arrogant after the clash. How do I resolve this?'

Rowan's eyes shifted to Carina. 'Can you win?'

'Yep. Easy victory.' Carina's eyes were full of confidence.

Somehow, they reached to a point where they can understand one another's intention without speaking out.

Rowan clapped his hands together. "It seems that you guys are unsatisfied. How about this, when we get to the next island, you two can have a friendly brawl and decide who's stronger. Will that satisfy you?"

Carmen gave out a wild grin hearing Rowan's suggestion. "Hmph, I shall show the power of captain's right hand woman!"

Carina grew a tick hearing Carmen's declaration. "Excuse me?! Don't go and take my spot like that, will you?"

Dan slowly backed out, not wanting to get caught in a fire. "Okay... good luck guys, I'll cheer you on..."

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The night has arrived again. Not being able to go to sleep, Rowan volunteered to be a watcher for the night. Now sitting on the chair laid out on top of the deck, Rowan stared at the stars above the sky.

*Tap* *Tap* The light sounds of walking echoed. Turning his head back, Rowan saw Carina who waved at him and sat down on the chair adjacent to his.

"Not tired?" Rowan quirked his eyebrow.

Carina shook her head. "Not really."

The deck was covered in silence and dark as the duo continued stargazing.

"Hey, I remember this." Rowan whispered. "The stars, I remember seeing something similar when you rescued me."

Carina laughed, "You haven't bothered to look up during the night, did you?"

Hearing the splashing sounds of waves, Rowan felt the peace in his mind for a moment. Not having to think, but simply to enjoy and rest.

"I haven't really told you about my past, did I?" Carina muttered, earning Rowan's attention. It was something that he was curious of, for some time. She was the person he was the closest to at the current moment, and the fact that he doesn't know irked him.

"I was born as the bastard daughter of the king of Frauce Kingdom, Ban D'Adore. My mom was a slave. As soon as he realized that my mother conceived me, he attempted to kill her, but she managed to escape beforehand. After giving me a birth, we were living in a small village, until...

...I turned seven. The king somehow found us. My mom had me take a boat and escape from the kingdom. I was alone since then. I survived in cities, villages, and towns, by doing all I could do. Over the years, I got tired. I no longer wished to live. However, at the same time, I was too scared to kill myself. That's when I heard about you; the criminal amounting to 10 million Beli. Found you, did some dumb stuffs in hopes that you would end me. Didn't turn out well, so went to Mad Treasure instead.

Then you saved me, and I couldn't understand. At first, I wanted to hate you for saving my life. But when I heard that you were caught, I felt as if my life gained a purpose. To pay back my debt and save someone's life, sounds much better than living as a petty thief, isn't it?"

Rowan stared at Carina with his eyes widened. He never could've thought.

"Carina is my real name, given by my mother. Frauce kingdom changed it into Decarine; it means impure."

Rowan felt an anger rise within him. Carina's entire life was full of hardships, and hearing her story, he wanted to bash something.

"Frauce kingdom, eh? One more thing to do I suppose." Rowan's eyes blazed in anger.

"But enough about myself. Since I told you about my past, I deserve something in return, don't I?" Carina smiled at Rowan while tilting her head.

Rowan sighed; he figured out that she'd notice his uneasiness.

"Yesterday night, I found something from the book you brought. It read: Everything on this book, the name of Youchiha, all are lies. The descendant of Vasilia, look for the three places. One above, one below, and the last isolated. There, you shall learn the truth." Rowan massaged his forehead as he recited. "These words, they just scream danger. This message... just sounds like something well beyond what we can handle at the current moment, and I am afraid that I might drag you all."

Carina snorted, "That's it? You think we care whether if it's dangerous or not?" Carina grabbed Rowan's cheeks and turned his head towards her.

"Listen. Whether if it's dangerous or not, we've decided to follow you from the moment we joined your crew. And I got to say, I don't regret single part of it. A danger?" Carina's eyes intensely stared at Rowan. "Carmen will simply be herself, being all dramatic and stuff. Dan will be an adventure idiot like always. What's there to worry about? Seriously, you should place more trust in us."

It felt as if all his worries were washed away. Rowan slouched onto his chair, relaxed. He didn't know what to say. After a while, all he managed to muster was, "Thanks Carina, as always."

"Naturally, it's my job as your 'right hand' woman."

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Another week has passed by. Rowan and his crew continued to train. Although it wasn't drastic, each one of them has made some progress.

Now, they stood on top of the deck as their next destination was finally sighted. The island, named Honey Dew Valley, had unique characteristics. On left and right of the island, there were steep and round mountains. The steep downhills of each mountain met in the middle, creating a valley. Interestingly, the mountains didn't have any trees or any other features seen in common mountains. Instead, the mountains seemed smooth and coloured in lime-green.

Witnessing such the mountains, Carmen eyes gleamed in excitement. "A potential ingredient!"

As Prominence sailed towards the island, Rowan took notice of couple of pirate ships, which were anchored around the island.

'Here we go again.' Rowan inwardly thought as he began to stretch his body. 'Grand Line I suppose. There's bound to be pirates everywhere.'

Rowan laughed lightly as he saw Dan furiously jotting down on his journal. "Alright guys, lower the anchor and tie the rope. We got a lot to do."

Carina and Carmen were seen glaring each other hard. A spark formed in the middle, causing Rowan to sweatdrop.

"Uh, guys? A little help, please?!" Dan cried out in the anchor room, causing everyone to jolt up and move around hastily.

Now, with the ship anchored at the remote site of the island, Rowan and his crew landed onto the sand.

"Wow." Rowan exclaimed as his feet touched the ground after a long time has passed. It felt weird.

"So, restock first, right?" Dan turned towards the group, only to see Carina and Carmen facing off against one another. "What, right away?! Come on guys, what happened to priorities?!"

"This is the priority." Carina growled as she took out her daggers. Simultaneously, Carmen's hands lit up on fire.

"Face the wrath of the fire!!" Carmen snarled while holding her hands up dramatically.

"Captain?!" Dan turned to Rowan, who shrugged in response.

The 'friendly' duel was about to begin!