67 Chapter 63

[3 years after. Year: 1522]

On a vast blue sea, a small boat was seen to be sailing at a slow speed. Within the boat, two young men were seen to be sitting down casually.

One was wearing a straw hat, along with red vest and blue shorts. His face was jovial with big, round black-coloured eyes and a scar under his left eye. His name was Monkey D. Luffy, an individual who ate the Rubber Rubber fruit.

(Author's note: Dang, it feels so weird calling it Rubber Rubber fruit, after having heard it as Gomu Gomu no mi for ages.)

The other man, having characteristics of a short green hair and sharp black-coloured eyes, was seen to be looking in the front with a confidence. He had three swords sheathed on his waist. His name was Roronoa Zoro, well-known within the East Blue as the 'Pirate Hunter.'

"Yo Zoro, where are we heading?" Luffy said while picking his nose.

Zoro grinned and pointed a thumb towards himself, "Heh, just trust in me Luffy. Didn't we get to the Orange town just fine last time?"

The boat continued to sail, without Luffy and Zoro realizing that they were heading towards Sixis...

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"Nearly three years." A tall man, approximately 275cm in terms of height, with a long black hair reaching down to his shoulder and black-coloured eyes, was seen frowning. His face contained many wrinkles, indicating that he was quite old in terms of age. He was wearing a black suit and had his hands pocketed. "Still no sight of my son."

In front of him the table lied an active Den Den Mushi. A stern voice was spoken from it, "Spandine, it has been far too long. It was only possible for us to postpone this issue for this long, due to the fact that your son didn't resort to any criminal acts. We cannot drag this on any longer; we will have to issue a bounty for him."

Spandine gritted his teeth, "...I understand." The call was hanged up afterwards.

Walking up to the window, Spandine hollowly muttered, "Spandene, my son... you've renounced your tie with me by changing your name to Baten, ran away to the marine base G-11, and now... go rogue?"

Spandine sighed and lowered his head, "It all began after the mission in the Ohara... where are you now?"

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In front of the strong current of the Reverse Mountain, the pirate ship belonging to Nojiko and Nami's pirate crew was seen.

Nojiko, Nami, and their crew members were seen exhausted. Due to the fact that their faces were now well known within the East Blue, with Nojiko's bounty raised to 15 million and Nami to 13.5 million, it was very difficult for them to cross the Logue town and evade Smoker's radar.

They essentially formed a 'temporary alliance' with numerous pirate crews, and sailed to the Logue town all at once. While the pirates were busy restocking, their crew left discretely, without even taking a foot outside of the ship; Smoker was busy catching those pirate hoards by then.

""Everyone, ready?"" Even though they were tired, Nojiko and Nami turned their heads back to their crew members, and cried out with excited smiles on their faces.

"""Yeahh!!!""" All members cried out joyously as they pumped their fists up in the air.

Immediately after, their ship entered the Reverse Mountain and blasted off at an insane speed; the Twin Cat pirates officially entered the Grand Line!!

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"I'm sorry pops, but Teach can't go unpunished." Ace muttered with a fury written on his face, as he silently jumped off from Moby Dick, a giant ship belonging to the Whitebeard pirates.

"Pops, I will go fetch him right now-" Marco's hands blazed into the wings of yellowish-green fires, but halted as the giant man with inverted white mustache, Whitebeard, raised his huge hand up.

"Gurarara, let him go. No one can stop him once he's determined." Whitebeard laughed heartily as he chugged down another barrel of alcohol.

Marco stared at Ace's departure with uncertainty, before quickly turning his back as he saw Whitebeard pouring the alcohol in his mouth. "Pops, what did I say about drinking?!! You should seriously think about your health!!"

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"So you know where Grimheart is?" A man, wearing a plain black t-shirt and brown pants, growled in fury as he lifted up Urouge's huge body by grabbing him on the neck. It was Baten.

Urouge was seen to be in a severe state. All four of his limbs were fractured and distorted in weird angles. His body was painted in blood all around. Few of his teeth were missing.

Around them, all of Urouge's crew were seen to be lying down with blood all around, dead.

However, Urouge's eyes were already seen to be hollowed out in white; he has already gone unconscious.

"Three years," Baten growled as he harshly slammed Urouge back down on the ground, "For three years, I've been roaming all around the Paradise, expecting to sight Grimheart in one way or the other, only to harvest nothing!!!"

Baten placed his bloody hand onto his face as he uncontrollably shook, "The murderers... killing thousands just like that... they must be eradicated from this world."

He lowered the hand from his face, and he unnaturally calmed down in a matter of a second, before walking away as if nothing happened.

The unconscious Urouge and his dead crew members were left on the spot, before two shadows loomed over.

"That man..." Job muttered as he puffed his cigarette, looking at the direction that Baten walked away to.

The old woman quickly knelt down and checked for Urouge's pulse, "Job, he's still alive!"

Job stomped his foot in anger, "You gotta be kidding me, you deaf granny!! I told you to call me Sebastian!!!"

Disregarding his outburst, the woman turned to her back and called out, "Mob, we need your help here."

"Yes grandma." A young boy at the back, with black hair in a bowl cut and black-coloured eyes, stoically nodded and stretched his hand out towards Urouge. Immediately after, Urouge floated up in the midair, as if encased by some mysterious form of energy.

The three of them, along with the unconscious Urouge, walked away from the site, in a direction opposite from Baten.

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"The final battle it seems." A gigantic spider spoke in a horrendous voice as it faced off against Dan, who seems to have bulked up a lot over the years. He now stood at the height of 210cm, having grown by more than 20cm during the three years.

"Yep." Dan grinned and turned back towards Cavendish, who was leaning against the nearby tree in boredom, "Hey Cavendish, how much time do we have?"

Cavendish was seen with a new look. His once long hair has grown even longer, to a point where they almost reached up to his waist. Rowan sometimes joked on his style by calling him 'Rapunzel.'

Cavendish lifted his arm and looked at the watch strapped on his wrist. "Five minutes."

"Five?" Dan muttered, "I won't even need one."

Unlike Aoki Ichiro, who spent most of time on building, managing, and involving himself in many affairs, Rowan and his crew spent all their time in pure training. As the result...

*BOOOM* Dan blasted off from his spot and rocketed towards Ichiro, who was in his zoan form.

"Earth Dome." Ichiro instantly generated a thick dome of earth around his huge body, preparing for an impact from Dan.

"Grand-" Dan cocked his fist back. His fist was coated in black, before it was pushed out with an enormous strength, "SMASH!!!"

*BOOOOOM* The whole earth dome generated by Ichiro instantly shattered into pieces, revealing Ichiro, back in his human form, raising his hands up in a depressed sigh.

"I give." Ichiro made a weak smile as he watched Dan landing on the ground with a disappointment evident in his face, "Bruhruhruh, I always thought that you are more of a brain-type, but I am becoming increasingly unsure now."

Over the past three years, the Grimheart pirates continuously interacted with Ichiro and his subordinates. Many things changed. Ichiro loosened up and became a chill person to hang out with. Both groups were friendly toward one another, treating each other like the best friends.

"Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye then." Dan gave a thumbs up to Ichiro, who returned with a thumbs up of his own. "Feels weird. After spending three years here, this place is like a second home to me haha."

Ichiro chuckled, "Come back whenever you guys want; you will always be welcomed here, the kingdom of NiDaifuku."

"Say goodbye to Yui for me." Dan said once more before turning back.

Cavendish too grinned and waved his hand from the back. Afterwards, Cavendish and Dan disappeared in a huge burst of speed, with Ichiro being the only one who remained in the scene.

Prominence now stood gloriously on the beach, with many modifications made compared to its previous version. The bottom of the ship was covered in light coatings of special alloy that doesn't rust. In the back of the ship, two big engines were attached, which could be activated through Carmen's fire. It gained a figurehead of its own in the front, which was a head of a ferocious-looking black wolf, grinning with its fangs shown.

The overall colour of the ship slightly altered as well; the 'flamboyance' of the ship, caused by the overuse of red, yellow, and orange paints, were replaced by milder colours such as brown (much to Carina's dismay) and grey.

"Uh, can our ship still be called Prominence even?" On top of the deck, Rowan, who has grown to a height of 220cm, was seen scratching his head as he inspected the features of Prominence once more.

"Prominence is prominence, no matter what look it adapts to." Carina, who grew her purple-coloured hair to reach up to her shoulder, said affectionately while sliding her hand against the rail.

"Oi, you guys!!!" Carmen, who ceased to keep her hair up and let it flow down her shoulders naturally, cried out to Dan and Cavendish, who were seen running towards Prominence. "Hurry up!!! What's taking you two so long?!!"

"Neigh~!!!" On her right, Farul, a white horse, cried out. He has gained some more size over the years as well, standing with his muscular legs.

Alfred was the only one who maintained the same appearance as three years ago. He shook his head and let out a light smile as he watched Dan and Cavendish running with grins on their faces.

Jumping from their positions, Dan and Cavendish swiftly landed on the deck of Prominence. Crossing his arms, Rowan turned his eyes toward the blue sea in front of them with an excitement in his eyes.

"Everyone, set the sail!!" Rowan commanded with a wide grin on his face.

"""Yes, capain!!!""" Everyone simultaneously said before going to their respective positions.

'Three years... we've seen lots of improvements here.' Rowan thought as he smiled at his crew members. 'Marines, pirates, whoever dares to oppose against us...

Be prepared to face the consequences.'

Prominence finally left the island, sailing to their next destination, Alabasta!

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Ages:

Rowan: 21

Carina: 20

Dan: 25

Carmen: 21

Cavendish: 24

Alfred: 48

Farul: Infinity and Beyond

The canon has begun... except for the fact that the canon no longer exists.