Chapter 83

What unfolded in front of Rowan was simply mind-blowing.

Somehow, the Poneglyph, which he was in contact with, began to become transparent in his eyes. As his gaze pierced through the surface, another text—somehow written in a language he could understand—appeared.

'A Poneglyph hidden within the Poneglyph?' Rowan unconsciously gulped. He felt his heart drumming fast. He felt an excitement rise within himself, for he was finally about to gain some ground regarding his heritage.

Without any hesitation, he began to read.

<We lost.

Not by defeat, but by betrayal.

Twenty allies. Among those, nineteen stabbed our back.

Friends turned into enemies, and enemies turned into friends.

Rightful heir of Vasilia, beware of the immortal. Secrecy is the key, until the day Joy Boy's promise is upheld.

I leave this message within the hands of our greatest ally, they who remained 'below' and away from the traitors: Nefertari family.>

"...What?" Rowan muttered in disbelief. He slowly backed away from the Poneglyph, letting his arm drop to his side.

'One below. To think...' Still shocked by the information he was given with, Rowan stood speechless.

'Twenty allies. Twenty original kingdoms of the World Government? Nineteen betrayed... our greatest ally, Nefertari.

Which means, the clan of Youchiha, or the name of Vasilia—is the twenty-first kingdom, which has fallen hundreds of years ago.' Rowan thought in cold sweat. With wavering eyes, he snuck his hands into his pockets, trying to ease himself from the numbness he felt. 'Additionally, Im…mortal. Just who can it be, for my ancestor to name him or her in such a way?'

"Captain," Hearing Robin's voice, Rowan turned his head to her. "your eyes..."

"What about them?" Rowan asked in confusion.

Robin took out a small hand-mirror from her purse, and handed it to Rowan. He opened the mirror, before becoming surprised once more.

His eyes, which used to be black-coloured just as many others, now appeared to be amber-coloured with a faint hue of red. It seemed to give off an enigmatic glow, radiating vibrantly within the dim surrounding.

'This must be due to Poneglyph.' Rowan lifted his head from the mirror and stared at the Poneglyph. 'One above, one below, one isolated, discovering those hidden texts not only grant oneself an information, but also some... weird-ass eye-colour change? Come on, you talk about secrecy, and make me stand out like this?!'

"I'm going to need sunglasses for this." Rowan mumbled to himself. He couldn't risk to have his unknown enemies get a hint from the change in his eyes. 'Actually, sunglasses won't be enough. Let's go with a blindfold. Apart from hiding, it will be a good practice for Observation Haki. Haha, just imagine. Total Concentration: Constant Observation Haki. Combination of One Piece and Demon Slayer. Just what kind of abomination is that?'

Afterwards, taking a deep breath, Rowan handed the mirror back to Robin. Subsequently, he turned to Cobra, who was observing Rowan with curiosity in his eyes.

"Well, have you attained what you came here for?" Cobra asked calmly. However, Rowan, whose heart was still beating fast, couldn't bother to answer his question.

Rowan closed his eyes momentarily, before opening them back with determined gleam.

"Tell me, what do you know of the name Vasilia?" Rowan said in a low voice.

Robin's eyes narrowed, wondering what Rowan manage to find out from the Poneglyph.

As Rowan's words were heard, Cobra's eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. For the first time after meeting Cobra, Rowan and Robin witnessed him breaking his calm expression.

"...Vasilia." Cobra slowly whispered the name, "Just how did you...?"

"I believe... that we have much more to discuss. Beyond our statuses as a pirate and king."

_________________

On the street of Alubarna, many people were cowering in fear, as they hid their bodies behind a variety of props.

*Swoosh* Cavendish, whom the common folks were not able to identify due to his incredible agility, continuously travelled the entirety of Alubarna at a great pace. While he was looking for Rowan and his crew mates, it could be said that he was enjoying the fears within the eyes of the others.

'And it will be troublesome if I reveal myself,' Cavendish thought haughtily, 'for I am too handsome.'

Dashing without a stop, Cavendish's face broke into a grin as he sensed Carina through his Observation Haki. He immediately dashed to a short grumpy-looking man, who blended well within the crowd, about to call out Carina's name without any thought.

Carina sighed as she was met with the eccentric behaviour of unexpected Cavendish. Quickly grabbing his arm, she swiftly teleported them back into the castle, with her disguise still intact.

"Really, did you have to cause a trouble like that?" Carina shook her head in disappointment while taking off her disguises.

"What trouble? What's there to fear for?" Cavendish retorted with confusion on his face.

"Not for us, but for this kingdom." Carina replied, "Revealing ourselves in the public will signify our ties with the royals, and will cause them trouble."

"And why should we care?" Cavendish raised his eyebrow.

"We like them." Carina said with a smile, "The king is pretty chill to hang out with, and..." Carina's eyes sparkled, "Hehe... nice bed, clothes, food, and all the luxury you can think of, it's like dream come true! I'm not about to have you screw everything up and make us leave immediately!"

"Luxury... luxury. Yes. How can I forget?!" Cavendish's eyes widened, "My apologies. Indeed, as expected of the vice captain!"

"Neigh~!!" At the same time, Farul happily came running to the two, with Den Den Mushi jumping up and down on his back.

"Farul!" Cavendish cried out with a smile as he hugged Farul and rubbed his mane affectionately, before turning his head back to Carina in realization, "Wait, that's right! Carina! I've got to tell you something, about those fans of ours-"

"What's going on?!" Dan's exasperated voice resounded from Den Den Mushi's mouth. "Hello? Is that Cavendish's voice I heard? Please, if someone is there, answer!! I've been talking with Farul for thirty minutes straight!!"

Carina sweatdropped and grabbed the Den Den Mushi from Farul's back. Lifting up the dial, she spoke up, without regard to Cavendish, who was seen to be shaking in anger due to being cut off, "Cavendish and I are here. So why is Cavendish running loose in the middle of the street?"

"Haa, that idiot just ran off before I could say anything-" Dan sighed tiredly through Den Den Mushi.

"Oi!! Who's the idiot?! I, the fantastically charming prince, Cavendish, is anything but an idiot!" Cavendish growled into the dial, which he snatched from Carina in an instant moment.

"Yes, you are." Den Den Mushi deadpanned at Cavendish, reflecting Dan's emotion. Ignoring Cavendish, who was throwing tantrum at the back, Dan exclaimed, "Carina, is captain there?"

"Nope, he isn't as of the current moment. Why?" Carina replied with a curious tone.

"Well, you know about these hostages we got-"

"Oh!" Carina suddenly interrupted Dan, with an imaginary light bulb lighting up on top of her head, "About those marines, don't bother. Just release them and let them be."

The marine soldiers, whom they held as hostages, knew nothing regarding the association between the Grimheart pirates and the royal armies. This was due to the fact that they entered the Sandy island uninformed, with the sole purpose of capturing the Grimheart pirates; they had no idea that Igaram was the captain of the royal guards.

Since there was no risk, what was the point? Rowan previously instructed Carina to have the marines freed, since they had no use for the latter anyway.

"Yeah, got it. And, you know, about the agents..." Dan laughed, as the troubled expression appeared on Den Den Mushi's visage, "are we really just handing them to the kingdom like this?"

"Yep. Hand them in and done. Why?" Carina said casually while pushing Cavendish's head off, who was trying to shout into the dial.

"I believe that there is a better way for us to utilize this opportunity." Dan stated.

"Not really." Carina retorted with annoyance, "We have no use for them. It's not like we are trying to build a fleet; they will simply be nuisances and end up killing themselves. Hand them to the kingdom and earn the king's gratitude. Period."

"...Just like that?" Dan said with a dejected tone. "You know, they are just poor bounty hunters. Although their acts of ruining Alabasta cannot be justified, they were left helpless with their own boss having betrayed them. I believe that based on these facts, they are quite loyal."

"No, they aren't." Carina responded with certainty within her tone, "Why should we help them-"

"You know," Dan cut off Carina in the middle of her speech abruptly, "our crew has accumulated a great amount of wealth so far. The load is getting heavier and heavier... what makes you so confident that no one will attempt to steal those away from us?"

Carina's eyes were set in a blaze as she growled, "As if I would let that happen. Talk about something realistic, Dan."

"You have to face the truth, Carina." Dan spoke in a stern manner, "Soon or later, the information is bound to get out. Along with a raise in our bounties, hyenas will surely be lured in."

"Then what? Accept those nuisances into our crew? Your logic makes no sense, Dan. They may as well be the thieves themselves!" Carina immediately voiced her disapproval with a ferocious expression on her face.

"Haha, I know that much." Dan laughed slightly, before the Den Den Mushi's face turned serious, "But apart from that, based on what I've read from the news so far, most of the pirates, who enter the New World, eventually end up as Yonko's subordinates or die. Point is, we have to strategize. Look at how formidable each and every Yonko are. Their strengths not only come from their own, but also from the vast number of their underlings. To successfully integrate ourselves in such a sea, we need a force that can rival them."

Carina remained silent upon hearing Dan's proposal, slightly convinced by his words. Eventually, she spoke up, "Tch, just deal with the marines first then. We will talk about the rest after Rowan returns."

"Roger that." Dan, having lost seriousness within his voice, replied lightly, "Igaram will bring in the agents first, under the term 'confinement.' Let's discuss afterwards."

After Dan's response, Carina tiredly hung up the call by sluggishly placing the dial back onto Den Den Mushi. Lifting her head up, Carina stared at Cavendish, who seemed to have lost interest in the conversation and went to play with Farul.

"Haa, sometimes, I wish I was as simpleminded as you, Cavendish." Carina muttered. After all, she was exhausted from reading various books, attaining navigating tools, and dealing with Dan and Cavendish. "Come back fast Rowan... a role of a leader isn't something anyone can do, especially for a crew as unique as ours."

_______________

"And here we are." One royal guard exclaimed as two ships entered the hidden underground port. One belonged to them, the royal army, and the other belonged to the one and only Twin Cats pirates.

"Hey! That jolly roger, it's Rowan's without a doubt!" Nami cried in excitement, with her eyes on the majestic view of Prominence.

"This ship, uh, it's very domineering, that's for sure." Another royal guard's jaw dropped wide open, clearly impressed by the ship. "Whoever designed the appearance of this ship did a great job."

"Alabasta... I'm back." Vivi muttered with a smile. She took a deep breath in, enjoying the air of her home.

Docking their respective ships, both the royal guards, Twin Cats pirates, and Vivi got off from the ships.

"So we just need to follow that tunnel right?" Nojiko pointed her finger towards the dim tunnel in front of them, with a hint of excitement on her face, "And Rowan will be waiting for us there."

"But captain Nojiko, what if he was just an imposter?" Spadina asked lightly from Nojiko's left.

Nojiko and Nami instantly turned to Spadina with darkened expressions, ""Then that trash will die.""

"Uh guys," Vivi sweatdropped from their back, "I'm pretty sure that it's him. After all, he managed to defeat Crocodile."

Hearing Vivi's claim, Nojiko and Nami immediately changed their demeanours.

"Haha, we were kidding!" Nami smiled cheekily while sticking her tongue out.

"Yep! Imposter? No way! We were just fooling around!" Nojiko said with a smile of her own and a tick mark on her forehead, while locking her arm around Spadina's neck, who was yelping 'mercy' over and over.

Vivi chuckled at seeing the funny interactions of the crew.

The royal guards were standing ahead of them, watching the dispute with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

'When are you guys planning to move?' One guard thought inwardly, with a fatigue that accumulated from quickly sailing back and forth.