Chapter 123

Hey guys! Final chapter of Marineford arc posted!

I hope you enjoy this chapter, and have a wonderful day!

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[Mariejois, Pangaea Castle]

"How bizarre. At one moment, everything seemed to be going in an orderly manner." One of the five elders whispered, "And yet... at the next moment..."

"Nothing but an abrupt chaos." Another carried on, "It seems that we've severely underestimated Grimheart's capability."

"Whitebeard's death has created a large hole in the balance of the power. Loss of one of the Yonkos, along with Blackbeard's betrayal, which created a small hole."

"Grimheart... can't be an option. The leash in which we put on the other ambitious Emperors, Kaidou and Charlotte Linlin, the lack of methodology to read and interpret the Road Poneglyphs, doesn't exist on Grimheart, Youchiha B. Rowan."

"If only Nico Robin has successfully been captured here, such an option may have been plausible. However, here we are."

"Capability to contend against the top powers of the world, along with the capability to unveil the hidden events of the Void Century... what would happen if we let him roam freely?"

The elder with glasses gritted his teeth upon realizing the urgency of the situation, "Perhaps... the world will witness the rise to the true King of the Pirates. And if so, the order that has been built up until now—all will be ruined."

"However, the Marineford war proved that our force at hand isn't enough to control the Grimheart. Since that is the case... we are left with one option. Direct the Emperors' anger toward the Grimheart, and slowly, but surely, bring him to his destruction."

"Then who shall take the place of the fourth Emperor? Marco the 'Phoenix'? Gol D. Ace, who bears the filthy blood of Roger?!"

"You seem to have forgotten someone." The tallest elder stated.

"...Marshall D. Teach, the 'Blackbeard?'" Another elder frowned, "The one who ended up losing a hand and an eye. Through this war, he only proved how underwhelming he is."

The third elder sighed, "Who shall it be then?! One of the newly rising rookies termed as the Supernovas?! As if!!"

The tallest elder shook his head in disappointment, before grinning knowingly,

"Douglas Bullet."

All other elders froze in realization but disagreed nonetheless.

"His physical prowess perhaps has approached the level of an Emperor. However... he lacks everything else, from territory to his own force."

"It... seems that in this regard, there is nothing that can be done yet. Fortunately, the Marine too are severely weakened; the balance will be maintained for a little longer." The elder with big white moustache said, "Let us not drag onto this topic for a long period of time. Apart from Grimheart and the seat of the fourth Emperor, I believe that we have one more topic to discuss of."

"Ah yes, the matter of Monkey D. Luffy." The elder with glasses nodded, "The CP0 managed to track them down. They still are in Spriggins; the agents are waiting for their arrival at the next island, Jinren."

"We've sent the masked elites within the CP0; there is no way that the plan will fail. Without any sound,

Monkey D. Luffy will be brought here. And as for the rest of his crew, they shall be disposed of."

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[Banaro Island]

"...Captain, are you feeling better?" Within a dark tent where one individual, Teach, was seen to be lying, Laffitte entered.

"Zehaha... we made out alive at least, didn't we?" While lying down, Teach slowly grinned as he lifted his body up with his lone eye shadowed by the darkness.

"Doc Q being dead is quite troubling... we need a new doctor on our ship." Teach lifted up his right arm, which now had a sharp hook instead of a hand. Placing his feet on the ground, Teach finally stood up and began to walk out,

"Keep an eye out for all the information. Once the Tremor Tremor fruit is found... we're moving into the action immediately." Teach stated with his grin now replaced by a frown.

As he exited the tent, he was met with a bright sun that shined down.

"How bright... zehaha! I never liked the sun... it's too bright and clustered, instead of being dispersed freely and existing everywhere. One day, I will become the Pirate King and see it falling down the drain. A chaotic world... just imagine how wonderful it would be!!" Teach scowled, "And the first step of achieving my dream... is to revenge."

Within the tent that it no longer was occupied, two bounty posters were seen to be stabbed with knives: Rowan and Ace.

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"Heh, welcome to the crew, Urouge." Rowan tapped Urouge's broad back in a friendly demeanour.

"Thank you... captain."

Hence, Urouge has joined the crew as the 9th member of the Grimheart pirates.

'And this time...' Urouge thought as he gazed at Rowan with sincerity, 'I won't let any of my friends die. With my utmost loyalty, I will protect you as my captain.'

"Hey!! You guys!!!"

Suddenly, from a fair distance away, Carina cried out while holding the sheet of papers, "News is up!! Come get the information!!!"

Having heard Carina's words, all the Grimheart pirates, along with Nami and Youchiha family, all gathered at the table on the deck.

"LIsten! They wrote down the garbage summary of what happened in the Marineford war, but that's not the point! Look at our bounties!!" Carina pointed at the one particular section of the page, "I think they've gone mad!"

<'Cat Burglar' Nami. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 35,000,000 Beli.>

"Eh?!" Nami exclaimed in surprise, "My bounty went up?!!"

Rowan's expression turned stoic upon seeing Nami's bounty,

'Hm, the consequence that Nami's raised bounty will bring... I'm not so sure. Is it really something to worry about? Guess I will have to think about it when we get to Sabaody Archipelago.'

"F***!!!" Job shouted in anger before grabbing the hem of Sob's shirt, "It's because of you, you freaking granny!!!"

*BONK*

"Let go of me, you idiotic grandson of mine!!!"

<'Psycho' Youchiha Mob. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 130,000,000 Beli.>

"Eh... my bounty is higher than Job's."

Sob snorted, "Because your fruit is better than his."

"Oi!!" Job retorted, "My fruit is actually useful in many ways!!!"

<'Mad Monk' Urouge. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 112,000,000 Beli.>

Urouge grinned, "I suppose that's the raise I get for killing Baten."

<'Brutal Death' Youchiha Sob.>

"What the f***?!! What happened to 'Sally?!'" Sob cried in disbelief.

Job rolled on the deck, laughing as hard as he could,

"JOJOJOJO!!!!! Serves you right, granny!!!"

"Oh damn." Dan muttered in surprise, "That's impressive."

Sob smirked, "Well, that's the same as my bounty 20 years ago. Didn't get any increase, but good enough I suppose."

<'Flying' Farul. Wanted Alive. Bounty: 5,000,000 Beli.>

"Hm, is this considered high or not?" Carina placed her hand on her chin, "I mean, Farul is a horse, and placing a bounty of 5 million on a horse is unheard of, but..."

"NEIGH!!!!!!" Farul seemed to be fuming. With him still wearing the steel armour, he surely looked menacing.

"Hey, he's only wanted alive!" Cavendish pointed it out.

"Perhaps..." Robin stated darkly, "They want to experiment on him..."

Alfred nodded seriously, "I actually think that's the case, mademoiselle Robin."

<'Devil Child' Nico Robin. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 141,000,000 Beli.>

"Oh... my bounty jumped by a huge margin." Robin remarked impassively.

<'Maniacal Butler' Alfred. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 102,000,000 Beli.>

"Ho, interesting." Alfred merely peeked for a second, before going back to inspecting Farul's armour. He didn't seem to care.

<'Pirate Prince' Cavendish. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 450,000,000 Beli.>

"Guahaha! I suppose that I won this bet—"

<'Flame Empress' Carmen. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 470,000,000 Beli.>

"Heh, what did you say, fem-boy?" Carmen smiled mockingly, much to Cavendish's dismay.

"N-no, this can't be happening—"

<'Black Mask' Dan. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 520,000,000 Beli.>

"Suck it up, losers." Dan grinned while pocketing the pile of money, "Why, unsatisfied? Eat a fruit, Cavendish. Train Haki, Carmen."

"Arghhhh!!!!" Cavendish pulled on his hair in frustration, while Carmen grew a tick mark on her forehead.

<'Phantom' Decarine. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 696,000,000 Beli.>

"Hold on." Rowan squinted his eyes, "Wasn't your title 'Phantom Assassin?' It's just 'Phantom' now?"

Dan shrugged, "I mean, all she's been doing in the war was teleporting back and forth. If that's not Phantom, then what is?"

Carina's lips wiggled into an uncontrollable smile. After all, with this, she managed to secure the title of vice captain.

And finally,

"This is insane." Job stated as he crossed his arms.

"Captain!!! Once again, you are hoarding all the attention!!!" Cavendish cried comically as he jumped up and down.

<'Grimheart' Youchiha B. Rowan.>

Rowan felt his hands and feet crawling into a ball.

Cringe!!!

...But better than Youchiha Bob.

On the side, Job gazed at Rowan with envy.

"No way." Carina muttered, "That's more than our total wealth...!!"

Nami's eyes were swirling, "Uh... just how many zeros are there?!"

Alfred chuckled, "How interesting! You see, people call the rookie pirates with bounties of above 100 million, Supernovas. However, for captain Rowan, whose bounty is near 2 billion, the title of 'rookie' doesn't fit him at all!"

Carina nodded as she turned to the next page of the newspaper, "So this is how the people decided to call him:

'The Emperor of the Paradise.'"

Rowan tilted his head, "Me? An emperor, just for destroying two marine bases, killing Crocodile, and rescuing Ace in the middle of the Marineford, before defeating Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji, and Garp?"

"""So that's why.""" Sob, Job, and Urouge stated with a dull expression, although Urouge still managed to have a grin on his face while giving off a dull vibe.

"And apart from our bounties," Carina pointed at the different sets of bounties, "Here it is. Blackbeard, who is no longer a Warlord, has also received a raise in his bounty for his shrewd betrayal and the danger of his fruit ability."

<'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 789,000,000 Beli.>

"Hm, he looks cooler now!" Cavendish stated, "With an eye patch, it surely tones down his ugliness to some extent; now he just needs a face mask!"

Dan sweatdropped, "You want him to cover up his whole face?"

"Exactly!!"

"For once, I agree with you, fem-boy." Carmen nodded.

Having finished reading the newspaper, Rowan felt like slouching, and so he did.

"Haa, feels like it's been forever since I had a peaceful rest like this." Rowan muttered, before opening his mouth upon remembering, "Oh yeah, by the way, Urouge is part of our crew now."

"Aye, captain~!" Carina saluted playfully. However,

"""What?!!"""

Carmen, Dan, and Cavendish stated at once,

"""It's so sudden!!"""

Then they looked at each other in annoyance,

"""Will you stop repeating after me?!!"""

Urouge, upon sighting them bickering among one another, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Sahahaha!! I can already see how fun it's going to be!!"

"Fufu, it is." Robin chuckled with evident joy on her face, "You won't regret your stay, Urouge."

"Thank you, Robin."

As Rowan was now lying down and looking up at the sky without any thought, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Huh? What is it?"

It was Sob.

"I believe that we got lots to talk, no?" Sob stated with a serious expression on her face.

Rowan nodded understandingly, "True. But...

Not right now. Don't feel like doing anything more today."

Then, much to Sob's disbelief, Rowan closed his eyes and began to snore.

"Pfff..."

From Sob's behind, Job's cheeks were inflated as he tried to hold his laughter.

Sob grew a tick mark on her forehead as she took out a bo-staff from nowhere,

"It seems that you need some disciplining... Bob!!!"

*Swoosh*

However, much to Sob's annoyance, Rowan dodged the swing in midst of his sleep.

*Swoosh*

"Stop moving, you brat!!!"

Prominence surely has gotten lively.

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[Sabaody Archipelago]

"Damn... for how long do we have to stay here, captain Nojiko?" One member of the Twin Cats pirates asked in worry, "Things are going weird here! I mean...

...look how all renowned super rookies are gathering here at the same time!"

Nojiko pursed her lips, "It should be alright as long as we stay quiet. And upon Rowan's arrival, nothing will be there to fear."

Another member, Spadina, scratched her head before asking, "...Or not. I mean, you ate the devil fruit, right?"

Nojiko sighed as she raised her right arm, which turned into a white fur, "Yes, just yesterday. It's going to get some time to get used to it. After all, it's a Zoan-type."

Another member spoke up, "Cat Cat fruit, was it? What's the specific model again?"

Nojiko nodded, "Cat Cat fruit, Model: Nekomata."

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