Chapter 49

[Logue town, East Blue]

The town was lively and joyful. People were seen minding their businesses. Various buildings and streets were on constructions, to recover the damage dealt by Rowan.

However, unlike such atmosphere of the town, Smoker, who was in his office with a bandage covering his exposed abdomen, was seen sighing with dark circles under his eyes, while smoking two cigars at once.

"The perishment of Rowly the 'Death Sonata' and his pirate fleet, along with the departure of Grimheart pirates. The East Blue is in a turmoil as of current moment." Smoker muttered to himself as he saw another report of an attack to town, led by a newly established pirate crew.

It was ridiculous. The fact that the absence of those two pirate crews caused a sudden surge in number of pirates; they were hiding from the sight of those two crews, waiting for an opportunity to strike. At the same time, the malicious acts they have done to the civilizations raised many new pirates.

While most of those pirates are weak and easy to deal with, the issue lied on the fact that few capable and hard-willed pirates are hiding within. With the Logue down itself in weakened condition, Smoker has been having enough trouble just blocking the entry to the Grand Line from the ambitious pirates, who claim 'Grimheart' Rowan as their idols.

Taking his eyes off the report he was looking at, he grabbed another report nearby and growled in frustration. "And this particular pirate crew that seems to be taking detour around the East Blue, stealing various items here and there. Still not identified? You've got to be kidding me!!"

*Knock* *Knock* A noise was heard while Smoker was busy bickering the incompetency of the other marines in the East Blue. He temporarily looked up from the paper and turned to the source of the noise. There was a News Coo who was poking the window with its beak, waiting for Smoker to open the window.

Grunting, Smoker outstretched his right hand towards the window. His right arm transformed into the smoke and reached the window, before unlocking and opening it for the entry of the News Coo.

"Quack quack!!" Right when the window was opened, a huge volume of smoke gushed out of Smoker's office, causing the News Coo to flap its wings in a surprise. Smoker didn't seem to care; he simply reached into his pocket and took out 100 Beli coin, before flicking it to the News Coo.

"Quack!" The News Coo skillfully received the coin and dropped the newspaper into the room, before flapping away.

Reaching out for the newspaper and retracting his smoke arm back to his body, Smoker blew his cigars once more before taking a look at it.

"*Sigh* Quite annoying that this news is the only way for me to know what's going in in the Grand Line—what?!!"

*Snap* Two cigars between Smoker's teeth broke as his eyes, which were locked onto the newspaper, widened. In his sight was the picture that depicted the marine base G-11 in ruins. "Whole base ruined and hundreds killed, by merely four individuals?!"

Thinking of what happened in the Logue town, Smoker's expression turned grim. "Merely around two weeks have passed since the clash against Grimheart. And now, they destroyed the whole base?" He didn't know what to say. Should he be happy that Logue down didn't suffer the same fate, or be angry for letting such a dangerous criminal escape to the Grand Line?

"205 million Beli. From 65 to 205 in such a short period of time. Defeated Arlong, Krieg, Rowly, ...me, and now, the whole marine base." Smoker said in exasperation. "The East Blue is known as the weakest sea. However, at the same time, it has given birth to many capable beings who stood atop of this world. The Pirate King, the Marine Hero, and the World's Worst Criminal for instance. Could it be that you were born with a fate as big as them?"

_____________

"*Huff* *Huff* Huff* Will this be enough captain Nami?" A female pirate, who seemed to be around 18 in terms of age, huffed while holding a small sac. She had a marking of a jolly roger on her left hand.

The jolly roger had a unique appearance. Instead of the usual skull, there was a face of a cat, where its left side was coloured blue and its right side was coloured orange. The bones that were usually crossed behind the skull were missing, and instead, a drawing that resembles a mikan groove was positioned behind the cat's face, serving as a background.

Nami was seen to be standing in front of the female pirate. Grinning widely, she patted the head of the huffing pirate.

"Well done Spadina! Let's see... oh? Coins?" Nami chuckled as she looked through the content inside the sac. "Let me guess, you just went around and picked up the coins that were just lying on the ground, weren't you?"

The eyes of the female pirate, now identified as Spadina, gleamed in excitement, "Of course! Why, there exists nothing prettier than the Beli coins, and I couldn't leave them hanging there!"

The other seven members of the pirate crew, all females, were laughing at Spadina's antics.

Their ship was moderate in terms of size. Their front-most sail mast had their jolly roger engraved in the middle, but with a unique mechanism that allowed them to flip the mast and hide the jolly roger. The ship looked quite average and was overall brown in colour, which was devised by Nojiko to allow them to blend in easier.

"Quack quack!" While the pirate crew was enjoying their sail, a News Coo quickly approached the ship before landing on a rail.

"Oh, you subscribed for the World Economy News Paper captain Nojiko?" Spadina said while shaking her head, "You have to pay 100 Beli for that... a coin! Wait, that isn't the East Blue edition-"

Ignoring Spadina, Nojiko quickly approached the News Coo and paid the fee, before Nami could even think of begin her 'negotiation' and tire everyone out.

"Let's see what we got-" Nojiko stopped her sentence as her jaw dropped in a complete shock.

Nami tilted her head in curiosity seeing Nojiko's exaggerated reaction. "What's wrong Nojiko?"

The other crew members also stopped and turned around to Nojiko curiously.

Nojiko simply showed Nami the front page of the newspaper.

"Marine base G-11 destroyed, okay. That's insane indeed. So what's so shocking, wait. Grimheart?" Nami's eyes widened in a realization, before looking up to Nojiko, who seemed to be concerned.

Nojiko sighed, "It seems that troubles manage to find him every single time. At this rate, he will soon make the whole world his enemy."

Nami seemed to be in a thought. "From what I studied, the sailing in the Grand Line is done by using the Log Pose, which tracks the islands based on their magnetic fields. This means that once you enter, you can't change the destination, unless," Nami took out a small notebook from her right pocket, "according to this journal we've found, using the Eternal Pose. Locked onto one island for eternity. Looking for a specific one may take a long time, but this could have allowed Bob to dodge the marine base... could it be that they were unaware of this? Who's his navigator?"

Nojiko flipped to the next page. "Look, here's the updated bounties, ah yes, all members of his crew. Three excluding him? That's too little; how are they even managing to sail with such a small number?"

Nojiko and Nami's pirate crew all gathered up, trying to take a look at the bounty posters themselves.

"Hey, isn't this Carmen? I recognize her!" One member, named Roxa, exclaimed, "She used to travel around and challenge all notable chefs in the East Blue! When did she become part of Grimheart pirates?!"

Nami's eyes were locked onto another one. "Decarine? I remember this girl..."

Nojiko shifted her gaze to Nami, "You do?"

"She and I used to be rivals in thievery. How did she end up in Bob's crew?" Nami's eyes narrowed as she stared intently into Carina's poster.

Watching Nami's irritation, Nojiko let out a small laugh. Leaning in, Nojiko whispered to Nami while wiggling her eyebrows, "Why? Are you jealous?"

"No?! Why would I? Tch, let Bob do whatever he wants to do!" Nami frowned and walked away from the newspaper, grumbling.

"Wow, 205 million Beli? Is he really from the East Blue? The scaling is on whole other level." One crew mate looked fascinated while staring at Rowan's bounty.

Spadina shrugged, "Don't you know? It's the 'Grimheart' Rowan, the one who shook the whole East Blue! His influence reached so far that the World Government tried to make him look scary and intimidating. Apparently, his real name is actually Youchiha Bob."

"And now, he's living up to that scary name." With a remark of her own, Nojiko left the newspaper and allowed other crew members to grab and take a closer look.

Sadly, no one seemed to be paying attention to Dan.

_____________

With a grim expression, Rowan was seen to be sitting on a chair with his arms lying on top of the table. Around the table, Carina, Carmen, and Dan were all sitting down as well, each with a curiosity of their own. On the table, there lied 'The Tale of Youchiha Medusa.'

'I thought I was born into an average family, into an average village. However,' Rowan thought to himself as his fingers tapped on the table, 'Arlong, Krieg, and Smoker. All of them were in the East Blue. The main character, ugh I don't even know his name. But one thing I can assume is that the title of the anime is One Piece. At the same time, the treasure that the Pirate King left is One Piece. Therefore, it is most likely that the main character must be a pirate seeking for One Piece.

He has a straw hat on his head, scar under one of his eyes, sleeveless red vast and blue shorts. Is he from the East Blue? Honestly, this makes sense. The main character becomes stronger by fighting these antagonists, and realize that he's just a small frog in a well. This means... Cocoyasi might have been in canon as well; how about the Youchiha family? Me in canon might have died like my family, but there definitely is something going on with this name Youchiha...?'

Rowan couldn't get his mind wrapped around. 'However, the fact that there is name Youchiha in One Piece, which sounds so strikingly similar to Uchiha in Naruto... that doesn't sound like what a professional manga artist would do. It would kind of ruin the experience of reading. Non-canon perhaps? Or this family or clan surely exists, but simply left unmentioned in the canon? Urgh, who am I to assume, when I didn't even read or watch a single episode of One Piece.'

"Hello? Earth to Rowan?" Blinking his eyes, Rowan saw Carina's hand moving up and down in front of his face. Carina, supporting her delicate face with her other hand, expressed her boredom with her half-closed eyes. "When are we going to read? Can we start already?"

Carmen didn't seem to mind waiting though; she was simply leaning back to her chair in a prolonged fatigue. Same applied to Dan, who was once again jotting on his journal.

Removing the thoughts away from his head, Rowan took in a deep breath.

"Carmen, if you don't mind." Rowan asked. Carmen's index finger was lit up on a small fire, which she used to light up a candle stick next to the book.

"Alright. Ready or not, here we go."

Grabbing the title cover of the picture book, Rowan flipped.