Chapter 183

"Rowan!!!"

Upon Yamato's call, Rowan turned around and saw Yamato, who was approaching him with her studded club, Takeru, held by her right hand.

"You defeated Kaidou, right?!" Yamato said excitedly, "Then fight me!"

Dan looked at her with a pale face, "She doesn't know what she's asking for."

"Mademoiselle Yamato. Why don't you think this thoroughly?" Alfred suggested with a cold sweat on his back, "After all, our captain is someone who has gone against two Emperors at once. If you weren't able to win against Kaidou, it may not be a good idea—"

"Hahahaha!!! No worries, Alfred guy!" Yamato laughed without care, disregarding Alfred's warning.

Rowan looked at Yamato thoughtfully before replying with a smile,

"Sure. Let's make this a quick one. Just wait for a little." Rowan turned to Carina, "Get ready to sail, will you?"

Carina saluted cheerfully, "Leave it to me!" After, she commanded the other crew members,

"You heard it! Get on Prominence within three seconds!"

only to see that everyone was peaking atop of Prominence.

"Yo, Promy," Dan tapped the rail as he whispered, "We gotta get out of here."

<Pff, you afraid, Dan? Wimp!>

Dan froze, to which Carmen and Cavendish laughed in mockery.

Carina shook her head with amusement on her face, before starting her teleport spree back and forth between the Onigashima and Prominence.

*ZOOMZOOMZOOM*

Everytime a purple flash occurred, a piece of valuable appeared on top of Prominence's deck. Carina was determined to suck the whole Onigashima dry, and before much time passed, everything that once belonged to the Beast pirates was the assets of the Grimheart pirates now.

"Holy cow." Carmen muttered, "You even took a piece of wood. Why?"

Carina narrowed her eyes at Carmen, "Why not?"

And while Carina was busy doing so,

*BOOM*

"I said—"

*BOOM*

"—wait—"

*BOOM*

"...really?"

Yamato was busy smashing her weapon, Takeru, on Rowan over and over again, but it had no effect on the latter... at all.

However, there existed no sense of annoyance in Rowan. On the other hand, he was exhilarated—by the fact that all the fortune of the Beast pirates was he and his crew's now. He had no qualm in babysitting a little for such means.

*BOOM*"

"Fight me!!!!!"

"Wait a little longer." Rowan said happily as he took another blunt on his face, "I'm an expensive man, and fighting me comes with a price. Until Carina loads everything here onto our ship, I'm not doing anything."

*BOOM*

But Yamato didn't listen, not that Rowan minded.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

...

After a while,

"Alright~! Rowan, we're finished here!" Carina finally reported with a high spirit.

<Ugh... I feel heavy...>

"Endure it!!!" Carina immediately barked at Prominence. If an average person came across this scene, he or she might have thought that Carina was a crazy woman.

"Nice." Rowan grinned, before shifting his attention to Yamato, who was huffing in exhaustion.

"How... *Huff*... the heck... *Huff*... are you as tough as Kaidou...?!"

Dan squinted his eyes with his mouth agape, "...Didn't I previously tell her that captain won against Kaidou and Big Mom by himself?"

Carmen said in a sarcastic manner, "She's born different."

"Guahaha! So am I!" Cavendish exclaimed as he puffed his chest out.

"...What?" Carmen stared at Cavendish, dumbfounded.

Rowan, on the other hand, slammed his fists together in an excitement,

"Alright, let's fight just as you wanted!"

Yamato smiled in anticipation, though her breathing was still unstable.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

And that was the final moment that Yamato remembered before she lost her consciousness.

____________

"...S***." Rowan rubbed his head sheepishly, "I got too excited there."

He gazed at the front with a troubled expression. The whole Onigashima, due to a single punch from him, has reduced to a flattened ruin, with the bruised Yamato lying in the middle.

"What an overkill." Alfred commented from the Prominence, before holding his hand out to Urouge, who passed a stack of money to the former.

"Sahaha! You win this time!"

Rowan gazed at the unconscious Yamato momentarily, before taking out a piece of paper from his pocket and ripping it into two.

It was the Vivre Card of Ace, which Rowan got his hands on a long long time ago back in Alabasta.

"There. This should make up for it."

He flicked one among the two toward Yamato.

*BOING*

With a funny noise, the small piece of Vivre Card shot out to Yamato rapidly, before,

*BOING*

bouncing subtly upon reaching Yamato's bust.

"...That was intentional." Carina's eyes sharpened in suspicion.

"Bohahaha!" Rowan simply laughed it off, "I was intending to slip it in-between, but missed by a slight margin!"

"Hey!! Is this something for you to say proudly?" Carina cracked her fists, "It seems that there's some talking to do—"

"But before that... I have a present for you." Rowan, unfazed by Carina's anger, made a cheesy smile with half-lidded eyes before taking out a chunk of diamond from his pocket.

Carina's anger immediately died down, "...Since when did you get that on your hands? Hehe, why didn't you say it sooner?"

The rest of the Grimheart pirates facepalmed.

'''He knows her well.'''

"Neigh!"

After having turned the whole Wano upside down, all within two hours or so, the Grimheart pirates left without any word. Everything happened too quickly, to an extent where some wondered if they saw ghosts.

But alas, thanks to one group of pirates, the country of Wano found its peace after over twenty years of suffering.

"...Therefore," And within the street of the Flower Capital, there lied Denjiro, who was kneeling in front of one beautiful woman with green-coloured hair: Kozuki Hiyori.

"Lady Hiyori, please. Become the next Shogun of Wano."

Thus began in Wano, the reign of the new Shogun Kozuki Hiyori—who will be praised as the wise ruler in the future.

As for Kozuki Momonosuke, the sibling of Hiyori, who was to take a part in fighting against the Beast pirates along with Monkey D. Luffy and his allies in the canon?

That 8-year-old crybaby was yet to appear.

___________

[Mariejois]

"Stop over there, Dragon!"

Dragon found himself unable to believe it.

"...Lindbergh. What are you doing there?"

Few moments ago, as Dragon was going toe-to-toe against Sakazuki, a familiar figure appeared at the edge of the battlefield. It was Lindberg, the supposed commander of the South Army of the Revolutionary Army—who was now aiming his weapons on the frightened refugees of the South Blue.

"Heh, you still haven't realized, have you?!" Lindbergh grinned evilly, "How do you think Blackbeard managed to engulf the whole South Blue in such a quick span of time? Even without the Marine, there's supposed to be the South Army to resist against to some extent, isn't there?!"

Dragon's eyes wavered, "You..."

"That's right!!" Lindbergh cried loudly, to which everyone heard. All fights came to a stop, with everyone having identified Lindbergh.

"The South Army was intentionally sacrificed to buy the time for the royalties' evacuations!! Paha, those idiots didn't have a single idea what they were doing even until their deaths!!

These remaining survivors... Dragon! You know full well what's about to happen now! If you were not to surrender, these innocent lives will be no more!!"

"Lindbergh, how can you...!" Belo Betty gritted her teeth as her hold on the flag tightened.

Karasu, the commander of the North Army of the Revolutionary Army, glared at Lindbergh without any word.

"How?!!" Garp, whose Haki-imbued arm was struggling against Mihawk's sword, cried, "How can the Marine use the innocent people as the hostages?!! What is this controversy?!!!"

*BOOM*

"Haa..." Sanji, whose cheek was bruised due to having been blasted by Capone Bege's cannonball, muttered with his eyes darkened, "How troublesome."

Zoro, who had a bandanna wrapped around his head, landed nearby Sanji with visible wounds, with all three swords unsheathed, "I agree with you for once, ero-cook."

He was somehow talking while biting onto the hilt of one sword.

Now, rain has finally stopped pouring down, and the whole battlefield fell into a silence.

"It's for the greater good, Garp!!" Within the silent ground, Sakazuki said adamantly, "In order to wipe out all evil from the world, some sacrifices are necessary!"

"...Your words are full of hypocrisy, Akainu!" Dragon growled with his hands clenched.

The hostages' eyes held fear. But Dragon had to save his son.

He was the Revolutionary Army's Supreme Commander. Yet, he was one man's father.

'The lives of the weak... are what the Revolutionary Army has been fighting for. Luffy... was I too greedy? Was I too rash? Lindbergh's betrayal... I've been complacent, haven't I?'

Dragon fell into a dilemma, and he was unable to hide a troubled expression.

"S-Supreme Commander, what should we do?!" One member of the Revolutionary Army said with a trembling voice, but Dragon couldn't answer.

On the other hand,

"Dark Bullet."

*BANG*

"Ugh...!" Sabo frowned in pain as Tensei's technique blasted onto his Haki-imbued chest, leaving a visible bruise on spot.

"Sabo!" Ace cried in worry,

*CLANG*

but he was quickly forced to block the attack aimed at him with his hardened arms.

"And now," Kong, who assessed the situation with his arms crossed, raised his hand up and clenched his fist, "start."

The whole ground rumbled as the stationary Pacifistas moved simultaneously. The still Kuma, also known as PX-0 with him having become a full-blown cyborg under the World Government's control, too began to move under Ivankov's eyes.

"Ku...ma...? You're finally moving! You can here me, right—huh?"

All the Pacifistas opened their mouths and charged up the intense energy within.

"All Marine, retreat!!!" Sakazuki commanded, to which the marine soldiers complied by making their way back to the formation.

Then, Kong stated,

"Fire!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOM*

All laser beams shot toward the Revolutionary Army simultaneously, intending to erase the whole force in one go.

"Dragon's Claw!"

Dragon immediately formed a gigantic claw made out of the intense swirl of stormy wind, which effectively disrupted the continuous laser beams.

"Dragon!!!"

However, upon Lindbergh's regal shout, Dragon grimaced. His mind wavered, and his technique subconsciously weakened, allowing the weakened beams of light to overcome Dragon's defence.

All the capable ones were occupied with enemies of their own, and couldn't act to block the huge-ranged attacks.

The Revolutionary Army watched as the disaster was approaching them. Their scenery brightened up into a blinding light, about to blast them away—

*BOOOOOOOM*

—but the laser beams were prevented from doing so, by a huge wall of sand that erupted out of nowhere.

"Sorry about being late, all of you."

Dragon let out a relieved sigh before turning around, where the former Admiral, Issho, was standing.

"*Phew*... Seems like we made just in time." In front of the sand wall stood Vivi, who swiped her hand down to remove it.

Then, everyone within the Mariejois saw—the incredible number of platforms floating up from below.

Issho, through the use of his devil fruit, reversed the gravity and allowed everyone in separate seas below to make their way up. Although he was sweating due to such a huge-scaled exertion of is ability, his aid has brought a new light to Dragon and his alliance.

"*Huff*, *Huff*... We're here as well!!!" At the same time, the other members of the Whitebeard pirates revealed themselves from the huge hole dug by Morley previously. Vista, who was in the front, said with an annoyance,

"You can't leave us just like that, Marco, Ace!"

Marco, who stood nearby, shrugged, "Blame Ace for that."

And Lindbergh, the source of Dragon's distress, found himself unable to move.

*Click*

"Why don't you lower your weapons... or no need, actually."

All of his weapons were out of his control, and a barrel of a gun was touching his temple. If the owner decided to pull the trigger, Lindbergh will be dead in an instant.

"If there is something that I, the brave warrior of the sea, can't stand..."

The source of Lindbergh's terror was none other than... Usopp.

"...it's the scums who threaten the weak for their own greed!!!"

"That's right!!" Chopper, who was sitting on Usopp's shoulder, nodded in an agreement.

Lindbergh's own weapons were attached on Usopp's free hand, which disabled Lindbergh from using them. It was thanks to Usopp operating the ability of his devil fruit, Magnet Magnet fruit.

"Damn... it..." Lindbergh shifted his eyes left and right, trying to find the way out. However, all he managed to see was Dragon's murderous glare—which caused him to tremble unconsciously.

"And don't forget about us!" On the other side, Sob said with her arms crossed.

"...Who are you?" Kyros, the warrior of Dressrosa, asked with a tilt of his head.

"All of you..." Dragon lowered his head as his expression morphed into a grin. Then, an immense Conqueror's Haki blasted out of him once more, "I apologize for my sorry demeanour previously. I promise to you, however, that it won't happen again."

A sharp blast of storm was shot out from Dragon's hand, before drilling into Lindbergh's exposed neck.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Lindbergh cried in pain.

""AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"" Usopp and Chopper screamed in a surprise, as Lindbergh dropped on the ground, dead.

"Seriously. Are you a brave warrior of sea or a coward?" From nearby, Zala, also known as miss Doublefinger in the past, muttered.

Kong was watching the sudden change in the tide of the war.

The Pacifistas were being pushed back one by one, with the huge number of reinforcement having arrived. That battlefield that used to be in the World Government's favour has now turned into an even ground... at least for now.

Kong frowned in a displeasure, but it wasn't due to Lindbergh's death.

"A Marine Admiral supporting the enemies... this is beyond ridiculous."

And the other one, Aramaki, was still occupied by Kuzan in Gran Tesoro; Kong couldn't help but lament on how far the Marine has fallen.

But regardless, Kong swallowed an urge to sigh and ordered at once,

"Activate the ancient weapons!"