Chapter 164

Blue and lively. The clouds calmly dwelled by. The sun gently shone over the land.

The upright trees firmly stood. The plants gently swayed when the pleasant breezes passed by. The rivers continued to flow, nourishing all forms of life.

One may mistake this land for a utopia. Of course they would. After all, this island in sight didn't exist in the reality.

If so, just what was this place?

It was the remnant of Rowan's mindscape, where the being named 'Youchiha Bob' used to stay within.

Judging by such a peaceful view, the scenery seemed as if it was never going to change. Some may quote this state as an 'order.' Perhaps this view was what Rowan desired, the state of life that he wished to achieve.

Then, within such a perfect sight, an anomaly emerged.

The red orb. It was mentioned by 'Youchiha Bob' in the past as a 'memory.' Originally hidden beneath the ground, but now it has begun to rise.

Levitating above all else, it emanated a dark-red glow that subverted the peaceful atmosphere into... a more intense one.

If looked closely, one would find... a crack on the surface of the orb.

<Vasilia... Endra.>

___________

"AH!"

Rowan, who was sleeping soundly, jolted up from his bed all of a sudden.

"*Huff*... *Huff*... What was that just now?"

The reb orb. It was something that has never come up after one occasion around 4 years ago. So why now?

Rowan lifted up his right hand and flipped his hair. Turning his body around so that his legs were touching the floor, Rowan took in a deep breath to calm himself down.

It was the first ever since the trouble with 'Youchiha Bob' has been resolved. Forget a vivid dream like that. Rowan never had any memorizable dream ever since then.

But first of all,

'Vasilia Endra? What kind of name is that?'

Rowan's eyes sharpened as he indulged himself in thought.

'A memory. An individual named Vasilia. One of my ancestors. Possibly from the Void Century. Perhaps the past wielder of the Eyes of Gorgon?'

'And memory... to think of it, why is it within me in the first place? A crack in the orb?'

Nothing could be understood. Everything that Rowan thought of at this moment amounted to nothing but speculations.

In the end, there was only one conclusion that Rowan reached: there was no point in thinking about it.

Standing up from his bed, Rowan began to stretch his body as he glanced at the table. On it, a calendar lied.

'December 15th.'

It was the date at which the Revolutionary Army proposed a meet with the Grimheart pirates.

And funnily enough, he, along with the people from Dressrosa and cuffed Doflamingo, managed to reach the island just in time.

*Creak*

Taking his eyes off the calendar, Rowan made his way out of the room.

"Oh! Good morning, senor Rowan!"

"Good morning!"

"Good to see you well!"

Rowan pleasantly waved at those who greeted him as he made his way through. Walking up the stairs, and finally making his way out to the deck,

"Oh, you are awake, senor Rowan." As Kyros stated at the front with a grin on his face,

a huge island named Runelight came into their view.

The scene in front of Rowan was quite amazing to look at. The most notable characteristic of the island was an incredible number of buildings, all packed together.

The street lights made out of a special breed of plant. The cat-trains that travelled from place to place that served as transportation. The huge port in the east area of the island. The island indeed was magnificent—

"Hold on."

Rowan squinted his eyes at the Northwest section of the island. The area, in particular, seemed to be incredibly packed.

"...What are y'all doing over there?"

Rowan found himself dumbfounded. It was none other than Carina, who was singing on top of what seemed like a stage. Dan and Cavendish were serving as the back dancers,

"Since when did you guys learn how to dance?!"

while from below, everyone was cheering on wildly.

"Just what happened while I was gone?"

What Rowan expected was something else. Due to their name value, he believed that the entire island would've fallen in the silence, with the citizens trying to evade an encounter with his crew. Yet...

"And~ if you ask me how I'm feel-ing~"

Carina winked as she sang, causing many heart-eyed individuals to faint.

Dan and Cavendish, grabbing onto the hats that they were wearing, began to... perform a moonwalk. Nothing made sense to Rowan.

"""KYAAAA!!! Marry me, prince Cavendish!!!!!"""

Many girls swooned at the handsome visage of Cavendish.

Unfortunately, Dan seemed invisible to them. Instead,

"YOUTH!!!"

"MANLINESS!!!!"

"""DAN THE MAN!!!!!!"""

a group of muscular men were shouting at their lungs as they pumped their fists up.

"Don't tell me you're too blind to see~"

Rowan, at this point, froze in a realization,

'Hold on. Carina, how do you know that song—'

Then, everyone began to sing altogether,

"""Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and~ desert you!!!"""

It was the most spectacular 'Rickroll' he has ever experienced.

"Hmm... you have an interesting crew over there." From the side, king Riku muttered with a genuine fascination on his face.

Rowan facepalmed.

____________

[Runelight; December 15th, 1522]

In the middle of the huge city, Runelight, there lied one small shop named 'Coala's Coffee.' From the inside, one woman, Koala, was peeking at the outside with a confused expression on her face.

"...What's going on?"

The Revolutionary Army initially planned to make this meeting a secret one. Although the Grimheart pirates were infamous, the number only reached up to nine... or so they thought.

"That's more like... over 9000!!!"

Koala felt intimidated by the sheer number right outside.

From the table at the back, two men, Dragon and Sabo, were sitting.

"Haa... I'm sorry, Dragon-san. I wasn't able to convince them." Sabo, with a depressed expression, said solemnly.

Dragon smiled as he shook his head, "No need to be down about it, Sabo."

Grabbing the cup of coffee in front of him, Dragon took a sip of it, "The warriors of Elbaf are known to be extremely proud. Above all, they value honour. To them, allying with others isn't an option; the fact that you've learned a lesson is what matters."

Placing the empty cup down, Dragon stood up from his seat.

"And it turns out that Grimheart is even more capable than what we've expected. The gathering of such a huge number of people in a short span of time... is it out of sheer luck, or is it simply meant to be this way?"

It was out of a sheer luck.

From the outside, Rowan reunited with his crew.

"Rowan!" Carina jumped off the stage and dove onto Rowan, who skillfully held her by the waist.

"The song—I mean, what's with all this ruckus?" Rowan grinned as he looked around.

Upon noticing his arrival, everyone around the stage turned around to him.

"Yo, captain..." Dan, with dark bags under his eyes, weakly waved. Rowan could literally see a depressing aura all around him.

"Hehe, don't bother." Carina giggled, "Apparently, the island he went to, Meringue, was full of muscle-men. They were fascinated by Dan destroying the candy factory in one go, and followed him all the way to this island... by swimming."

Rowan couldn't help but send his condolence to Dan—in his mind only.

"Meanwhile, Cavendish..." Carina's smile died down into that of an unpleasant frown, "He's been more annoying than ever."

"Guahahaha!! I apologize, my fans, but it seems that the show is over for today!"

Cavendish was seen to be laughing jovially while surrounded by young women, with his left hand on his waist.

"Just look, Rowan!" Carina pointed at Cavendish with a visible annoyance, "He even has that visual Den Den Mushi to broadcast himself to the world!! Tch, he thinks he's popular, but little does he know, only the crazy ones are into him!"

Rowan, upon witnessing Cavendish's prideful look, chuckled in amusement,

"Bohaha! It seems that he gained some popularity for himself."

"Oh, captain! You're here!" From the back, Urouge's voice was heard.

Turning around, Rowan saw Alfred, Farul, Robin, and Urouge sitting under the nearby parasol, and...

"Today, I am the challenger, Food Empress Carmen!!!"

"Hmph, bring it on!"

Carmen and a random chef having a cooking fight on the back.

"You guys really were enjoying your stay here, eh?" Rowan waved at them, "So, who are these people all around us?"

Robin answered with a smile, "I believe that it's the similar case as you and Dressrosa, captain."

Carina carried on as she crossed her arms with a huff, "I told you about Dan already. As for Carmen and Cavendish, after they destroyed the candy factories, the people desired to follow them. Not only did they know that the Big Mom pirates will come eventually, but they were tired of the so-called 'protection' from Big Mom; a tyranny would've been the more accurate way to define their case."

Rowan couldn't follow. Scratching the back of his head, Rowan repeated,

"Are you saying that in a month, we managed to inflate our size to this extent?"

Alfred adjusted his monocle while responding, "It seems like so, captain Rowan. According to my calculation, our number amounted up to 4,253 when excluding the non-combatants... until now. Hmm... I will have to make adjustment with the arrival of the Dressrosa kingdom."

While Alfred was busy muttering to himself while calculating with a sheet of paper on the table, Rowan noticed the three pirate ships sailing toward the island from afar.

The delicious-looking ship belonging to the Bonney pirates: Jewelry Margherita!

The cute yet ferocious submarine of the Heart pirates: Polar Tang!

And finally,

"Heyyyyy!!!!!" As the ships entered within everyone's eyesights, one member of the Twin Cats pirates, Spadina, shouted as she waved excitedly, "Missed us?!!!!"

the bloody-red-coloured ship that has previously belonged to the Jeanne pirates but now to the Twin Cats pirates: Necrokitty!

"Huhh?!!" One civilian of the Runelight island widened his eyes in a shock, "Two members of the Worst Generation, 'Big Eater' Jewelry Bonney and 'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law...! And the third ship... it was none other than now-deceased Davy Jeanne's ship!"

Another civilian gulped, "Along with the Grimheart pirates here... just what are they up to?!"

"Don't forget about them, Alfred." Rowan said with a grin, before letting out a laugh as he saw Alfred furiously erasing what he has written on the piece of paper.

"Room."

Then, Law generated a huge dome with his ability, before,

"Shambles!"

*SWOOSH*

Swapping every member of three crews onto the island.

"Heh, show off."

Rowan remarked to Law, who stood right in front of him.

"…This doesn't even count as a show off—"

*BONK*

"Teleport us back to the ships, idiot!!!" Nojiko bonked Law's head from the back, "Why swap us all and leave our ships vulnerable?!! They're literally left in the middle of the sea!!"

Law, with a tickmark on his forehead, barked back comically, "Tone your violence down, gorilla-cat!!!"

However, in contrast to Law's demeanour, he complied with Nojiko's words and teleported everyone back to the ships.

"...Well, someone has been trained well." Carina noted with a sweatdrop.

Rowan, who momentarily stared at three crews with merriment, turned his head to where the small shop, Coala's Coffee, lied.

"It seems that everyone is here."

Rowan was glad. Without any noteworthy trouble, his crew, the allied crews, the people from the oppressed islands, and the executives of the Revolutionary Army all managed to gather up in the Runelight.

*Creak*

Subsequently, the door of the Coala's Coffee opened.

"December 15th, Northwest Section, Coala's Coffee, Runelight island." Dragon stated as he calmly walked toward Rowan with Sabo and Koala behind him, "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Youchiha B. Rowan."

Rowan's face twitched upon hearing his supposedly full name, but he smiled as he replied, "Same here, Monkey D. Dragon."

From the side, Carina and Koala rubbed their arms as they felt the goosebumps rise.

'I still can't believe that a name like Monkey D. Dragon exists.'

'I still can't believe that a name like Youchiha Bob Rowan exists.'

Two groups who share the common enemies, at last, have met one another.