Chapter 43

Facing Gasparde and numerous marines around, Rowan and Cavendish stood side by side.

"Grimheart Rowan? How the fuck..."

Cavendish, while eyeing Rowan, muttered to himself,

"How the fuck did I not realize that?"

"Prince Cavendish! Please, watch your language—"

"Indeed, how the fuck did you not realize that,"

Rowan, while focusing his eyes on Gasparde, chuckled,

"When I recognized you the first time I saw you."

Cavendish, wrinkling up his face, barked,

"Actually, I knew you were you! Ha, ha, ha! Surprised?! I was acting all along!!"

"Vahaha, that's such an idiotic joke."

"What joke?!!"

Cavendish then impulsively swung his blade at Rowan, who clashed against it with his Sting.

CLANG!

"...What are those two doing?"

Confused, one marine murmured. The sparks flew as two pirates proceeded to engage themselves in a fast-paced sword fight, one that put marines in a nervousness upon realizing how skilled they were with blades.

"...You're kidding me."

Gazing at Rowan and Cavendish, Gasparde sighed in disbelief,

"What kind of idiots decide to waste their stamina right before their enemies?"

"Er, prince?"

As Vasco spoke up, Rowan and Cavendish's fight against one another finally came to an end. Cavendish, with a frown on his face, turned to look at Vasco.

"I don't think it's the time to fight with that man right now. I mean, look around us!"

"...Oh."

Cavendish has returned to the reality after checking his surroundings. Retracting Sting, Rowan chuckled,

"Idiot."

"YOU DID THE SAME THING, FUCKARD!!!"

Cavendish roared at Rowan with a reddened face, but Rowan simply laughed it off.

"...Now this is not fun."

Gasparde, still standing, furrowed his eyebrows.

"How come they aren't expressing any fear? Shouldn't they be scared when surrounded by many guns and marines around? Death is near their doorsteps, and they just stand there, joking among themselves?"

Now, Gasparde didn't like this. With such thoughts in him, Gasparde finally raised his hand, instantly earning Rowan and Cavendish's attention. He then signalled.

"Fire."

As if they've waiting for this moment for the eternity, loads of bullets were instantly emptied from marines' firearms. The sparks, ricochets, and noises of metallic clangs—the countless bullets were flown at Rowan, Cavendish, and Vasco, rendering the storage room chaotic in an instant.

"Gruhh,"

Vasco, whose proficiency with blades was relatively lacking, was not confident enough to stand strong when so many bullets were approaching. Quickly ducking and rolling, he took cover behind the metallic crates.

However, it was a different story for Rowan and Cavendish.

Rowan, through the use of Observation Haki, didn't bother utilize Sting. Instead, he casually weaved through where bullets didn't hit while standing in the middle of the cross-fire.

"What the fuck is even—"

It was a shocking scene that even led Gasparde to a disbelief.

Cavendish, on the other hand, blurred out from his position. His phantom-like speed, surpassing even the maximum speed that Rowan was capable of, flew through the marines who were firing toward Rowan, who was the sole remaining target now. Bloods flew, and numerous necks of marines dropped and rolled across the ground. The number of bullets being fired gradually decreased, and the still-alive marines, full of horror as their comrades were gruesomely diced into pieces, began to shoot not just at Rowan but at everywhere around themselves, trying to catch the ghost-like Cavendish.

"A-AHHHH!!!!"

"REAR ADMIRAL GASPARDE!!! D-DO SOMETHING!!!!"

G-11 was a corrupt base in nature. They weren't properly trained, and their mentality was far too fragile to endure the detrimental situations like this. When the adversity came, these marines idiotically began to drop their weapons and run out of the storage room.

"Hah?"

Cavendish, stopping momentarily, raised an eyebrow. He then laughed,

"Fuahahaha! Look at them, completely dominated by the charming White Knight, a.k.a. myself!"

Then, his laugh was abruptly cut as Rowan, without any hesitation, dashed at the run-away marines and slaughtered them. Looking at Cavendish with a deadpan, Rowan sighed,

"Idiot. Won't these fools interfere with our crew members' deeds if they were allowed to escape alive out of here?"

"I-I knew that!! I was just about to kill them all, hmph!!"

Snorting at that, Rowan then took a step to the side to avoid a slash from a sword-holding marine officer. Then, he proceeded to stomp his foot on the blade right next to him, completely shattering it into pieces.

As the marine officer viewed his shattered sword in disbelief, Rowan, realizing something, casually spoke,

"Oh yeah, do make sure to release those people whom we impersonated, alright? They are innocent—"

Ducking, Rowan dodged a fist thrown by the same marine officer. Then, he stood back up, headbutting said marine officer by the chin and knocking out the latter. He then turned and Vasco was still cowering behind the crates. Sweatdropping, Rowan asked,

"Aren't you the so-called Crimson Butler? What's got you so scared?"

"The reason why I was named as such wasn't because I have some sort of extraordinary strength!"

Vasco, gritting his teeth, shouted,

"It's because eat the end of every single battle that prince Cavendish recklessly charges into, I end up in a nigh-dead state!!"

"...Huh."

Rowan felt the pity for the guy, whose eyes held a sorrow.

"In the first place, why bring me in this operation, prince Cavendish?! There's literally Rico who can do a lot more here!!"

Now, even the majority of marine officers were taken care of. They were wounded, bleeding, and unconscious. It surely was shocking scene, for no one would've believed that two pirates would've been enough to defeat... so many marines while being unscathed.

""Wait, hold on.""

Then, Rowan and Cavendish mumbled at the same time. Turning at one another, they frowned,

""Since when were we in truce?""

Rushing at one another, they clashed blades for the second time. Unbothered by number of fallen marines around them, they proceeded to showcase blade works, at the speed that appeared blurry in Vasco's eyes.

"...You two."

Then, a voice was heard. Rowan and Cavendish paused and turned to the source of the voice. There stood Gasparde who smiled viciously, uncaring of his fallen soldiers all around.

"You haven't forgotten that I still am standing here, have you?"

And immediately after Gasparde said so, the red alarm began to ring loudly.

<<Emergency alert! Emergency Pirates are sighted in the base! Initiate protocol EX-1! Subdue pirates immediately!>>

The rumbling noises were heard from the back, which meant that more marines were coming to where Rowan, Cavendish, and Vasco stood.

"Quite skilled, I won't lie."

As Rowan and Cavendish viewed Gasparde in seriousness, Gasparde snorted.

He pointed at Rowan,

"Strength and reflex."

then at Cavendish,

"Speed and swordsmanship."

Gasparde laughed,

"Hahaha! I now see why you two were branded with such high bounties for pirates from Four Blues!

...However,

that doesn't mean Grand Line will be the same for you! Compared to me who survived in this sea for many years and attained the position of Rear Admiral, you are nothing but planktons in a vast ocean!"

Gasparde at the next moment was found right in front of Rowan with a surprising speed. Without any weapon in his hands, Gasparde opened his huge palm which was aiming to latch onto Rowan's face.

Rowan, while tilting his face to the side, narrowed his eyes in a slight confusion as he proceeded to slash Sting at Gasparde's defenseless abdomen.

Then, as Rowan's blade dug through Gasparde's body, what he saw, instead of blood squirting out, was the green, gooey substance that was present at the dissected sections of Gasparde's body. In an instant, Rowan recognized,

'Logia-type devil fruit?!'

Sting was now attached on Gasparde's body. At the same time, a spike formed out of said green substance was blasted from Gasparde's palm toward Rowan's chest; Rowan was forced to let go of Sting and quickly backflip to avoid the strike.

Then, Cavendish, suddenly appearing behind Gasparde, swung his blade numerous times in a split second. One of his slashes hit Sting that was still attached to Gasparde and sent it flying in the air, which Rowan quickly jumped and caught.

Gasparde's body was now split into numerous pieces. However, they, turning into green substance, rejoined and reformed Gasparde's body without any damage being inflicted.

"What the hell even is that!!"

Cavendish angrily remarked as he landed by Rowan's left. Then, his eyes popped out as he noticed that the green substance was attached on his blade,

"AHHH, DURANDAL!!!"

"Do you see it now?"

Gasparde grinned widely as he viewed Rowan and Cavendish.

"No matter how strong, fast, and skilled you may be, you cannot harm me in any way."

"Oh, really?"

Rowan chuckled at that, and this reaction of his made Gasparde's grin falter. And,

"Yuck yuck yuck!! This green thing is contaminating my Durandal!!!"

Cavendish, on the other hand, was far too invested in his blade to hear what Gasparde was saying.

Rowan, with his eyes locked onto Gasparde, was spinning Sting in his right hand as he rolled his brain,

'I suppose... that I can first try to find out what this devil fruit power of his is about. Green substance... I don't think this is acid. Very viscous, and upon will, can become a hard solid. Sticky—'

Rowan at the next moment weaved loads of green spikes that were launched from Gasparde's body.

"DAMN YOU, CANDY MAN!!!"

Cavendish cried in frustration as he swung his green-substance-coated Durandal at those green spikes to protect himself. Rowan smirked in agreement to what Cavendish said,

'Exactly, candy. Or to be more specific, candy syrup. I'd assume that Gasparde can control how solid the candy is. Nevertheless, if candy is his nature, then...'

Rowan was prevented from thinking any further as Gasparde appeared on top of Rowan.

'Tch,'

Rowan easily evaded a punch thrown by Gasparde. Said punch then morphed into green candy syrup and began to chase after Rowan. Rowan shifted to the left to let the fist of candy syrup bypass his side, and simultaneously, Cavendish suddenly appeared right on Gasparde's back with murderous intent in his eyes. He smashed his candy-covered Durandal into Gasparde's head, but what ended up happening was simply the candy syrup splattering all over Cavendish's body.

Gasparde, whose top half of face was gone due to Cavendish's attack just now, grinned.

"Eh?"

"Checkmate."

Cavendish was now covered in candy. He tried to wriggle his way out, but to no avail. He thrashed, but candy began to enter his nose, causing Rowan to express disgust.

"Yikes."

Gasparde, whose top half of face finally regenerated, shrewdly glanced at Rowan,

"And now, you're the only one left, Grimheart—"

Suddenly, the candy that encased Cavendish abruptly exploded. Gasparde, filled with a shock, turned and found that Cavendish disappeared,

"What?!"

Then, Gasparde's body was suddenly cut in half, to which Rowan narrowed his eyes at. Gasparde gritted his teeth,

"What even—"

before he could rejoin his body parts, Gasparde was slashed once more. Again, again, again, until he's completely become candy dusts.

'Cavendish? No, something is strange.'

Rowan's eyes gleamed in red, before he quickly raised his blade,

CLANG!

to block Durandal that was swung right at him.

Cavendish was now visible once more, and Rowan noticed that Cavendish's eyes were completely white. In addition, his facial expression reflected nothing but a malice at everything that existed around him, much to Rowan's confusion.

Operating Observation Haki at his maximum capability, Rowan parried countless slashes that were aimed at him. Sparks flew all around, and Vasco, who was still in a hiding position, couldn't help but whisper,

"He... is able to match Hakuba's speed...?"

Vasco then realized,

"...No, it isn't that. He... he is predicting where Hakuba will attack! But... how is this possible?"

CLANG!

Rowan's Sting met Cavendish's Durandal that was a lot longer once again.

'It indeed is fast, but its course of attack is predictable. He slashes everything at his path. It's just like...'

The technique named Shakushi from Kuro of a 'Hundred Plan'.

'So speed goes up, but IQ goes down to a single-digit, I see.'

Rowan, with his body filled with excitement and vigor, moved out of his passive stance by applying more force on his blade that was clashing against Durandal. Cavendish immediately disappeared, but Rowan knowingly rotated his body and sent a kick at the back.

His kick was connected right into Cavendish's exposed face, and sent the latter crashing into the wall. The dust arose from where Cavendish landed, and Rowan meantime stepped to the side to dodge a large green spike that was flown at him from the back.

'How much Haki do I have in me now?'

Rowan raised his blade to parry Cavendish's Durandal from the above. Due to this, he was forced to take some green candy spikes on his back, but Rowan didn't even flinch, even as the blood dripped down from his wounds at the back.

Instead, he hummed in thought.

'Cavendish is senseless, and candy...'

Rowan grinned as he saw that another round of candy spikes were flying toward him, from Gasparde who glared at Rowan murderously.

At the last moment before the candy spikes landed on him, Rowan suddenly ducked down, and Cavendish appeared right on the top.

Cavendish, who was focused on Rowan, became the subject of green spikes. Blood was drawn as said spikes were embedded on his chest, and Rowan, while down on the floor, kicked Cavendish at his back, which sent him flying at the wall.

With a booming noise, Cavendish crashed into the wall, and when the dust cleared, he was stuck on the wall due to the sticky candy spikes that connected him and wall together.

And while he was down on the ground, Rowan quickly reached for the pocket of one marine soldier who was unconscious near him, and smiled as he found exactly what he was looking for.

"And at last,"

Rowan didn't have a time to rest as Gasparde rushed at him. Gasparde, at Rowan's proximity, then exploded his body. Candy syrup covered the entire area where Rowan was standing, and Gasparde grinned,

"here we are, back on the track of how things should've been."

Now, in front of Gasparde was a dome of candy syrup, filled to the full. Feeling that it was his victory, Gasparde shifted his attention at the wall where Cavendish was stuck—

"...Hm?"

There was a smoke rising, to which Gasparde expressed his confusion at. Turning back at the dome, Gasparde couldn't help but widen his eyes, as...

The fire. The dome of candy syrup was burning and melting into a black mass at a rapid pace.

"Surprised?"

From within, Rowan was revealed to be holding Sting that was covered by the candy syrup that was set aflame. With his marine cap and top gone, Rowan now stood with a daring grin on his face, with his other hand holding onto—

"...A lighter."

Gasparde snarled.

"A fire as small as this is enough to burn away the candy. If so,"

Rowan pointed his blazing Sting at Gasparde,

"Doesn't this make you even weaker against fire than an average human being?"

Gasparde backed away as he felt a heat emanating from where Rowan stood.

Seeing that Rowan found the answer, he mumbled to himself,

"...Wait. If Nami was here..."

'...Well, too bad, I suppose.'

Making a trivial thought, Rowan then dashed at Gasparde with the blazing Sting in his hand, to which Gasparde scowled at.

Then, the fight resumed.