Chapter 147

[Foodvalten, eight days after; September 2nd, 1522]

Within a desolate island, at one particular shore, there existed the ripped flag of Whitebeard pirates that sat powerlessly.

Beyond the shore, many trees have fell in a disordered manner, which highlighted that something big must have happened.

At some point of the island, the cliffs were seen to have various dents on them, and on the ground right below such cliffs, there existed the remains of the flag that had the jolly roger of Grimheart pirates drawn.

And just today, the Grimheart pirates finally arrived to such a gloomy island. The weather itself was gloomy, with the thick layer of cloud darkening the entire area.

"Ha... it seems like there wasn't even a need to close off the area." Rowan exclaimed with a snort, "Those brash reporters already suffered by the hands of Bullet, it seems."

The past three weeks were pleasant to spend by. After sailing along with the other crews for a month or so, Rowan forgot how enjoyable it is to sail without a care. Now, he felt all rejuvenated. He felt himself brimming with strength from head to toe.

Dan, who stood at the crow's nest above, momentarily closed his eyes. Using the combination of his Observation Haki and fruit ability, he was able to monitor this moderately-sized island.

"Leave the rest to us." Carina stated with confidence, "With Dan's perception and my ability, no information will be leaked out from this island."

Rowan nodded firmly before hopping off of the Prominence.

"I'll be back soon."

From the centre of the island, Rowan could feel one strong will that pulsed vigorously.

"Someone really wants to fight."

As Rowan approached to the inner section of the island,

"...Heh, so you've finally come."

Bullet seemed to have sensed Rowan as well. Immediately after, a huge wave of Conqueror's Haki boomed out toward Rowan ominously.

"Long time no see, huh, Bullet?"

Rowan's Conqueror's Haki expanded in a similar fashion before colliding Bullet's.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The whole ground quaked and cracked. The surrounding trees were blasted apart and their roots were ripped off from the soil. The rubbles floated and chaotically flew without a control. The cliffs broke down and fell one by one. The already-chaotic island was in process of even further decimation.

Then, the victor of the clash between two wills seemed to have been decided.

*BOOOOOOOM*

With Rowan's golden-coloured Haki pushing forth, Bullet's dark-blue-coloured will was knocked back; Bullet found himself shocked by the fact that his Conqueror's Haki was no longer able to contest against Rowan.

"You see, I met this one person around three weeks ago," Rowan spoke up impassively, "and trust me. Compared to him, your Conqueror's Haki is nothing."

Bullet, who was in trance for momentarily, eventually had his whole body tremble in excitement. His face morphed into a psychotic grin, and with bloodshot eyes, he shouted energetically,

"Finally, I've been waiting so long for this day, Grimheart!! Someone who can give me a worthy fight...!!!!"

*BOOOOOM*

Bullet propelled himself toward Rowan at an incredible speed,

*BAM*

and destroyed a few trees that stood in his way as he flew.

In a span of seconds, Bullet was right in front of Rowan,with his huge fist cocked back for a punch.

*BOOOOM*

Upon Bullet punching, the whole air exploded from the potency. However,

"Too slow." Rowan dodged such a punch by tilting his head, with a confident grin of his own.

Bullet simply grinned and threw flurries of punches at an incredible speed.

*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*

The air gushed out an created a violent storm upon Bullet's continuous punches. However, none of them managed to hit Rowan, who vanished from spot to spot. The bursts of air that spread from Bullet's punches weren't capable of harming Rowan either.

*BOOOOOOOM*

Then, Bullet was sent rocketing back, as Rowan, at an incredible speed, slammed a punch of his own into the former's abdomen.

*SWOOSH*

Subsequently, Rowan vanished from his spot, and appeared right behind Bullet with his right arm coated with Armament Haki.

Bullet turned his body around with excitement and threw another fist, to which,

*BOOOOOM*

Rowan nimbly dodged by bouncing his body upward.

"Bounce Art: Ninth Stance Hwechook."

*BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*

In a split second, Rowan's form moved at the speed beyond Bullet's cognition, and Bullet found his head ringing and his whole world turning upside down.

*BOOOOOOM*

In midst of his propulsion backward, Bullet was sent crashing down into the ground.

'His Armament Haki does not pale behind mine.' Rowan noted acutely as he landed back on the ground, 'Although his may not be as strong as Garp's, it isn't far off either.'

From the cloud of smoke, Bullet revealed himself once more, cracking his neck while walking forth.

His neck was encased by the black hardening of the Armament Haki.

"You indeed are fast. However—" Before Bullet could finish his words, Rowan interrupted,

"But are you able to handle infusion as well?" Rowan grinned as his hardened right fist lit up in bright golden-colour, before beginning to crackle into a potent black-coloured lightning.

Bullet's eyes widened in disbelief, "Infusion... it's the same as that old man Roger's...!"

"Don't get complacent, Bullet. If you don't use all you got, you won't even last a second."

"Look who's getting complacent here—"

"Sonic Step."

All of a sudden, Rowan was standing right in front of Bullet. And before Bullet could react,

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

He found himself coughing out blood as Rowan's uppercut slammed onto his chin and sent him rocketing upward.

"Juggernaut Drive."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Bullet kept rising up over and over, as the consecutive blasts from Rowan's attack continuously struck upon him. All he could do was to operate his Armament Haki to maximum with hardening and emission, and endure.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

As the blasts finally died down, Bullet found himself huffing. His eyes were unfocused, and his nose was bleeding due to the shock. His jaw too was bruised and swollen.

However,

"...Ka...ha...hahahahaha!!!!!" Bullet laughed maniacally as he began to fall from the sky, not bothered by the pain that moving his jaw brought to him, "I knew it! I knew it's you, Grimheart!! If I can defeat you... I will be one step closer to becoming the strongest!!!"

Rowan watched Bullet's fall intently.

'No need to go as far as the use of Grimheart and suffer from its side effect when unnecessary.'

*BOOOOOM*

Bullet landed on the ground with his legs coated in Armament Haki to prevent the fall from harming him.

Immediately after, Rowan appeared in front of Bullet, having seen through the future.

"Let's see if you can handle this as well—"

"I'm not stupid enough to stand by and watch." Rowan stated as he slammed his palm onto Bullet's chest. Due to his sudden strike, Bullet found himself losing balance, and fell with his back touching the ground.

Bullet's eyes widened in amazement, "What—"

"Unlike you, I don't enjoy fighting as much. What matters is that I win."

Then, Rowan's eyes blazed up in rich red as his Conqueror's Haki-infused fist began to thicken and develop an extremely violent layer of armour,

'Manifestation.'

"What... is this?!!!" Bullet couldn't help but shout urgently with bloodshot eyes. He was sweating profusely from the immense pressure that he felt from Rowan's palm that was in contact with his chest.

'Juggernaut Drive—'

"—Armour Penetration."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The whole ground below Bullet cracked and in a spider-web like way, and Bullet's jaw opened wide from the pain that he felt.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The nearby ground split into pieces, and Bullet's strongest suit, Armament Haki, began to weaken and wear down.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Bullet began to emit blood from all his holes due to Rowan's attack getting through his defence and destroying him from the inside.

Then,

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

As the whole island itself was severed into pieces, Bullet, with his eyes whitened out, began to fall helplessly down to the exposed body of water.

"...He's not dead yet, huh." Rowan muttered in realization, and just as he said so, Bullet regained his consciousness, and,

*BOOM*

embedded his right hand onto the wall before he fell into the water.

"*Huff*... *Huff*... T-to think... heh. This... not... *Huff*... even an hour passed by." Bullet, even under such a detrimental situation, grinned in excitement with reddened eyes, "But... *Cough*... I cannot die until I at least go all out!!"

From his hand, a peculiar wave of purple clanking substance began to expand at an incredible pace.

In seconds, Bullet's fruit ability covered the entire island.

*ZOOOM*

As for the Prominence, Carina managed to prevent them from getting caught in it by teleporting the whole ship and everyone within.

"*Huff**Huff*..." She immediately fell down with exhaustion; there were visible dark bags under her eyes.

"Union... Armada!!!"

All the metal ores and metal-related items within the island began to converge onto Bullet, as his body glowed along and floated up. Altogether, they began to swirl and morph into a shape of a gigantic creature that towered over the whole island.

"Seven... no, five minutes? I doubt that you'll be alive for long, Bullet. Your inside must be in mess right now." Rowan, gazing up at the gigantic creature impassively, stated as his red eyes began to glow brilliantly,

"Grimlock."

*PAZZZZZZZ*

The whole proximity around Rowan trembled as his form was entirely covered by the incredibly potent wave of Conqueror's Haki: Manifestation.

"But even five is too long. Let me make that shorter for you." Rowan extended his right arm to his back, before clenching into a fist.

Subsequently, the emission of the Armament Haki under the manifestation of the Conqueror's Haki began to expand rapidly as Rowan's right eye shifted into a golden-colour. Eventually, his right arm has become as big as the fists of Bullet's gigantc creature, with the still-crackling black lightning of Manifestation on top.

"Kahahahaha!!! Three weeks... *COUGH*... definitely was worth!! Now... let's end this, Grimheart!!" From the creature, Bullet's loud voice resounded as it cocked its right fist back.

"25 Layers, 50-Hit, along with Manifestation... I need another cool name. Black. Dark. Night. Night..." Rowan, in synchronous with Bullet, threw punch at the same time,

"ULTIMATE FIST!!!"

"...Nox Drive!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The whole world around exploded in a violent burst of conqueror's Haki. The whole cloud and sky above was decimated into oblivion, and with a black pulse that spread throughout the whole island from the impact, in the eyes of all the members of the Grimheart pirates,

the whole island flashed into large-scaled explosions that consecutively blasted without a control. Part by part, Bullet's gigantic creature helplessly fell along with the island, and in a span of minute, the whole island was degraded into nothing but a pile of ruins.

Rowan, the only remaining one in the island, was standing with a visible fatigue on his face.

"...*Huff*, *Huff*... 30 minutes for Grimlock? No, forget it. I made a miscalculation." Rowan momentarily swayed, "30 minutes just for maintaining the form. An active movement, along with enlargement with Manipulation of Armament Haki especially, shortens the duration that I am capable of maintaining. When using Grimlock by itself, the duration is actually shorter than when used along with Grimheart, since Grimheart boosts my essential capability from the inside."

It was a good thing that he managed to figure this out beforehand.

"Grimlock is meant to be used along with Grimheart. Together, 12 minutes, but by itself, 5 minutes at maximum."

Rowan stared at the ruins below him,

"You have my gratitude for this, Douglas Bullet."

_____________

[Whole Cake Island]

"What to do... what to do..." Perospero was seen to be walking back and forth in anxiety. In order to prevent the war between his family and the Grimheart pirates, there was only one option, where Rowan gave up Farul.

And Rowan was someone who sank the whole island for daring to oppose his crew member.

"Grimheart, Kaidou, perorin..." Perospero sighed helplessly while sitting down on his chair. With such a burden, his shoulders surely felt heavy.

Then, as he was busy trying to find a way out of this trouble,

*BAM*

"Brother Peros!!" A tall woman hurriedly made her way into the room, making Perospero frown.

"Where have your manners gone to, perorin, Custard?! Can't you see that I am occupied right now?!"

The woman in front of Perospero was Charlotte Custard, the 6th daughter and 16th child of the family.

"It's an urgent matter! Really urgent one! Mama received this news just now as well!!" Custard stated with a lingering shock within her expression.

"Brother Peros!!" Then, their another sibling, Charlotte Pudding, ran into the room as well, "Mama is calling you!"

Perospero looked at Custard and Pudding back and forth in confusion, "What exactly is going on, perorin?"

"It's Tremor Tremor fruit!!!" Custard shouted while placing her hand on her forehead, "It re-emerged, and some stupid idiot decided that he's going to sell it in an auction!"

"...WHATTTTT?!!!" Perospero's eyes popped out in disbelief. He felt as if his head was going to explode.