Chapter 90

Upon entering the town, Rowan immediately took notice of just how crowded the place was—with his Observation Haki.

Similar to the Breman town they've come across in the past, many pirates were clustered in this one huge place, which once again reminded Rowan of what it means to live in the Great Age of Pirates.

'Loud and unkempt. Honest but brash and amoral.' Rowan thought within his mind, 'I see the similarity here. Both Breman and Spriggins are the primary locations to encounter after one's entry into the Grand Line. It seems that many pirates become discouraged after the first sail in this sea, for them to remain within these islands for a long time.'

"How is this platform able to handle the weight of so many people?" Dan muttered in curiosity as he lightly tapped his foot on where he was standing.

Meanwhile, Cavendish and Farul were seen to be surrounded by many people nearby.

"Hoho, it seems that it is time for I, the Pirate Prince, to grace this town with my presence!" Cavendish laughed haughtily while riding on Farul's back.

"""Kyaaa, he's so handsome!!""" Some women screamed as their eyes turned into hearts, standing wobbly on their feet.

"'Pirate Prince' Cavendish!! If he's here, it means..." One man, who was shaking in fear upon Cavendish's debut, slowly turned his head around and witnessed Rowan and the others casually marching, "...the Grimheart pirates!!!"

"Hm, what's that large building in the center of this town?" Carina muttered to herself upon sighting a broad and brown-coloured building that was visible from the entrance of the town, ignoring the words from the stranger.

"Grimheart you say?" Suddenly, another masculine voice was heard from the side, causing Rowan to turn his head in curiosity. "850 million Beli, in this part of the Grand Line... isn't it obvious?"

*Swoosh*

The man dashed out from the corner of one building that lied nearby, revealing his blue-coloured hair, blue-coloured eyes, and lean muscular physique. Standing at around the same height as Rowan, the man bickered, "One's strength is not the sole factor of the bounty. There's no way that you are nearly as strong as what your bounty says."

Carmen quirked her eyebrow hearing this, "And you are?"

The man shrugged with a faked obliviousness, "Does it matter? You will soon be caught and become a part of my wealth. What more is need to be said?"

Hearing the man's remark, Rowan slowly cracked his neck and stepped up, walking towards the unfazed man with a hint of casualty in his steps.

"One evidence of such truth is your blindfold." The man smirked as he lowered his posture, "The newspaper claims that you have won gloriously, yet you received some grievous injuries here and there."

Upon Rowan stepping closer to the man, the others took a step back from the sight while sweating profusely.

"I-it's him, 'Grimheart' Rowan!" One person whispered with fright, "And the other is 'Super Speed' Karl! How come both of them are in this town?!"

Stopping in front of the man, now known as Karl, Rowan spoke up in a calm demeanour, "So you want to catch us?"

Not responding to Rowan's question, Karl grinned ferociously before his legs tensed.

*Swoosh*

Subsequently, he vanished from the sight of many people that surrounded the scene.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh* The sounds of wind gushing resounded around Rowan, as Karl dashed around Rowan at a blinding speed.

"I've been a bounty hunter for more than ten years," Karl's voice was heard in midst of his continuous dashes, "and I've seen many pirates like you before; hiding your fear behind faked confidence. Why not just admit that you are unable to defeat me?"

"Haa, captain, will you just end it quickly?" Carmen spoke up in annoyance as she crossed her arms, "I don't want to stand and wait for that guy to talk all day."

Rowan simply grinned in response.

"Tch, typical pirates. Always so arrogant that they think they are the center of the world." Karl snarled before finally launching himself to Rowan while his right hand, which was clenching onto a metal claw, was outstretched towards Rowan,

"Mad Max!!"

*Crunch*

In the next moment, Rowan took his hand out of his pocket at an inconceivable speed, before casually grabbing Karl's claw-holding arm and crushing it under his grip. Karl's eyes widened his shock upon such an encounter, for Rowan managed to catch his arm even with the blindfold on his face.

"Your title is Super Speed?" Rowan remarked questioningly, but Karl wasn't able to answer due to the pulsing pain he felt from his crushed arm, "Whatever."

As Rowan took out his other hand from the pocket, Karl's eyes widened. Sweating profusely from the pain, Karl thrashed as hard as he could while gritting his teeth, but Rowan's grip was too strong for him to overcome.

Rowan casually placed his palm on top of Karl's chest,

"Bounce impact."

*BOOM* With a loud booming sound of Rowan's technique, Karl blasted back while vomiting a large volume of blood, and crashed into the nearby building.

The whole place fell into silence upon Rowan's one-sided beatdown on Karl. Although the former is an uprising pirate, whose bounty is already the highest within the Paradise, the latter was long known as the veteran in the world of the bounty hunters; they didn't expect the fight to be short-lived to this extent.

"You gotta be kidding me." One man amongst the crowd said in frustration, before jumping out and hastily running to the clouds of dust, where Karl was located. "Karl, I told you not to engage them, you greedy dumbass!"

Said man was quite tall, standing at a height of approximately 250cm. He was wearing a grey cap under his wild grey-coloured hair, along with the grey-coloured jacket and grey-coloured pants. Overall, he was extremely muscular.

"*Cough* *Cough*" As the dust cleared, Karl was seen to be lying on the ground and bleeding severely. The midriff of his shirt was torn open, revealing the large purple-black-coloured wound on his chest, which indicated internal bleeding.

"L-Larch..." Karl said weakly as he sighted his colleague, with half-lidded eyes.

"'Grey Wolf' Larch... I am quite familiar with this name." Robin spoke up from her spot, "One who was offered the position of Mr.1 by Crocodile, but refused."

"Carina." Rowan stated with his head turned to Karl and Larch.

"I know." Carina replied with sharpened eyes as she took out a knife from her pocket and flipped it casually.

*Clang* Immediately after, Carina's knife abruptly flashed in front of Larch—although Larch quickly blocked the weapon by raising his left arm up with a quick reflex.

Carina raised her eyebrow upon witnessing Larch's successful defence.

"Whoa whoa, calm down there, will you?" Larch held his hands out in a cold sweat, "I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight against 850 million. I just want to, you know, remove my friend out of here before he ends up killing himself."

"Your friend says otherwise though." Rowan replied in a casual tone.

"Sorry about that." Larch spoke with a forced sheepishness, "My man here is quite retarded. Eating Swift Swift fruit took away his ability to think properly, since he always acts too quickly.

He also eats real fast, poops real fast, showers real fast, fast in everything, except for talking, which he intentionally slows down as much as possible. Additionally, he..."

As Larch continued to chatter non-stop, Carmen turned her face to Rowan and gave him a dull look. Interestingly enough, Rowan managed to notice Carmen's gaze and shrugged, even though he was blindfolded.

"...He's also really quick in, you know, the R-18 stuff. He only dated once in his life, and it was so quick that it lasted for an hour. Also-"

"Shoo shoo," Rowan sighed in exasperation as he waved his hand off to Larch, "Go. No one is interested in learning how that dude is quick in everything."

Larch ceased talking and let out a forceful smile, 'F***, we just came here as a vacation, and out of all possibilities, it had to be the Grimheart pirates.'

Chuckling nervously, Larch reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and took out a stack of Beli, "H-here. Take this as compensation for taking your time. I'm not going to have any second thoughts, so yeah, don't worry about it. Not planning to have myself killed or anything."

Upon placing the stack of Beli down on the ground, Larch slowly backed away while lifting the semi-conscious Karl singlehandedly.

"Hehe, you surely know how to bargain." Flashing away from her spot, Carina immediately grabbed onto the stack of Beli and began to count at the utmost concentration.

"How amusing." Robin commented, "One is too impulsive, and the other is too cautious. They balance each other out."

Turning his head away from Larch's cautious exit, Rowan gave his attention to Cavendish, who was intensely staring at him with teary eyes.

"What?" Rowan tilted his head in confusion.

"You stole my spotlight, captain!!" Cavendish cried out comically, earning Rowan's deadpan.

As the commotion came to an end, Rowan and his crew continued their exploration of the town, with no one being courageous enough to approach them. Even if there lied many more bounty hunters lurking in the dark, after witnessing Karl, one of the most well-known bounty hunter, helplessly falling under Rowan's hands, they couldn't dare to approach the latter.

After a while, the crew were seen to be inside a particular shop located near the edge of the platform, intently listening to the owner of the shop.

"W-welcome to Bubble Bubble! We offer the finest bubble-coating within this place, through the use of the resins produced by the 'Sprout.' Our product is very tensile and firm enough to withstand the pressure within the Sprout! The cost will vary from 50 to 500 thousand Beli, depending on the size of the ship!" The owner of the shop gulped nervously, but regardless, introduced his shop to Rowan and his crew. "If you are planning to participate in the Great Sprout race, I assure you that no other coating mechanic will outdo our shop!"

"Ah, so that's how you call that giant plant. Sprout." Carmen said with a hint of interest, "By the way, is it edible?"

"E-edible?!" The owner's eyes widened in a surprise.

"Probably not. Due to the huge cluster of minerals underneath, it is likely for a good amount of toxicity to exist within the plant. Dan shook his head as he replied to Carmen, who clicked her tongue in disappointment. Immediately after, Dan asked the owner in curiosity, "What is Great Sprout race though? Can you explain more thoroughly?"

"Y-yes!" The man nodded frantically, "Once a month, part of the mid-section of the Sprout will open due to the rising pressure from within, and gush out the large stream of water for a whole day! During that day, the mayor of this town, Studious Bungalo, hosts the Great Sprout race, where the winner earns 10 million Beli as the price! Judging by the current pressure of the Sprout, the next race is going to open at around a week after!"

"Hm, I see." Rowan stroked his chin upon hearing the shop owner's explanation, "How about the top of that Sprout?"

The shop owner shook his head, "Unfortunately, that's impossible, since the resins produced by the Sprout are nowhere as strong as the ones produced by the Yarukiman Mangrove from the Sabaody Archipelago."

"Well, just asking." Rowan shrugged in response. After all, they could fly up anytime.

"An underwater race to the above?" Dan whispered giddily, as his hands clenched in excitement.

"Rowan, are we going to join the race? 10 million..." Carina turned her face to Rowan eagerly.

Upon hearing Carina's question, Rowan momentarily gave a thought to the option.

'Coating... a required methodology for us to enter the New World—unless we go through the above. 50 to 500 thousand in terms of the cost, which is definitely affordable by us. This might as well be a good way for us to try this out.' Upon reaching a conclusion that this race will serve to be a good opportunity, Rowan lifted his head to sight Carina, Dan, and Cavendish, who were waiting for his approval with sparkling eyes.

"Alright. Let's do this." Rowan returned their eagerness with a grin of his own.

_______________

[Twin Capes]

"This is Log Pose, I see." The navigator of the Straw Hat pirates, Borodo, said as he held onto the Log Pose given by Crocus. "One of the seven magnetic fields to choose, you say?"

"Indeed." Crocus nodded sternly.

"Luffy," Zoro asked with a grin on his face, "which path should we take?"

Sanji leaned on the wall as he casually smoked the cigarette, "We know none of them though. Just choose any."

"Yes, please go ahead, captain Luffy!!" Bartolomeo exclaimed as he gave thumbs up to Luffy, "Your decision is never wrong!!"

Patting the dust off of his straw hat, Luffy grinned, "Shishishishi, since we know nothing about them, let's just go with the first one!"