Chapter 177

Yay, I'm back. Onto the final run… gotta finish bf the school starts.

_______________

[Alabasta, Alubarna; January 1st, 1523]

*Click*

Within the silent hall, Cobra found a pistol right next to his head.

"To what do I owe pleasure, Cipher Pol?"

Cobra calmly closed his eyes as he spoke up, as if he was expecting this situation.

A Cipher Pol agent. To be specific, a CP8 agent. While holding his loaded gun next to Cobra, the agent spoke up with a threatening voice,

"An order has been sent from the above."

"From the above?" Cobra questioned without losing his calm demeanour, "There exists no one on the hollow throne above. The World Government has been established for the purpose of peace—in order to ensure that no dictator rises, and to ensure that every kingdom and country sits at an equal level."

Cobra's eyes opened as he gazed at his back,

"Your claim just now... is a direct opposition to our ideal. And even then, what gives you the right to aim the weapon at the head of a king? A lowly grunt like you?"

The agent didn't reply. Instead, as the moonlight entered the room through the window and illuminated the area, he simply stated,

"You have two options to make, Nefertari Cobra. First, leave this country as the 'refugees' and give up your control over the kingdom of Alabasta. Second, stay and suffer the consequences."

Cobra, unfazed by the pistol next to him, raised his hand and rubbed his beard,

"Hm..."

"Tch...! Who gave you the right to move your arm?!" The agent immediately growled as he pushed the barrel of the pistol on Cobra's head, "Decide! Don't act as if you are unbothered by—"

*Thud*

The agent froze in disbelief. On his right, the similarly dressed man, another CP8 agent, fell down from the top with a hole on his chest.

*Thud* *Thud*

And it was just a beginning. From all around the room, one by one, the hidden CP8 agents began to fall like a rain.

*Tssss*

That's when the agent noticed—the sand grains swirling within the room—

*PUK*

—and that was the last thing the agent saw before his vision darkened.

*Thud*

"Father."

The sand swirled and clustered up into a feminine figure, before the long blue-coloured hair revealed itself under the moonlight. It was Vivi, the current user of the Sand Sand fruit.

"Yes, Vivi. Although early, I believe that the time has come." Cobra nodded solemnly before turning around,

"But regardless of that, to think that the Cipher Pol agents will be sent discretely for the sake of threatening us..." Cobra sighed, "There exists no chance of redemption within the World Government."

"All the problems going around the world can be led up to the Celestial Dragons. And above them," Vivi's eyes narrowed, "the supposed Immortal, I presume."

*Tap* *Tap*

"Your highness!! Princess Vivi!!!"

Subsequently, the urgent voices were heard as the noises of the footsteps were heard from distance away.

Soon enough, the royal guards, led by Igaram, entered the room and had their eyes widen upon sighting the corpses around Cobra and Vivi.

"What blasphemy...!!! That attire... Cipher Pol..." Igaram, with his eyes wavering, slammed his head on the ground,

"Your highness! I've failed my duty as the captain of the royal guards... I—"

Cobra interrupted Igaram with a shake of his head, "Forget it, Igaram. Your malperformance is not of importance right now."

Staring at the royal guards with a stern expression, Cobra then declared,

"From here on, the kingdom of Alabasta not only forsakes the membership of the World Government, but declares the war against the Celestial Dragons—for the outrageous attempt of assassination!"

The Celestial Dragons failed to see through one thing: that Alabasta was a lot stronger than what they estimated.

___________

[New Marineford]

"...What?!" Sakazuki frowned as he heard the report from the Den Den Mushi, "Gran Tesoro attacked by... Kuzan, of all possibilities?!"

Sakazuki stood up from his seat and walked up to the world map that lied on the wall.

"Admiral Aramaki is fending off against Kuzan along with Gild Tesoro, however, is still losing due to the natural advantage that ice holds over forest... bulls***!!! I don't want an excuse!!"

Sakazuki barked into the dial, barely restraining him from crushing up the whole Den Den Mushi.

<Oh~ shall I go then, Sakazuki-kun~?>

At times like this, Sakazuki couldn't help but miss Borsalino, who has deceased quite some time ago.

And at the same time, Sakazuki felt the scars on his face and neck aching—the ones given by Kuzan himself.

"Tell him that he isn't to return until the safety of Gran Tesoro is confirmed!!!"

Without listening any further, Sakazuki ended the call by slamming the dial back onto the Den Den Mushi.

"...Sakazuki." From behind, one middle-aged man was sitting on a couch with a serious expression. He had a slicked-back hair and was wearing the sunglasses; this man was 'Kurouma (Black Horse)' Tensei, the director of the Marine Criminal Investigation Service.

"One after another... just what has the Marine become!!!" Sakazuki snarled in fury before taking a deep breath.

Then, turning around, he met Tensei face to face. As the Fleet Admiral, Sakazuki had to keep himself level-headed, no matter what situation it may be.

"What are you here for, Tensei?!"

At the current moment however, there awaited an even bigger headache for Sakazuki.

"The island of Gedomaru... has recently reported that one Celestial Dragon decided to pay a visit during this time around."

Sakazuki was at loss of his words.

Tensei too paused momentarily as if unable to believe what he just said, before continuing,

"However, approximately an hour after the Celestial Dragon's arrival, the dragon-like figure, which turned out to be the newly-modified ship of the Grimheart pirates, made a sudden appearance above the island."

Sakazuki's mouth quivered as the cigar fell out from it. His face paled, knowing what he was about to hear.

"Celestial Dragon wished to acquire the Grimheart pirates' ship for himself, and... ordered for an attack—this was all we managed to identify before the voice was cut."

"Purururu, purururu,"

One Den Den Mushi then began to rang, interrupting Tensei's words.

"Are those Celestial Dragons insane?!!!" Sakazuki exploded in anger, "They were the ones who updated Grimheart's bounty up to a sheer 9 billion!!!! And yet, and yet...!!!!"

Tensei lowered his head and adjusted his sunglasses without any further word.

"Purururu, purururu,"

And even then, the Den Den Mushi continued to ring.

___________

[Gedomaru]

"U-ugwah... d-do ywou know who I aum..." One obese man was seen to be tied around a wooden pole with his face swollen up to an incredible degree.

However, none of the Grimheart pirates were paying attention to him. Instead,

"Zunesha is always on the move, according to Bepo." Carina was explaining the details regarding their next destination, Zou,

"The point is this. Zunesha seems to move at a certain pace—meaning that the ripples created by his steps will eventually become the periodical waves. By distinguishing the certain pattern of waves among the chaotic movement of water, we will find our guide to Zou."

Dan raised his hand up in inquiry, "And the reason we are here is?"

"H-huey!!! Dwon't iwgnore mwe!!!"

Carina replied with certainty within her tone, "Zunesha's route tends to be within a certain area of the New World. And here, Gedomaru, is the most prominent spot to identify Zunesha's location... says Bepo."

"Done." Then, Rowan, who was crouching down with his eyes focused on the shore of the island, stated as he stood up, "Set sail. We got no time to waste."

"Guahaha! That's our captain for you!" Cavendish laughed as he placed his sheathed Durandal above his shoulder.

"Well, we are ready to go anytime. But..." Carmen, whose arms were crossed, pointed at the Celestial Dragon, "what about him?"

Urouge, with his eyes closed, stated, "There only awaits the retribution for the ignorant one."

"Just as Urouge said." Rowan didn't even bother to turn his head around, "Those townspeople seem to have some grudges."

From some distance away, the citizens of the island were seen to be gritting their teeth as they held onto their weapons with trembling arms; their furious eyes were locked onto the Celestial Dragon,

"H-huey!!!"

who continued to scream at the Grimheart pirates.

"But the World Government..." Robin, who stood on the side, said with concern, "this island won't escape the Buster Call."

Rowan simply grinned upon hearing Robin's words. Then, he turned to Dan,

"Dan. How long will it take for the Marine to reach here?"

Dan shrugged, "A week."

He scratched his head before giving a thorough explanation,

"The recent-most newspaper reported the on-going battle in the Gran Tesoro. The Revolutionary Army is fending off the Marine troops under the command of Fujitora—though it's a mystery as to how the former is managing with a huge difference in number. Coupled with the various consequences that the Marine recently faced... they currently have no force to send all the way to this island.

Therefore, the World Government will have to dispatch their own force—except they can't. Look how busy they are with the kingdoms all around the world; they got no force to dispatch right now."

"A week." Rowan exclaimed confidently, "Plenty enough."

The Grimheart pirates boarded their ship on top of the ground, Prominence. The citizens of the Gedomaru spectated as the ship, once again, transformed into a gigantic azure dragon—which then produced a huge mass of flame cloud underneath, before,

*SWOOSH*

blasting forth into the sky far away.

And to be frank, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"A pirate crew... that not only beats up the Celestial Dragon out of all like nothing, but... also commands a huge dragon that seems to be out of a myth..."

One woman whispered as she looked at the flag of the Grimheart pirates that was embedded in the middle of the island.

"So this is the Grimheart pirates."

And in contrary to the frightening reputations of the crew, the townsfolks only felt gratitude toward them.

After all, with the eyes cut from the outside and no bodyguard present to protect the Celestial Dragon, the blame for his death will go to the Grimheart pirates.

"My son... his death will finally be given a vengeance."

"My wife, where have you taken her to?!!"

"U-uwah... d-d-down't cwome clowse to mwe!!" The Celestial Dragon cried fearfully as the people began to approach him slowly. The only thing that entered his sight was one knife held by the foremost man, which gleamed with a murderous intent within.

In the end, the Celestial Dragon too was a normal human, it seemed.

"...Don't you dare underestimate the weak," Rowan muttered as he gazed off from the extremely far distance, as Prominence continued to fly at a blindingly fast pace, "for there exists nothing scarier than those who are pushed to the brink."

"Huh?" From his left, Carina raised her eyebrow, "What did you say just now?"

Rowan chuckled, "Nothing."

He leaned on the rail while gazing off at the vast sky that opened just ahead. With a smile, he enjoyed the feeling of the wind grazing his body.

'How strange.'

The world was at a calamity bigger than any other, and yet, Rowan felt nothing but peace within his mind, as if nothing was capable of worrying him any further.

Additionally, he felt excitement for the journey that lies in front of them. A sense of freedom—it became clear to Rowan, now that he gained the strength capable of standing on top of the world.

'Nothing can restrain me.'

Rowan turned and faced Carina once more.

"Hm?" Carina, with a smile of her own, tilted her head, "What is it this time?"

From the back, Urouge was busy doing his exercises, Carmen was reviewing her recipes, Dan was exploring his fruit ability, Cavendish was busy chatting with Alfred and Farul, and Robin was reading a book while sipping a cup of tea.

"Bohaha!" Rowan genuinely laughed as he grabbed Carina by her shoulder, "Nothing!"

"Aw, come on!" Carina pouted, "What's with saying 'nothing' over and over again?"

She then narrowed her eyes, "You aren't hiding anything from me, are you—"

Rowan cut off Carina's words by sealing her lips with his.

Perhaps it was this sense of peace that brought him to act impulsively. However, so what?

"After we find One Piece, and when we reach Mariejois in the end," Rowan whispered as he backed off slightly, "I hope to see your so-called family there."

"...For what?" Carina, with a blush on her face, asked meekly while averting her eyes.

"I want to see just what kind of blind idiots they are to throw away the perfect woman like you. And..." Rowan leaned in once again,

"I need their blessings."

Though Prominence continued to fly without control, the navigator of the ship seemed to be occupied with something else—

"Hey!" Then, Dan shouted from the crow's nest, "Are we going in the right direction?! What the f*** is that thunderstorm over there?!"

—though it didn't last for long, thanks to Dan the man.