Aboard the small boat, Rowan watched the distant island. With nothing else to do as they drifted, he decided to pull up his system interface.
He navigated to the Faith Points tab.
Following the Morgan incident, Rowan's Faith Points had returned to five digits—sitting comfortably in the ten-thousand range. This was entirely thanks to the fact that after Luffy subdued Morgan, the local Marines had spread the word. Beyond the proprietress Ririka and her daughter, a significant portion of Shells Town's residents had learned of his "heroic intervention."
The surge in points from this event was far greater than Rowan had anticipated. A quick calculation showed that his Faith Points had increased by over three hundred in a single day. Usually, while they accrued passively, the growth was in the low single digits.
Gaining three hundred in a day? Rowan decided it was time for a little shopping.
He opened the Faith Point Shop, and a dazzling array of items filled his vision. Under the Armament Haki category alone, there were four distinct sub-entries:
[Armament Haki: Hardening (Max Level)]
[Armament Haki: Imbuement (LV3) - 300 Points]
[Armament Haki: Emission (LV2) - 300 Points]
[Armament Haki: Internal Destruction (LV1) - 200 Points]
In addition to these, there were entries for Observation Haki, Conqueror's Haki, various martial arts, swordsmanship styles, and further physical constitution upgrades.
The entries Rowan had already maxed out were basic: the Marine Rokushiki, Armament Hardening, basic Presence Sensing for Observation, and the Intimidating Aura for Conqueror's. Since these were relatively cheap, he had topped them off immediately.
Even so, that basic "starter set" had cost him over two thousand Faith Points. The high-tier entries, however, were exponentially more expensive.
This was why Rowan chose to play the long game. Keep the green hills, and you'll never run out of firewood, he thought. If he ever encountered an emergency that required a specific high-level skill to survive, he could always dump points into it on the spot. After all, system upgrades were instantaneous.
Still, looking at the cost for the next levels made his heart ache. Just taking his Phase 2 Armament Haki (Imbuement) to Level 4 would cost 300 points. To max it out required reaching Level 5. Level 4 was 400, and Level 5 was 500.
In other words, to fully max out the "Imbuement" sub-skill would cost 1,200 points. And that was only because he had already reached Level 3 through his own decades of training; otherwise, it would have cost even more.
The two entries below that were even pricier. If he wanted to max out all four branches of Armament Haki... the total was a number Rowan didn't even want to visualize.
Forget it, I'll save up a bit more. My current combat power is enough for now anyway,Rowan mused.
Through his research over the past few days, he had deduced the primary method for earning Faith Points: someone had to recognize his actions and develop a sense of genuine admiration or respect. If Rowan were still in his prime with his former prestige, he could earn thousands simply by addressing a crowd of Marines.
But now... he was an old man nearly forgotten by the world. Back in Shells Town, if Major Loska hadn't recounted Rowan's legendary past to the men, he never would have gained those three hundred points so easily.
As for why Loska knew so much about him? It turned out the kid's father had been a regular seaman at Headquarters decades ago. Rowan had once offhandedly praised him for a job well done on a mission, and that single compliment had become a story Loska's father told for the rest of his life.
I need to get that Admiral rank as soon as possible,Rowan sighed to himself. The fastest way to farm Faith Points was to rebuild his prestige within the Navy, just as he had in the Old Era.
But that was a task for when they reached Marineford. For now...
Rowan looked up, and his expression faltered. He realized that for some reason, his small boat seemed to be getting further away from the island.
Meanwhile. Fish-Man Island, submerged deep beneath the New World.
A blue, stout fish-man wearing a striped yukata with a sun crest on his chest stared at a bounty poster, his expression thunderous. Another fish-man stood before him, delivering a report.
"Boss, we've tracked them down. Arlong and Hatchan have established the 'Arlong Pirates' in the East Blue. Their current base is Cocoyasi Village. Should I call them back?"
"No need."
The blue fish-man crumpled the bounty poster into a ball and tossed it into a bin. He stood up and walked toward the exit, his voice cold. "I will go and find them myself!"
Though the blue-skinned fish-man appeared bulky, he moved with startling grace once he hit the water. He cut through the ocean like a spear, swimming at high speed toward the East Blue.
If Rowan were to see this man, he would recognize him instantly. One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Captain of the Sun Pirates: "First Son of the Sea," Jinbe.
Before joining the Shichibukai, his bounty had reached 438 million Berris. When Rowan first met Jinbe, the fish-man had been a complete unknown—just a green apprentice on the Sun Pirates' ship. Back then, a hot-headed Jinbe had tried to challenge Rowan and had been thoroughly disciplined, forced to retreat back into the depths in a rather pathetic state.
Decades had passed, and Jinbe had grown into a titan among fish-men. Rowan, meanwhile, would still be a simple pensioner in Foosha Village if it weren't for the system.
Back on the island's shore.
"Finally... I'm literally dying of hunger..."
As the boat touched the shore, Luffy leaped out impatiently. He caught the rope Rowan tossed to him and tied it securely around a thick tree before turning back with a pout. "Great-Grandpa, you said we were 'almost there' ages ago! Why did it take so long?"
Faced with Luffy's lifeless complaining, Rowan gave an embarrassed cough. "The Great-Grandpa didn't expect the wind to shift so suddenly..."
"I'm so hungry... when can we eat...?"
They had only been at sea for a few days, and Luffy had already missed several meals. To him, this was the ultimate torture.
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