Even though decades had passed and the gray hair had turned pure white, Jinbe could still recognize that face at a single glance.
As he stared at the familiar smile on that face, scenes from decades ago flashed through his mind like a slideshow, leaving his expression stiff and his body tense. If there were anyone in this world he least wanted to run into, Rowan was certainly at the top of the list.
"Jinbe, kid? What a small world."
Rowan, who was currently peeling a tangerine, hadn't expected to meet an "old acquaintance" here either. His expression flickered with surprise. Beside him, Luffy—who had been itching for a fight—saw Arlong and the others step out and immediately prepared to charge.
"So you're Arlong?! I'm gonna kick your ass!"
But before Luffy could lunge forward, Rowan's tobacco pipe extended in front of him, blocking his path. Then, under Luffy's suspicious gaze, Rowan offered a casual, friendly greeting to Jinbe.
Rowan's voice sounded gentle, but to Jinbe's ears, the flavor of those words was entirely different. Memories he had buried for decades surged forth. In this instant, he felt as if he were that young, arrogant youth again, facing the overwhelming sense of helplessness he felt when he first encountered Rowan. He remembered the crushing defeat that followed his own reckless overestimation of his strength.
Jinbe knew very well: if Rowan hadn't intentionally held back back then and spared his life, the "First Son of the Sea" wouldn't even exist today.
"It... it is a coincidence... Vice Admiral Rowan..."
Facing Rowan's greeting, Jinbe forced a strained smile and replied with a hint of hesitation. As one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, his voice actually trembled slightly.
Arlong and the other fish-men turned their heads in confusion, staring at Jinbe. Something was very wrong.
Granted, since Jinbe had accepted the title of Shichibukai, his prestige among the lower-tier fish-men had taken a massive hit. But no matter what, he was still the man Fisher Tiger had hand-picked to be the next captain of the Sun Pirates. Aside from his "compromise" with humans to become a "government dog," Jinbe was still, in their eyes, a fearless warrior just like Tiger.
Even back in the East Blue, Arlong occasionally heard from the brothers that when Jinbe traveled through the New World, he didn't show the slightest hint of fear even when facing Emperors of the Sea like Whitebeard or Kaido.
Yet now, simply greeting this human old man, Jinbe was having this kind of reaction.
Peeling off a juicy segment of the tangerine and popping it into his mouth, Rowan chuckled. "I truly didn't expect that after several decades, you'd still remember an old fossil like me with one foot in the grave."
Rowan recalled that when he first encountered Jinbe, he was already on the verge of retirement. At that time, Jinbe was a complete greenhorn, full of raw aggression and lacking his current legendary composure. As for his strength... there was no comparison.
Back then, Jinbe—hailing from Fish-Man District—shared the common hatred for humans and went around challenging human experts. However, before he could cause too much trouble on the high seas, he ran into Rowan, who was then a Headquarters Vice Admiral.
As a Marine carrying the weight of Justice, how could Rowan let the brat run wild? He had proceeded to give the "Blue Fatso" a thorough and simple thrashing. The fledgling Jinbe hadn't been a match for Rowan, who was still at his peak. Jinbe hadn't even been able to mount a counterattack; he was utterly defenseless.
Because Jinbe didn't have a bounty yet at the time, and because Rowan (familiar with the original story) actually had a bit of a soft spot for the character, he had merely given the boy a stern lecture and kicked him back into the sea.
Later, Rowan had read in the papers about Jinbe and Fisher Tiger forming the Sun Pirates. He saw the numbers on Jinbe's bounty grow larger and larger, until the World Government eventually deemed him important enough to draft into the Seven Warlords. Of course, Rowan hadn't paid much attention to the details after that, as he was already a retired veteran living out his days in Foosha Village.
He never expected that the moment he left Foosha Village to pursue his "second youth," he'd run into Jinbe here. Had the timeline shifted? In Rowan's memory, Jinbe should be deep in a honeymoon phase with the Whitebeard Pirates right now. He even remembered that Jinbe was quite close to his "unfilial" great-grandson, Ace.
"Mr. Rowan... what brings you to these parts?" Jinbe took a deep breath, settling the tremors in his heart as he asked.
The moment he saw Rowan, Jinbe knew trouble had arrived. But a small part of him still held onto a shred of wishful thinking, forcing him to ask.
Watching the human and the fish-man exchange pleasantries, Luffy was completely baffled. "Great-Grandpa, you know this big blue guy?"
Luffy was confused. While they were drifting at sea, his Great-Grandpa had told him that while eating was a secondary goal, their primary mission was to rid Cocoyasi Village and the neighboring twenty islands of the Arlong Pirates.
Nojiko, who had followed them, also stared with wide, blue eyes full of doubt. How does Mr. Rowan know a fish-man so well?
Ignoring Luffy and Nojiko for a moment, Rowan glanced at Arlong and his crew standing behind Jinbe. He smiled faintly. "Even though I've been retired for a long time, I was once a Marine. Why else do you think I'm here? Surely not for a vacation."
Rowan looked back at Jinbe, his expression turning playful. "Are you here to try and use that Shichibukai title the Government gave you to stop me?"
The Royal Seven Warlords. A treaty signed between the World Government and seven powerful pirates. A key point of that treaty: Marines were not allowed to take action against pirates holding that title without explicit orders.
However... what did a treaty signed by the World Government have to do with him, Rowan?
"Huh? This blue fatso is a Warlord?" Luffy was surprised. Although he hadn't officially set sail yet, he often saw the term "Seven Warlords" in the newspapers. He knew they were considered incredibly powerful pirates.
But at the mention of the title, Luffy thought of Ace. He patted Rowan's shoulder dismissively. "Great-Grandpa, don't worry. He's just a Warlord. Big Brother Ace didn't even want that title when they offered it to him."
"You brat..." Rowan felt caught between laughter and tears. What was his status? He was one of the architects of the modern Navy. A Warlord in front of him counted for jack squat. Furthermore, the Jinbe in front of him was a former defeated opponent. Why would he be afraid?
"Mr. Ace?" At Luffy's words, Jinbe's brow furrowed. He finally began to truly observe the youth standing beside Rowan.
And when his eyes fell upon the strangely familiar straw hat hanging from Luffy's neck, Jinbe's heart skipped a beat.
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