Freezing the sea to prevent powerful individuals from escaping alone... it really was a familiar tactic.
Back then, if Rowan hadn't struck first and used himself as bait to divert the World Government's attention, the Revolutionary Army forces stationed in the five strongholds, including Olga Kingdom, would have become shackles restraining him as well.
Fortunately, he had gone to Enies Lobby that day. Spandine had been surprisingly generous one piece of information was enough to resolve the crisis.
That money had been well spent.
As for the Germa Kingdom in the North Blue, that change had also been caused by Rowan himself.
After Vegapunk disappeared, Judge, one of the former core researchers of MADS and the discoverer of the Lineage Factor had clearly become the World Government's backup option.
But that man was unlikely to compromise. At this point in time, he was still filled with ambition.
"You think... the existence of the Heavenly Tribute is right?"
Kuzan's voice interrupted Rowan's thoughts.
The seed had grown quickly.
The man had already begun questioning whether the World Government itself was right or wrong.
But...was he really saying this to Rowan?
Executioner Rowan. Monster Rowan. Marine scum Rowan.
Just because of Nomi's incident, he trusted him that much?
"You really aren't afraid of dying..."
Rowan replied lazily before closing his eyes again, refusing to pay further attention to him.
But Kuzan continued anyway.
"You never handed that book over to Spandine to report me, did you? Even though I filed a report in advance, it clearly ended up being unnecessary."
"Hiss!"
Those words nearly made Rowan slap him across the face.
What a scheming bastard.
He truly hadn't expected that.
At the time, Kuzan had looked completely sincere. He had handed over that thick book without hesitation and even used Nomi as the reason.
Who would've thought he'd already filed a report beforehand and was using it to test him?
If Rowan had reported him, the final outcome would probably have been nothing more than Rowan holding a grudge over old conflicts. With Kuzan's prior report and Sengoku backing him, he would still have been completely fine.
"Don't glare at me like that."
Kuzan didn't move, yet he could clearly feel the murderous look Rowan was giving him.
"A man who climbed from catching fish with a torn net in a small village all the way to this position couldn't possibly be stupid, right?"
"And the fourth monster of the training camp was worth taking a gamble on."
"And the result is obvious. I won the bet... and found a fellow traveler from the book."
Rowan frowned.
"I'm not your fellow traveler."
Kuzan didn't care and continued calmly:
"You despise pirates deeply. Ever since your days as the Executioner of West Blue, the number of pirates killed by your hands has become impossible to count."
"And on you, I don't see the habits of the World Government."
"You like visiting Water 7. You once arrested an entire ship just because one woman aboard was beautiful, and later that ship was rescued by the cloaked man and the Revolutionary Army."
"And besides... your relationship with the World Government should be for the sake of using their special routes for trade, right?"
Rowan lay back down again, deciding to completely ignore him.
But Kuzan continued speaking regardless.
"In reality, the higher-ups simply never connected all the clues together. Your strategy of smearing your own reputation was very effective."
"After all, nobody would ever suspect that a Marine scum who's so close to the World Government... is actually part of the Revolutionary Army."
Holy shit.
Beneath Rowan's calm expression, his thoughts were already surging violently.
As expected, the man Sengoku once viewed as his successor was absolutely not an idiot.
But where exactly had Kuzan started suspecting him?
It should have started with Captain Nomi of West Blue.
From the moment Captain Nomi recommended him to become Loguetown's executioner, Kuzan had already begun paying attention to him. Back then, he had even encouraged Rowan personally in Loguetown.
Then came the South Blue incident.
Because he didn't believe someone acknowledged by Nomi would ever become a lapdog of the World Government, Kuzan had wanted to keep Rowan close after the training camp ended, especially after hearing the title of "monster."
After that came the thick book.
At first, Kuzan had likely wanted Rowan to awaken ideologically just like himself. While leaving himself a safeguard, he also discovered that Rowan never reported him.
Finally, he began investigating seriously.
A Marine Admiral Candidate practically one of the future designated top combat forces of the Marines possessed enormous influence within the Navy.
"Too many."
Kuzan's voice rang out again.
"There are simply too many ships using that special route through the Red Line. And some of the same vessels reappeared twice within only three days."
"Do you know what that proves? It proves that after crossing the Red Line, the cargo aboard those ships was moved at extremely high speed, enough to complete two transport missions in three days."
"The only thing I could think of... was the power of the Float-Float Fruit."
"And coincidentally, the Revolutionary Army's evacuation method during the Olga Kingdom incident looked exactly the same."
Kuzan sat up slightly before continuing:
"And I also discovered something else interesting."
"Over a year ago, some prohibited scientific equipment was secretly sold off."
"The person facilitating it was CP9's Spandine."
"And by sheer coincidence, that guy just so happens to be your good friend and drinking buddy."
"Then came the Revolutionary Army evacuation from Olga Kingdom not long ago. The World Government informed the Marines and ordered us to strengthen surveillance of the Revolutionary Army and report anything suspicious immediately."
"After reading that report, I started piecing everything together."
"That cloaked man at Sabaody who killed a Celestial Dragon and forced Borsalino into a situation where he didn't dare land... after killing the Celestial Dragon, he still refused to retreat despite being exhausted."
"Borsalino said those scorching flames consumed stamina at an absurd rate, yet even then he chose to stay and fight."
"Why?"
"To buy time for the Revolutionary Army bases to evacuate, right?"
"So where did the Revolutionary Army get the information that they'd been targeted?"
"And once again, coincidentally, I discovered you had gone to Enies Lobby shortly before that."
"And once again, you were drinking with your good brother Spandine."
After hearing there was nothing new, Rowan finally relaxed internally.
Thank fuck.
At least his identity still hadn't been completely exposed.
The best way to keep operations hidden was to never become suspected in the first place. Because once suspicion existed, even without evidence, every tiny clue would inevitably begin connecting together.
"The girls in Water 7 are just too pretty. The sea breeze is strong, and they dress so lightly. I pitied them and gave them more money, alright?"
Rowan glanced sideways at Kuzan.
"The ships weren't mine anyway. I was just introducing people and taking a middleman fee. Why would I care who they were? As long as I got paid."
"That story's pretty good."
"If I wasn't already planning to go enjoy myself tonight after we arrive, I might've actually believed you."
"As for not reporting you..."
Before Rowan could finish, he met Kuzan's utterly sincere gaze.
"Rowan... take me to the organization."
So this bastard wasn't even listening anymore?
Had he gone insane?
I get discovered just like that? Don't I have any dignity left?!
Rowan blinked several times before finally sighing heavily.
"I want to be alone for a while."
Kuzan froze for a moment.
Then a radiant grin slowly spread across his face.
Success!
Looks like all those materials he stayed up late researching, combined with the development principles written in that thick book, plus all the West Blue undercover mafia novels he'd read over the years...
He had actually guessed correctly!
If he hadn't spent the last half year desperately unable to find the organization, he never would've resorted to such a risky move.
At this moment, it felt as though his once passionate younger self had returned.
Back during the Edd War, he had eagerly volunteered while following behind Garp. Later, after the South Blue incident and the Ohara tragedy, he sank into disillusionment.
But now, it seemed he had found his old self again.
"Judging from the current situation, we should still be in the covert development stage, right?"
"The last time our five bases were exposed, did anything happen to the others?"
"That book... did all of it really come from Mr. Spark's ideology?"
"Is the cloaked man the leader? Or maybe... the cloaked man is Mr. Spark?"
"There haven't been any Celestial Dragons descending at Sabaody lately. Borsalino and the CP agents have been watching that place closely, so we need to notify home."
"And there's also Germa in the North Blue. I heard Judge used to be part of MADS too. Is having Vegapunk alone enough for home? Should we secretly bring Judge back too?"
"And does home have enough money?"
"In a little while, I'll be promoted to Admiral. Once that happens, I can talk to a few friendly branch Vice Admirals and have home capture some pirates for bounty money."
"We could even capture them first, then I raise their bounties during meetings on my side, and afterward home can cash them in."
→_→
Rowan glanced sideways at the increasingly excited Kuzan.
The man was muttering nonstop about "home this" and "home that," completely lacking the cool and lazy aura of the future Aokiji from memory.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Rowan planted a hand on his face and shoved him backward.
This was Aokiji?
What happened to the man who, ten minutes ago, had been calmly analyzing everything step by step? What happened to the silent, composed trainee from the Marine training camp?
This bastard was a chatterbox!
"Keep it down!"
"Oh."
Rowan finally relaxed and lay back down again.
But with his sharp senses, he could still feel the guy on the lounge chair beside him constantly staring at him.
So his butterfly effect really was ridiculous.
Not only had he changed the fates of countless future protagonists, but because Kuzan had seen another possible path, even this guy's personality had changed.
Though the biggest reason was probably still that thick book, combined with the South Blue and Ohara incidents. Together, they shifted Kuzan's once passionate sense of justice toward the Revolutionary Army.
Still... he couldn't just crush a fellow traveler's revolutionary enthusiasm completely.
"What do you think is more valuable to home? A combat force at Admiral level... or an Admiral-level intelligence source within the Marines?"
That question made Kuzan's grin fade immediately.
Out of the corner of his eye, he checked the surroundings.
Because the two officers were talking, all the nearby Marines were dutifully focused on observing the sea instead of eavesdropping.
"I understand."
"But if there's ever a chance, I'd really like to meet Mr. Spark."
The corner of Rowan's eye twitched.
You already met him back in Loguetown four years ago.
And after the training camp, you've basically seen him almost every day since then.
That book's influence really was terrifying.
Maybe someday he should throw another book at Borsalino too while wearing the Spark identity?
"There'll be a chance."
Rowan answered casually before bringing up the issue of records related to the special passage through the Red Line.
"Your earlier deduction reminded me of something. I'll have Spandine erase the CP records regarding the special route through the Red Line. As for the Marine side, I'll need you to handle it."
"Even without direct evidence, mere suspicion is enough for my existence to be exposed. The people above have never needed proof."
Kuzan smiled.
"Don't worry about the Marine side. I already cleaned everything up completely."
"Including the records for the special passage in West Blue guarded by a captain named Rem. Every trace on the Marine side has already been erased."
Rowan looked at him.
After choking on his words for a long moment, he finally said:
"Nicely done."
Kuzan nodded.
"So what else do you need me to do afterward?"
Rowan replied,
"For now, you still aren't officially one of home's members. Becoming a fellow traveler requires evaluation."
"But your situation is special. Later, I'll find an opportunity to report it back and see how home decides to arrange things."
For the next half day, the two continued chatting using "home" as shorthand.
After the warship docked at Marine Headquarters, Kuzan immediately returned to his usual lazy demeanor. Together with Rowan, they went one after another to Sengoku's office to report the completion of their mission.
After receiving orders to remain stationed at Headquarters while awaiting deployment to the North Blue, the two finally left Sengoku's office.
At present, Kuzan's addition only brought one immediate benefit to the Revolutionary Army during this covert development phase:
Intelligence support.
At the very least, whenever the Marines received operational notices from the World Government, Kuzan would find ways to pass the information to Rowan so it could be relayed back to the Revolutionary Army.
As for the funding shortage...
The idea Kuzan had rambled about earlier might actually work.
Farming bounty money from pirates was absolutely feasible, especially since New World pirates with "dead or alive" bounties were everywhere.
As for transporting supplies, they could no longer continue using the public routes openly.
Once the Research Department finished the necessary equipment, the abandoned passageway could be reactivated.
After returning to his quarters, Rowan was still thinking about how to arrange Kuzan's situation when someone knocked on the door.
Opening it, the first thing he saw was a white-haired idiot.
"I heard you're back! Fight me! This time I'll definitely—"
"Boom!"
A punch coated in Armament Haki shot forward.
But it directly passed through Smoker's head without touching anything but smoke.
This was elementalization activated in advance through Observation Haki, allowing him to evade the attack.
"Oh?"
"You awakened Observation Haki?"
Smoker crossed his arms proudly.
"Hahaha! This great me is now al—"
Before he could finish speaking, a fist the size of a casserole pot smashed directly into his left eye.
"Bang."
This time there were no surprises.
Rowan grabbed his real body and gave the white-haired idiot a perfect black eye.
Smoker flew backward while clutching his eye. Tashigi, who had come with him, quickly helped him back up.
"Tina already told you that you couldn't win. Your eye only just recovered a few days ago, and now you insist on swelling it up again?"
Smoker remained utterly fearless.
Standing back up in full one-eyed-dragon mode, he pointed at Rowan and shouted:
"Don't leave after training tomorrow! I'll definitely beat you into the ground!"
Rowan genuinely felt like he had encountered nothing but weirdos today.
First Kuzan.
Now Smoker.
Both absolute talents in their own way.
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