As the days passed, after leaving Dressrosa, Rowan once again returned to his three-point routine.
G5 Base, the North Blue Revolutionary Army base, and Shimotsuki Village in the East Blue.
A month passed quickly.
During that month, Trafalgar Law studied day and night without rest.
The doctors who had lacked the courage to step forward back then now taught him every day, wishing they could simply pour everything they knew directly into Law's head.
With everyone's lives at stake, and now that someone had stepped forward, they held nothing back.
Soon, the Revolutionary Army's medical examination began.
The test covered only fundamental medical knowledge.
After all, once someone possessed the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi, even surgical procedures no longer required handling a scalpel personally.
The main focus was human anatomy and a variety of basic surgical concepts.
After the examination ended, Rowan placed one of the Healing Dandelions he had brought onto Law's head.
The Healing Dandelion, created from the vitality of a monster-level physique in this world, instantly healed all of Law's fatigue, discomfort, and accumulated hidden injuries.
"Sir."
Law looked up at Rowan, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Rowan smiled.
"From this moment on, you'll become the target of every ambitious person in the world. Anyone who dreams of eternal life will set their sights on you."
Law immediately shook his head.
"I didn't understand back then."
"But now I do."
"Sir wouldn't allow something like that to happen, would you?"
"After all, the ideals of the Revolutionary Army don't allow people who live forever."
This time, it was Rowan who was surprised.
Those were the very words he had spoken to the boy a month ago, and now they were being thrown back at him.
"Very good."
"You're clever."
Taking out the Ope Ope no Mi, Rowan handed it directly to Law.
"It's not only because the Revolutionary Army's ideals reject immortality."
"It's also because the Revolutionary Army needs a doctor who truly shares our beliefs."
"A doctor capable of holding fast to their conviction and sense of duty, even if it costs them their life."
"The suffering you've experienced over the past ten years..."
"...will help you understand the true illness afflicting this world."
"A true doctor's patient isn't merely living creatures."
"It's this world itself."
"Only by changing this world can tragedies like Flevance never happen again."
"And the Revolutionary Army is striving toward exactly that."
"We do not fear sacrifice."
"We do not fear authority."
"We do not fear powerful enemies."
"Because we are in the right."
Those words ignited a flame deep within Law's heart.
Scenes from his painful past flashed through his mind.
His family's despair when little Lami first showed symptoms of Amber Lead Syndrome.
The hopelessness after the disease was discovered.
The feeling of being abandoned by the world once the borders were sealed.
And the grief of seeing his parents' bodies.
Those memories finally found an answer through the recording of Rowan's conversation with the highest authorities of the World Government.
Insects.
Vermin.
To them, living human beings were nothing more than insignificant pests.
Over the past month, Law had buried himself in studying medical fundamentals.
But among everything he had learned, there were only two recordings that he watched repeatedly.
The first was the recording of Sir's conversation with the Five Elders in Mary Geoise.
The second was the footage documenting the Revolutionary Army's rescue of the survivors of Flevance.
Corpses burned by raging flames lined the streets.
Agonized screams.
Cries for mercy.
Mass slaughter.
They were everywhere.
During that same month, the survivors of Flevance had also begun to change.
But Rowan, having already chosen Law because of his own selfishness, had no intention of giving anyone else another chance.
Yes.
The Ope Ope no Mi's Eternal Youth Surgery would undoubtedly attract countless people.
But neither the Revolutionary Army nor Rowan were easy targets.
As long as Law never set foot in Mary Geoise, even the CP organization's agents meant little to the current Rowan.
Law accepted the Ope Ope no Mi and took a bite.
"Urgh!"
Rowan immediately covered Law's mouth before he could spit it out.
"No matter how awful it tastes, you have to eat it. I've heard it's best if you finish the whole thing. You wouldn't want..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
Having just swallowed a large mouthful, Law gasped for air as he stared at the Ope Ope no Mi in his hand, with more than half of it still remaining.
"R... Really?"
Rowan nodded with an utterly serious expression.
"Of course it's true. If you don't finish it, what if your ability suddenly stops working in the middle of an operation? If that happens, the patient could die. For example, little Lami..."
"I'll eat it!"
Law squeezed his eyes shut and stuffed the remaining fruit into his mouth.
It tasted so unbelievably horrible that he didn't even dare chew it. Instead, he tried to swallow the whole thing at once.
The fruit became lodged in his throat, nearly choking him to death.
Smack.
Only after Rowan slapped him across the back did Law finally swallow it and recover.
Then Rowan casually said something that left him completely dumbfounded.
"Actually... one bite is enough."
A full year had passed since the outbreak of Amber Lead Syndrome in Flevance.
Throughout that year, at the Revolutionary Army's North Blue base, Trafalgar Law lived in a constant cycle of exhausting himself completely, recovering, then exhausting himself all over again.
Fortunately, such high-intensity use of his Devil Fruit gradually improved his mastery over its abilities.
The only problem was that he still didn't have enough stamina.
As for Rowan, aside from making weekly trips between Green Bit in Dressrosa and North Blue, he mostly remained stationed at G5 Base.
Occasionally, he would visit Shimotsuki Village in the East Blue, where he continued learning nothing but the fundamentals of swordsmanship.
His communication with Ryūjin Jakka still wasn't progressing smoothly.
After obtaining the Steel Body talent, every aspect of his physical abilities had been strengthened dramatically.
At his current level, he could now maintain Shikai without much difficulty.
As for Bankai...
Ryūjin Jakka still hadn't given him any response.
East Blue, Shimotsuki Village.
His Zanpakutō, still in its Asauchi form, swept through the air.
The blazing current of energy born from his physique flowed naturally through his body, releasing a flying slash that skimmed across the sea.
The attack split the ocean itself, sending an enormous wall of water soaring into the sky.
The seawater crashed back down before gradually calming once more.
"With your strength, Sir, even an ordinary sword slash has reached this level."
Shimotsuki Koushirou only approached after Rowan had finished his morning training.
"At this point, studying swordsmanship feels more like adding decoration to something already complete."
Rowan sheathed his Zanpakutō.
"This level of strength is still far from enough."
"You should know exactly who the Revolutionary Army's enemies are."
Koushirou remained silent for a moment before sitting beside Rowan, both of them facing the sea in the direction of the Grand Line.
"Dragon came here about half a year ago."
"You weren't here that afternoon, so we talked for quite some time."
After a pause, Koushirou let out a slow breath.
"I heard that several years ago, the Revolutionary Army helped Wano."
"They forced Kaido, who intended to turn Wano into a weapons factory, to withdraw, allowing the Kozuki Clan to reclaim the position of Shogun."
Rowan casually nodded.
Very few people knew the full story of Wano.
The instructors and the Revolutionary Army's Second Division stationed in the New World were still stabilizing the country's internal situation.
As long as Wano remained closed to the outside world, none of them would leave.
Trade with the World Government also continued.
Since it was impossible to stage a fake confrontation every month, both sides simply used Wano's isolationist policy as an excuse, limiting all exchanges to the hidden harbor.
During the past year, aside from the Flevance operation, the Revolutionary Army had caused very little commotion.
Its primary strategy remained infiltration and steady expansion.
Under those circumstances, the Great Pirate Era kept the Marines and CP agents overwhelmingly busy, gradually shifting much of their attention away from the Revolutionary Army.
Although Mary Geoise had become more wary after that phone conversation, the people beneath them still had far too many matters demanding their attention.
"My father still longs for his homeland."
"So if an opportunity arises, I'll ask on his behalf."
As Koushirou spoke, he stood up and looked toward the Asauchi in Rowan's hand.
"Sir... your fundamental physical strength is simply too great."
That piqued Rowan's interest.
"Oh?"
"What do you mean?"
Koushirou sighed.
"The path of swordsmanship begins with the most basic swings, then progresses until one can hear the Breath of All Things, where nothing is impossible to cut, and nothing must be cut."
"Your strength has grown far too quickly, Sir."
"Standing before me now, even without drawing your sword or using Haki, your very presence feels like that of a terrifying beast."
"If someone with your level of strength were already a Great Swordsman, with enough understanding and insight into the sword, that power would become even more terrifying."
"But you've only been practicing swordsmanship for a little over two years, and..."
After hesitating for a moment, Koushirou continued.
"...when you've fought with a sword, you've basically overwhelmed your opponents through sheer strength, haven't you?"
Overwhelmed them with brute force?
Rowan thought about it.
It really was true.
Not long after obtaining this sword, he had learned Ryūjin Jakka's release command at the Sabaody Archipelago.
After activating Shikai, he had slain the Chameleon user, whose soul was later revived through Impure World Reincarnation and now worked under Ginny, managing the East Army and the special transportation routes.
Later came the robbery of the Heavenly Tribute...
And the battle against the still-growing Kaido...
In almost every fight, he had simply crushed his enemies through the overwhelming six-thousand-degree core flames.
But if it had been purely a contest of swordsmanship...
He wouldn't have stood a chance in any of those battles.
At best, Flying Thunder God would have allowed him to escape alive.
How could he possibly have won?
"Then... what should I do?"
After thinking it over, Rowan decided it was worth listening to Koushirou's advice.
After all, he still had no clue how to awaken Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai.
At the very least, when it came to swords...
Koushirou knew far more than he did.
Koushirou stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes.
"It's difficult."
"Training the sword like Shimotsuki Kozaburo did requires putting your full strength into every swing."
"But for someone with your level of power..."
"...using your full strength simply turns every swing into another attempt to overwhelm your opponent through brute force."
"In some ways, swordsmanship is similar to Haki."
"Haki awakens from a person's spirit and will."
"But it only grows stronger through constant battle."
"At your current level any swordsman on the same level of swordsmanship would simply be completely overwhelmed by your raw power."
"However there may be one method."
"It might allow you to experience something new."
With that, Koushirou turned around and gestured for Rowan to follow.
The two walked from the shoreline back to the dojo.
Inside, a group of children were enthusiastically shouting as they practiced, swinging their bamboo swords with loud cries.
"Hah!"
"Hya!"
Leading them was someone Rowan recognized.
Koushirou's daughter...
Kuina.
According to his memories, she was the genius girl who had somehow died after falling down a flight of stairs.
To Rowan that had always sounded absurd.
Then again the difference between people in this world truly was enormous.
Take Big Mom, for example.
As a child, forget falling down a staircase.
Even if she had fallen headfirst from the roof of a building, she probably wouldn't have suffered a scratch.
She would have been more likely to leave a giant crater in the ground instead.
Over the past few years, Rowan had become a frequent visitor to Shimotsuki Village.
After all, since he had been transferred to become the commander of G5 Base, he could no longer continue attending the swordsmanship classes at Marine Headquarters' youth training camp.
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