"So..."
"What brings someone like you to the East Blue?"
Shanks raised his cup, clinked it against Rowan's, and emptied it in one gulp.
Rowan merely took a sip before replying,
"And what about you?"
"Someone with the qualities of a Conqueror, shouldn't you be competing for supremacy in the New World instead?"
The first round of probing ended.
Neither of them managed to extract any useful information.
Shanks didn't believe Rowan's claim that he was simply visiting an old friend.
Although the Revolutionary Army had disappeared from public view.
According to Shanks' intelligence network.
The World Government regarded the Revolutionary Army as a far greater threat than ordinary pirates.
Would someone of the Cloaked Man's status within the Revolutionaries come all the way to the East Blue just to visit a friend?
He didn't buy it.
"You don't believe me?"
Rowan smiled as he looked at Shanks.
Under that oppressive gaze Shanks simply raised his cup again.
"Of course I do."
"If you say you're here to visit a friend then you're here to visit a friend."
"After all the weather in the East Blue is nice."
"The people are nice too."
Rowan lightly tapped his cup against Shanks'.
This time after finishing the drink in one gulp, he thought for a moment before saying,
"There's no need to keep testing each other anymore, Shanks."
"I really did come here to practice my swordsmanship."
"That's the real reason."
Practice... swordsmanship?
"Pffft!"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Shanks choked on his drink.
He forcibly turned his head only to spray Yasopp, who had just walked over, from head to toe.
Shanks hurriedly stood up and began wiping him down.
Using his own sleeve, he accidentally smeared alcohol all over Yasopp's face.
"Sorry, sorry!"
"I didn't notice you there."
"Yasopp, why'd you suddenly come over?"
Yasopp shot his captain a glare before looking at Rowan.
"Those idiots refused to tell me how you did it."
"So I had no choice but to ask you directly."
Rowan turned to look at Yasopp.
As for the Red Hair Pirates.
The people he remembered most clearly were only two.
One was Shanks.
Because he was the one who set Luffy on his path.
The other was Yasopp.
Usopp's father.
A native of the East Blue and someone who, by all appearances, had truly abandoned his wife and child.
"What do you want to ask?"
The smile disappeared from Rowan's face.
Unaware of the subtle change, Yasopp asked,
"That movement."
"The way you completely disappeared from my sight before instantly appearing somewhere else..."
"How did you do that?"
"There wasn't any movement at all."
"You just... suddenly appeared."
Hearing that Rowan looked toward Shanks.
"It seems your crew really does know how to keep their mouths shut."
"Of course!"
Shanks proudly lifted his chin.
"Pirates have their own code of honor too."
Yet his thoughts were still stuck on what Rowan had said earlier.
Practice swordsmanship?
That explanation sounded even less believable than "visiting a friend."
At Sabaody this man had carved through everyone with his sword.
He had killed one of the CP organization's top agents.
He had forced the Marine candidate admiral to not even dare touch the ground.
Someone with achievements like that was still practicing swordsmanship?
And in a tiny dojo like this?
Wait could the dojo's master actually be someone even stronger than the Cloaked Man?
...Doesn't look like it.
Although Koushirou had withstood the clash of their Conqueror's Haki.
That alone wasn't enough to prove overwhelming strength.
At that moment Rowan answered Yasopp.
"It's similar to the Teleport-Teleport Fruit."
"You know about Devil Fruits, don't you?"
"It isn't speed."
"It's direct relocation."
Yasopp immediately understood.
The reason he hadn't seen any movement was because Rowan hadn't moved at all.
On the other side, seeing that Yasopp had gotten his answer, Benn Beckman walked over and casually draped an arm over his shoulder.
"Don't think too much about it."
"When your Observation Haki reaches a certain level or even the pinnacle of this world you'll be able to see several seconds into the future."
See the future?
As someone who had only recently left the East Blue Yasopp had never even heard of such an ability.
To a sniper it was practically a divine skill.
"I remember..."
"Your son is only two years old, isn't he?"
The moment Rowan spoke.
Shanks instantly snapped back to attention.
Yasopp and Beckman both turned toward him as well.
"Don't misunderstand."
"Shanks knows who I am."
"As far as we're concerned the children of pirates are innocent."
"We don't believe in nonsense like 'the blood of sin.'"
Yasopp visibly relaxed.
But Shanks became even more nervous.
Blood of sin?
Does this bastard know... or not?
Every sentence sounded like he knew the truth.
Yet somehow it also sounded as if he didn't.
If I ask directly and he didn't know before but learns because of my reaction that Roger's son is still alive and is hiding in the East Blue.
Then we're completely finished.
"Everyone has the right to make their own choices."
"Your wife supported your decision."
"Even your son is proud of you."
Rowan looked at Yasopp.
"This is ultimately a product of the era."
"As an outsider..."
"I have no standing to criticize your choices."
"But..."
"I'm curious about your mindset that's important to me."
"So I want to know when your wife was still alive and your two-year-old son still needed his father what kind of mindset allowed you to abandon your wife and child and become a pirate?"
As his words fell the atmosphere in that corner of the banquet instantly turned cold.
Shanks tightly gripped Gryphon at his waist.
His eyes sharpened as he stared at Rowan.
"Cloaked Man."
"I know I probably can't beat you."
"But that doesn't mean you can insult my companion."
Beckman likewise spoke solemnly.
"Pirates have their own convictions."
"None of us would ever harm ordinary people."
"But if someone insults one of our companions then even if it costs our lives we'll fight."
"I wasn't insulting him as I said earlier i don't have that right."
As he spoke Rowan slowly stood up.
His right hand rested on the hilt of the Asauchi.
"But if that's how things are then killing every one of you and burying you here would also be acceptable."
"The sins don't belong to the children but the scum who held that hunting game back then never cared about things like that."
At that moment.
Rowan truly intended to make his move.
He had absolutely no reason to spare Shanks just to preserve the original storyline.
After all after only a few short years the plot had already been completely thrown off course.
From the very beginning he had never intended to create the so-called "liberation" of Nika.
Freedom could only ever be relative.
And pirates had absolutely no place in the future world he envisioned.
Leaving one of the future Four Emperors the Red Hair Pirates.
Buried here was nothing remarkable.
"Boss..."
"I don't think he's wrong."
At that moment Yasopp suddenly spoke.
There was no fear in his eyes despite Rowan's overwhelming strength.
Nor did he choose to swallow his pride simply for the sake of his companions' safety.
"He's only stating the truth."
"That isn't an insult."
Yasopp continued,
"Banchina's health had always been poor."
"Usopp was only two years old."
"And yet..."
"I chose to go out to sea for my own dream."
"Isn't that abandoning my wife and child?"
His voice remained calm.
But beneath that calmness lay deep guilt toward his family.
Rowan carefully observed Yasopp's expression.
He wanted to understand how people like him thought.
Only by understanding their way of thinking could he make targeted adjustments in the future.
The people of this world really were strange.
There was the Tontatta Tribe, who trusted strangers without question.
There were scholars like those of Ohara, who would risk everything in pursuit of knowledge.
And then there were people like this.
Who abandoned their families for decades in pursuit of so-called freedom, calling themselves pirates.
Beside him, Shanks and Beckman exchanged a glance.
Both silently lowered their weapons and patted Yasopp on the shoulder.
Rowan continued,
"The fact that you can say something like that tells me you understand exactly what happens to a two-year-old child without a father."
"Especially when his mother is already in poor health."
"After you left did you ever imagine what kind of life the two of them would have?"
"Your wife would struggle to raise the child alone."
"Worn down by years of hardship and illness, she'd eventually die from her sickness."
"The child, left without either parent, would wander around the village."
"With no one to depend on he'd go hungry one day and eat the next."
"In order to get people's attention, he'd end up becoming someone the villagers disliked."
"But he would still admire his father."
"He might even become a pirate himself one day."
"But living like that repeating the same cycle over and over again..."
Before Rowan could finish Yasopp suddenly looked up with a bright smile.
"Wouldn't a life like that be exciting?"
"Compared to spending your entire life accomplishing nothing in a tiny village..."
"When a man hears the call of the pirate flag shouldn't he set sail?"
"..."
Rowan was genuinely speechless.
What kind of reason is that?
The pirate flag is calling?
Ship spirits actually existed in this world.
But pirate flag spirits certainly didn't.
Just for excitement?
That's ridiculous.
Why not just say the sea itself is calling you?
"There isn't any reason strong enough to stop a man once he hears the sea calling him."
Yasopp's expression grew increasingly excited.
"Risking your life pursuing your dream as a pirate that's what it means to become the freest person on these seas!"
Rowan glanced at him.
"Freedom?"
"From what I've seen ninety-nine percent of pirates on these seas aren't anything like your crew."
"They burn."
"They kill."
"They loot."
"They commit every crime imaginable."
"I've personally killed plenty of them."
"If that's the freedom you're talking about then I can tell you very clearly."
"Freedom without order has no meaningful value."
At that moment, Shanks spoke.
"Every era has its own meaning."
"If one day pirates disappear into history then perhaps freedom and dreams will simply take another form."
Compared to Yasopp Shanks' words struck much closer to the heart of the matter.
Rowan looked at him, silently inviting him to continue.
Shanks understood.
The Revolutionary Army valued one thing above all else.
Ideas.
And ideas were precisely what the World Government feared the most.
"Just like you said ninety-nine percent of pirates are evil."
"That's what piracy means to them."
"But the pirates we believe in aren't like that."
"We sail for our dreams."
"We sail for adventure."
"We sail to witness every different landscape and culture this world has to offer."
"The Red Line and the Calm Belts divide the world into four isolated seas."
"Communication between them is almost nonexistent."
"That's simply the limitation of this era."
Shanks continued,
"If a chef wants to experience the cuisines and ingredients of all four seas and the Grand Line then the only way is to go to sea as a pirate."
"If a musician wishes to hear music born from different cultures he also has no choice but to sail."
"One day if every barrier across these seas disappears..."
"If cultures can freely interact if travel and communication become effortless..."
"Then pirates will naturally become a thing of the past."
As he finished, Shanks made a suggestion.
"In Water Seven Master Tom is building a new kind of transportation capable of crossing the seas."
"When it's completed perhaps you should go and see it."
"That is also part of the future."
The banquet continued deep into the night.
But now the atmosphere was far more relaxed than before.
Shanks had drunk a little too much.
Throwing an arm around Rowan's shoulders, he dragged him into the celebration.
Meanwhile, Beckman and Yasopp were in the middle of a drinking contest, with Lucky Roux enthusiastically acting as the referee.
At last the banquet finally looked like a real banquet.
Shanks had also clearly given up trying to pry information out of Rowan.
The other man knew his past.
But that one sentence.
"The sins don't belong to the children."
Even if the Cloaked Man knew Roger's son was somewhere in the East Blue...
He wouldn't do anything.
The Revolutionary Army.
With ideals like those.
The balance of the world had begun to shift.
At five o'clock in the morning..
The Red Hair Pirates' banquet finally came to an end.
Scattered throughout the forest pirates lay sprawled everywhere, completely defenseless after drinking themselves unconscious.
Yet among the few who were still awake were the very people who had been competing in the drinking contest:
Beckman, Yasopp and Lucky Roux, despite how much he had drunk himself.
By this time Rowan had already left.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had returned directly to G-5 Headquarters.
"That ability really is convenient."
"I wonder if it has any distance limit."
Now aware of the Cloaked Man's true identity, Yasopp couldn't help sounding a little jealous.
Shanks let out a drunken burp.
"It definitely works across islands."
"If it can even cross the Calm Belt and the Red Line then it'd really be absurdly convenient."
Beckman looked toward Shanks.
"Are we staying on this island any longer?"
Shanks thought for a moment.
Then he grinned.
"Tomorrow we head straight for the Grand Line."
"And then to the New World."
Beckman smiled as well.
Although they had almost been wiped out this unexpected encounter with the Cloaked Man had finally given their captain a genuine sense of pressure.
That was a good thing.
There was no longer any need to visit Dawn Island.
Only by becoming stronger themselves would they earn the right to speak on equal footing.
During the confrontation earlier they had already accepted the possibility of dying.
"Boss..."
"I thought we were still going to Dawn Island?"
Yasopp asked in confusion.
Shanks shook his head.
"We're not going."
"We'll leave the East Blue and begin our real adventure in the Grand Line."
"Yasopp you'd better work hard."
"The pirates on the Grand Line aren't anything like the ones in the East Blue."
"And Haki only grows through battle."
"Fight again and again."
"One day..."
"I'm sure you'll be able to see the future too."
Yasopp swallowed hard.
"I definitely will."
"When that day comes. my son will admire me even more."
The next day the Red Hair Pirates departed Shimotsuki Village.
Their true adventure through the Grand Line had begun.
Meanwhile.
Back at G-5 Headquarters Rowan learned from the newspaper about the establishment of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Or rather he didn't actually need to read it.
When his Shadow Clone dispersed everything it had experienced the previous day flowed directly into his mind.
"The Seven Warlords so they're finally about to establish the system..."
After thinking for a long time Rowan suddenly raised his hand and slammed it onto his desk.
BOOM!
The entire desk shattered in half.
Even the whole office trembled from the impact.
"Bastards!"
"Pirates with legal rights to plunder?!"
"So those scum can do whatever they want now?!"
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