Very few people knew that Bellemere had been brought back to life.
Among the villagers of Cocoyasi, only Nami and Nojiko knew the truth.
After all, Nojiko had been there when Rowan revived Bellemere.
As for everyone else, Rowan hadn't told a single person—not even Genzo.
The reason was simple: someone who had been dead for over ten years suddenly coming back to life was far too unbelievable. If word got out, it could bring disaster down on Cocoyasi Village.
So the matter had to be kept absolutely secret.
No one outside the two sisters could know.
And once Bellemere was revived, she couldn't keep living in Cocoyasi Village either. She had to move somewhere else.
Neither Nami nor Nojiko had any objections to that.
Even Bellemere herself had no objection. In fact, she kept scolding Nami for reviving her at all, worrying that if her existence were exposed, the whole village might get dragged into danger.
Faced with Bellemere's criticism, Nami didn't say a word. She just smiled.
Nojiko, on the other hand, thanked Rowan again and again. If not for him, she would never have seen Bellemere again in her lifetime.
This time, the person most moved by Bellemere's return wasn't Nami.
It was her.
While Nami and Bellemere were catching up, Nojiko drifted quietly over to Rowan and said, blushing, "Rowan… thank you for everything you've done for us."
"If you don't mind… I'm willing to give anything to repay you."
The moment she finished saying that, she ran off shyly before Rowan could even answer.
That sentence alone had already used up all her courage.
Rowan: "???"
Robin couldn't help laughing. "Congratulations, Boss. Your noble deeds have finally won you a beauty's favor. If you wanted, Miss Nojiko might very well wash up and offer herself to you tonight."
"Cut it out."
Rowan shot her an annoyed look. "Do you know what that is? That's using a favor for personal gain. Do I look like the kind of guy who does that?"
Robin smiled. "Hard to say."
Rowan rolled his eyes. "If I were that kind of person, the one in my room tonight wouldn't be Nojiko. It'd be you."
Robin said, "If Boss wants that, I don't mind. Do you need me to go wash up?"
"Sure," Rowan said. "Put on a little perfume too. Nothing too strong—just a faint scent is fine."
So what if it was just trash talk? Who was scared of who?
That said, deep down, Rowan did get a little excited.
What if—just what if—Robin actually did wash up and show up?
But that night, when Rowan went back to his bedroom, not only was Robin nowhere to be seen, there wasn't even a single stray hair in the room.
Damn it. He'd gotten his hopes up for nothing.
Sleep.
The next day, Rowan brought Nami, Nojiko, and Bellemere to Wano.
That had been the result of the three of them talking it over. Since Bellemere couldn't stay in Cocoyasi anymore, they had decided to leave as well. Wano was the best place for them to go.
Ryuma was there, and he could look after them.
Of course, to give them some way to protect themselves, Rowan granted them the qualifications to learn chakra.
The people of the One Piece world had absurdly strong constitutions to begin with. As long as they had enough food and did even a little training, even women could develop superhuman physical ability.
That made them perfect for learning chakra.
It was only then that Nami finally learned Rowan wasn't from this world at all.
He came from another one.
The revelation shocked her badly, and she kept pestering Rowan about what other worlds were like. In the end, Rowan had no choice but to promise that if the chance ever came, he'd take her to one.
Only then did Nami settle down.
Once Nami's situation was handled, Rowan got a call from Cosette.
Apparently, during her time at the Baratie, Cosette had worked extremely hard and learned most of the restaurant's menu inside and out.
She had even earned head chef Zeff's approval. Her cooking had improved again, and she had effectively graduated.
So she immediately called, hoping to rejoin the group.
"Of course."
Rowan agreed without hesitation and went to the Baratie to bring Cosette back.
The first thing Cosette did after returning was prepare an extravagant feast for Rowan.
Rowan invited Ryuma, Robin, Nami, Hashirama, Tobirama, Serie, Tsunade, Shizune, Orochimaru, Kabuto, Kanae, Karin, and the others to all come and share the meal together.
Everyone ate until their mouths were slick with grease, praising it nonstop.
Rowan had to admit that after Cosette's time at the Baratie, her cooking really had improved in a way that was obvious to the naked eye.
He had thoroughly enjoyed that meal.
After the feast, Rowan pulled out a napkin, wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, and said calmly, "I've decided to bring Vegapunk out of Egghead."
The moment he said that, Orochimaru's eyes lit up. "Vegapunk? That genius scientist said to be five hundred years ahead of the world?"
Tobirama clapped his hands once. "Good idea. If he joins us, we'll be able to produce Devil Fruits in the shortest possible time."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses and added, "And it's not just Vegapunk. We shouldn't leave Egghead behind either. The World Government built him a fully equipped laboratory there so he could conduct his research."
"If we abandon that lab, we'd have to spend enormous sums rebuilding one from scratch, and we'd lose a huge amount of time in the process. So I suggest we take Egghead along with him."
Orochimaru strongly agreed. No one understood the importance of a laboratory better than he did.
Especially the irreplaceable experimental equipment.
Some of that stuff couldn't be bought even if you had the money.
If they could scoop up all of Egghead in one move, that would obviously be the best option.
Tsunade frowned. "That's an entire island. How exactly are we supposed to pack it up and take it with us?"
Rowan said, "I think there's someone who can help us with that."
"Who?" Tsunade asked.
"Shiki," Robin answered smoothly. "His Float-Float Fruit has been developed to the extreme. It's basically awakened. He could make Egghead float with ease."
Of course Tsunade knew who Golden Lion Shiki was, but the problem was…
"You really think that wild, arrogant pirate would help us?" In her mind, Shiki was not the sort of person who was easy to deal with. If anything, he was vicious.
"He will," Rowan said with a slight smile, full of confidence.
Hearing that, Tsunade immediately said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go right now."