How exactly did that old man dodge Bellamy's spring-loaded impact?! Still, no one had seen a thing!
"Tch!" Bellamy scrambled out from the collapsed bricks, spitting out a mouthful of blood and dust.
His reputation on Jaya was long-established; no one on the entire island dared to ignore him. Yet this old man, appearing out of nowhere, had casually evaded his attack! Bellamy shook his messy blonde hair, his unnaturally long tongue flicking out—he looked like a rabid golden retriever.
"Spring Hopper!"
Think you can match my speed? Hmph! Old man, you're miles away!
Bellamy had absolute confidence in this move. By bouncing back and forth between the buildings on the street, the spring tension rapidly accelerated his velocity to a point where he became a blur to the average eye.
But to Rowan, this was nothing. Bellamy wasn't even a clown in his eyes; he was a minor nuisance.
"Spring Snipe!" With a final, explosive leap, Bellamy aimed straight for Rowan's back.
"A bit noisy," Rowan muttered. He completely ignored the human projectile hurtling toward him. At the exact microsecond Bellamy was about to impact...
Rowan simply reached out his hand, turning slightly and giving a light, dismissive flick—as if shooing away a persistent fly.
In that instant, Bellamy felt as if he had collided with a titanic wall of pressurized air. He was flipped over instantly!
CRASH! BANG! BOOM!
The sounds of crumbling masonry grew fainter and fainter. Bellamy had vanished behind several walls, thrown who-knows-how-far into the distance.
What kind of strength was this? A casual wave of the hand had sent a 55-million Berry pirate—the man no one on Jaya dared provoke—flying? Where did this old man come from?
After Bellamy was sent packing, there was a long silence. His subordinates scattered like startled birds; only two of the more loyal ones chased after the direction their boss had been launched. By the time the onlookers regained their senses, the mysterious, powerful old man was nowhere to be found.
"Hahaha! Marine Godfather Rowan truly possesses extraordinary strength!"
The street had been deserted due to Bellamy's rampage, so the sudden laughter felt particularly piercing and annoying. Rowan stopped in his tracks and glanced sideways.
Even though he had never met this man since arriving in this world, one look was all it took to know exactly who he was.
Two rows of teeth with several conspicuous gaps, dark and rugged skin, a mess of black curly hair, and an incredibly ugly bandana...
Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach.
The culprit who murdered his comrade Thatch to steal the Yami Yami no Mi, the man who would eventually hand Ace over to Impel Down and steal Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi during the Paramount War!
Though this man had not yet fully revealed his ambitions, the fact that he recognized Rowan on sight and showed zero fear while laughing in the presence of a Marine legend proved his depth. This was a man of profound calculation and ruthlessness.
"Teach, you brat." Rowan uttered those four words.
"Hahaha! The world-renowned Marine Godfather actually remembers a nobody like me? Mr. Rowan, I don't believe we've ever met..."
Blackbeard sat on the ground, stuffing his face with cherry pie and washing it down with huge gulps of rum. He acted as if he wasn't worried in the slightest that Rowan might strike him down then and there.
"I suggest you flee while you can. I could drag you to Impel Down at any moment. Even if..." Rowan paused, staring into Teach's wicked eyes, "...even if you stole the Dark-Dark Fruit from your 'brother,' you won't escape."
At the mention of the Dark-Dark Fruit, Teach's expression froze. He had only recently eaten it and hadn't yet mastered its abilities; he was currently laying low here to avoid the pursuit of the Whitebeard Pirates. Against Rowan, Teach knew he lacked the power to resist.
"And you'd better stop setting your sights on a Shichibukai position," Rowan added, adjusting his black hat. "You've seen how the Warlords end up lately, haven't you?"
Teach felt a violent jolt in his heart. How could he not know? Every newspaper was screaming about Rowan killing two Warlords in a row. But... how did Rowan know his secret plan to hunt for a Shichibukai seat?
"I'm leaving you alive for now, but that doesn't mean you can act with impunity." Rowan took a step forward, his eyes locking onto Teach's.
The old man's gaze was as sharp as a falcon's—cold, warning, and radiating a lethal pressure that seemed to freeze the very air!
"You... you..." Teach felt completely seen, as if his soul were stripped bare. Under Rowan's aura, he accidentally dropped his cherry pie onto the dirt.
"Do you understand? Don't make me remind you a second time. The next time will be your funeral."
Rowan pressed down on his hat. The sheer deterrent of his power left Blackbeard paralyzed. In this world, strength was everything. By the time Teach regained his composure, the street was empty. He reached up, wiping cold sweat from his brow.
Rowan eventually reached the shoreline. The salty tang of the sea was a familiar comfort. Just then, there was a sudden disturbance in the water at his feet.
Blub... blub...
A dark figure slowly emerged from the depths.
"Phew... another day with no harvest!" The figure burst out of the water, talking to himself as he climbed onto the shore. Only then did he notice the person standing beside him.
"After all this time, still nothing? Mont Blanc Cricket, you brat... it seems Noland really was a liar, wasn't he?"
The man, Cricket, snapped to his feet, water dripping from his wet skin. "What did you say, you old bastard?! Noland this, Noland that... I don't know any Noland! Noland was NOT a liar! One day I'll find the Golden Bell... I'll..."
Cricket's square face was distorted with rage, but he stopped mid-sentence, realizing he had said too much. "Who the hell are you, old man? This isn't a place for you. Go home and retire."
Under his black hat, Rowan smiled serenely. "Want to see the Golden Bell? I can take you there. But in exchange, you have to do something for me."
"The... the Golden Bell... you..."
Cricket was speechless with shock. He had spent decades diving, desperate to prove Noland wasn't a liar and to clear the Wenbrat family name. Noland had seen the gold and the bell on Jaya, but by the time he returned with the King, the bell had been launched ten thousand meters into the sky by the Knock Up Stream. Noland died branded as a fraud, still insisting on his "lie" until the very end.