Oilseed flowers, harbor dock.
Not far away, Crocodile was trying hard not to laugh, his stomach hurting a bit.
He felt this scene was rare, so he ordered a drink, planning to enjoy it slowly.
After taking a sip of the drink, Crocodile said to Rowan next to him, "The Marines sent a dummy!"
Rowan nodded, "Tsuru is very good."
"Huh?"
Crocodile was puzzled, "This guy is a problem for you?"
Not to mention Rowan, even Crocodile himself was confident in making this big Marine run around in circles!
Wait...
Isn't that a strange way to think?
Crocodile finished a shot of strong liquor, curious about Rowan's words, "Why do you say that?"
A person so simple-minded would never be able to let the World Government infiltrate the Four Seas Alliance -- unless he's an incredibly good actor.
Rowan smiled, "If they sent old Vice Admirals like Momonga or Onigumo, they would handle everything so perfectly that we wouldn't be able to find a single fault."
"True." Crocodile nodded.
He had met some of the Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals, and they were all clever people.
"But he's different."
Rowan pointed to the fierce, burly man who kept talking about "persuasion."
"If I'm not mistaken, Tsuru probably chose him according to the standard Marine procedure."
"That is to say, he probably thinks he's here to set up a new Marine branch."
Rowan also ordered a drink and raised his glass.
"If he has bad intentions, we have many ways to limit his development."
"But now, Tsuru has given us someone we can't refuse."
Rowan waited for a long time, but Crocodile didn't clink glasses with him, so he turned to Vivi and bumped glasses with her instead.
"Let's see his skills first. If he's good, Alabasta should have its own Marine branch."
"That guy isn't as simple as he looks."
Crocodile suddenly said, "He's killed people, and a lot of them. You should be able to tell."
Rowan nodded, "Indeed, but look at his eyes."
"Huh?"
Crocodile was stunned, unable to figure it out, "What's in his eyes?"
"Sadness."
"Huh?" Crocodile was taken aback.
Rowan repeated, "Sadness."
...
On the dock, another group of pirates jumped off the ship, only to be persuaded by Baro.
They fell to the ground in various positions, their painful howls echoing around the dock.
But what was somewhat concerning was that, whether intentionally or unintentionally, none of the pirates died on the spot because of the exaggerated "persuasion method."
In fact, many of them were just stuck in the ground, unable to move, without any injuries.
It wasn't easy to do that, brute force wouldn't work, you had to have pretty good skill.
But the pirates were in no mood to pay attention to that now.
All they knew was that there was a monster blocking the dock, sticking their men into the ground one after another!
The pirate captain made a quick decision.
"Fire!"
The gunner complained, "It's too close to the dock, the cannons can't turn!"
"Worthless!"
The pirate captain didn't want to get caught and thrown in jail, so he scolded the gunner, "Fire at the crowd! He claims to be a Marine, right? Let him go back and save people, and we'll get out of here!"
"Yes!"
The gunner nodded repeatedly in agreement, quickly called the others, slightly adjusted the angle, and lit the fuse of the cannon.
More than a dozen cannons, aimed at the crowd at the edge of the Oilseed Flower dock, ready to fire!
By the time Baro reacted, he heard a series of "bang, bang, bang, bang," and more than a dozen cannonballs were fired one after another, shooting towards the crowd in the distance.
This isn't good!
Baro's legs suddenly exploded with power, intending to use one of the Six Styles, Shave, to rush back to save them.
Even if he had to use his body to block the cannonballs, as long as no innocent people were hurt, that would be enough!
But... how many people would be affected, Baro couldn't be sure.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past. Baro focused his eyes and saw that it was that strange soldier fully covered in Armament Haki!
He pulled out the two blades stuck in his body, making strange sounds, and swung them left and right, dodging among the volley of cannonballs.
Slash!
In just an instant, the cannonballs were cut into countless pieces.
The cannonballs that lost their momentum either exploded on the spot or fell into the sea, all intercepted halfway.
...
This scene not only stunned Baro, but also Crocodile.
"You know swordsmanship?!"
"I saw CP0 using similar weapons before, and combined them with my habits to improve them."
Rowan lightly wiggled his fingers, and black sand connected him to that special Sandstone Guard.
"Not very skilled, but enough to deal with cannonballs, and it's very convenient."
Rowan drank his wine while controlling the Sandstone Guard to come in front of Baro.
"Goro rere rere..."
The Sandstone Guard made a strange grinding sound. Baro seemed to understand what it meant --
Let's deal with those pirates together!
Baro emphasized, "Don't kill anyone, let me try to persuade them first."
The Sandstone Guard tilted its head, making a sound, seeming not to understand what Baro meant.
In fact, Rowan naturally understood, but he didn't want to understand.
Don't harm others.
When those pirates tried to escape by firing at civilians, they had crossed the Four Seas Alliance's line.
Clang!
The Sandstone Guard hunched over its tall body, scraping the two black curved swords against each other, creating sparks.
Before the sound faded, Baro and the Sandstone Guard had already flashed onto the pirate ship.
Baro couldn't help but be shocked.
So fast!
The speed was comparable to one of the Six Styles, Shave. Who created that black thing?
While hesitating, the Sandstone Guard had already made a move. It was like a black shadow, flashing past several pirates in an instant.
By the time it stood still on the deck again, a red line had appeared on the necks of those pirates.
Their bodies trembled a few times, then they fell to the ground one after another, dead as could be.
The blade was stuck on the edge of the ship's railing, making an ear-piercing grinding sound as the Sandstone Guard moved forward. For the pirates on the ship, it was a sound that announced their death!
"Hey, wait!"
Baro saw what the black soldier meant, and just as he wanted to reach out to stop it, it was already too late.
The black soldier was like an elusive shadow, plunging into the cabin.
Baro followed closely behind, also diving into the cabin.
The dock fell into temporary silence.
...
Not far away.
Crocodile was curious about what had happened, but Rowan patted him on the shoulder, signaling:
"Let's go, to the dock."
By the time they got closer, Baro and the Sandstone Guard had already returned to the deck.
"Goro rara... Sand..."
The Sandstone Guard waved its hand, said goodbye to Baro, and then turned back into a pile of ordinary sand, scattered in the wind.
Baro watched this scene, and couldn't help but reach out and grab a few grains of sand.
Then, he saw Rowan and the others walking towards him.
Baro had obtained Rowan's photo from Granny Tsuru, so he recognized him.
He went back to the dock and reached out his hand to Rowan.
What's the next step... which was it again.
After thinking about it, Baro suddenly pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and read the words on it:
"Hello, Mr. Rowan, my name is Baro, and I am the base commander of the Alabasta Special G-T Marine Branch."
Rowan shook his hand and smiled, "Welcome."
Baro suddenly remembered something else, and turned the piece of paper to the back.
"This is information about the G-T branch and my personal information, which should be submitted to the local person in charge according to the rules. Please take a look."
After Baro finished reading the note, he trotted a few steps to retrieve his backpack and handed a copy of the information to Rowan.
A very formal self-introduction. It was estimated that the note was given to him by Tsuru.
Rowan took the information and glanced at it.
It was a very detailed document. It even introduced Baro's personal information, showing the Marines' sincerity.
Here's where it gets interesting.
One line of the information read:
Baro -- Former bounty hunter, current Marine Vice Admiral.
As well as...
Student of [Black Arm] Zephyr.
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