Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
While the original body was training in Shimotsuki Village in the East Blue, the shadow clone, currently taking a break, was also looking for swordsmen within the Marines.
There were many Marines who used swords, but none who were strong enough to rival Dracule Mihawk.
Some Vice Admirals like Momonga, due to Rowan's previously terrible reputation, treated him as invisible and did not want anything to do with him.
If not for the concern of being accused of bullying the weak, they probably would have already tried to pick a fight with him back when his "monster" reputation began to spread.
Fortunately, Marine Headquarters did have swordsmanship classes. After all, many officers above the rank of Major used swords, so instructors were necessary.
Back in the training camp, Rowan had not used a sword, so he did not pay attention. But he had still attended a few of those classes, though his purpose at the time had not been pure.
At the outdoor training ground of the new batch of recruits.
The moment Rowan arrived, he was noticed by the instructor giving a lecture. The instructor glanced at him but did not care. Instead, Zephyr, who was sitting to the side, waved him over.
"Teacher."
Rowan slightly bowed.
"Heh. Ever since your batch graduated, you have not come back here. What brings you today?"
As Zephyr spoke, his gaze fell on Rowan's waist, where a standard Marine-issued sword hung.
His brows immediately furrowed.
"If I remember correctly, you do not use a sword. You only attended the sword classes once or twice back in training camp. Why do you suddenly want to learn now?"
Rowan had already anticipated the coming storm, but he still admitted it.
"I recently want to learn swordsmanship, so I came to listen in at the training camp."
"Hmph."
Zephyr snorted.
"I told you back then that Haki is the foundation of all power. Whether it is Devil Fruit abilities or swordsmanship, they are only auxiliary forms of strength."
"You have already developed your own combat style based on the Six Powers. Starting from scratch with swordsmanship now is putting the cart before the horse and wasting time. What are you thinking?"
…
Rowan was completely speechless.
He could not exactly say that once he achieved Shikai, he would be swinging six thousand degree flames at Sakazuki. And if he reached Bankai, he would march straight to Mary Geoise and cut off Imu's head within twenty seven days.
This body was not his real one. If he angered the old man and got smacked into smoke, that would be a disaster.
After organizing his thoughts, Rowan spoke sincerely,
"Teacher, my current Haki and methods have reached a bottleneck. It is difficult to improve further, so I want to understand swordsmanship."
Zephyr was still dissatisfied.
"If you cut down the time you spend drinking at Enies Lobby and chasing women in Water Seven, you would not need to come here."
Rowan scratched his head awkwardly. Fortunately, Zephyr waved him away, clearly unwilling to keep looking at him.
After bowing slightly, Rowan stepped back and stood in a corner, listening to the lecture given by Gion, also known as Momousagi, as she explained sword techniques and training methods.
But clearly, the trainees here were all elites from the Four Seas and the Grand Line. Many of them already had sword experience. They were not beginners like Rowan.
So the sword class here was not basic instruction. Aside from a fundamental exercise of full-force swings, Rowan understood almost nothing.
After an entire afternoon, he gained nothing from the Marine side.
However, on the East Blue side where his original body was training, Rowan had already grasped the most basic understanding of swordsmanship.
As for communicating with the sword, it was entirely a matter of time and persistence. Living, walking, and resting together with the blade, along with two hours of daily meditation.
At night, the original body returned to Marine Headquarters. The shadow clone dispersed, and a new one was created, sent to a deserted island with the Zanpakuto to meditate.
Ridiculous. Time to sleep!
The next day, after waking up, the shadow clone dispersed and its memories returned.
Nothing but zoning out.
Either it was thoughts about the Revolutionary Army, or guessing when Kuzan would finally take the bait on the Marine side. The more he tried to calm down, the more his mind wandered. Not a single bit of progress.
Fine. Today he would go to Shimotsuki Village again to find Koushirou.
The clone would continue attending classes. Even if it was not basic instruction, bringing back the memory and insights would at least be somewhat useful.
Today's sword class was not taught by Gion, but by Momonga.
He glanced at Rowan several times, then at the standard-issue sword on his waist. His gaze was filled with ridicule.
If the situation were different, Rowan felt like he would already have fought him.
There was also the white-haired brat beside him who was very annoying, constantly throwing provocative looks his way. Very punchable.
Half distracted while listening to the lecture, Rowan was thinking about whether to knock Momonga out later when his arm was nudged.
He turned his head toward the white-haired brat.
"What?"
The boy curled his lips, looking smug.
"I heard you were the 'monster' from the previous training camp. Want to fight?"
Rowan replied immediately.
"After class. Wait for me."
Compared to being annoyed for days, beating him up once was the fastest solution.
As for mockery?
At that age, instead of exchanging insults back and forth, letting him clearly understand the gap with one beating was the optimal choice.
Wait. What did the mustached guy just say?
What was a sword again?
Rowan shot the white-haired brat an annoyed glare. Since he did not hear clearly during class, he would have to ask later. Momonga was not going to be nice to him.
Soon, the lecture ended, and the trainees began practicing on their own.
The seventeen-year-old silver-haired Smoker excitedly followed him over.
"Rear Admiral Rowan, I have heard of you. The youngest trainee of your batch, the fourth 'monster' of the Marine training camp, and you were promoted directly to Rear Admiral after graduation…"
"Alright, alright."
Rowan cut him off.
"Hurry up. After this I need to eat."
Smoker froze.
Right here?
"Should we not go to a proper—"
"No need."
Rowan interrupted again.
"I do not have much time. If you are not going to attack, I will take it as you giving up."
Smoker glanced around. Even Vice Admiral Momonga, who had been about to leave, stopped and watched.
"Even if you are a monster, that is too arrogant."
As soon as he spoke, white smoke formed into a giant hand and slammed toward Rowan.
"Yeah."
Without even lifting his eyelids, Rowan appeared in front of Smoker and threw a punch straight into his abdomen.
The elemental body of the Logia type was forcibly grabbed. With a single strike, Smoker was sent flying, wrapped in smoke.
"When fighting, you can talk, but you should attack while talking. If you finish talking first and then attack, are you trying to tell your opponent to get ready, idiot?"
After saying that, Rowan turned and left.
Smoker was helped up by his fellow trainees. They were quite united, all voicing complaints toward Rowan.
"That guy might be a disgrace to the Marines, but the title of 'monster' is not fake. Smoker's ability is Logia, yet he was caught in solid form with a single hit."
"His Haki is very strong. Both Observation and Armament are at a high level."
"Smoker, what were you thinking? Even Tashigi does not like him, but the instructors have said he is very strong."
Smoker wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and kept staring in the direction Rowan had left the training ground.
A person like that, even at such a level, was still trying to become stronger.
That was why he had come to attend swordsmanship classes.
Although the reputation sounded bad, compared to that, he himself was too weak. So weak that he had absolutely no room to resist.
Second time meeting him… Executioner Rowan.
Unaware that he had already become a target, Rowan stuffed himself in the cafeteria, then went straight back to his quarters.
After graduating from the training camp, as a newly promoted Rear Admiral, he now had his own private residence.
He created a shadow clone to meditate, while his main body once again went to the East Blue to train in swordsmanship.
After two days, there seemed to be a slight difference.
It was too short a time to confirm, but considering his mental strength had been enhanced multiple times by attribute cards, it was probably not an illusion.
Time passed again. Half a month later, Rowan had to set sail once more, so his sword training in the East Blue had to pause for now.
After all, Kuzan was not yet one of his own. Even if he were, Rowan did not intend to let him know his identity.
"Heard you've been practicing swordsmanship lately?"
Rowan, who was meditating, glanced at Kuzan.
"If you already know, can you not interrupt me? I just managed to calm down, and with one sentence from you, it's gone again."
Kuzan, lying on Rowan's lounge chair, replied:
"There are many strong people on this sea. The recently rising Marine hunter Dracule Mihawk is a great swordsman. The strongest man, Edward Newgate, uses a blade. Even the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, used a sword. But that doesn't mean only swords can make someone the strongest."
"At your age, and with your established fighting style, even if you put in effort, you won't surpass the combination of your Haki and Rokushiki. It's a waste of time. You'd be better off strengthening what you already have. That's my advice."
Rowan replied irritably:
"If you've got nothing to do, go to sleep. If you don't want to sleep, give me back my chair."
Kuzan shrugged, pulled down his eye mask, and stopped talking.
He had already said what he needed to say. The choice was personal.
As for sleeping, it was simply because he did not want to face the dark world in front of him.
He could no longer calm himself.
Every time he closed his eyes, the words from that book would appear in his mind. When compared to reality, he found them disturbingly accurate.
Perhaps… he had already begun to doubt the justice of the Marines.
All oppression comes from injustice. All oppression will eventually face resistance.
All oppressed people of the world, unite. This world does not belong to those in power!
Oppression…
Back then, when he carried a net every day to fish, wasn't he also one of the oppressed?
In the New World, the Big Mom Pirates had established territory. Kaido also seemed to have nearly completed his preparations in Wano.
According to Marine intelligence, Big Mom's Totto Land would protect ordinary people, but the price was that those protected had to give up part of their lifespan every year.
Lifespan…
To ordinary people, being able to live at all was what mattered most.
If every day you woke up not knowing whether you would survive to the next, then what value did lifespan even have?
"Rowan, what do you think oppression is?"
Rowan, who had just calmed himself, immediately stood up again. His focus was gone once more.
In his memory, this guy was not this talkative. He was always half-asleep, so why was he suddenly talking so much?
After thinking for a moment, Rowan sat back down, abandoning his meditation for now.
"What do you think? If you can't survive, does that count as oppression? The corpses we've seen over the past year… weren't they unable to go on because of oppression?"
Kuzan replied:
"Yeah. When people are oppressed to the point they can't live anymore, they'll choose to stand up and resist. Ordinary people just want to survive, but even that is incredibly difficult."
"I remember when I was a kid in the South Blue. Life wasn't great, but we could still survive. At least back then, there weren't as many pirates. Every day, the only concern was earning more money, making sure the family could pay the Heavenly Tribute."
After saying that, Kuzan turned over,
lying on his side on the lounge chair and fell asleep.
He said nothing more.
Because he wanted some silence.
Meanwhile, at Mary Geoise, within the Room of Authority
"The collection of the Heavenly Tribute is about to begin."
"The escort will still be handled by CP."
"The preliminary statistics show a decrease compared to the last cycle."
"Are the number of insects decreasing?"
"The reports say so, but CP0's investigation has uncovered something."
"Oh?"
"There are five affiliated nations with reduced populations. All five experienced coups within the past year. The former kings all died during those uprisings, and the new rulers have pledged to continue paying the Heavenly Tribute."
"Some insects dying during a coup is nothing unusual."
"However, according to CP0, all five nations appear to have traces of the Revolutionary Army."
"The Revolutionary Army?"
"They were mentioned in previous reports, but we paid it no attention."
"Have CP's intelligence division conduct a deeper investigation into this Revolutionary Army. Also determine whether those five coups are connected to them."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Additionally… regarding the trap at the Sabaody Archipelago, that individual hasn't appeared for over a year."
"Mary Geoise has already relaxed because of that."
"The Sabaody Archipelago is too dangerous. If another one dies, even the God's Knights will intervene."
"Then we use real bait."
The Room of Authority fell silent.
The other four clearly understood what "real bait" meant.
Over the past year, the so-called Celestial Dragons who descended to the Sabaody Archipelago were not genuine Celestial Dragons at all. No one had ever officially acknowledged them as such.
They merely wore the same attire, kept slaves, and were guarded by World Government escorts.
But for over a year, that cloaked man never appeared.
Clearly… he had already realized something.
"That man's development of his teleportation ability has already reached a level that threatens the safety of Mary Geoise."
"The death of Saint Samit also shows the depth of his hatred. Mary Geoise itself may be his true target."
"Only one can descend to Sabaody per day. The God's Knights can be informed."
"If we use real bait, then the fish must take the hook."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
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