East Blue, Foosha Village.
Rowen looked at the child in Dragon's arms with a puzzled expression.
"Who exactly is this kid's mother?"
Dragon smiled with the smug look of a man showing off.
"She's a gentle and kind woman."
Rowen curled his lip.
"So you got her to have a child for you, then ran off?"
The smile instantly disappeared from Dragon's face.
Clearly, that had hit a sore spot.
After a brief apology, the two of them continued walking toward Foosha Village in silence.
Rowen leaned over and examined the future protagonist from his memories.
No matter how he looked at him, the kid was ugly as hell, just like little Nami had been when she was born.
Still, babies changed quickly. Give it a few months and he'd probably look fine.
Soon, Dragon stopped outside a house and knocked on the door.
A moment later, Garp appeared wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.
After glancing at Rowen's completely ordinary appearance, he picked his nose.
"Cloaked Man?"
Rowen looked down at his plain clothes in surprise.
"You can recognize me from that?"
Garp snorted.
"The Revolutionary Army has kept a low profile these past few years, but the World Government and the Marines have still uncovered some things. If this old man didn't still have a bit of influence, I'd probably be sitting in Impel Down by now."
The group entered the house.
Garp glanced at Rowen.
"As the commander of the Revolutionary Army, someone willing to personally escort my grandson here during such a sensitive time wouldn't be some ordinary person. Besides, with that special teleportation ability of yours, delivering people is convenient."
He then grinned proudly and took the baby into his arms.
"Well? Pretty impressive, right?"
Poking the baby's cheek, he asked:
"What's his name?"
Dragon replied:
"Luffy. Monkey D. Luffy. My current circumstances aren't suitable for raising him, so I'll have to leave him in your care."
"Hmph."
Garp grunted twice.
"At least you had the sense to bring me another grandson. If you end up dying out there someday, I'll just pretend I never heard about it."
Dragon shook his head slightly.
"We'll win in the end. A world where ordinary people often find living worse than death needs people like us."
Garp looked over at him.
"You have no idea what kind of power Mary Geoise possesses."
Leaning against the wall, Rowen replied:
"Perhaps you don't know what kind of power we possess either."
Garp laughed and turned to Rowen.
"You're quite the arrogant brat. Teleportation? Those high-temperature flames? Or that ice ability you've only used once?"
"Sometimes, the more you know, the more you're forced to turn a blind eye."
As he spoke, Garp gently placed little Luffy into the cradle he had prepared beforehand and rocked it lightly.
Only after making sure the baby was settled did he continue.
"All men are born equal? No life is worth more than another? You people really have the guts to say such things."
He paused.
"The only reason those ideas haven't caused a catastrophe yet is because you don't have enough power to support them. Otherwise..."
He stopped himself before finishing the sentence.
Instead, he asked,
"Do you really think Marine justice is nothing more than this? Do you think the justice upheld by Sengoku, Tsuru, Zephyr, myself, and the rest of us old-timers is truly that rotten?"
Rowen answered:
"We've never believed that. On the contrary, we're well aware that many Marines genuinely uphold true justice. But circumstances force them to choose a form of justice centered on maintaining stability across the seas."
Garp nodded slightly.
"At least you understand that much. Looks like Dragon's so-called teacher didn't choose the wrong person."
"But what exactly are you relying on?"
"Right now, you're like rats in the sewers, hiding everywhere. Yet if you want to achieve your goals, sooner or later you'll have to step into the light."
"And the outcome of doing that is already obvious."
After those words, neither Rowen nor Dragon responded.
The purpose of coming to Foosha Village was to entrust little Luffy to Garp.
Not to reveal the foundations upon which they were building their revolution.
The old man had taken some time off, which just so happened to force the unreliable Roger to focus on work for a while.
After all, once Garp returned to Foosha Village, Roger couldn't exactly go home.
Seeing that neither of them had any intention of answering, Garp waved his hand dismissively.
"If you've got nothing else to do, get lost already. Otherwise, I might suddenly get inspired and personally throw you two criminals into Impel Down."
Dragon gave a slight bow.
"Thank you for your trouble."
With that, he turned around and left the yard with Rowen.
After the two departed, Garp stood there watching them go.
After all, Dragon was his son.
And deep down, Garp knew that what Dragon was doing was right. He was following his own convictions.
As for himself, refusing promotion to Admiral because he didn't want to protect the Celestial Dragons was little more than his final act of stubborn resistance.
Over the years, he had rarely set foot in the Sabaody Archipelago.
Because he feared that, just like that young man many years ago, he might not be able to suppress the impulses in his heart.
After letting out a sigh, Garp quickly returned to his usual carefree self and turned around to play with his eldest grandson.
His leave wasn't very long. Once it ended, he'd have to find someone to help raise the boy.
"Luffy..."
"When you grow up, you must become a brave Marine like your grandpa!"
The moment those words left his mouth, baby Luffy burst into loud wails.
Garp blinked.
"Don't tell me you want to be like that useless father of yours? That's not happening. Grandpa will definitely raise you into a powerful Marine!"
"Waaah! Waaah!"
Luffy's cries only grew louder.
Before long, Garp was sweating bullets. No matter how much he tried to soothe him, nothing worked.
In the end, Bell-mère happened to pass by and came inside.
She quickly discovered that Luffy had simply wet himself.
After taking care of the mess, Bell-mère smiled.
"He's about the same age as Nami. They could become playmates in the future."
At that moment, Garp looked as though he had found a savior.
Rubbing his hands together awkwardly, he said:
"Well... could I trouble you to look after little Luffy in the future? Once my leave is over, there won't be anyone to take care of him, so..."
???
Bell-mère was stunned.
So after helping out for a moment, she was somehow about to pick up another kid?
"You know I already have two children at home, so..."
Garp waved his hand grandly.
"This old man will pay!"
New World, Marine G-5 Base.
After his main body returned to the Base Commander's office, Rowen didn't dismiss his Shadow Clone. Instead, he headed into a side room, allowing his soul to enter the Prison Space.
At this moment, the Sin Value displayed atop the prison platform had already exceeded 5.59 million.
Thanks to the Revolutionary Army's expansion across the seas, even though they continued following a low-profile development strategy, Rowen still made a trip through the New World every month to harvest Sin Value.
However, compared to the Celestial Dragons, whose Sin Values had exploded thanks to their dependence on Heavenly Tribute, ordinary pirates and nobles of various kingdoms simply couldn't compare in terms of the impact they caused.
Up until now, only Roger's final words on the execution platform could rival them.
Perhaps if he'd waited another minute back then, and if Shimotsuki Hikoichiro and Sengoku hadn't stolen the kill, those words spreading throughout the world might have generated Sin Value equivalent to several Celestial Dragons.
Rowen stepped onto the platform.
Rather than immediately spending his Sin Value to exchange for a Diamond Treasure Chest, he first pulled out a slip of paper.
[Bloodline, Physique...]
[Dragon Ball World: Saiyan Bloodline]
[Naruto World: Ōtsutsuki Bloodline]
[Dragon Ball World: Ki]
[Bleach World: Hōgyoku]
The list on the slip of paper wasn't very long. The truth was, Rowen hadn't watched that many anime in his previous life.
From the Bronze Treasure Chest all the way to now, as he prepared to open his second Diamond Treasure Chest, he had spent years testing, speculating, and gradually understanding the Prison Space.
The heart's deepest desire, materialized through Sin Value.
What abilities or items he obtained depended entirely on what he longed for most deep within his subconscious.
The Flying Nimbus, the Rooster Talisman, the Flying Thunder God Technique...
All of them were abilities that enhanced mobility.
Or rather, abilities that helped him survive.
Back in Rasgap Town in the West Blue, Kuma had sent him away from danger, but the terror he had experienced during the God Valley incident as a child had carved itself into his bones.
Only after obtaining the Flying Thunder God Technique did he finally gain a true guarantee of survival.
And later...
The Sabaody Archipelago.
That wondrous island from his memories.
In the original story, the darkness had been softened, the bloodshed glossed over.
But the real Sabaody Archipelago was a living hell for ordinary people.
Each of his three executions of Celestial Dragons had shown him another piece of the world's true face.
After graduating from the Marine training camp, he and Kuzan had carried out countless missions.
Most involved pirates raiding World Government member nations.
A smaller portion involved member nations invading non-member nations, only to lose and desperately call for Marine support to save them.
Pirates were a cancer.
The Heavenly Tribute was a cancer as well.
The Marine Headquarters' upper ranks wanted stability across the seas.
Meanwhile, most branch colonels in the Four Blues cared only about their own interests.
It was during that period that his first Diamond Treasure Chest had produced a Zanpakutō.
The release phrase of Ryūjin Jakka differed from the one in his memories.
By the time he killed his third Celestial Dragon, Rowen had already begun to suspect why.
This Zanpakutō was indeed Ryūjin Jakka, but it was not Captain Commander Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka.
The six-thousand-degree flames at its core came from his own understanding of Ryūjin Jakka, not because Yamamoto's Shikai had originally possessed such characteristics.
The instant high-speed sword technique, Fushizan, was the same.
Standing atop the prison platform, Rowen repeatedly reviewed the words written on the paper.
Power is not the only thing needed to change the world.
But it is necessary.
The World Government had revealed only a tiny fraction of its true strength.
One Fleet Admiral.
Three Admirals.
And a collection of Vice Admirals.
Those were merely the tip of the iceberg.
There was CP.
The Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's Army atop the Red Line.
The mysterious dark horse from the Criminal Investigation Bureau.
Kong, who had risen to become Commander-in-Chief of all military forces.
The Five Elders in the Room of Authority.
And beyond them...
The throne that stood above the weapons of the Twenty Kings.
The throne the world believed to be forever empty.
Imu.
If he wanted to change this world, ideology alone would never be enough.
Ideas were what the World Government feared most.
But ideas without power would simply be reduced to ashes by a Buster Call, just like Ohara.
And a Buster Call was only a fraction of the World Government's strength.
That was why, despite possessing the Flying Thunder God Technique and the scorching flames of Ryūjin Jakka, Rowen had never chosen to storm Mary Geoise and harvest Sin Value there.
The Flying Thunder God allowed him to travel freely across the seas.
But his memories also contained a clear description of the Warp-Warp Fruit.
When Van Augur explained the extent of his fruit's development, he had admitted that he still couldn't instantly teleport between islands and needed more time to adapt.
That alone proved that, once developed far enough, the Warp-Warp Fruit was capable of linking entire islands through teleportation.
Compared to the Flying Thunder God Technique, each ability had its own strengths and weaknesses.
Flying Thunder God wasn't affected by Seastone.
The Warp-Warp Fruit didn't require spatial markers.
In that case, would Mary Geoise, which had stood at the pinnacle of the world for eight hundred years, really be helpless against someone with teleportation?
And there was also the Door-Door Fruit.
This world possessed all kinds of bizarre Devil Fruit abilities.
Not to mention the legendary Mythical Zoans.
Trying to make a fortune in Mary Geoise might very well end with him leaving his life behind.
A million Sin Value vanished in an instant.
More than 590,000 Sin Value remained, and the number was still increasing slowly.
There were over a dozen new arrivals in the prison from yesterday who hadn't finished burning yet.
After letting out a breath, Rowen reached out and brushed his hand across the treasure chest.
A card?
And only one?
Momentarily stunned, Rowen pulled the card out.
[One Piece World Talent: Steel Bone]
(Kong's physique/talent)
After putting the card away, Rowen sat down atop the prison platform.
With a wave of his hand, every prison corridor was sealed, and the entire prison fell silent.
Materializing abilities he knew and desired through his thoughts that had been Rowen's understanding of the Prison Space until now.
That was why, before opening this chest, he had prepared that list.
He had wanted to fully master the power of Ryūjin Jakka's Shikai.
Yet the result had once again exceeded his expectations.
The Iron Body talent wasn't part of his plans at all.
After all, compared to something like a Saiyan bloodline with planet-destroying potential, this seemed insignificant.
Wait.
Before this, from Bronze Chests all the way to Diamond Chests, he had never once obtained anything related to physiques, bloodlines, or innate talents.
The only exception was this card.
A native-world talent card:
Iron Body.
The same suspicion surfaced once more.
Whether it was the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Rooster Talisman, or Ryūjin Jakka, all of them originally required energy systems from their respective worlds.
Chakra.
Spiritual Pressure.
Yet after arriving in this world, those requirements had transformed into Haki and physical stamina.
Ryūjin Jakka's Shikai required Conqueror's Haki to release and stamina to maintain.
The Rooster Talisman and Flying Thunder God Technique directly consumed physical energy.
In other words all of those manifested abilities ultimately operated within the framework of this world.
And the same should apply to physiques, bloodlines, and talents.
A Saiyan bloodline.
An Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
Their fundamental nature was tied to Ki and Chakra.
Unlike the manifested abilities he had obtained, their very foundations did not belong to this world.
Which meant that when he attempted to obtain a physique or talent, the system's final result could only be a Diamond-tier native talent from this world:
Iron Body.
Thinking this far, Rowen slowly raised his head and looked around the vast emptiness surrounding him.
The prison corridors.
The guards' quarters.
The platform.
The numerical counter.
A question emerged in his heart.
Why could this so-called Sin Value materialize these powers in the first place?
After all...
The term "Sin Value" was something he had named himself.
The number displayed atop the platform had never actually been labeled as "Sin Value."
It was merely a string of numbers.
Back in the Sorbet Kingdom of the North Blue, when he viewed people through the prison's unique perspective, street thugs typically possessed two-digit values.
Ordinary civilians usually had single digits.
Some even had values of one or two.
There were even people with negative numbers.
Because of that, he had naturally assumed the numbers represented sin.
Later, after repeatedly experimenting with treasure chests, he learned that what materialized depended largely on what he knew and desired.
For a long time, that seemed like a reasonable explanation.
Yet now...
Sitting silently atop the platform, with the prison muted around him, Rowen frowned and began examining the true nature of his so-called cheat.
First its foundation seemed to originate from this world itself.
Second, Celestial Dragons consistently possessed values far greater than ordinary people.
Third: The black flames were unimaginably painful, and extracting value from someone yielded only a single point per minute.
...and those facts seemed to point toward a truth he had yet to uncover.
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