At that moment, Rowan realized something.
Whether it was chakra, mana, Nen, or Haki, they were all very likely just different manifestations of life force within the body.
Each world had its own way of using life force, so the end results looked completely different.
It was like coal and diamonds.
At first glance, they seemed to have nothing to do with each other, but both were fundamentally made of carbon.
It was just their atomic structure that differed, and that difference created two entirely different forms.
Rowan felt chakra, mana, Nen, and Haki were the same.
At the core of all of them was life force.
Because that life force mixed with different things, it produced all kinds of variations.
But no matter how much they changed, their essence stayed the same.
That was why these powers had so many similarities.
The moment he understood this, he felt the golden gate inside him tremble slightly. The massive amount of mana in his body rapidly transformed into chakra.
Then, almost immediately, the chakra rapidly transformed into Armament Haki.
Logically speaking, Armament Haki was something you could only awaken once your body met a certain standard, and Rowan's physical condition still wasn't nearly there yet.
But he had undeniably gained Armament Haki.
Then, with a thought, Rowan transformed the Armament Haki back into mana.
Tobirama and Serie noticed it at once and turned to look at him.
"How did you do that?" Serie asked curiously.
Rowan didn't hide anything and told her what he was thinking.
Serie tilted her head and said, "I understand the principle. Even if they all share the same core in life force, what method did you use to turn coal into diamond?"
Understanding something didn't mean you could actually do it.
Rowan shrugged. "To be exact, it wasn't me doing it. It's an ability the golden gate gave me, letting me convert different power systems from different worlds into one another."
"Interesting." Tobirama's eyes lit up. "Can that ability be granted to us as well?"
If he could turn chakra into mana, then he could immediately start using magic.
Even Serie looked at Rowan with surprise, her eyes full of desire.
Rowan shook his head. "Not right now. The golden gate is still too weak. Once I repair it further, I might be able to give that ability to all of you."
Tobirama was a little disappointed, but not too much.
After all, just because Rowan couldn't do it now didn't mean he'd never be able to. As long as there was hope, that was enough.
He quickly put the matter aside and went back to discussing magic and ninjutsu with Serie.
He even began considering how the two systems might be combined.
Serie was interested in that as well.
Seeing the man and the elf lose themselves completely in the discussion, Rowan turned and left, returning to the world of One Piece.
By the time he got back, Minato Namikaze and Kanae had both regained consciousness.
"Are you two alright?" Rowan stepped forward and asked with concern.
Both Minato and Kanae shook their heads.
Other than being knocked out, they were actually fine.
Minato asked curiously, "Rowan, who exactly is Lady Serie? Why did she awaken such terrifying Conqueror's Haki the moment she gained it?"
He was the Yellow Flash, a man who had fought his way through war and seen countless powerful people.
Even Hashirama's Conqueror's Haki hadn't knocked him out.
Yet Serie had done it effortlessly.
That was unbelievable.
Rowan thought for a moment, then explained Serie's background to them.
When they heard it, everyone was shocked. Minato said in astonishment, "So Lady Serie is basically an existence on the same level as the Sage of Six Paths."
"No. The Sage of Six Paths doesn't even deserve to be compared with Serie. If I had to compare her to someone, she's more like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—but far more overwhelming."
Rowan corrected him.
Minato immediately understood. No wonder Serie had awakened such horrifying Conqueror's Haki.
"Where is Lady Serie now?" Minato asked. When he woke up, she was already gone.
Rowan said, "She's very interested in the ninjutsu of your world, so right now she's talking magic and ninjutsu with Tobirama."
Hearing that, Minato looked oddly proud.
He hadn't expected that someone like her would be interested in ninjutsu at all.
Rowan smiled and changed the subject.
"Alright, let's head to the Baratie and bring Robin, Nami, and Karin back."
Kanae nodded immediately.
Rowan pushed open an air door and stepped into the Baratie.
The moment he entered, he saw a familiar face.
A man with a scar on his face, a straw hat on his head, a red vest, blue shorts, and a carefree grin.
Monkey D. Luffy.
The protagonist of the One Piece world had finally appeared.
Rowan turned and, sure enough, standing beside Luffy was a green-haired man carrying three swords.
Zoro.
Even though Rowan had already pulled Nico Robin away in this world, wiped out the Arlong Pirates, and caused a small ripple in the story, that little butterfly effect clearly hadn't changed the meeting between Luffy and Zoro.
The two of them had still met and still made it to the Baratie.
Honestly, Rowan had no idea how they'd gotten here without Nami guiding them.
After all, one of them had zero sense of direction, and the other didn't know the first thing about navigation. Crossing the sea with a combination like that was basically pure luck.
But then again… didn't this crew seem like it was missing someone?
At the moment, Luffy had somehow learned that Nami was a navigator, and was currently pestering her, trying to get her to join his ship in that role.
"Come on, please! Join my ship and be our navigator!"
His attitude was sincere.
Unfortunately for him, Nami had absolutely no interest in humoring him. She said impatiently, "I said no. Stop bothering me. There's no way I'm getting on your ship."
"Why not?" Luffy asked, completely baffled.
"Because I hate pirates more than anything."
Nami's expression was full of raw disgust.
Before Luffy ever saved her, her hometown had been squeezed dry by the Arlong Pirates, and in order to protect the village, she had been forced to deal with them and suffer through endless hardship.
Her hatred for pirates ran bone-deep.
In the original story, when she first met Luffy and learned he was a pirate, she abandoned him without hesitation and even stole the ship he and the others were using.
If Luffy hadn't later defeated the Arlong Pirates and saved both Nami and her village, there was no way she would have joined his ship so easily.