Chapter 156
[Mariejois, Pangaea Castle; September 8th, 1522]
Silence.
All five elders, who were dwelling within the room, were seen to be in deep thoughts of their own.
They've just received the report of the incident of the Coconut Seal from the marines.
They tried to deny one particular possibility over and over. They wished to believe that it wasn't true. However, eventually, they were forced to admit,
"Vasilia... continues to exist."
One elder among the five slowly stated with shaky tone.
There was no way that they won't know about this. Their ancestors, who governed the whole world under the immortal king, Imu, have thoroughly recorded the danger of the heritage named Vasilia, and highlighted the extent in which they went just for the purpose of ensuring the complete annihilation of the kingdom.
The family of outstanding strength, whom the twenty other royalties didn't dare to oppose until the sudden arrival of Imu. Among them, the heir of each generation was said to have the mystical eyes named the Eyes of Gorgon, which granted their users an incredible augmentation of the Conqueror's Haki.
"But how did they survive?! According to the records, our ancestors searched the whole world over and over until their deaths, and such a pursuit has continued for generations after them! Is there really no other explanation for Grimheart's case?! Are those with the surname of 'Youchiha' truly the descendants of Vasilia?!!"
"Face the truth." The tall elder with long moustache shook his head solemnly, "Grimheart, Youchiha B. Rowan... he is the heir to the family of Vasilia."
"But it isn't too late. We still have the chance." Another elder, the only one with glasses, stated seriously, "Red. We asked the informant countless times if such is the right way to depict the colour of his eyes. We even acquired the photograph, and we've confirmed. His eyes... they haven't fully matured yet."
The final elder with curvy moustache and bald hair, who hasn't spoken yet, asked stoically, "...Should we inform this matter to Imu-sama?"
All four elders froze as if they heard something ridiculous.
"No! We... we can't have Imu-sama to find such a critical fault within the works of our ancestors. You know just what kind of king he is!"
An elder with short blonde hair said grimly, "He... is a ruthless one. The failure in which our ancestors weren't punished for... will fall upon us instead."
"M-my bad." The elder with curvy moustache nodded as he sweated profusely.
"Right now, we have to catch Grimheart and all his family members, who go by the name 'Youchiha,' as quick as possible! Our agents, marines, mercenaries, anything!!! We have to use all we got!!"
"Just when we thought that everything was going smoothly, with the primary candidate of Joy Boy being caught... Vasilia of all had to resurface!!!"
The elder with glasses and bald head took in a deep breath, calming himself down. Then, with cold gleam, he spoke up stoically,
"Calm yourselves. It isn't the end of the world yet. Vasilia, in the end, is bound to collapse as long as their king is gone from the picture. Grimheart... he's the only one whom we should be focusing on.
Moreover, Grimheart, so far, has made numerous enemies. Blackbeard, Marine, us, and now, two Emperors—Kaidou and Big Mom—as well."
"Huu... that's right." The elder with blonde hair too took in a deep breath as he nodded, "Judging by the known characteristics of Kaidou and Big Mom, they won't let go of their grudges against Grimheart, especially since their valuable subordinates either received an irreversible injury or... died."
"A mutual hatred for one particular individual who also serves as the potential rival for the throne of the Pirate King. Judging by these facts alone, I suspect that the world may face the birth of the most powerful pirate alliance of the history."
"But according to the intel, Grimheart was able to match the combined strengths of them with his own. Two Emperors... haa, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but Kaidou and Big Mom may not be enough to bring Grimheart down." The tall elder sighed while wiping his sweat.
The elder with glasses narrowed his eyes, "Are you saying that he is as dangerous as Rocks D. Xebec?"
"If such an assessment is an overestimation of Grimheart's strength, then I'd gladly accept it. No, an overestimation is necessary here. After all," The tall elder gulped, "he is the Vasilia."
The elder with curvy moustache placed his palm on his forehead and closed his eyes. Massaging his temple to ease his headache, he spoke up in a weak manner, "We will have to raise his and his crew's bounties once again.
Additionally, call all the Warlords to hunt down the Grimheart pirates. Use our underworld connections with Joker as medium to contact with Kaidou and Big Mom. Hire the strong mercenaries. Inform the Marine to prioritize the capture of Grimheart over all else. I suppose... that about this much is what we are able to do at the current moment."
The other four elders nodded.
"Our one final chance."
_____________
[Raijin, 3 Days After; September 11th, 1522]
Raijin. It was an infamous island that served as one of the three possible routes from the Fish-Man island. The island was said to be dangerous to all sailors, for its proximity is always struck by the restless bolts of lightning.
*PAZZZZZ*
And it indeed did live up to its reputation. With the whole island being surrounded by countless strikes of lightning, from afar, it seemed unapproachable.
However, never did anyone know that at the shore of such an island, one large ship sat by: Prominence.
Unbothered by the continuous thunders that rumbled throughout the whole island over and over, three members of the Grimheart pirates: Dan, Alfred, and Urouge, were seen to be fixing the broken sections of the ship.
"Do we have enough, Dan?!" Urouge, who was hammering the side of the Prominence with a goggle on his eyes, turned around and asked Dan.
"Huh? What did you say?!" However, due to the loud thunders, Dan was unable to hear what Urouge said.
"What did you say just now?!" The problem is, Urouge too didn't understand Dan's words.
*PAZZZZZ*
Interestingly though, none of the lethal lightning bolts was striking the Prominence. This was only possible thanks to many tall metal rods that lied at some distance away from the ship; they served as the lightning rods that prevented the lightning strikes from damaging the Prominence.
"Haa..." Alfred, who was inspecting the dials at the bottom of the Prominence, couldn't help but sigh, "They are broken. The dials... it seems that an autonomous flight is no longer an option for us, until we find the replacements."
And frankly speaking, there was no way at the current moment to find suitable replacements for those broken dials. In order for the Prominence to fly, Rowan's fruit ability has once again become a necessity.
While the three of them worked on the outside, the other members of the crew were seen to be in a fragile-looking house that was surrounded by the tall metal rods.
Rowan, who had the fresh bandages wrapped around his whole body like a mummy, crossed his arms as he squinted his eyes toward the newspaper in Carina's hands.
"How?" Cavendish couldn't help but exclaim with a sense of amazement, "Are you saying that the News Coo safely went through all these lightning strikes and delivered the newspaper?"
"No, save that." Rowan narrowed his eyes, "How did the World Economy Newspaper track us down?"
Carina chuckled as she showed Rowan the date of the news, "Look, it's the outdated one from three days ago. It wasn't that they tracked us down, but that they flew from a place to place until they've found us. As for how they managed to get through the lightning... don't ask me, hehe."
The newspaper primarily contained the thorough information regarding the Coconut Seal. The intrusion of Buena Festa, the story behind the sudden advertisements of the non-existent auction, gathering of powerhouses, and then a chaotic competition.
Among the report, if there was one thing that shocked the whole world, it probably was the fact that Rowan managed to fight two Emperors on his own. The rate of his growth was simply astounding, for just few months ago, he was a rookie whose strength paled behind a Marine Admiral.
And it wasn't just him. Along with the previous defeat of Douglas Bullet and the full capability of his crew having been revealed, there now existed no doubt that Rowan was indeed the fourth and final Emperor of the New World. Once again, their bounties have received another increase:
<'Flying' Farul. Wanted Alive. Bounty: 8,000,000 Beli.
'Mad Monk' Urouge. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 150,000,000 Beli.
'Devil Child' Nico Robin. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 171,000,000 Beli.
'Flame Empress' Carmen. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 490,000,000 Beli.>
The four of them weren't seen to have received much increase in their bounties. After all, they haven't showcased as much in this incident, and the Marine assessed that their prowesses haven't improved as much. However, as for the other five...
<'Maniacal Butler' Alfred. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 306,000,000 Beli.>
Alfred, who was identified to have eaten a strong Mythical Zoan, had his bounty tripled in one go.
<'Pirate Prince' Cavendish. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 830,000,000 Beli.>
Cavendish, who managed to go toe to toe against the Marine Admiral, Tokikake, for a brief moment, had his bounty almost doubled. Along with Carina and Dan, he was now considered as one of the three most dangerous individuals under Rowan.
"Guahaha!!! Sucks to you, Carmen!!!" Cavendish immediately stood up and started dancing in joy.
Carmen was frowning; she seemed to have received a blow on her pride.
<'Black Mask' Dan. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 1,051,000,000 Beli.>
With Dan being known to the Marine as an individual who was able to hold down Queen and sufficiently damage latter, as well as his increasing mastery over the Rumble Rumble fruit, Dan received a bounty that was over one billion Beli.
Cavendish was seen to be standing still with his jaw open wide. If Dan was present, he would've been snickering at the former in mockery.
<'Phantom' Decarine. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 1,350,000,000 Beli.>
The title of the vice captain of the Grimheart pirates. The user of the versatile fruit named Teleport Teleport fruit. Within this battle, she not only severed Katakuri's arm, but dealt the finishing blow to Queen, who was well-known to have a tough body. Therefore, she received a bounty that was just slightly above Queen's bounty prior to his death.
And now, as for Rowan, who wasn't only able to go on par with Kaidou and Linlin by himself, but also had his identity as Vasilia revealed, received a tremendous bounty that the world hasn't seen for a long time.
<'Grimheart' Youchiha B. Rowan. Only Dead. Bounty: 4,800,000,000 Beli.>
It was the second highest bounty of this era!
"...Ha. I can see what those b******s up there are thinking." Rowan, who read the newspaper with everyone, chuckled, "We not only made those two Emperors to suffer the terrible losses, but I now have a bounty greater than them. Along with Robin as part of my crew... now, they will no doubt think that I am the one closest to One Piece."
Carina's eyes sharpened in realization, "The World Government wants them to join their hands."
Rowan nodded, "Which is ridiculous. Those balance-loving fools are now actively trying to destroy that so-called balance. So that's how important the matter of Vasilia is, eh?"
Robin, who was sitting with a serious expression on her face, asked Carina, "There's something else than just the newspaper, isn't there?"
Carina's eyes widened in a pleasant surprise, before taking out the tightly-sealed envelope from her pouch.
"Nice catch."
Robin smiled, "After all, there's got to be a reason why they were trying so hard to get the newspaper to us."
Rowan, who received the envelope from Carina, opened the envelope and read through it. Its sender was none other than...
"Monkey D. Dragon?!"
Rowan and Carina looked at each other in disbelief, before laughing out uncontrollably,
"BOHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
The other members of the crew stared at them in confusion.
_____________
[Briss, South Blue, One Month After; October 14th, 1522]
"Death of Queen the Plague, and a severed arm from Katakuri among the Four Sweet Commanders."
Sitting on top of the large boulder, one pirate wearing the jailer uniform from the Impel Down, Shiryu of the Rain, muttered with a big cigar in his mouth as he read the newspaper on his hands.
Due to the busy 'schedule' of the Blackbeard pirates within the South Blue, they were able to receive the news only now—especially since the News Coo ceased to send them the newspaper after Vasco Shot killed one for 'fun' last time.
"Grimheart... heh. He surely is an incredible fellow." Shiryu broke into a grin with a cold sweat. Although Rowan was Teach's greatest enemy, Shiryu couldn't help but command the former for his feats.
"Brief clash against Red Hair Shanks. Victory against Demon Heir Douglas Bullet. And now, the battle against Kaidou and Big Mom." Shifting his eyes, Shiryu gazed at the man who was standing at some distance away.
"Teach. Captain. How are you planning to defeat such a foe?" Shiryu whispered with a mix of intrigue and interest. Although he seemed calm on the outside, he was filled with nothing but an exhilaration, for he knew that the next time Rowan and Teach met, there will be a blood bath.
"Murunfufufu." Leaning on the same boulder that Shiryu was sitting onto was Catarina Devon. With a wicked grin, Devon stated with her arms crossed, "Have more trust in our captain, Shiryu. After all, we finally achieved our goal in the South Blue, didn't we?"
Within the month, after having arrived at the calm sea, the Blackbeard pirates were doing what every Morganeer pirates would do.
Kill, plunder, drink, and party!
Upon facing the arrival of such a powerful crew, the whole South Blue was in a turmoil. Along with Blackbeard's persistent pursuit for the Tremor Tremor fruit, no island that they passed through was able to survive.
Of course, all the Marine branches quickly mobilized the troops in an attempt to prevent any further damages. Furthermore, in order to stabilize the South Blue, Sakazuki began to mobilize the troops with Admiral Tokikake in charge.
"Can you feel it?"
Gazing at the distant castle, which was burning and crumbling down, Teach, who stood at the edge of cliff with a dark grin, stated knowingly,
"The whole world has noticed our danger."
Recently, Teach's bounty has received an increase,
<'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach. Wanted Dead or Alive: 1,750,000,000 Beli.>
After all, Teach demolished an entire blue.
"They have become frantic to stop our sail. However... it's too late for them."
Then, Teach clenched his left hand with all his might. In accordance to his action, a potent, circular dome of tremor has come into the existence around his fist.
*Vrooooooom*
The air around Teach trembled as he pulled his fist back. Without a single moment of hesitation, he punched forward toward the burning castle.
*VROOOOOOOOOOOOM*
The whole castle, within seconds, has sunk into the fine grains. The incredible quakes destroyed the castle and all the civilians within the structure in one go, splattering their blood all over.
Teach, ignorant of the deaths of the weak, laughed boisterously as he brought his arms up haughtily.
"ZEHAHAHAHA!!! After so long, we've finally attained it!!! The strongest Paramecia of all!!!"
The members of his crew, who were all relaxing from his back, too cracked in laughter.
Shiryu smirked as he gazed at his hand, which turned invisible at his will; he attained the Clear Clear fruit after 'clearing' the lives within the Thriller Bark—except for one individual.
"L-let me go, if you won't marry me!!" A pink-haired woman with large-sized head, Charlotte Lola, was seen to be cuffed and tied around a rope.
"Now this is what I call an epic comeback." Teach, who now stared at one Vivre Card on his left palm, growled in a low tone,
"Isn't it, Grimheart?"
_____________
[Rice Cracker, Paradise; October 14th, 1522]
"Bwahahaha!! Now this is life!!!" Garp, who was seen to be wearing sunglasses, was laughing heartily as he was munching on a rice cracker in his hands.
Uncaring of what was going around the world, Garp now enjoyed the life free of any worries, travelling from an island to island with a small boat that he himself built. Although the Marine kept him in the rank with the special title of an 'Instructor,' he wasn't someone who'd care.
And was it the coincidence?
"F***! Marimo, where are we?!!" From the distance away, Sanji's angered shout was heard, "You told us that you know how to navigate in the sea!!!!"
"I learned from Borodo." Zoro, who was standing next to Sanji, frowned with his arms crossed, "Trust me. I'm way better than you are, ero-cook!!"
"We're supposed to arrive at the island named 'Nice Boat!!!'" Sanji barked, "This is freaking Rice Cracker!!! We've travelled backward, you idiot!!!!"
"Captain Luffy captain Luffy captain Luffy..." Next to Sanji, Bartolomeo was walking in a slouched form as the depressing aura emanated out of him.
Then, Garp and the trio noticed each other at the same time.
""""Huh?!""""
Garp squinted his eyes, "Aren't you Luffy's crew?!"
""Aren't you Luffy's grandpa?"" Zoro and Sanji said at the same time.
"Bwahaha!! What a coincidence!" Garp grinned excitedly, "So where's Luffy?!"
Sanji, whose eyes had dark bags underneath, dropped to his knees and sighed in relief.
"Thank god...!"
Zoro, who grabbed his arms to stop them from shaking, grinned with a forced confidence, "I told you that I navigated right."
Bartolomeo began to wail.
"C-captain Luffy's grandpaaaaa!!!! Captain Luffy has—"
It was bizarre. Even if Garp was Luffy's grandfather, he was a renowned Marine; the trio should've panicked after having sighted Garp.
However, their reaction was that of a relief, and at this point, Garp knew that something was wrong.
"What's going on?"