He had used this tactic more than once to eliminate pirates with bounties in the millions.
As the moves unfolded, the Marines who were originally preparing to help actually stopped in their tracks, content to watch the show.
"The boss is using that move again!"
"It has to be the boss; his coordination with Kus is seamless."
At this moment, they could almost see the scene of Rowan having his legs cleaved by Colonel Nezumi or his head blown open by the flintlock.
However, what happened next was not quite what they had imagined.
Slap!
A crisp, loud sound of a palm hitting flesh rang out. The Marines didn't even see the white-haired old man move, yet they saw Kus's muscular body whipped away like a human spinning top, performing high-difficulty aerial rotations.
Even after hitting the ground, he continued to spin in place.
Meanwhile, Colonel Nezumi, who had been attacking Rowan's lower half alongside Lieutenant Kus, was also spinning in circles. But unlike Kus, Nezumi wasn't spinning vertically; he was spinning horizontally on his backside, centered on his center of gravity.
It looked as though he had been struck across the face with a whip.
Looking at Kus, who had practically drilled a small pit into the ground with his head, and then at Colonel Nezumi, who lay unconscious like a dead dog at Rowan's feet, the Marines' cheers came to a grinding halt.
"What... what just happened?"
"Why are Colonel Nezumi and Lieutenant Kus...?"
"Did you see anything?"
The routine that Colonel Nezumi and Lieutenant Kus had used with unfailing success was so utterly defenseless before this old man?
It was now crystal clear: this old man was not an "imposter" as Nezumi had claimed. He was the real deal—the retired Marine Vice Admiral, Rowan.
Sss...
Phew~
Rowan raised his pipe, took a deep drag, and exhaled a long, thick cloud of smoke. He looked at the Marines, who were now standing as stiff as wooden chickens, and chuckled. "What? Do you lot intend to avenge Nezumi?"
The moment he finished speaking, every Marine in the orchard dropped to their knees without hesitation and began begging for mercy.
Are you joking? The man standing before them was the legendary Rowan. Unlike Colonel Nezumi, they didn't harbor the delusion that they could arm-wrestle with such a figure. They knew exactly where they stood.
Like leader, like soldiers...
After a silent jab at their lack of spine, two notifications rang out in Rowan's mind.
[System Prompt: Host defeated the Marine disgrace Colonel Nezumi. Gained Nami's favor. Faith Points +5]
[System Prompt: Host defeated the Marine disgrace Colonel Nezumi. Gained Nojiko's favor. Faith Points +3]
Hearing this, Rowan turned his head to see Nami, already reduced to tears, and Nojiko, her face filled with profound gratitude.
Rowan didn't stay long after returning to Cocoyasi Village for the second time. About half a day later, after placing a call to Marine Headquarters to handle Nezumi and the 16th Branch base, Rowan and Luffy sailed to a deserted island.
"Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!"
On the edge of the deserted island, Luffy let out a low shout. He whipped his arm back, his body coiled like a javelin thrower, and then snapped his arm forward, hurling a stone roughly the size of a fist.
Whiz!
The stone tore through the air like a bullet, shrieking toward the distance. After counting to three seconds, Luffy stomped the ground and shouted again.
"Soru!"
Luffy's body transformed into a red blur, chasing after the flying stone. Approximately two seconds later, a sharp Clack! echoed from the distance. It was the sound of Luffy catching the stone mid-flight.
If anyone else saw this, their jaw would drop. Luffy's speed had reached a terrifying level. The stone thrown using his rubber powers was no slower than a bullet fired from a flintlock. Yet, after giving the stone a three-second head start, Luffy managed to catch it in less than two.
This speed was already comparable to the Soru of a Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral. The youngest Rear Admirals at Headquarters were usually over thirty, but Luffy was only fifteen! This talent, whether at Headquarters or in the New World, was top-tier.
Luffy ran back, chest puffed out, ready to report his progress to Rowan. Under the shade of a tree, Rowan was roasting an entire elephant over a bonfire. Without even turning around, he spoke:
"Still too slow!"
Luffy's grin froze. He pouted. "Great-Grandpa, even this is too slow?"
Rowan glanced at the dejected boy. "The speed at which you threw that stone wasn't even that fast, and it took you nearly two seconds to catch it. How is that not slow?"
"Don't get complacent over a little progress. When Ace was your age, he could do it in nearly one second."
"What? Ace was that fast?" Determination instantly flared in Luffy's eyes. "If Ace could do it, so can I! I'm not losing the Pirate King title to you!"
Muttering to himself, Luffy jumped back onto the beach and resumed his stone-throwing training.
The deserted island became the stage for a peculiar scene: Rowan sat comfortably in the shade, drinking strong liquor and roasting an elephant, while Luffy sprinted back and forth along the long shoreline, throwing stones and chasing them with Soru. He repeated the motion over a hundred times in a short window.
Eventually, after throwing a relatively slow stone, Luffy failed to catch it. He collapsed onto the sand with a thud, gasping for air.
"I'm done... Great-Grandpa, I can't move anymore. I need a break," Luffy panted, his tongue lolling out.
"Stamina's gone already?" Rowan turned and tossed a bottle of tangerine juice brought from Cocoyasi. "Drink this and rest for fifteen minutes. Then back to training."
With that, Rowan went back to his roast. Because the elephant was so massive, it would take a while to cook through. Luffy would have to wait for his feast.
"Fifteen minutes? Isn't that too short?"
Despite his complaints, Luffy's body was honest. He downed the juice in two gulps. Sitting up as his energy began to trickle back, he scratched his head.
"Great-Grandpa, how much further do I have to go to 'master' this move? And does doing this over and over really help me in a fight?"
"Brat, getting impatient already?" Rowan took a swig of liquor and looked at the confused boy.
"This exercise builds both speed and explosive power. And, as you've noticed, it trains your endurance. If you can't master the basics of movement, forget conquering the Grand Line—you won't even survive the first half."
"As for what 'mastery' looks like..."
Rowan stood up and picked up a stone similar in size to the ones Luffy had been using.
"Watch closely. When you can do it like this, you can graduate."
"Great-Grandpa's level?"
Luffy's spirit surged. He widened his eyes, determined not to miss a single frame of Rowan's movement.
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