Rowan had to admit, he had underestimated the World Government's speed - especially when it involved the Celestial Dragons.
The three of them traveled from Yuba back to Alabasta, arriving at the palace early the next morning.
Rowan had someone take the sleeping Vivi back to her room.
Then, Rowan and Crocodile were about to rest when they saw Cobra looking troubled.
"I just received word that people sent by the World Government are here,"
Cobra said, "They're representatives from the Marines."
"Oh?"
Crocodile raised his eyebrows, "Did a Marine Admiral come?"
Cobra shook his head, "No, two Vice Admirals."
Crocodile was a little surprised, and chuckled darkly, "Heh heh heh, seems like an eight-hundred-year-old emperor is quite the 'threat'!"
At first glance, two Marine Vice Admirals might seem less important than a Marine Admiral.
But Crocodile could see what it really meant.
Sending an Admiral directly would be like declaring war on Rowan himself. Two Vice Admirals were much less aggressive, and showed they wanted to talk and test the waters.
This move by the World Government meant that they didn't want to completely break ties with the man calling himself Ryan Rowan before they knew his true strength.
The reason?
Of course, it was because a Ryan Rowan had actually existed in history!
"Sending two Vice Admirals to test the waters, a very safe move, probably Sengoku's plan."
Crocodile sat down on a chair and laughed, "Who's coming? Momonga? Onigumo?"
"No."
Cobra shook his head again, "It's 'Tsuru' and 'Garp' from the Marine headquarters."
Hearing this, Crocodile's expression changed suddenly.
His eyes trembled slightly, and he seemed to be thinking hard.
After a moment, he gave a dry laugh and looked at Rowan.
"Alright, I admit, I underestimated the name Ryan Rowan."
Tsuru, Garp -
How many people on the sea could make these two "Vice Admirals" move at the same time?
...
According to the information they had, the Marine team would arrive in Alabasta around evening.
Rowan told Cobra to deal with the Fish-Man Village.
Finally, he patted the shoulder of the current King of Alabasta.
"I'm leaving the rest to you!"
Having said that, he went back to his room to rest.
People need rest, especially after traveling for a day and a night.
Seeing this, Cobra felt helpless, but still nodded seriously.
The history books of the Nefertari family record the administrative system of the former Alabasta Empire -
Outwardly, Emperor Ryan Rowan conquered all powerful enemies;
Inwardly, Prime Minister Nefertari handled the complicated government affairs.
Together, they created that incredibly strong and large empire.
And now, Rowan's thinking seemed to be the same.
He didn't care about the title of "King," but continued to move towards the distant goals in his mind.
He had already created an unheard-of Fish-Man Village in the human kingdom!
Cobra sighed, feeling deeply pressured.
Could he compare to Nefertari herself?
After thinking for a while, Cobra got up and continued to handle government affairs.
He needed to arrange for the Royal Guard to pay attention to the sea conditions around Yuba, to prevent other slave traders from finding their way there and disturbing the residents of Yuba and the Fish-Man Village.
It never hurts to do more, and the King, who was always thinking of his people, was always like this.
...
Evening.
Rowan left his room and ate something.
The Marine team seemed to still be on their way, and Rowan was bored of waiting, so he got Igaram, the captain of the Royal Guard, to play chess with him.
Inside the study, the two were sitting on either side of a chessboard.
"Hee hee hee! Ancestor, I don't want to brag, but I'm an expert in Alabasta military chess!"
The curly-haired man made his signature laugh.
As the captain of the guard who had served the Nefertari family for many years, it wasn't strange for Igaram to call Rowan "Ancestor."
According to him, Rowan was the ancestor of the name "Alabasta" itself, and any citizen of the country could call him that.
"Let me have a match with you, Ancestor!"
Igaram smiled confidently.
...
One hour later.
Igaram's confident curly hair was now hanging down.
He trembled as he picked up a chess piece, but couldn't put it down.
"I lost..."
Igaram's expression was quite complicated.
Because it wasn't the first game he had lost, but the tenth!
He had been completely defeated in all ten games!
Igaram's head was spinning, after all, the average length of an Alabasta military chess game was about an hour, longer for experts.
But now, he was losing a whole game in an average of six minutes!
Igaram held his head, remembering the games just now.
Every time he made a move, Rowan would follow immediately, without any hesitation, and without any mistakes or flaws.
Every move seemed to consider the direction of the entire game.
Igaram even had the illusion that the person sitting in front of him wasn't human at all, but a heartless machine that only knew the correct result!
Rowan smiled, looking like he wanted more.
"Let's play another game, how about I give you five pieces this time?"
"That..."
Igaram was a little hesitant. The pressure of playing against Rowan was already making him uncomfortable, but he was too embarrassed to say it directly.
He couldn't take it anymore...
Just as Igaram was about to politely refuse Rowan, an old voice suddenly came from behind him.
"How about letting me play a game too?"
Rowan and Igaram looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old woman with white hair.
She had a simple ponytail, a light blue shirt under, and although her face was full of wrinkles, her deep blue eyes shone with a light that belonged only to young people.
And behind the old woman, was a justice cloak that represented the Marines!
The old woman helped Igaram up and sat down opposite Rowan, as Igaram stared in surprise.
She smiled.
"I know a little about Alabasta military chess, too."
Rowan looked at her, nodded slightly, and gestured, "Ms. Tsuru, after you."
"Ho ho ho, to be called 'Ms.' by an emperor from eight hundred years ago, that's a real honor."
Old Woman Tsuru smiled kindly, but the aura that faintly came from between her eyebrows made Igaram shudder.
Old Woman Tsuru picked up a chess piece and turned to Igaram.
"Young man, you lost badly. Take a break."
Then, Old Woman Tsuru put down her first chess piece.
Just like before, Rowan's chess piece followed immediately.
Igaram frowned slightly as he watched, subconsciously thinking about how to solve this move.
Here? Or there?
No, his head was starting to hurt again...
Old Woman Tsuru smiled and shook her head, slowly picked up another chess piece, and put it down steadily.
This scene stunned Igaram.
Because at the moment when that chess piece landed, the amazing pressure that had been coming from Rowan suddenly disappeared for the most part.
Old Woman Tsuru smiled and taught,
"The chessboard is like the battlefield, never get drawn into the opponent's rhythm, or you'll get tired."
Rowan looked at the chessboard and asked, "Is negotiation and testing the waters the same way?"
Old Woman Tsuru shook her head, "Not necessarily, it depends on the person."
Rowan put down a chess piece and continued to ask, "What if that person is me?"
"In your case, it's best to be direct."
Old Woman Tsuru continued to move her pieces.
The two of them were talking back and forth, like two old friends chatting at home, but Igaram was very clear about how dangerous this scene was!
Both Rowan and the Marine old woman were giving off a suffocating pressure!
Even at the world conference, when all the kings of the member countries were gathered together, very few people could give Igaram such a feeling!
Rowan smiled and shook his head. "How direct should I be?"
Old Woman Tsuru asked directly,
"Who are you? What do you want to do?"
Hearing this, Rowan thought for a while and said slowly,
"The sea is a chessboard."
"The people living in it are chess pieces."
Rowan picked up a chess piece and looked up ahead.
He put the piece down.
"I am, the chess player."
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