Ignoring Hikichiro's urgency, Rowan gave him two hundred thousand Beli and disappeared from the room.
Before leaving, he also placed a coordinate on Hikichiro's back, hidden from sight.
Wano's Pluton was important for overthrowing Mary Geoise in the future. But for now, Rowan was not strong enough to face Kaido.
He had a clear understanding of his own strength.
His Armament Haki emission had just begun. His Observation Haki had not even touched the level of future sight. As for Conqueror's coating, that was even further away.
If he faced Kaido now, defeat was certain.
As for Whitebeard, Rowan had no intention of bringing in the Whitebeard Pirates for Wano.
There were still three years.
The Revolutionary Army was growing rapidly.
The will of revolution was like seeds planted in soil. Once they took root, those with strong conviction would emerge one after another.
If Whitebeard's crew was brought in, even if Kaido was driven away easily, the final authority would not necessarily belong to the Revolutionary Army. It could fall to Whitebeard, or to both Whitebeard and Oden.
That outcome was uncertain.
They believed in a future twenty years later, but Rowan did not want to wait.
Or rather, with his existence, whether Luffy would still have that same luck was no longer certain.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
As the sun rose, the shadow clone dispersed, returning a night's worth of calm memories to Rowan.
Coming out of the bathroom, his roommate, the swordsman Shinichi, had just returned.
"With how lazy you are, I will definitely defeat you before the training camp ends and head to the New World."
Rowan, who had not slept all night, yawned.
"Yeah, yeah. Trash might become recyclable trash someday. You stay here, I'll go back to the West Blue and keep being my executioner."
This kind of exchange had happened countless times over the past month.
At first, they would fight after just a few words, and Shinichi would get slapped senseless.
Later, it became routine verbal sparring with no physical fights.
As for reporting him?
Rowan had no idea why this guy refused to complain no matter how badly he was beaten.
The morning training focused on Observation Haki.
The location was the indoor training hall.
Each trainee stood in a small square space, limiting their movement.
Once the machine started, arrows without heads would be fired.
First one, then two, then more.
A simple setup, but extremely effective for training instinctive awareness.
Some trainees whose willpower was not up to standard would come out covered in bumps after just one attempt.
As for Rowan, this method no longer helped him.
Instead, he trained separately under Zephyr, along with Dibaru and Shinichi.
"You three are the worst batch I've ever trained."
Zephyr looked at Dibaru. "What, not convinced?"
"Nine years ago, Borsalino and Sakazuki's batch had two monsters. Logia users, both with haki above standard."
"Seven years ago, Kuzan was also recognized as a monster."
"And now? You were all defeated by a West Blue branch major."
Rowan raised his hand. "I'm a headquarters major now, Instructor Zephyr."
A glint flashed across Zephyr's glasses. "You want to talk? Then explain how you got that rank."
After shutting Rowan down, Zephyr continued.
"One person barely above the haki standard wiped all of you out. Isn't that the definition of the weakest batch?"
"I told you before. Devil Fruit abilities are only support. On this sea, haki is the foundation of strength. Orl is the perfect example."
Dibaru and Shinichi glanced at Rowan.
After their first group attack failed, they had tried again the next day.
The result was the same.
They preferred not to remember the process.
At least now, Shinichi had learned not to pick a fight again.
Zephyr then began explaining Armament Haki emission, demonstrating repeatedly.
To Rowan, however, Zephyr's haki no longer reached admiral level.
He could still use techniques like emission, but his will had weakened. At the core, he was declining.
That explained why, years later, he would lose an arm to Weevil.
Time passed quickly.
Repeatedly trying to push the remaining haki out of his arm drained stamina rapidly.
That heat flowing within the body was haki.
Releasing it outward to deal damage without contact was emission.
The theory was simple, but haki came from will.
Sensing and controlling it required unwavering resolve.
Dibaru struggled.
But Shinichi's blade began to show visible changes.
Rowan glanced at him.
What kind of story was this guy carrying?
Zephyr had only been teaching emission for a little over a week.
Yet Shinichi had already made progress.
Noticing Rowan's gaze, Shinichi smirked. "I will stay. I will go to the New World. Someone like you would never understand my resolve."
Rowan clicked his tongue.
Turning around, his right arm turned black with Armament Haki.
He threw a punch, stopping two centimeters before a massive stone block.
"Boom!"
The stone exploded from the back.
Shinichi froze.
Was that on purpose?
Had he already mastered it?
Dibaru was equally stunned.
He had not even grasped the basics yet.
"So whether it's dry trash or wet trash doesn't matter," Rowan said casually. "I'll deal with you the same way anyway."
"If this is what you call resolve, then it's nothing but a joke."
Shinichi's body trembled.
But in the end, he exhaled and turned back to training, trying to recreate that feeling with every strike.
The day ended quickly.
And tonight, Rowan had no intention of resting.
The locations Tesoro gave him last night… one of them should hit the mark.
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