After Marco was refused by Rowan, he still didn't give up and wanted to say more, but Whitebeard stopped him.
"Marco, step down."
"Pops."
"Step down!!!"
Whitebeard glared hard at this disappointing son of his. Marco had no choice but to retreat.
After Marco left, Whitebeard let out a heavy sigh and said, "My apologies. I've spoiled my sons too much. I apologize to you on their behalf, my lord."
Who asked for rewards before making any contributions?
Did they really think handing over a little blood gave them the right to make demands of their superior?
If this had been the Rocks Pirates, Marco would have been beaten into the ground long ago for acting like that. Rowan not getting angry immediately had already surprised Whitebeard.
It seemed this new superior was not a short-tempered man.
While Whitebeard felt relieved, he still apologized to Rowan.
Rowan waved it off. "It's fine. Marco was thinking of his comrades. But they really haven't earned any merit yet, so I can't reward them."
"But if you perform actively when we attack the World Government, I won't be stingy with a few Devil Fruits."
Whitebeard silently nodded.
He had personally experienced the benefits of the Phoenix Fruit. If all of his sons could have that kind of ability, their chances of survival would rise by several levels.
Because of that, Whitebeard made up his mind.
When the time came to attack the World Government, he would put his whole heart and strength into it.
At the very least, he had to kill one of the Five Elders and exchange that merit for some benefits for his sons.
Rowan noticed the change in Whitebeard and smiled slightly. After chatting with him for a while, he turned and left.
After returning to Egghead, Nico Robin came to find him and asked,
"How did it go? Did the plan work?"
"Of course." Rowan nodded.
Then he briefly explained what had happened at the time.
After hearing it, Robin smiled and said, "In that case, Marco actually gave us a nice assist."
In Robin's view, Whitebeard lowering his head had only been because of the situation at the time.
Because Rowan's side was powerful and had overwhelming strength, Whitebeard had lowered his head for the sake of his sons.
It was not genuine submission.
So, to prevent the Whitebeard Pirates from doing the bare minimum when it came time to attack the World Government, Robin had specifically told Rowan to reveal the matter of artificial Devil Fruits.
Afterward, he personally delivered the Phoenix Fruit to Whitebeard and cured his illnesses and injuries.
In this way, Whitebeard would owe Rowan a favor.
At that point, as long as Rowan hinted that Whitebeard could earn rewards for his sons by making contributions, Whitebeard's personality guaranteed that he would charge forward and give one hundred and twenty percent when they attacked the World Government.
The entire Whitebeard Pirates would likely do the same.
But Robin hadn't expected Marco to raise the issue on his own, saving Rowan some effort.
That was a pleasant surprise.
Rowan asked curiously, "How did you come up with this kind of scheme? You've got Whitebeard completely figured out."
"Read more history books," Robin said.
Seeing Rowan's confused expression, she added, "History books from your world."
The history of the One Piece world was too short and too tightly controlled by the World Government. Any history unfavorable to the Government would never be left behind.
But Rowan's world was different. Five thousand years of history flowed like a great river, with countless heroes and outstanding figures taking the stage one after another.
Countless schemes and strategies had been recorded openly and honestly.
These histories and strategies had opened Robin's eyes as a historian. Her worldview had expanded all at once.
Manipulating Whitebeard was only a small test. It didn't count for much.
Rowan: "…"
A historian who knew how to study really was something else.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, another half a month went by.
During that half month, Rowan suddenly realized he had become idle.
Ever since the Whitebeard Pirates joined his camp, Rowan no longer had anything important to personally handle.
Because he now had a group of capable subordinates.
After reading Chinese history books, Nico Robin had grown tremendously all at once.
Every day, she helped Rowan handle the matters around him perfectly.
First, she used Morgans's intelligence network to locate the users of the Strong-Strong Fruit, the Warp-Warp Fruit, and the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, capturing all of them.
Then she threw them all to Vegapunk, Orochimaru, and the others for research.
Of course, Robin did not let the Op-Op Fruit user Trafalgar Law or the Magnet-Magnet Fruit user Kid slip away either.
Those two fruits were both extremely powerful Devil Fruits.
They could not be missed.
During this process, Rowan also provided a small bit of help.
He opened doors.
Robin told him where these people were, and Rowan opened doors so that Cu Chulainn, Issho, Heracles, and the others could take action and capture them all.
This not only saved time, but also avoided drawing attention.
So far, not many people knew that their disappearances were Rowan's doing.
It was worth mentioning that after Trafalgar Law was captured and learned he was about to become a test subject, he decisively surrendered. He said his ability could help them research Devil Fruits.
Tsunade, Orochimaru, Vegapunk, and the others discussed it and agreed.
So Trafalgar Law was promoted from test subject to laboratory assistant, helping them research other Devil Fruit users every day.
With Trafalgar's addition, everyone's research improved even further.
By pooling their knowledge, they really did crack Paramecia-type Devil Fruits.
The Warp-Warp Fruit, Strong-Strong Fruit, Bomb-Bomb Fruit, Op-Op Fruit, Magnet-Magnet Fruit, and other Paramecia Devil Fruits were successfully mass-produced.
Alongside the breakthrough in Paramecia fruits, there was also a breakthrough regarding physical constitutions.
After studying races such as the Longarm Tribe, Three-Eye Tribe, Mink Tribe, Giant Tribe, and Oni Tribe, as well as the special constitutions of Charlotte Linlin and Blackbeard, and even Serie's elven blood and the demigod blood of Heracles and Medusa—
Vegapunk, Orochimaru, and the others invented a superhuman serum.
Although the serum's output was low, it was incredibly powerful.
It could grant a person the lifespan and strength of the giant race.
It could grant a person steel-balloon-like defense.
It could also allow a person to eat multiple Devil Fruits at the same time.
So Vegapunk named this serum the Superhuman Serum.
Because once injected, a person would possess physical ability and lifespan beyond ordinary humans.
Even an ordinary person, after receiving the serum, could naturally become a fighter on the level of the Four Emperors.
One had to understand that there were countless humans in the One Piece world.
But those who could become Emperors were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. You could count them on two hands.
And now, as long as someone was injected with the Superhuman Serum, it was the same as receiving a ticket to the realm of the strong.
Rowan was extremely satisfied with this.
Aside from Rowan, Nico Robin, Hashirama, Tobirama, Tsunade, Illya, Sakura, and Rin were also very satisfied with it.
The only ones who were not especially satisfied were Serie and Orochimaru.
The giants of this world had a lifespan of around three hundred years, roughly three times that of humans.
But for an elf like Serie, three hundred years was still too short.
Orochimaru felt the same. What he pursued was immortality. Three hundred years might seem long, but compared to true eternal life, it was still far too short.
He desired an even longer lifespan.
So after the Superhuman Serum was invented, Orochimaru focused all of his attention on lifespan.
He wanted to invent an immortality serum.
Thus, he and Serie immediately hit it off. He obtained some blood from Serie and began a new line of research.
Of course, neither of them was stupid. They knew not to put all their eggs in one basket.
So apart from the immortality serum, they were also searching for another thing that could grant eternal youth and life.
Pure Gold.
In the One Piece world, Pure Gold was an extremely rare metal.
Its exact manufacturing method had already been lost.
But Pure Gold truly had the effect of granting immortality.
In a One Piece movie, a girl named Myskina Olga lived for more than two hundred years thanks to Pure Gold, with almost no change in appearance.
So both of them wanted to obtain Pure Gold.
Unfortunately, Pure Gold had been swallowed by a gigantic lanternfish, and that lanternfish was roaming the depths of the sea.
Finding a gigantic lanternfish in the ocean was not easy.
That was why the two of them were searching for Pure Gold while also trying to invent an immortality serum.
Tobirama was also extremely interested in the immortality serum, so he simply joined them as well.
Tsunade, however, was not interested.
In her view, a lifespan of more than three hundred years was already enough.
Besides, Rowan could travel to other worlds. Maybe before the immortality serum was even invented, Rowan would have already found another way to grant longevity.
Instead of busily researching some immortality serum here, it would be better to strengthen herself.
After all, it would not be many years before the Otsutsuki descended upon the ninja world.
If they could not defeat the Otsutsuki, immortality would just be a fantasy.
So the moment the Superhuman Serum was invented, Tsunade used it.
In addition, Tsunade ate the Op-Op Fruit, the Strong-Strong Fruit, and even the Warp-Warp Fruit.
She ate the Op-Op Fruit because she was a doctor. This fruit made healing and saving people ridiculously easy.
She ate the Strong-Strong Fruit because she already possessed monstrous strength, and the fruit could make her even stronger.
As for the Warp-Warp Fruit, it gave her tremendous mobility. Whether attacking or retreating in battle, she could remain in an unbeatable position.
With the power of these Devil Fruits, Tsunade felt that even against an Otsutsuki, she wasn't necessarily unable to fight.
After all, not every Otsutsuki could teleport.
~~~
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