This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
The previous battle had utterly annihilated the Holy Land's prison district. Yes, Kaido's five consecutive Hot Breath blasts had burned nearly half of Mary Geoise to ash, and the jail went with it.
Now, the World Government was holding its most sensitive prisoners in a temporarily requisitioned underground cell belonging to a random Noble family. Rowen didn't even bother trying to figure out why a non-Celestial Dragon noble in Mary Geoise, the undisputed center of the World Government, had their own private prison. It was beneath his concern.
When CP0 delivered Rowen's message of displeasure, the noble in question immediately broke into a cold sweat. He didn't resist, but instead bowed and scraped profusely, abandoning his opulent mansion entirely and fleeing to a friend's house like a frightened single man.
"Salute!"
As Rowen and his retinue approached the extravagant entrance of the so-called "prison," the two guards snapped to attention, their faces flushed. Their excitement was palpable. Rowen had once been one of the Navy's most famous generals, a man whose battle record was unmatched and whose presence inspired every soldier. Now, sitting alone atop the throne of power in the Holy Land, his very name was a living legend, an idol to every man in uniform.
Kong, who had clearly been waiting, quickly moved forward when he heard Rowen's arrival. After a sharp salute, he spoke, his voice unusually grave:
"Lord Soryu (Azure Dragon), the situation... seems troubling."
Rowen returned the guards' salute with a slight nod, then turned silently to his former superior.
"What is the trouble?"
"Orrick... I'm not sure what happened, but he appears to have..." Under Rowen's intense, unwavering gaze, Kong frowned, struggling with the words before finally speaking in a heavy tone: "He seems to have lost his memory."
Kong's own men had been tasked with guarding the prisoner, making Orrick's condition his responsibility. The embarrassment was evident.
Rowen didn't immediately pursue the matter of responsibility. Instead, he simply raised a skeptical eyebrow. "How utterly cliché. Show me to him."
"Yes, sir!"
Led by Kong, Rowen soon entered the underground cell. The defense was meticulous: guards stood every five paces, sentries every three. It was stricter than even Impel Down.
"Have them all leave. You, too, Kong."
"...Understood." Without hesitation, Kong barked the order: "All personnel, clear out!"
No one worried about Rowen's safety. He was no frail scholar like the former Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars), he was power personified. Anyone capable of threatening him was someone Kong couldn't handle, anyway.
Once the room was clear, Rowen casually dragged a filthy wooden bench across the floor, settling onto it without a care.
He lifted his gaze. Orrick was hanging upside down from the ceiling, tightly bound in Seastone chains. The prisoner slowly opened his eyes.
"So... you are the great figure they've been waiting for?"
Orrick's voice was sluggish, filled with exhaustion and weakness. His eyes held a genuine, disturbing confusion. He truly seemed not to recognize the man before him.
"I don't know who you are."
Rowen's lips twisted into a cold, mocking grin.
"How heartbreaking. All the years we spent fighting each other... and now you choose to play the fool?" A murderous intent, sharp and sudden, surged violently in Rowen's eyes. "Did you truly believe I would simply let you go, Orrick?"
The air in the stone-cold cell turned bone-chilling. The icy presence of pure hostility seemed to lick at Orrick's neck, filling his nostrils with the metallic stench of blood. This was killing intent, so thick it felt almost tangible, a liquid form of murder.
For an ordinary person, it would be utterly overwhelming, a presence comparable to Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki). But for a man of Orrick's caliber, it should have been nothing more than a childish bluff.
Yet, the moment the killing intent erupted, Orrick's face went deathly pale, his breathing became ragged, and his pupils contracted sharply. Through his own Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), Rowen could clearly sense the rush of blood, the expanding veins, the heart pounding a frantic rhythm.
If this was an act, it was a masterpiece. Even a technique like Life Return couldn't fake this level of genuine terror. There was no defense, no tension in the muscles, he was completely limp.
Shua...
Rowen instantly withdrew his aura. Orrick gasped for air like a drowning man, the relief stark on his face. Rowen frowned, deeply unsettled.
"Orrick? Is that... my name?" The prisoner asked, his voice weak after a brief, confused pause.
Rowen simply stared. "No... not exactly. That is the name of your 'id,' not your 'ego.' The man I knew is not this pathetic." The way he saw it, Orrick's current state made him unworthy of carrying the name of Rowen's former rival.
Orrick stared blankly. "???"
Rubbing his temple, Rowen pulled out a cigar, lit it, took a long drag, and exhaled a thick plume of smoke. "How much do you remember? Tell me everything."
"Cough... cough..." Orrick choked slightly on the smoke, nodding weakly. "I don't remember anything. When I woke up, the soldiers were staring at me nervously. I asked where I was, but they wouldn't answer..."
"I don't need that kind of detail," Rowen cut him off impatiently, waving a dismissive hand. "Tell me what happened before that."
Silence hung in the air for two seconds. Orrick blinked. "I... don't know."
Rowen just watched him.
"Nothing at all?"
"I'm not sure... but yes. I only remember waking up. Everything before that is blank."
Rowen leaned back, staring up at the stone ceiling, lost in silent thought.
"I see..."
After what felt like a long time, under Orrick's confused gaze, Rowen lowered his head, a cold, mocking smile playing on his lips.
"So in the end, you still didn't dare to gamble... Imu!!"
Like Rob Lucci, Orrick had been another of Rowen's calculated gambits, a pawn used to probe Imu's reactions. Why else would Orrick have flown straight toward Lucci during the initial incident? That confrontation was a trap Rowen had deliberately left, realizing Imu was reluctant to act personally, a chain of "open schemes" layered for one target.
Orrick had clashed with Imu and had surely learned secrets of immense value. Im, fearing that Rowen might be pretending loyalty while secretly negotiating with his rival, dared not take the risk of keeping Orrick intact.
And so, unlike the lucky Lucci, Orrick, the one who knew far too much, ended up exactly like this.
There were no coincidences here. No "tragic accidents." This outcome was inevitable. The simple, brutal truth was: The more you know, the sooner you die.
"Still, that proves your weakness... The contrast between Rob Lucci's and Orrick's situations is too inconsistent!" Rowen's grin widened slowly. "So you're wary of me, too, aren't you, Lord Imu?"
Orrick flinched at that terrifying gaze, lowering his head, not daring to meet his eyes.
"The Memo-Memo Fruit? No... that belongs to Charlotte Pudding. Then this must be some kind of spiritual, memory, or soul-based attack, right?" Rowen's eyes glowed with fierce intelligence, he had finally pieced together the missing link in Im's arsenal. "As expected... troublesome indeed."
Compared to a straightforward duel, powers like these, strange, mystical, and intangible, were far harder to defend against.
But such an ability had to have harsh limitations. Otherwise, the inconsistent fates of Orrick and Lucci made no sense. Rowen's bold hypothesis: Imu had refrained from acting against Lucci because he wanted to deliver a perfect, decisive blow against Rowen himself. But with Orrick, the threat was too great, and Imu acted.
Organizing his thoughts, Rowen's aura suddenly grew heavy, radiating sheer, imperious dominance.
"I've seen through you completely, Lord Imu!"
Bang!
As his words fell, a subtle tremor rippled through the air, undetectable to most, yet carrying a fleeting, world-crushing pressure that only the most refined senses could perceive.
Rowen clenched his cigar between his teeth and looked toward the ceiling with utter contempt. Through a small vent in the underground chamber, he smirked.
"Your next words will be... 'Damn it, I've been tricked!'"
Room of Flowers.
Imu stood by the window, face ashen, fists clenched tight.
"Damn it, I've been tricked!!" A silent, furious shout left his mouth.
Shua!!
Waves of black shadows surged from behind Im, spreading across the floor like ink. His teeth ground together audibly, grrrk, grrrk, as he hissed through clenched jaws:
"Soryu (Azure Dragon)!!!"
Forcing the name out, Imu drew a deep, ragged breath, reeling the shadows back in. Then the corners of his lips curled upward, his eyes sharp and cruel, his face twisting into a feral, desperate grin.
"Enjoy your little victory while you can!"
"When I regain my full power, no one will be able to oppose me, not even you! This world belongs to me... to me!!"
"...A man who fears death, no matter how strong, is still nothing."
At that moment, Imu froze. He could faintly hear Rowen's voice, a casual murmur as he walked out of the prison corridor.
And then...
"BASTARD!!!"
Kong suddenly shivered, every muscle in his body tensing as he glanced around warily.
"What was that, Lord Soryu (Azure Dragon)?" He instinctively stepped protectively in front of Rowen, ready for battle.
Rowen merely exhaled a ring of smoke and shrugged. "Nothing. Just a distant dog barking."
Without waiting for Kong to press further, Rowen gave his next order.
"Orrick's memory loss is confirmed. Whether he ever recovers is uncertain... Once Fleet Admiral Akainu returns, tell him to send that father and son pair to Impel Down."
"...Understood!" Kong saluted crisply, asking no more questions.
Rowen left the prison amidst respectful farewells. Looking out across the sprawling refugee camps and rows of tents, he tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Next... I'll need to consider the critical issue."
He had already deduced roughly eighty to ninety percent of Im's abilities. But the central question remained…
How do I fight him?
(End of Chapter)