"To Marine Headquarters, of course."
Rowan rolled his eyes at his disciple. What other reason would he have for coming to the Grand Line? To go on a sightseeing tour and experience the local culture?
"Oh, right! Of course!" Zephyr snapped out of it, scratching his head sheepishly. He vaguely remembered the Old Man mentioning that he wanted to go to the headquarters—and that this time, he didn't plan on leaving again.
Clearing his throat, Zephyr turned to the still-cheering crowd and commanded, "Alright, everyone! Clean up the battlefield. We're heading back to Marineford immediately!"
As Zephyr issued the orders, Rowan leaned in and whispered to Zoro and Luffy:
"You two, hurry to the cave where the pirates were staying. See if there's any treasure. We put in a lot of effort here; we can't go home empty-handed."
Rowan had fully experienced the pain of being penniless on this journey.
Watching the two youngsters run off, Rowan raised his tobacco pipe and leisurely walked toward the warship with Zephyr and the others.
Once on board, he gave Zephyr a few instructions and watched as Zephyr and Binz were wheeled into the operating room. Only then, accompanied by Ain, did Rowan step onto the deck to enjoy a smoke.
"Um..." Standing beside him, Ain stood on her tiptoes, her fingers interlaced nervously behind her back. "Mr. Rowan, I really wanted to thank you properly. If you hadn't been here, Master Zephyr might have actually..."
Rowan raised a hand to cut off her gratitude. "Girl, what's with all this formality? Zephyr-boy is your teacher, but he's also my student. Speaking of which, you keep calling me 'Mr. Rowan, Mr. Rowan.' By rank, you should be calling me 'Grand-Master.' How come I haven't heard you say it once?"
"Ah? That..." Ain's face froze, and a deep crimson flush instantly rushed to her cheeks.
Logically, that was exactly how it worked. Since meeting Rowan, she had treated him with the utmost respect as her teacher's mentor, but the term "Grand-Master"... she had never actually made that connection in her mind.
"What? You don't want to? Don't want to acknowledge this old man?" Rowan looked at her with a teasing glint in his eyes.
"No, no! It's just... it's a bit..." Ain didn't know how to explain. It was mostly that Rowan had brought it up so suddenly that she was caught completely off guard.
"A bit what?" Rowan pressed, still smiling.
"N-nothing..." Ain bit her lip. After a moment of internal struggle, she lowered her head and whispered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, "Ain... greets... Grand-Master..."
Her neck turned bright red as the words left her mouth, and she didn't dare look up at him.
"That's more like it." Though her voice was small, Rowan nodded with satisfaction.
"Great-Grandpa! Great-Grandpa!"
Suddenly, a familiar shout rang out from above. Rowan looked up and nearly went stiff when he saw Luffy jumping down from the cliff with a belly that looked like he was pregnant with octuplets.
Did this brat move the entire cave's worth of treasure?
Luffy's shirt was stuffed so full of gold, silver, and jewels that his midsection was bulging ridiculously. It was a miracle that his thin red vest was high enough quality to hold the weight; otherwise, jewels would be raining all over the deck.
Luffy looked so absurd that even Zoro refused to walk beside him, trailing a good distance behind.
Thwack!
Rowan smacked the grinning Luffy on the head with his pipe as the boy approached to claim credit. "You brat! What do you think you're doing? I told you to get some treasure, not move the entire cave!"
"Ouch!" Luffy rubbed his head, looking aggrieved. "But Great-Grandpa, you said it yourself! You said get the valuable stuff and don't come back empty-handed!"
"But this isn't 'some'! You've brought back the entire crew's loot! If you're not embarrassed, I certainly am!"
The treasure hidden in Luffy's clothes was worth at least tens of millions of Berries. There were even silver spoons and golden shovels in there. In contrast, Zoro only had a few high-quality pieces tucked away, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
Rowan was genuinely confused as to how this kid had sprinted back past the Marine guards without anyone noticing. He was a legendary figure with the title "Godfather of the Marines"; if the recruits saw him instigating Luffy to pocket pirate loot, where would his reputation go?
Rowan cast a sideways glance at Ain. Her blush had vanished, and she was currently staring intensely at the distant horizon, pretending she could neither see nor hear anything.
"But Great-Grandpa, all the treasure in the cave looked so expensive, and you said—" Luffy pouted.
"I said... Argh, forget it! I don't even know what to say to you!" Rowan sighed. His ears twitched as he heard movement on the cliff. He instantly spread his Observation Haki.
Sensing the soldiers were about to descend, he glared at Luffy and hissed, "Stop talking and hide that stuff in our cabin immediately! If they find it, how are we supposed to trade it for cash?"
"Oh." Luffy obediently waddled off toward the internal dock where their small boat was kept, looking exactly like a thief.
As Luffy scurried away, Rowan turned his glare toward Zoro. "And you! Don't look so smug. I sent you with him so you could keep an eye on him. Instead, you just let him walk back here like a human treasure chest!"
"That treasure is our food money for the future!" Rowan grumbled. "If it weren't for the fact that I have to feed two bottomless pits like you, would I ask you to do something so 'under the table'?"
"Huh?" Being scolded out of nowhere, Zoro looked helpless. "Teacher, I don't eat nearly as much as that guy! Besides, if we run out of money, I can just go hunt a few pirates for their bounties. Why do we have to sneak around stealing from them?"
Rowan's expression turned solemn and teacher-like. "Zoro-boy, that's where you're wrong. When I tell you to do it, it's not called 'stealing.' It's called 'claiming the spoils of war.' Do you understand?"
"How is that not stealing?" Zoro muttered, completely speechless.