As soon as that fist print appeared, Jack's massive body felt as though it had slammed into an unbreakable steel wall; his momentum came to a jarring, violent halt.
As the indentation on the mammoth's trunk grew deeper and deeper, Jack's expression in his transformed state began to twist in agony. Then, his gargantuan frame reacted as if it had struck a high-tension spring—he was catapulted backward at a speed comparable to a cannonball fresh from the muzzle!
BOOM!!!
A thunderous crash erupted as Jack's enormous body smashed into the cabin of the Mammoth. Even after obliterating the cabin and snapping the ship's mainmast like a dry twig, his flight didn't stop. He continued to soar through the air, hurtling toward the open sea!
The scene fell into a sudden, eerie silence.
Everyone stood frozen, staring at Rowan, who still held his follow-through punching stance. The only sounds left on the battlefield were the whistling wind, the crashing waves, the distant cries of seagulls, and the clattering of falling timber.
It wasn't until Jack's silhouette dwindled into a tiny black speck and vanished over the horizon that anyone on the various ships managed to snap out of their trance.
What the hell just happened?What kind of ghost-fist does this old man have?He didn't even touch him, yet Lord Jack was sent flying?
This was Lord Jack the Drought! One of the Great Lead Performers of the Hundred Beasts Pirates with a bounty exceeding one billion! Why did a man of such staggering power look like he didn't even have the strength to fight back in front of this old man?
On the deck of the Whitebeard warship, Rowan maintained his pose with his eyes closed, carefully analyzing the sensation of that Ryuo strike. This was his first time using "flowing" Haki, and some aspects were still unrefined—specifically, the control over the quantity of Haki used.
Because it was his first attempt, Rowan had channeled almost every drop of Haki he could condense in that moment into the strike. That was why Jack had been blasted so far away. Moreover, after taking a hit of that magnitude, even with a mammoth's terrifying physical defense and recovery rate, Jack would be lucky to survive—and even then, he'd be bedridden for weeks.
However, such a massive expenditure of Haki left even Rowan's current physique feeling a wave of deep fatigue. A man, after excessive labor... or rather, after an excessive release of Haki, always feels the drain. His control over the "output volume" of Armament Haki definitely needed some fine-tuning.
Exhaling slowly, Rowan opened his eyes. He lowered his hand to grab his tobacco pipe, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. He looked at the dazed members of the Hundred Beasts Pirates and chuckled. "Aren't you going to save your captain? Why are you still standing there? Waiting for the Old Man to come over and punch you all into the horizon one by one?"
At Rowan's words, the Hundred Beasts pirates snapped back to reality. Terror flooded their faces. Those who had jumped onto the Whitebeard ship with Jack scrambled back to their own vessels with desperate abandon. Disregarding everything else, they steered the remaining two intact warships and fled in the direction Jack had disappeared without looking back.
Once the Hundred Beasts' ships were gone, Rowan turned his head, glaring at Ace. "Ace! I haven't finished settling the score with you yet, brat!"
Seeing the anger on Rowan's face, Ace's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately wilted. Facing the old man who had raised him for over a decade, he couldn't summon a single shred of rebellion. After all, he had literally grown up under the shadow of this old man's fists.
However, before Ace could explain, a blue silhouette landed in front of him.
"Oh? You want to stand up for the boy?" Rowan took a puff of his pipe and looked at Marco, who was blocking his path to Ace.
"Marine Godfather Rowan, right? I don't care what kind of grudge you have with Ace, but he is now a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Moving against Ace is equivalent to making an enemy of the entire Whitebeard crew!" Marco said with a solemn, heavy tone.
The strength Rowan had just displayed was far too terrifying. Marco knew he was no match for him, so his only option was to invoke the name of the entire Whitebeard fleet to restrain him.
"You're trying to use that brat Edward Newgate to pressure me?"
Rowan wasn't angry at the remark; instead, he laughed heartily. "When my name as the Marine Godfather was echoing through the entire Headquarters, that boy hadn't even set sail yet."
"Furthermore, if the Old Man wants to discipline Ace, never mind Whitebeard not being here—even if the boy were standing right here, do you think he could stop me?"
The moment the words fell, Rowan's figure blurred. In an instant, he was in front of Marco, throwing a punch!
So fast!
Marco only reacted after Rowan's fist was already in motion. Seeing the fist expand in his vision, Marco's heart hammered with shock. He tried to raise his arms to block, but it was already too late.
BAM!
The fist connected with Marco's head. In an instant, Marco was sent flying like a stray arrow. With a loud crash, he smashed through yet another ship cabin.
"Marco!" Ace looked toward the wreckage in a panic.
By now, he fully understood the extent of the Old Man's power. Although he didn't know how it had happened, this was clearly not the "retired" version of the grandfather he remembered. He wasn't worried about the Old Man; he was worried about Marco. He was terrified the Old Man might have lacked "moderation" and accidentally broken Marco permanently.
"Relax, the kid is fine," Rowan smiled, lowering his pipe. "You should worry about yourself, brat."
"Commander Marco! Are you alright?!"
Seeing Marco blasted away, the Whitebeard pirates grew grim. Those nearest the wreckage rushed in to check on him.
"This old fossil..." "Let's take him down together!" "Do it! Life is short anyway! What are we afraid of?!"
Someone shouted first, and the morale of the Whitebeard crew was instantly ignited. Everyone drew their weapons and prepared to charge Rowan.
"STAY BACK, ALL OF YOU!"
Ace let out a thunderous roar, stopping the crew in their tracks. He turned back to Rowan and scratched his head, assuming a posture of total submission and apology.
"Great-Grandpa... I only left without saying goodbye because I didn't want you to worry..."
"GREAT-GRANDPA?!"
On the Whitebeard warship, the pirates who had just been stopped froze in shock. Marco, crawling out of the rubble once again, froze. On the Marine warship, Vice Admiral Momonga froze, and the entire crew of Marines stood there, utterly dumbstruck.