Rowan stood alone against a horde of pirates, his expression calm and indifferent.
"You're the ones who haven't figured out the situation."
Whoosh!
In the very next instant, Rowan stepped forward. His body blurred as he slid sideways through the air, arriving at the starboard rail like a phantom. One swift punch blasted a pirate off his feet; a heartbeat later, a kick sent another crashing into the sea.
At the same moment, his left hand had already drawn the pistol at his waist. Without hesitation, he aimed at the cluster of pirates and fired six rapid shots, emptying the cylinder in a single fluid motion.
Everything unfolded in the blink of an eye.
Only One-Eyed Floro had managed to raise his guard the moment Rowan moved. The rest were far too slow. By the time the six bullets had dropped seven men to the deck, the remaining pirates finally reacted.
"Open fire!"
"Kill him!"
Cold sweat formed on their foreheads. Rowan's terrifying speed left them shaken to the core, fear spreading through their ranks. Yet pirate instincts honed by years of violence forced them to act.
Six or seven pirates raised their muskets at once.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Bullets tore into the deckboards, splinters flying everywhere.
But Rowan was already gone.
The instant they pulled their triggers, his figure vanished from that spot, charging straight into the heart of the formation.
"Watch out!"
"He's here!"
In the chaos of close combat, firearms were useless. The pirates abandoned their guns and drew swords instead, slashing desperately at Rowan from all directions.
Faced with the descending blades, Rowan neither dodged nor retreated. He stepped forward and met them head-on, his fist wrapped in the power of his Warp-Warp Fruit.
Crack! Crack!
The sharp steel swords froze in midair, twisted and distorted by the invisible force surrounding his fist. In the next instant they bent like fragile scrap metal before snapping apart entirely.
Rowan twisted his fist and struck again. The warped energy surged outward, slamming into several pirates at once. The sickening sound of bones twisting into unnatural shapes echoed across the deck.
"Aaargh!"
"W-What kind of power is this?!"
The remaining pirates stared in horror. Terror spread through them like wildfire.
Speed they could understand.
Marksmanship they could tolerate. But this unknown ability that could crush men with a single blow was something beyond their experience.
"Is it a Devil Fruit ability?"
Watching his crew crumble and retreat, One-Eyed Floro's single eye narrowed sharply.
He possessed no Devil Fruit power himself, but he had fought such users before. He knew just how dangerous and unpredictable they could be.
"Ghost Hand Rowan," Floro called out, gripping his sword tightly, "are you truly unwilling to cooperate with me? Join my crew, and I'll make you first mate second only to me!"
To Floro, the pirates Rowan had just slaughtered were worthless. But a powerful man like Rowan was an asset beyond measure.
Rowan's gaze remained cold and indifferent.
Without responding, he finished driving back the nearest pirates and stepped forward again, transforming into a blur as he rushed straight toward Floro.
"Damn you! Then die!"
Fury ignited in Floro's eye. Gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands, he slashed down with all his strength, aiming directly for Rowan's head.
Floro's swordsmanship was clearly inferior to that of Marine Colonel Moby, yet the force behind the strike was surprisingly strong. A faint ripple of Sword Qi spread outward from the blade.
"Oh?"
"A famous blade?"
Rowan was mildly surprised, but not shaken in the least. He sidestepped the slash with ease and countered with a punch.
Floro reacted quickly, swinging his sword sideways to block. Rowan twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the edge.
"Shoot him!"
"Kill him now!"
While struggling to keep Rowan engaged, Floro shouted orders to his men, hoping to overwhelm Rowan through numbers.
At that moment, Robin's calm voice drifted from the stern of the ship.
"Thirty-Fold Bloom."
Thud! Thud!
Dozens of arms suddenly sprouted from the shoulders and backs of the pirates aiming their muskets. The arms knocked their weapons aside and twisted several pirates to the ground.
"Don't interfere with the Captain's fight," Robin said calmly.
Though only sixteen, Nico Robin could easily restrain ordinary pirates with the power of her Flower-Flower Fruit.
The remaining crew members recoiled in shock. Floro felt a chill run down his spine he had not expected Rowan to have such a capable ally, let alone another Devil Fruit user.
With Robin handling the rabble, Rowan turned his full attention back to Floro.
Floro was stronger than an average Marine Captain. With his skill and the quality of his blade, he could even rival someone like Marine Colonel Moby.
But even so
He was still weaker than Rowan.
Although Rowan deliberately avoided damaging the valuable sword, Floro soon found himself completely overwhelmed. In a matter of moments, one of his arms was crushed, flesh and bone twisted into grotesque spirals by Rowan's power.
The famous blade flew from his grip and embedded itself in the deck with a sharp clang.
"Hss -- !"
Floro gasped in agony. Panic filled his face as Rowan approached step by step.
"D-Don't kill me! The ship is yours! I'll serve under you I swear!"
Rowan's expression did not change.
He stepped forward without hesitation and delivered a single decisive punch.
Floro's pleading voice ended instantly.
After killing One-Eyed Floro, Rowan heard the familiar, crisp notification of the Talent System echo in his mind. A satisfied glint appeared in his eyes.
He turned, walked over to the fallen blade, and picked it up from the deck.
"Robin, do you recognize this sword?"
Rowan examined the weapon carefully. It was clearly no ordinary blade, but he was unfamiliar with its origins.
Robin approached and studied it closely.
"I'm not an expert swordsman," she said, "but I've memorized information on many famous blades. If I'm not mistaken, this is one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords Harule."
"One of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords?"
Rowan raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had assumed it would be one of the Fifty Skillful Grade Blades at best. He never expected a mere pirate like One-Eyed Floro to possess a weapon of such high caliber.
In this world, the finest swords were classified as the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades, followed by the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades.
Of course.
For Rowan, a sword had limited practical use. His Warp-Warp Fruit could not channel power through a weapon the way Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit could.
Forcing Warp energy into a blade would simply destroy it.
To him, the sword was more of a trophy and a symbol than a true tool of battle.
Still, obtaining one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades was an unexpected reward.
What truly satisfied Rowan, however, was the result of defeating One-Eyed Floro.
The Talent System displayed its rewards clearly:
50 Talent Proficiency.
1 Free Talent Point.
His first victory over a pirate with a bounty above twenty million Berries had once again granted a precious Free Talent Point, along with enough proficiency to finally unlock the first branch ability of the Warp-Warp Fruit.
For Ghost Hand Rowan, this was only the beginning.