The prison at Baltigo held a total of eight prisoners.
Three of them were kings. The rest were pirates and a few generals.
Even before Roger's execution, the tide of piracy had already begun to rise.
Those who couldn't survive, or those driven by ambition, chose the sea as their path.
But desire… once awakened, could not be restrained.
What began as a struggle to survive would, upon gaining power, turn into an addiction to authority.
A blade in hand inevitably breeds the will to kill.
Even Roger, now the prison warden, had once, according to Garp's recollection, destroyed an entire nation's army over an insult to his companions.
Absolute freedom meant no restraints.
To stake one's life for a meal… to destroy a nation over anger…
To them, that was freedom.
But that kind of freedom… was not what Rowan wanted to bring to this world.
Roger's soul was useful, which was why Rowan kept him.
But Roger's "freedom" was not something Rowan agreed with.
"Clang."
Chains rattled against iron bars.
An old man with a beard clung to the cell, shouting wildly.
"You filthy peasants! Let me out! Let me out!"
"Lowly insects! When I get out, I'll have all of you executed!"
"I've paid the Heavenly Tribute! I am the king of a member nation! You dare imprison me?! You'll all be executed!"
Rowan looked over calmly.
In his special vision, the man's crime value was 3,200.
So only something like Roger's final words, which affected the entire world and led to countless innocent deaths, could reach over a hundred thousand.
If he had waited just a little longer back then…
Perhaps Roger's crime value could have exceeded two hundred thousand.
"So you think that because you paid your 'protection fee,' the World Government will send the Marines to rescue you?"
The king, finally seeing someone respond, sneered.
"Of course! Without our rule, how would peasants like you even pay the Heavenly Tribute?"
"The Marines should already be here. They'll rescue me. And you… you'll die!"
"No… death would be too merciful. Imprisoning a monarch as peasants? You deserve worse!"
His eyes turned vicious.
"I'll make an example of you. I'll let you watch what happens to your family. Young women… perhaps they can be sold as slaves."
"As for you…"
He grinned cruelly.
"You must be their leader. Don't worry. I know many ways to make someone die slowly."
Rowan's expression didn't change.
When the man paused to breathe, Rowan asked,
"In this situation, whether someone comes to save you or not, I can kill you instantly. So why are you still so arrogant?"
The disheveled man sneered.
"Because you don't dare!"
"If I die, all of you die! Do you dare take that gamble?"
"People like you… you'd rather sacrifice one person to save yourselves, right?"
"Hahaha! Pathetic! That weakness is why you will always be peasants!"
The moment he finished a short blade pierced his throat.
"Gurgle… gurgle…"
Blood spilled.
His grip on the bars loosened.
He tried to speak, but no sound came out.
His final gaze was filled with disbelief.
He couldn't believe Rowan had killed him so decisively.
All his life, he had understood something:
The majority of "good people" were peasants.
And those peasants were bound by foolish morality.
From the moment he was captured, he believed he would not die.
But now…
"Whether I told you now or later, it wouldn't matter," Rowan said calmly. "But I'll tell you anyway."
"The Marines didn't come. To them, your existence is just as insignificant."
Rowan then glanced at Dragon, who had remained silent.
"To those people in Mary Geoise, everyone else in this world is a slave. Member nations are no exception."
"They just… overestimate their own importance."
After that, Rowan extracted the remaining seven souls.
Each was imprisoned in the later cell corridors.
With the Revolutionary Army's "inventory" processed, Rowan's crime value rose from 74,000.
Black flames burned away sin, continuously absorbing it.
Estimated total… around 112,000.
Enough for another Golden Treasure Chest.
Leaving the prison, on the barren white land of Baltigo—
Dragon looked at Rowan.
"Seventeen years ago, the island called God Valley vanished overnight. All records were erased."
"You and Kuma escaped from that incident."
Dragon frowned.
"If you continue eliminating people like today… will you eventually gain the power to counter an attack that erases an entire island?"
Rowan thought for a moment.
"That wasn't just an attack that destroyed an island."
"The island… along with everything beneath it, including its connection to the seabed… was erased completely."
"That level of power whether it was Rocks D. Xebec leading his crew, or Roger himself even the strongest Armament Haki couldn't survive it."
"If we can't counter that power, then everything we do is meaningless."
"That's why from the very beginning… I prepared two paths."
Dragon's eyes narrowed.
"So you really can obtain power to oppose it?"
Rowan replied,
"That's only one possibility."
"I don't even know what abilities I might obtain."
"It could be in two days. Or ten years. Or even longer."
He paused.
"But in one year… someone will appear in the West Blue."
"That person… will be key to countering that power."
West Blue?
One year later?
Dragon searched his memory.
No one fit that description.
Even Clover, his old friend from Ohara, was just a scholar researching forbidden history.
Who… could possibly possess such power?
The Barrier Fruit?
No… that fruit hadn't appeared on the seas for a long time.
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