"Ah."
In an instant, Rowan appeared behind Ace and reached out to take the backpack containing little Nami.
"It's only been a short while. Have you already forgotten who I am?"
Ace froze for a moment, then immediately tried to snatch his sister back.
Unfortunately, he was too short.
Every time he jumped, Rowan simply pressed a hand on his head and pushed him back down.
Opening the backpack, Rowan carefully lifted the sleeping Nami into his arms.
"Good thing this backpack is breathable."
"Otherwise, Rouge would probably beat you half to death."
Seeing that he had no chance of getting his sister back, Ace bared his teeth and gestured to Sabo beside him.
A moment later, Sabo circled behind Rowan.
Jumping into the air, he swung a steel pipe toward the back of Rowan's head.
Rowan merely tilted his body slightly and effortlessly avoided the strike.
Then he grabbed Sabo by the back of his shirt and tossed him away.
"That swing wasn't light at all."
"What? Were you trying to crack my skull open in one hit?"
After rolling twice upon landing, Sabo quickly stood back up.
Glancing at Ace, he said,
"You go get help."
"I'll hold them off."
"...But are you really sure you don't know them?"
Ace frowned.
The man wore a mask just like his father's.
However, because of certain reasons, his father had repeatedly warned him not to reveal anything to outsiders.
Then suddenly.
Wait.
Ace cautiously asked,
"Masked... Uncle?"
Rowan smiled.
Still holding little Nami in his arms, he said,
"Looks like your personality doesn't match Nojiko's very well."
"But it seems you've managed to find a new friend here."
After calming down, Ace remembered that this uncle had mentioned his mother's name earlier.
Combined with Nojiko's stories and his own vague memories of a masked figure, he immediately plopped down onto the ground.
"It's been a long time, Masked Uncle."
"You haven't come to see me for ages."
Seeing that they really knew each other, Sabo finally relaxed as well.
Holding Nami, Rowan looked into the distance.
"It has been a long time."
"So it's pretty strange that the first thing I see after coming back is you getting beaten up."
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure came running over from afar at incredible speed.
Only after seeing little Nami safely in Rowan's arms did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Then he immediately punched Ace on the head.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to take your little sister too far away?!"
Clutching his head in pain, Ace squatted down.
Even so, he stubbornly looked up and retorted,
"I just wanted to introduce my sister to my new friend!"
"And what about you?"
"You're always disappearing for who-knows-how-long."
"How come you actually had time to come back today, Father?!"
You?
Behind his mask, Roger's eyes narrowed with amusement.
Cracking his knuckles, he said,
"Looks like it's been too long since you've experienced a father's love, you little brat."
Ace immediately leapt backward.
But Roger reacted even faster, grabbing him by the collar and hauling him back.
"Ahhh!!"
"Mom said we should reason things out!"
"Don't hit people, Father!"
"Reason things out?"
"Fists are also a form of loving education!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Before long, the forest echoed with the sounds of a father educating his son.
Ace eventually escaped with a head covered in bumps.
Dragging Sabo along, he ran off as fast as he could.
Roger, who clearly intended to temper the boy's will through hardship, made no attempt to chase after him.
The forest behind Foosha Village was large.
There were also plenty of delinquents in the Gray Terminal of the Goa Kingdom.
It was the perfect environment for Ace to run wild and grow on his own.
As for danger...
That was the bloodline of the Pirate King.
A little danger was nothing.
"Your parenting style is... unique."
Rowan offered his evaluation.
The three of them began walking down the mountain together.
Chameleon followed silently behind Rowan.
From beginning to end, he dutifully kept his mouth shut and said nothing.
"Full of energy, aren't they?"
Roger said as they walked.
"They're still young, but Ace already has the courage to attack an enemy, even if that enemy is an adult. Hahaha! That's my son!"
"Though he'll probably stay away for a few days this time. That brat knows he'll get beaten when he gets back. He won't come home until Rouge's anger cools down."
At that moment, little Nami woke up.
Almost immediately, she began crying loudly.
Feeling the wetness on his hand, Rowan pinched Nami's nose lightly.
"So you're the one who peed all over my hand? You're really not cute at all."
"Hahaha!"
Roger burst out laughing.
"You're still young, but getting a taste of fatherhood early isn't bad."
"Things like changing diapers for little kids."
Rowan didn't seem bothered.
He simply quickened his pace along with the others.
Nami's hometown had changed from Cocoyasi Village to Foosha Village.
In the future, no matter how stupid Arlong of the Arlong Pirates might be, there was no way he'd dare cause trouble in Garp's hometown.
Not to mention that the East Blue was now filled with Revolutionary Army influence.
Whether it was Roger or Ginny, either one could beat Arlong without needing both hands.
So Belle-mère would survive.
Rouge would survive as well.
And because of that, both Nami's and Ace's futures had completely changed.
Before long, Roger led the two of them back to Rouge's home.
Rouge and Belle-mère had also been called back.
The moment he entered, Rowan rubbed Nojiko's hair.
"You've grown quite a bit."
"But why don't you play with Ace?"
Nojiko knew of Rowan's existence.
"Ace runs too fast."
"He always makes Aunt Rouge worry."
Belle-mère, who had just returned, took little Nami from Rowan's arms and carried her away to change her diaper.
Meanwhile, Roger was explaining to Rouge why Ace hadn't come home.
He also proudly stated that he had displayed a father's authority and thoroughly beaten the little rascal.
Rowan, meanwhile, chatted with Nojiko and repeatedly praised her for being far more sensible than Ace.
Just then, Rowan's Observation Haki stirred.
"Ah."
In the next instant, Rowan grabbed Chameleon and appeared behind Roger.
A second later, both of them vanished from the spot.
Not long afterward, a hearty laugh rang out from outside the yard.
"Hahaha! Ace! Grandpa's here!"
A robust figure pushed the door open and strode inside.
Looking around and seeing only Rouge and Nojiko, he scratched his head.
"Out playing again?"
"Mr. Garp."
Rouge bowed slightly.
"This child is getting wilder and wilder."
"He's outside all day long."
"He says he's made a new friend."
Garp walked over and rubbed Nojiko's hair first.
"It's fine."
"I'll be staying a few days this time."
"I can give Ace some loving education."
Rouge smiled.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Garp."
Meanwhile, in the woods outside the yard, Roger's expression had become extremely fierce.
"That old bastard!"
"Every time he comes back, he takes advantage of me!"
"And he still wants Ace to become a Marine in the future!"
"I won't let him succeed!"
Rowan glanced at him.
"So what exactly have you done?"
Roger crossed his arms and looked utterly confident.
"That old guy only comes back once every few months."
"And he never stays long."
"But I'm always in the East Blue."
"Heh heh!"
"My special training and ideological education for Ace far exceed anything he can do."
"Ideological education?"
"Exactly. The Revolutionary Army's stuff."
Roger continued,
"The world is about to undergo enormous changes."
"Whether people want it or not, they'll be swept forward by the tide."
"Pirates will be swept into the garbage heap of history."
"The Marines and the World Government will be swept away as well."
"So..."
Thus, the education Ace was receiving now was already completely different from the original timeline.
Rowan smiled.
In his vision of the future, pirates would indeed become history, but the Marines still had a necessary role to play.
Looking at it that way, perhaps this new generation, raised under a different kind of education, might choose to become Marines when they grew up.
"Still, that old bastard Garp choosing to come back on leave at a time like this..."
Roger frowned beneath his mask.
"That old man has top-tier Haki. He's completely different from Kaido. If he sees through your teleportation ability and your flame blade can't clash head-on with him..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but Rowan understood.
During the battle at Sabaody Archipelago, killing Chameleon's former self had been possible largely because of the spatial marker attached to the Celestial Dragon Rodnaz.
By catching him off guard and striking directly, the six-thousand-degree core temperature of Ryūjin Jakka's flames had been able to burn through Armament Haki defenses in an instant.
The battle against Kaido on Onigashima had likewise benefited from information asymmetry and Kaido's fighting style.
As a Mythical Zoan user of the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon, combined with his naturally abnormal physique, Kaido's combat style was fundamentally one of direct confrontation.
Just like in Rowan's memories of his battle against Luffy, it had essentially turned into a slugfest until the very end.
Compared to that, Big Mom's Iron Balloon felt like it existed on an entirely different level from the durability boosts provided by Kaido's race and Mythical Zoan powers.
Back during the Rocks Pirates era, Kaido had only been a minor crew member and still needed Big Mom's protection.
Moreover, Oden's Togen Totsuka had been capable of injuring Kaido.
But as far as Rowan remembered, Big Mom had never truly been wounded except during one of her mental breakdowns.
Even when she lost her memory, Queen's full-power attack had amounted to almost nothing. She had emerged completely unharmed.
After letting out a sigh, Rowan replied,
"The Heavenly Tribute is critical for the Revolutionary Army's future development. Right now, East Blue is the place where our preparations are the most complete."
"We'll finish everything as quickly as possible tomorrow. As long as the five ships carrying the Heavenly Tribute take off and leave, Garp won't be able to do anything about it."
After a pause, he added,
"You two need to avoid him."
"Your bodies may be immortal, but if your identities are exposed, the purpose of our long-term infiltration strategy could fail."
"The resurrection of the dead..."
"Even Mariejois would become wary of insects like us if such an ability were revealed."
Roger looked somewhat disappointed.
"I was hoping to fight my old rival again."
"That old bastard takes advantage of me every time he comes back. It's infuriating."
Standing behind them, Chameleon bowed slightly.
"Understood, sir."
As more and more information about them became exposed, they would naturally face increasingly targeted countermeasures.
After the death of Saint Rodnaz at Sabaody, Mariejois had undoubtedly realized that Rowan's power did not originate from a Devil Fruit.
And in this world, there wasn't just a single teleportation-related ability.
The Door-Door Fruit was one known example.
So the question became:
Did Mariejois possess powers specifically designed to counter spatial abilities?
This world wasn't a xianxia universe where victory was decided purely by cultivation levels.
Information, ability matchups, the three forms of Haki, combat strategy, and tactical execution all played critical roles in determining victory, assuming there were no sudden power-ups or miraculous awakenings.
The Marines and World Government had undoubtedly held countless meetings analyzing the mysterious cloaked man's abilities.
At the very least, during his time at Headquarters, Rowan had attended many such discussions alongside Kuzan.
Of those meetings, no fewer than four had focused specifically on analyzing his own disguised identity.
Furthermore, during the more than three months he had spent at G-5, Headquarters regularly sent reports analyzing the abilities of major pirates throughout the seas.
"What a pain..."
Rowan sighed.
A CP0 agent with Future Sight-level Observation Haki was troublesome enough.
Originally, his plan had been simple:
If necessary, they would just gang up on the opponent.
Now Garp had entered the equation as well.
A quick victory sounded easy in theory.
Actually accomplishing it, however, was a completely different matter.
At the same time, after informing Rouge that he would return the next day, Garp left her home.
But as he stepped out of the yard, his gaze casually drifted toward a certain direction.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
The Monkey family had always been carefree and easygoing, but that didn't mean Garp hadn't noticed anything after all this time. After all, when the children were younger, they weren't very good at lying.
"Ah..."
Garp muttered to himself softly and let out a long sigh.
"Roger, you have to understand Rouge's difficulties."
A young woman raising a child alone, in an unfamiliar place like East Blue, burdened by hardship, exhaustion, and the escape from years ago...
Garp felt that finding someone new to rely on wasn't wrong.
Ace was a wild child. Many times when Garp returned during leave, the boy wasn't even home. For all he knew, he might have been out playing with his new father.
Having a father figure wasn't a bad thing for a child.
What made Garp sigh was the irony of it all.
Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King who had ushered in the Great Age of Pirates, the man now acknowledged by pirates across the world as their king...
After his death, his wife and child had ended up belonging to someone else.
As an old rival, Garp couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.
In the forest, Rowan had tensed slightly when he realized Garp had seemingly discovered them, ready at any moment to teleport away with the others.
But after hearing Garp's conclusion, he almost burst out laughing.
At this distance, ordinary people wouldn't have been able to hear it.
However, Rowan's body had been enhanced several times over in every aspect, while Roger possessed the Voice of All Things born from his very soul.
The two of them heard every word clearly.
Only after Garp had gone far away did Roger slam a fist into the tree beside him.
Crack!
The trunk exploded apart.
"That bastard! That old man! Damn geezer!"
An endless stream of curses poured from Roger's mouth.
"I really want to kill that old bastard!"
Rowan patted him on the shoulder.
"It's a pretty amazing misunderstanding, isn't it? But honestly, if you were really dead, Rouge finding someone to rely on wouldn't be wrong. After all, pirates need fathers too."
That remark nearly earned Rowan a punch from Roger, if not for the restrictions of Edo Tensei.
"Let's go."
"Tonight I'll bring Kuma over."
"Because of Garp's presence, there are now variables in the plan. We need to make some adjustments."
As he spoke, Rowan led the group back toward their base.
With Garp currently staying nearby, Rouge's house was no longer a safe place to remain.
Night fell.
Rowan, Roger, Chameleon, Kuma, and Ginny gathered at the Revolutionary Army's safehouse in Gray Terminal of the Goa Kingdom.
"The situation is roughly as follows."
"Because Garp unexpectedly came back on leave, we need to wait until the transport fleet is as far away from Goa Kingdom as possible before making our move."
"If the coordinates aren't discovered during the inspection, then waiting another two days is fine as well."
After laying out the situation, Rowan continued:
"Once the four escort transport ships have been lifted into the air, everyone will regroup at the main ship."
"Before that, I'll keep the CP0's top combatant occupied."
The room fell silent as everyone listened.
This operation involved the Heavenly Tribute.
The Revolutionary Army had been preparing for it for a very long time.
Failure was not an option.
----------
Patreon Advance Chapters: patreon .com/OneFic