Chapter 85 – [85] : [BONUS] – Sengoku’s Miscalculation! Rowen’s Gambit!

~ Thank You for 1,800 Powerstones, Here’s Your Bonus Chapter!

~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

<><><><><><><><>

Marine Headquarters! Fleet Admiral’s Office!

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” Hearing Vice Admiral Gion’s report through the Transponder Snail, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the highest authority in the Navy, stared wide-eyed.

He had considered it a sure thing…

One of their strongest assets below the three Admirals, Admiral Candidate Pink Rabbit—defeated?!

What kind of sick joke was this?!

That was Gion!

She could stand against the top commanders of Emperor crews in the New World.

Her mission was simply to ascertain the abilities of a rookie pirate!

Even if that rookie possessed Conqueror’s Haki, success should have been guaranteed. Yet now, barely any time had passed, and Gion was reporting mission failure?!

“What exactly happened?” Sengoku demanded gravely, regaining his composure.

“It’s like this…” Gion sighed, then recounted the events that had just transpired.

Sengoku’s expression shifted from disbelief to gravity, then finally to utter astonishment.

“You’re saying—Sky Sovereign Rowen displayed Fire Fist Ace’s Flare-Flare Fruit ability?! And simultaneously possesses Smoker’s Smoke-Smoke Fruit, plus the Paramecia Bomb-Bomb and Kilo-Kilo Fruits?!”

Sengoku genuinely wondered if lack of sleep was causing auditory hallucinations—But after multiple confirmations with Gion, Sengoku finally accepted the unbelievable news.

“How… is this even possible?!” Sengoku’s usual stoic expression cracked.

This operation was under his direct command—The assessment of Rowen’s strength was his own calculation.

Using his Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Daibutsu ability—granting him Buddha-like wisdom, combined with all available Marine intelligence on Rowen—he had run complete simulations!

His calculations concluded the man’s current strength ceiling shouldn’t exceed that of an average Marine HQ Vice Admiral.

Dispatching Gion was already showing extreme caution, perhaps even overestimating the threat! Yet Gion was completely overwhelmed?!

Did this mean—Sky Sovereign Rowen, at his young age, already possessed strength on par with an Admiral Candidate?!

Combined with his Conqueror’s Haki… his future potential was practically guaranteed ADMIRAL level!

Possibly even reaching the level of those four—the Four Emperors—the super-powers the entire Marine HQ had to treat with utmost seriousness.

True rulers of the sea!

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Sengoku’s forehead. He rapidly engaged his Buddha-like wisdom, running calculations at immense speed. The results made even Sengoku feel a chill.

This man’s future potential might exceed everyone’s imagination!

What baffled Sengoku even more was Gion’s other point.

“Are you certain ‘Sky Sovereign’ Rowen used the Flare-Flare Fruit ability? Not some other Mythical Zoan with flame powers?” Sengoku pressed, continuing his calculations while seeking more intel.

“I am certain. He elementized directly into fire. Besides the Logia Flare-Flare Fruit, what other ability could do that?” Gion herself found it hard to believe, but she had witnessed it firsthand.

“Damn it, What is going on?!” Using the Buddha’s wisdom placed immense strain even on Sengoku. This often caused his infamous loss of composure. But right now, even with heightened cognitive abilities, Sengoku couldn’t decipher the truth behind Rowen’s powers.

Possessing multiple Devil Fruits was incredible, yes, but Sengoku, as Fleet Admiral, knew many secrets of the sea. He knew certain bloodlines could potentially achieve this—And the ability to steal Devil Fruits did exist—The Dark-Dark Fruit, known as the most evil ability in history, could do it!

Before sending Gion, Sengoku’s Buddha wisdom had already calculated this possibility:

Sky Sovereign Rowen might possess the Dark-Dark Fruit and a Special bloodline allowing multiple fruits, explaining why he took Smoker’s Smoke-Smoke Fruit.

As for Smoker losing all physical strength after the fruit was stolen?

Sengoku’s repeated calculations leaned towards it being a severe side effect of having a Devil Fruit forcibly removed.

Smoker had already been sent to the World Government’s chief scientist, Vegapunk.

Vegapunk, deeply interested in Devil Fruit research, was eager to study such a unique case—a Logia user stripped of their fruit and all power.

Vegapunk could already artificially create Zoan fruits and replicate Paramecia abilities through special means, but Logias—the most ‘unnatural’ existence, most hated by the sea—remained a mystery. Understanding why Smoker lost all strength required Vegapunk’s research.

Based on available intel, Sengoku’s most probable calculation was that Rowen possessed the Dark-Dark Fruit.

But now, Gion’s report contradicted this—Rowen seemingly didn’t display Dark-Dark abilities (though hiding them was possible).

The real wrench in Sengoku’s calculations was the Flare-Flare Fruit. Gion confirmed Fire Fist Ace still possessed his ability!

This was utterly unprecedented!

Two identical Devil Fruits existing simultaneously?! How?!

The more Sengoku calculated, the deeper into a dead end he fell, his expression twisting uncontrollably.

<><><><><><><><>

This, of course, was exactly why Rowen dared to display his powers so openly—

—After confirming with the System that Sengoku’s fruit granted Buddha-like wisdom, Rowen began his gambit.

First, the only time Rowen demonstrably stole power in front of the Navy was from Smoker. What happened to someone after losing a Devil Fruit, especially a Logia, without dying?

Even Sengoku couldn’t know for sure.

That’s why Rowen let Smoker return to HQ with that specific (misleading) information. He also deliberately refrained from plundering Traits from other Marines—like the Rear Admiral during the clash with Gion.

The most perfect lies aren’t complete fabrications, but truths twisted or incomplete, leading far from the actual reality. This was the first step in confusing Sengoku’s calculations.

Next—displaying the Flare-Flare Fruit ability before Gion.

While stealing fruits and possessing multiple fruits had precedents (however rare)… two identical fruits existing simultaneously?

That had NEVER happened!

And Ace still possessing his Flare-Flare power—getting this intel relayed to Sengoku via Gion—further prevented Sengoku’s Buddha wisdom from deducing the truth about Rowen’s plunder ability.

Rowen had never revealed the ‘equipping’ aspect of his power.

Wisdom has its drawbacks; feed it large amounts of seemingly correct but fundamentally flawed information, and it leads down a rabbit hole.

Right now, Sengoku the Buddha, renowned as ‘The Strategist’, was trapped in the dead end Rowen had carefully constructed.

Rowen didn’t need Sengoku confused for long. Just long enough… until Rowen truly rose to power. By then, even if Sengoku figured out the truth, what could he do?

As Rowen thought before—sometimes, revealed intel isn’t a weakness. It’s misdirection and deterrence!

<><><><><><><><>

“Completely… incomprehensible! Damn it!” Sengoku calculated endlessly, but every conclusion contradicted itself. He couldn’t grasp the true nature of this man’s abilities!

“What are your orders, Fleet Admiral? Sky Sovereign Rowen warned that if we continue to pursue him, he will unleash his Logia powers indiscriminately,” Gion’s voice came through the Transponder Snail.

“DAMN IT!”

Sengoku slammed his fist on the desk again.

Logia powers—that was the trouble!

Wide-area, disaster-level attacks!

While top-tier fighters could defend with strong Haki, such attacks were lethal even to Marine HQ Rear Admirals, let alone lower ranks or average soldiers!

And chasing a single pirate required more than just one strong individual; you needed ships, search parties…

The sea was vast—

Capturing a powerful pirate wasn’t just about strength—Forget Garp chasing Roger; even Tsuru pursuing Doflamingo took immense effort and often failed—

Capturing strong pirates often took years…

The current era wasn’t like the past—You couldn’t just assign one powerhouse like Garp to relentlessly pursue a single target like Roger anymore.

The World Government had established the balance of the Three Great Powers.

That balance couldn’t be easily broken!

The three Admirals couldn’t leave their posts without special circumstances, constantly needing to monitor the Four Emperors in the New World.

The current pirate landscape was entirely different.

Why were the Four Emperors called Emperors? Roger and his contemporaries were immensely powerful but lacked that title.

Because today’s Emperors weren’t just strong individuals; they commanded vast territories and forces in the New World—countless countries and pirate crews swore allegiance to them.

Declaring war on an Emperor wasn’t just fighting a crew; it was FULL-SCALE WARFARE!

Under these circumstances, how could Marine HQ spare an Admiral for a potentially years-long chase across the globe? Impossible! The risk of an Emperor making a move while an Admiral was absent was too great! Especially with Kaido the war maniac, and Shanks, whom Sengoku feared most.

This—was why Rowen acted so fearlessly!

He had nothing to lose, while the Navy, being a vast organization, was bound by the need for balance.

Just as Rowen told Gion—YOU MARINES CAN’T STOP ME NOW!

Not because the Navy lacked the power to defeat him eventually.

But because under the current circumstances—with his true abilities obscured by misinformation—Marine HQ couldn’t possibly commit an Admiral-level asset to hunt him down globally.

They likely wouldn’t even get approval from the World Government, who prioritized maintaining the balance above all—

The balance of the Three Great Powers—wasn’t it partly designed by the World Government to keep the Navy itself in check?

Everything—was proceeding according to Rowen’s plan…

With the Navy’s interference neutralized, Rowen could focus entirely on plundering Crocodile’s Warlord ‘Fortune’.

“Remain in Alabasta for now. Await further orders,” Sengoku finally instructed after long deliberation.

He knew that since Rowen displayed such strength, Marine HQ couldn’t defeat him without deploying an Admiral—Continuing to have Gion pursue Rowen was pointless, even potentially disastrous.

Judging by the man’s actions, he was utterly ruthless.

Pushing him too far could lead to unforeseen consequences.

If Gion, an Admiral Candidate, was severely injured or killed, the loss to the Navy would be immense!

They only had two Admiral Candidates; they were precious assets.

With Rowen issuing a clear warning, the best course now was to increase his bounty, amplify his notoriety—let other pirates deal with him—Perhaps even let him clash with the Emperors in the New World!

That served the Navy’s interests best.

But Sengoku didn’t recall Gion yet because his Buddha wisdom still felt something was wrong, though he couldn’t pinpoint what…

Having Gion remain in Alabasta provided an Admiral Candidate level presence to stabilize the situation if something major occurred.

After hanging up the Transponder Snail, Sengoku silently stood up and stormed towards another office.

BANG!

He kicked the door open violently.

“Hm? Sengoku? Come to witness me break the rice cracker eating record?” Garp looked up from his snack, laughing loudly.

“YOU OLD BASTARD! STILL HAVE THE NERVE TO EAT?! IT’S YOUR DAMN FAMILY AGAIN! CAUSING ALL THIS TROUBLE!” Sengoku completely lost control, snatching the bag of rice crackers from Garp’s hand.

Using his Buddha wisdom to analyze Rowen exhausted him, yet this old fool was just sitting here munching snacks!

If Rowen hadn’t joined his damn grandson’s crew, would Sengoku have been so constrained from the start?!

Though his calculations showed the ultimate outcome might not differ, just seeing Garp enraged him! In a fit of pique—Sengoku dumped the entire bag of rice crackers into his own mouth.

“AHHH! MY RICE CRACKERS—!” Garp yelled instantly.

<><><><><><><><>

Meanwhile, in Alabasta.

“Munch Munch!” Rowen directed a stream of smoke towards a pile of materials. He then activated the Munch-Munch Fruit ability, using the smoke as a medium.

(Directly eating materials with his mouth using the Munch-Munch Fruit? The image was too horrifyingly undignified. Fortunately, Rowen found he could channel the fruit’s ability through his smoke, making the process look entirely different—almost technological.)

“Such a convenient ability, the Munch-Munch Fruit,” Usopp commented admiringly as a functional desert vehicle quickly took shape from the consumed materials. The design was Usopp’s; his Inventor Trait was invaluable.

“Another Devil Fruit ability…” Ace murmured nearby, feeling numb. Just how many did this guy have?!

After bottling up his questions for so long—Ace finally looked towards Rowen and asked what had been burning in his mind.

<><><><><><><><>

~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

<><><><><><><><>

~# Keep the Chapters coming — Support with Power Stones!

~# Every 300 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep