"Oh, I see! 'Sky Sovereign'—that really is a cool title! Shishishi!" Luffy beamed after hearing Rowen's explanation about the epithet.
Becoming the Pirate King was Luffy's entire goal for setting out to sea. Having his very first crewmate acknowledge his dream so strongly naturally made Luffy incredibly happy.
—[Detected increase in bond with equipping target. Trait equipping progress increased.]—
Seeing the notification only he could see, Rowen's eyes gleamed.
Just as I thought. There are ways to speed up the Trait equipping process.
Bonds, huh? Very fitting for this kind of world.
Noticing the significant jump in the progress bar for Superhuman Physique (Deep Purple), and the fact that the Sun God (Apex Gold) bar had finally started moving, Rowen allowed himself a small smile.
Choosing the epithet 'Sky Sovereign' wasn't just because it fit the One Piece world and appealed to Rowen's own aesthetic sensibilities from Earth.
More importantly, using the reasoning behind the title was Rowen's way of testing the Trait equipping speed.
Luffy's dream was to become Pirate King; Rowen's explanation naturally strengthened their connection.
And since Luffy was the target for equipping Traits, Rowen needed to test if improving their relationship would accelerate the process.
Now, it seemed clear that it worked.
Heh. Worth making that slightly dramatic speech.
Rowen scanned the sky but didn't spot any News Coo birds.
Then again, in the One Piece world, News Coos were practically omnipresent. Rowen, who hadn't awakened Observation Haki yet, couldn't pinpoint their exact location anyway.
But he'd know soon enough from the next news report whether his chosen epithet had spread across the seas.
After all, when it came to Conqueror's Haki, the president of the World Economic News Agency, Morgans, definitely knew its significance.
Despite some later complaints about too many Conqueror's Haki users appearing in the New World, if you actually counted, fewer than twenty individuals in the entire original story were confirmed to possess it.
And those weren't even all active in the same era.
Possessing Conqueror's Haki truly meant having the disposition of a King.
Because awakening Conqueror's virtually guaranteed the ability to learn both Observation and Armament Haki, and ensured the user could train their Haki to a reasonably high level at minimum.
In other words, simply awakening Conqueror's Haki meant the user inherently possessed the potential for at least Warlord-level strength.
For a Conqueror's Haki user to emerge in the East Blue—that news definitely had enough weight for Morgans to make a story out of it.
Anyway, now that he'd joined the main crew, Luffy's Powerful Connections (Special) Trait meant Rowen didn't need to worry too much about attracting unbeatable pirate or Marine pursuit before he was strong enough.
So, there was no real need for Rowen to keep a low profile.
That concept of "disposition" or "presence" mentioned in the story was likely a crucial factor in Haki strength. Therefore, acting humbly or staying low-key was probably detrimental for aspiring powerhouses in the One Piece world.
Look at Blackbeard—hiding his ambition on Whitebeard's ship before getting the Dark-Dark Fruit. Because he played the part of a harmless underling for too long, his own kingly disposition withered, to the point where he actually considered just living out his days on Whitebeard's ship.
In the One Piece power system, pretending to be weak to ambush the strong ('playing the pig to eat the tiger') ultimately just turned you into a real pig.
Only by building a fearsome reputation, using the blood of other strong opponents as stepping stones, could one reach the pinnacle of this world.
"Alright, we took care of these guys! Let's hurry up and find a boat so we can set sail again!" Luffy grinned, looking at the Alvida Pirates littering the deck.
Swish! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Just as Luffy finished speaking, cannonballs slammed into the deck of Alvida's pirate ship.
In the distance, Marine warships were rapidly approaching.
"Marines! As pirates, we gotta make a quick getaway! Let's go, Rowen!" Luffy exclaimed. He was certainly familiar with Marine ships; his own grandpa commanded vessels much larger than these.
"Got it." Rowen smirked slightly.
He had no intention of plundering Alvida's 'Super Thick Skin' Trait.
Fat held absolutely zero interest for him.
"Whew! What a haul!" Nami muttered, having successfully looted all of the Alvida Pirates' treasure. She loaded the heavy sacks onto a small boat.
Spotting the approaching Marine warships in the distance, Nami prepared to make her own escape.
Just then, a small lifeboat launched itself off the deck of the hijacked liner and crashed into the sea nearby, sending up a wave.
"Whoa!" Nami shielded herself from the spray and looked over. Onboard the lifeboat were the boy in the straw hat and a familiar figure.
"Y-You're..." Nami's eyes widened.
Isn't that the guy from the liner earlier?
"Looks like the young lady thief achieved her goal," Rowen commented with a smile, observing Nami—now out of her dress and in her thief attire, clutching the bags filled with Alvida's treasure.
Nami instinctively hugged the treasure sacks tighter.
"You know her, Rowen?" Luffy asked curiously.
"We crossed paths briefly," Rowen replied casually.
"Oh, okay! But we gotta hurry up and get outta here!" Luffy shouted, seeing the Marine ships getting closer.
"Well then, until we meet again, Miss Thief. My name's Rowen," Rowen said, looking at Nami. He knew this wasn't the time for extended conversation. Besides, Nami's next destination was the same as theirs.
Pushing too hard now might backfire.
Without waiting for Nami's reply, Rowen used his Navigation (White) Trait to steer the small boat, quickly heading away from the approaching Marine vessels.
"Rowen?" Nami murmured the name, then quickly steered her own boat away using her superior navigation skills.
As for Rowen's "until we meet again," Nami didn't pay it much mind.
The sea's enormous. What are the chances of running into him again?
"Hahahaha! That was fun!" Luffy laughed heartily after they had completely lost the Marine warships.
"Hey, Rowen, that 'Pirate Hunter' the rude old lady mentioned—do you know anything about him?" Luffy asked.
"I've heard the name. Supposedly a crazy strong swordsman. They call him a 'demon in human form'," Rowen replied with a smile.
"A demon?! Sounds tough!" Luffy grinned excitedly.
"What? Interested in him?" Rowen asked, feigning ignorance.
Koby, that disgusting clown, had been removed from the equation by Rowen.
So, regarding Zoro, Rowen himself would need to nudge the plot forward.
But without Koby around, Rowen didn't mind playing the role of plot-mover for a bit.
"I wanna be King of the Pirates, so I gotta go to the Grand Line! Besides you, Rowen, I need more strong crewmates! If that guy's any good, I wanna ask him to join!" Luffy declared with his trademark grin.
"Well then, let's go check him out. I hear he's currently in Shells Town," Rowen said, pulling out a sea chart he had prepared earlier.
He'd acquired the chart from the luxury liner.
"Alright! Course set! Let's go, Rowen!" Luffy was fired up.
"Roger that." Rowen smirked, equally interested.
Roronoa Zoro... I wonder what kind of Traits worth equipping the man known as the true heart of the Straw Hat crew possesses.
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~# Every 200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter