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Wano Country, an unknown corner.
"---Hah!"
With ragged breaths, Lirisk jolted awake. Instinctively, he tried to raise his arms into a guard stance, only for his body to betray him, it felt weak and heavy as lead.
Clatter…
The seastone shackles rattled noisily, but it was pointless.
"So I've been captured after all…"
Oddly enough, that realization calmed him. Lirisk knew well, if the Soryu (Azure Dragon) intended to use him as bait to lure his father Orrick, then his life was safe, for now.
Darkness surrounded him. Only in the distant shadows did faint pink lights flicker, multiplying one by one like countless stars in a night sky.
By their glow, Lirisk noticed a figure at work not far away. Each time the person paused, another pink glimmer bloomed in the dark.
"…That scent."
He sniffed, eyes narrowing. "Dyna Stones?"
"Oh? You're awake?"
The busy figure straightened and looked over.
"No surprise, you're a Zoan User. Even after injuries that should've kept you down for weeks, you've regained your strength in a matter of hours."
Rowen's voice carried both admiration and curiosity before he turned back to his task.
"You guessed right. These are Dyna Stones. I'll admit it, the power packed into these natural crystals puts most weapons to shame. Sometimes I almost pity Vegapunk. All his years of toil, his newest cannons… yet they can't compare to these freaks of nature."
"Hmph. Stop with the pointless theatrics." Lirisk sneered coldly, utterly unafraid.
"I've said it before, that man will never lose his reason for the sake of a so-called son. Your little trap won't work."
"Is that so? I don't share your confidence."
"Oh?" Lirisk's tone sharpened with mock courtesy. "Then do enlighten me. I'm all ears."
Rowen dusted off his hands, passing a bundle of stones to the trembling, pale-faced Kanjuro, who was busy covering their tracks. Then he walked toward Lirisk.
"You misjudge your father, Lirisk. Enemy or not, I'll speak the truth, he truly does love you."
"And what of it?" Lirisk's laugh was scornful. "Parents loving their children isn't something you, an enigma no one has ever unraveled, need to explain. It's always a matter of choice, isn't it?"
"So you think… between his ambition and you, he would choose ambition?"
Rowen shook his head slowly.
"No. You're wrong. I am certain he would choose you."
"Why?!"
Lirisk's confusion was plain. Rowen wasn't family, what gave him such certainty?
"Simple. The very reason he started this war, the reason he dares to topple the World Government… is you.
"If you didn't exist, I see no reason he would fight at all."
"Don't mock me!" Lirisk roared, unable to contain himself. "Stop acting like you understand everything! That man, he could never…"
Rowen only looked at him with quiet pity.
"Rest easy. This isn't a bluff. I'm one hundred percent certain."
"The Gorōsei told you that? Or Imu?"
"No. It's my own conclusion."
"What?!" Lirisk laughed bitterly, almost hysterical. "Your own conclusion? That's it?"
"Yes."
In truth, Rowen didn't even need to "conclude." The fact was enough: he knew the story already.
Because he had read the original work.
And in that story, Orrick never existed.
A Celestial Dragon tyrant… the strongest of their clan… a pirate emperor… the head of the Nibelung line… a man bold enough to challenge the Gorōsei themselves. Such a figure should never have remained hidden, without leaving so much as a trace.
Why?
The answer was obvious.
Because in the original tale, Lirisk never existed.
After disappearing over a decade ago, then later reemerging as nothing but a mindless executioner under the title of Rear Admiral Scante… he had forgotten even his own identity, reduced to a beast of instinct. His fate, in that timeline, was already sealed.
But Rowen had altered everything. He had saved Lirisk, restored him to the Holy Land.
And because of that, Orrick, once a shadow on the sidelines, now dared to ignite a world war. To claim that Lirisk's survival had nothing to do with this upheaval? Rowen would never believe it.
The conclusion was crystal clear.
"Everything your father has done… he has done for you."
"Impossible! On what basis?!"
Rowen smiled faintly.
"I'll leave that answer for him to tell you himself. Don't worry, I'll give you a few minutes to talk… before the end."
"Admiral Soryu (Azure Dragon), preparations are complete."
Kanjuro approached nervously, arms full of containers filled with a strange liquid. His every movement was stiff with fear.
"Relax. As long as these aren't directly exposed to air, they won't explode so easily."
Rowen waved his hand, scooping the remaining Dyna Stones into his spatial ring with rough efficiency, Kanjuro watching with wide, horrified eyes.
"Well… usually they won't."
Suddenly, Rowen's lips twitched. He pulled out a container, its glass surface spiderwebbed with cracks. Without hesitation, he dug a pit into the cavern floor, hurled the stone inside, and stomped down.
BOOM!!!
A muffled detonation shook the underground chamber, like a firecracker buried in earth. The entire cave trembled violently, jars and containers rattling as the dirt disguises above collapsed in clumps.
Kanjuro's heart slammed in his chest, hammering past two hundred beats a minute. His mind went blank with terror.
"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!"
If all these Dyna Stones detonated at once, only the Soryu (Azure Dragon) could survive by turning into his elemental form. He and Lirisk would be obliterated instantly.
Fortunately, the tremor was brief. By the time Rowen gathered his wits, everything had calmed.
Exhaling deeply, Rowen carefully inspected his ring before patting Kanjuro's trembling shoulder with solemn reassurance.
"Naturally, if it had exploded… that would've been perfectly understandable, wouldn't it?"
Kanjuro: "..."
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Understandable? It would've killed us, damn it!!
"Come on," Rowen said. "Now we wait for Orrick. Even if he doesn't die in the blast, it'll save us a lot of trouble."
Kanjuro didn't dare disagree, nodding furiously.
He had to admit it, Rowen, with his cunning and terrifying strength combined, was too valuable an ally.
How long had it been since their pact? And already, the Soryu (Azure Dragon) was scheming against Orrick and Kaido's coalition's most important ally.
Before, such a thought would've been unthinkable.
Just as they were about to leave the cavern, Lirisk suddenly lifted his head and bared his teeth in a grin.
"No, Soryu (Azure Dragon)… you won't succeed."
Rowen frowned, pausing to glance back.
"Defiance isn't a good look, Lirisk. Whether I succeed or not, we'll find out soon enough."
"No, that's not what I mean."
Shackled tight to the wall by seastone chains, Lirisk recalled everything that had happened that day. His grin widened.
"Fate… what a cruel joke."
"I finally resolved myself, believing I had captured a key figure in the rebellion. And yet, not a soul even knew she existed."
Rowen narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"
For reasons he couldn't explain, an ominous premonition crept into his chest.
Clink,
Lirisk jerked his chin, straining against the chains, and tugged free the necklace that had always hung around his neck. His lips curled upward.
"You think everything's under your control. But do you know why my father will never come for me?"
Snap, The chain broke. The pendant hit the ground with a sharp crack.
From within, a folded yellow-brown card slipped out. For a moment it lay still, then, inch by inch, it began to creep across the ground… drawn toward Lirisk.
"A Vivre Card!!"
"You…"
Rowen's eyes went wide in shock. The realization struck like lightning, "You mean… you weren't using it to lure your father? You were trying to draw out the rebellion, to join forces with them?!"
Otherwise, why would Lirisk carry his own Vivre Card? The rebellion didn't have anyone strong enough to warrant such desperation.
"At first, yes."
Lirisk's reply was calm, almost indifferent. "That's why I said today is nothing but irony. You, me, even that courtesan girl Komurasaki, we all failed to reach our goals. A joke of fate, isn't it?"
He glanced at Kanjuro, who stood frozen beside Rowen, slack-jawed with disbelief. Then, deliberately, Lirisk continued, each word heavy as stone:
"But now… I want the truth!"
Rowen grimaced. Trouble.
Damn it. Hoisted by my own petard. Why the hell did I run my mouth? Villains always die from talking too much!
(End of Chapter)