"So cool! Great-Grandpa is so cool!! Ahhh!!!"
Amidst the paralyzed crowd of pirates, Luffy flashed forward and skidded to a halt in front of Rowan. His eyes were wide, darting up and down, left and right, scanning the old man with pure, unadulterated worship. His pupils had literally transformed into stars as he vibrated with excitement.
"Ooh ooh ooh!!! Great-Grandpa, how did you do that? How can you be so cool?!"
Luffy's reaction was the polar opposite of the pirates'. If the pirates saw a demon, Luffy saw a god. Surrounded by the dancing, fanboying Luffy, Rowan stood with his blade in one hand, the wind whipping his white hair—the personification of a peerless master.
Rowan ignored Luffy's antics. Instead, he looked at the famous blade in his hand. The previously plain and unadorned steel now shimmered with a flowing, ethereal light, its quality transformed. But more importantly, Rowan felt a strange sensation.
He felt as if he and the blade had become one. He was the sword, and the sword was him.
Is this what it feels like to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship? Even the weapon seems to have found its soul.
Feeling the peculiar vibration traveling up the hilt and the boundless, majestic Sword Intent coiling within his body, Rowan marveled. No wonder so many in this world dedicated their lives to the blade, dreaming of becoming a Great Swordsman. This sensation was intoxicating.
Though he hadn't earned this skill through decades of sweat—having used the system to "add points"—the system was his. And hey, he had worked hard to earn those Faith Points, hadn't he?
Since I have this power now, let's see if those two thousand Faith Points were worth the price.
With that thought, Rowan exhaled slowly. He raised his gaze and scanned the surrounding pirates. In this state, wherever his eyes landed, the pirates felt a sharp, bone-chilling aura.
To them, Rowan was no longer a withered old man; he was a blade. A blade so sharp it could cut the very air. Just meeting his eyes made them tremble. It reminded them of a legend of the high seas: Hawkeye Mihawk.
Rumor had it that Mihawk possessed eyes like a hawk that could make even the bravest warriors freeze. But right now, this seemingly ordinary old man looked even more piercing than the legend himself.
At a subtle gesture from Rowan, the "fanboy" Luffy immediately scrambled away. He knew better than anyone that he would only be in the way. As a Rubber-Man, sharp slashes were his natural kryptonite, and he had no desire to be accidentally diced by his own Great-Grandpa.
Under the collective, terrified gaze of the armada, Rowan took a single step forward.
With a thought, the pure Sword Intent erupted from his body once more. It was so dense it became tangible, fluctuating around him like a transparent flame. Small pebbles on the beach were repelled by the pressure, and the ground beneath his feet began to crack, shredded by invisible microscopic slashes.
Great-Grandpa is going to do it!
Luffy retreated even further.
Rowan's gaze sharpened. He didn't use a named technique. He simply delivered a casual, horizontal swing with the Ryo Wazamono blade.
In an instant, the world turned white.
Whether it was the pirates still on the ships, the ones fleeing across the sand, or Luffy watching from behind—everyone's vision was momentarily blinded by a flash of pure brilliance.
Before they could process the light, a gargantuan shockwave of compressed air, carrying a Sword Intent that felt capable of ending the world, roared toward the fleet.
The pirates screamed, running frantically in any direction that wasn't "forward."
At that exact moment, the self-proclaimed "Strongest Man in the East Blue," Don Krieg, finally breached the surface of the water near the Dreadnaught Saber. He clutched his dented gold armor, coughing up seawater, his ribs clearly broken.
"Damn it... I was careless," Krieg snarled, his eyes cold and murderous as he looked toward the island. "I'll make those two pay with—"
He stopped. The malice on his face was replaced by a mask of absolute horror.
He saw a thin, horizontal line of light. It traveled across the sea with impossible speed. His "invincible" golden armor, which could supposedly withstand cannon fire, felt like wet tissue paper. The slash passed through him effortlessly.
Then, the light vanished.
Silence returned. But it didn't last.
A heartbeat later, the pirates watched in paralyzed awe as the hulls of their massive fleet—all forty-plus ships, including the gargantuan Dreadnaught Saber—developed a perfectly straight, glowing seam.
CRACK—BOOM!
One ship's upper half slid off into the sea, creating a massive swell. Then another. Then five more.
One by one, nearly fifty pirate ships were sliced clean in half by a single stroke.
A Heaven-Shattering Slash!
[System Prompt: Faith Points +1][System Prompt: Faith Points +1][System Prompt: Faith Points +1]...
The notifications began to fire like a machine gun in Rowan's head. He looked back at Luffy, who was vibrating so hard he looked like he might explode from excitement.
Rowan sighed. He knew the move was flashy, but was that reaction really necessary?
.....BONUS CHAPTER IS COMING....
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