Rumbling sounds...
Some "huge thing" rubbed against the air, creating a series of booms.
The rumbling sound came from high in the sky, getting closer and closer as it crashed down toward the sea!
People on the Four Seas Alliance ships noticed the movement in the sky and looked up.
A scene they would never forget appeared –
In the sky above, an island suddenly fell from the sky, heading straight for their ship!
An island.
Yes, it wasn't a meteor, and it wasn't a cannonball.
It was a small island made of dirt and rock, covered with grass and trees, hundreds of times the size of the ship!
Jinbe of the Sun Pirates was steering the ship at the time.
His brow furrowed, and he said in a deep voice to the sailors beside him, "Raise the sails, we're going to go right through the impact point!"
"Yes!"
The sailors immediately began to act.
But just then, Hocka, who had been watching the movements on the sea, suddenly shouted, "Stop, the fish are acting strangely!"
...
Instinct—is a very amazing thing.
It allows creatures in the natural world to detect danger in advance, ensure their own safety, and thus maintain the existence of the entire species.
In a sense, this characteristic is similar to human observation Haki, and is even a kind of "instinct" that surpasses it.
...
At that moment, the anglerfish, which had been emitting dazzling light, actually made way for a gap!
The scene was like a huge "black eye" opening on the foggy sea, staring at the people on the sea like an abyss.
"What's going on?"
The sailors didn't understand.
Even if a small island fell from the sky, it should have nothing to do with the fish in the sea, so why were they dodging?
What's more, the gap that the anglerfish dodged was not the shape of the island at all, but rather a... cut made by a sharp blade?
Crocodile silently observed the movements in the water.
Suddenly, a feeling of palpitations surged up.
Crocodile looked up in the direction of that feeling, and his pupils couldn't help but shrink instantly!
Because behind the rapidly falling island, a distorted "space" could be vaguely seen.
A slash!
Crocodile's eyes flickered slightly, and he turned to look at Rowan not far away.
It was too late to run now.
No matter how good the Fish-Man's steering skills were, as long as this ship didn't grow wings, its fate would be no more than two things –
Either it would be sunk by the island, or it would be cut in half by the slash behind the island!
Losing a ship in the Devil's Triangle would almost certainly mean certain death.
Even if the Fish-Men could save some people with their racial advantages, there would inevitably be casualties among the other Four Seas Alliance members.
Crocodile knew very well that Ryan Rowan would not allow that to happen.
Or rather, Ryan Rowan already had countermeasures in place!
Sure enough.
As the island and the slash were about to fall, Rowan stood on the deck of the ship.
With a light tap of his toes, Rowan jumped up and onto the highest mast of the ship.
There was also a lookout on the small platform below the mast.
Rowan moved his finger, controlling the sand, and gently returned the lookout to the deck, then looked up at the sky.
Then, a breath suddenly spread throughout the ship.
Everyone on the ship could hear the heavy breathing, as if it were right in their ears.
"Hiss... Huff..."
Whose breathing was it?
Rowan's?
Wait, could someone's breathing really be so "clear"?
Following the sound of the breathing, everyone looked up and saw Rowan's movements.
Similar to the strange breathing, Rowan was also showing an extremely unusual stance.
He held his staff in his hand, his toes lightly touching the highest point of the mast.
His arms hung down naturally as if he had lost strength.
Rowan looked as stable as if he were standing on the ground, and his whole body was filled with a heavy feeling.
But the reality was that Rowan was only touching the mast with his toes, standing lightly on the highest point of the ship.
It was hard to imagine that at the same time, "lightness" and "heaviness," two completely different or even opposite stances, could coexist in one person!
At that moment, everyone who witnessed Rowan's stance had the same feeling –
Rowan was like a natural sculpture, which should have been there, and everything seemed so "perfect."
Even moving a finger would break that feeling of perfect completion!
As the island and the slash were about to fall on the ship, the "sculpture" finally moved.
He held his staff in his hand, and black armament Haki spread out, dyeing the staff black.
He pulled the black weapon back, aiming at the falling island.
If Vice Admiral Tsuru herself were present, she might recognize at a glance that this was the same stance Rowan used when fighting Garp!
But unlike then, both Rowan and Garp were fighting with a mentality of testing each other and playing around, and they didn't use their full strength.
But now, facing Shiki's "test," Rowan finally seriously began to accumulate the power within his body!
Metallic black spread to Rowan's whole body, but the black armament Haki didn't stop gathering, but instead condensed even more violently in half of Rowan's body.
...
On the deck, Crocodile noticed Rowan's actions and immediately shouted, "Steady the ship, prepare for impact!"
...
Crocodile's judgment was of course correct.
As a fellow Sand-Sand Fruit user, Crocodile could roughly guess the changes happening within Rowan's body.
It was a "critical point" where the power of a Logia Devil Fruit was about to explode!
Once it fully erupted, the endless sand would cause unimaginable destruction to the surroundings!
Of course, Rowan, who had developed the Sand-Sand Fruit to this point, could not lose control of that power, and he could guide that terrifying power to the correct place –
Which was directly above!
But on the other hand, the ship directly below Rowan would also be subjected to an opposite force.
Crocodile didn't want to experience capsizing in this Devil's Triangle!
...
On the other side, the sound of breathing lingering in everyone's ears continued, and became more and more clear and loud.
Rowan's body also gradually pulled back.
Finally, at the moment when the island and the slash reached the top of the ship's mast, the breathing in everyone's ears—stopped.
The black weapon swung horizontally—
Whoosh!
At that moment, all the sounds around seemed to stop.
Including the sound of the island being broken into two halves by the black weapon;
And including the fierce collision sound between the black weapon and the slash.
People only felt that everything around them was shaking, but vaguely felt a bit of peace of mind.
Because Ryan Rowan's figure still stood on the mast.
Light and heavy.
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