Rowan, full name: Ryan Rowan, a person who traveled through time.
At the start of his time travel, Rowan spent a long time figuring out that he had come to the world of One Piece.
But the time was a little early.
Year 685 of the sea calendar.
He came to an age before the World Government was created.
Marine, pirates, Four Emperors, Five Elders... none of these existed.
In this age, only the countries at sea were fighting endlessly to take over the world!
Rowan shrugged and stepped into this chaotic time.
It's best to live a new life in a happy way!
During his adventure, Rowan ate the Sand-Sand Fruit of the nature type and tried to develop its powers.
The power and use of a devil fruit depend a lot on the user's hard work and imagination.
Rowan didn't copy the powers of Crocodile in the future, but instead, based on his own memory, he developed a completely different way to use it!
Based on the powers of Azir, the Emperor of the Sands.
Using the three types of Haki, he turned sand into one fearless sand soldier after another!
In this age of endless war, Rowan controlled the sand soldiers and made a name for himself.
By chance, Rowan met a young man named Nefertari.
Together, they created a super powerful country in this chaotic world, called the Alabasta Empire!
Ryan Rowan was the first emperor of the Alabasta Empire!
Time flew by, and the war between countries continued.
Year 719 of the sea calendar.
To protect the civilians of Alabasta, Rowan went to the battlefield himself, summoning hundreds of thousands of sand soldiers alone. In a situation of total disadvantage, he stood against the enemy!
The crazy enemy used explosives to set off a volcano.
Before him was flowing lava and fire raining from the sky.
Behind him were the people of the Alabasta Empire.
Rowan shrugged again and stepped forward, just like when he left many years ago.
A wall of soldiers stands!
...
In the last moment of Rowan's memory, the lava hardened and the volcano stopped roaring.
But he couldn't look back at his people.
Rowan didn't remember what happened after that.
Maybe he died from exhaustion? It didn't matter.
But it was a really happy life!
Rowan didn't care what his actions would do to later generations. He wasn't a guardian of history.
The World Government and the great pirate age were things that would happen later.
After he died, he didn't care if the world was flooded.
...
"Water" did flood over.
Rowan woke up from a daze, as if he had broken free from something.
When he finally came to his senses, he saw someone he never thought he would see --
Crocodile.
This man, who should have been from a time so far away from him, was now standing there.
A sand blade swung.
Crocodile attacked.
Crocodile's attack failed.
Rowan figured that about eight hundred years had passed.
He was surprised. If he was still alive, where did Crocodile get the Sand-Sand Fruit?
So Rowan tried it. Although he was a bit rusty, he managed to summon sand soldiers.
Strange.
Rowan looked at his hand, his mind filled with too many questions.
But problems can always be solved bit by bit.
Rowan was eager to see this age that was so familiar in his memory, but that he had never really experienced.
A new age eight hundred years later!
...
Rowan's eyes were shining.
To Crocodile, it was a "weird" light.
A person whose last name wasn't Nefertari but claimed to be the emperor of Alabasta;
A person who claimed to be the user of a sand fruit;
A person who claimed to have died eight hundred years ago;
Weird!
Crocodile couldn't find any other way to describe it!
But as smart as he was, he quickly found a hole in the other person's story.
"Stop joking, you liar!" Crocodile frowned, "You said you died eight hundred years ago, and even if you could come back to life, how would you know my name?"
Rowan realized that he had called Crocodile by his real name without thinking.
But this small mistake was easy for Rowan to fix.
He answered, "Maybe it's a connection between users of the same devil fruit?"
Crocodile was speechless.
He couldn't argue because the other person did have the power of the Sand-Sand Fruit, even if the way they used it was completely different from his own.
But then another problem came up.
The same devil fruit can only reappear in the sea after the user dies.
He had already eaten the Sand-Sand Fruit, so why was this man named Rowan still alive?
...
The noise from outside broke Crocodile's thoughts.
Rowan had made too much noise opening the tomb, which naturally attracted the attention of the Alabasta Royal Army.
They had been clearing out rebels nearby, and were now coming to investigate the tomb of the former king, led by King Cobra.
Among those who came were the two guardian gods of Alabasta, users of animal-type devil fruits: Pell the Falcon and Chaka the Jackal.
At the same time, there was King Cobra's only daughter, the little princess of Alabasta - Nefertari Vivi.
The group came to the tomb of the former king and saw something they couldn't understand.
The huge and grand tomb had a large hole in it.
Countless grains of sand were holding up large and small stones, making them float in the air, creating a path leading straight to the tomb.
Two figures were at the end of the road.
One was Crocodile, the national hero they knew so well.
The other was a stranger they had never seen before.
"That is..."
Cobra narrowed his eyes. He was the only one there who was a little familiar with the clothes the other person was wearing.
It was the oldest type of armor in Alabasta, only found in records!
Cobra thought that this kind of thing had been lost in history, but he didn't expect to see it here.
A grave robber?
No, no grave robber would wear the stolen goods, right?
The outfit seemed to be made for that man!
Cobra thought for a moment, and ignoring Pell and Chaka, he stepped forward and asked seriously:
"May I ask, who are you?"
Rowan didn't answer.
He stared at Cobra, and then his eyes turned to Vivi not far away, and his heart trembled slightly.
It was a familiar feeling.
In fact, Rowan had no descendants, but the feeling didn't come from blood.
The feeling came from Alabasta itself, connecting their fates!
Rowan stepped past Cobra and rubbed Vivi's head.
Vivi looked up, as if she felt something too.
Rowan walked up the steps made of sand and came to the ground.
Around him was a desert that was both strange and familiar.
In the distance was a small oasis.
A group of rebellious pirates had retreated to the high ground of the oasis, fighting a last stand. The Royal Army was trying to suppress them, but they were a little short-handed, and the two sides were in a deadlock.
Cobra was about to lead his men to help, but Rowan stopped him with a wave.
Rowan squatted down, picked up a handful of sand, and slowly stood up.
The sand slipped from his fingers and scattered in the wind.
Whoosh!
Rowan suddenly clenched his fingers, and the sand around him began to respond to his call!
Rumble...
One figure after another made of sand soldiers rose from the sand.
Faintly, the people around him seemed to feel the wind from the cruel battlefield eight hundred years ago!
The sand soldiers stood on the sand with long spears in their hands, waiting in battle formation!
Rowan looked into the distance, his voice long and with a strangely old feeling.
He said slowly:
"Alabasta, your emperor... has returned!"