Chapter 63: Swordsmanship Instructor
♂ “What do I do?” Ian blinked, playing dumb.
Smoke snorted out a puff of cigar smoke and said, “Don’t play dumb with me. Look at yourself—how much trouble have you brought to Loguetown because of your appearance?”
Ian turned his head and looked around. The vast square was covered in bloodstains and shell craters. The execution platform had also collapsed. Injured pirates and Marines sat on the ground, groaning softly. Everywhere, doctors were running around with sweat dripping from their brows, treating the wounded. It was a scene of utter devastation after a great battle.
“You can’t blame this on me, can you?” Ian spread his hands and said, “The pirates did all this!”
“But you shouldn’t have killed so many people!” Tashigi walked over from the side and shouted loudly at Ian.
Ian rolled his eyes at her. “They brought it on themselves!”
“You…”
Just then, Smoke spoke up: “Tashigi, don’t be so naive. Now that you’re a full-fledged Marine, you have to get used to this kind of thing. If you still hold onto that compassionate mindset, you might end up getting killed by pirates first!”
Tashigi sensed the coldness in Smoke’s tone and fell silent. Finally, she snorted angrily and turned away.
Smoke shook his head. Young Marines were like this. Under the ideological education of the Marines, they came out full of justice and passion. Only after experiencing more would they realize the cruelty of this world. Whether pirate or Marine, killing and being killed was simply fate.
He looked back at Ian and spoke: “Originally, I wanted to arrest you. But since you didn’t run away, I’ll let it slide. Like you said, I don’t care about the pirates—they brought it on themselves. But you destroyed the execution platform, and that’s a fact. Now I’ll give you two choices: either pay compensation, or take responsibility for repairing the platform. But you have to do it yourself!”
“Do it myself?” Ian asked in surprise. “I don’t know carpentry. You want me to do it myself?”
“Oh, so you’re choosing to pay compensation?” Smoke said.
Ian cautiously asked first: “Um… can I ask first? If I pay compensation, how much would it be?”
“At least fifty million Berry!” Smoke stated a number.
Ian immediately jumped up: “Fifty million!? A broken wooden frame, and you want fifty million? Why don’t you just rob me!?”
“It’s absolutely worth that much!” Smoke said seriously. “You have to understand, this is the execution platform where Pirate King Roger was executed. It’s practically a historical monument. Do you know how many tourists we’ll lose during the time it takes to repair it?”
Damn, fifty million—even combining Buggy and Krieg’s bounties wouldn’t be enough!
Speaking of bounties, Ian suddenly remembered something. He ran over to the dead Krieg, removed the diamond-studded gauntlet from his fist, wiped off the blood, and stuffed it into his pocket. That was money too!
Smoke watched his actions without saying a word. Krieg was killed by Ian, and he couldn’t deny that. So not only would Ian have to be paid the bounty, but he also had the right to dispose of Krieg’s belongings.
Although the Marines had captured many members of the Krieg Pirates, quite a few had also escaped. The Marines had already dispatched warships to chase down the remnants at sea. Under this double blow, the dissolution of the Krieg Pirates was all but certain.
Just as Smoke was thinking about how to handle the aftermath, Ian ran back. Smoke spoke up: “I should warn you—Krieg’s bounty and belongings combined won’t be enough to cover the compensation!”
“I know!” Ian nodded and said, “So I’m not going to pay. I’d rather do the carpentry work!”
As he spoke, Ian pulled out the proof document from when he captured Buggy and handed it to Smoke. “And while you’re at it, give me this bounty too!”
“…” Smoke was speechless. He took the document and saw that the Buggy Pirates had also been captured by this guy in front of him. That meant the Marines would have to pay Ian over twenty million Berry in bounties this time.
A guy this rich, yet he chose to do carpentry work just to avoid paying compensation? Smoke didn’t know what to say.
If Ian knew what Smoke was thinking, he would definitely sneer. Are you kidding me? You want me to pay up? I’m so broke I’m thinking of robbing people myself. I was thinking earlier that repairing a wooden frame would only cost a few tens of thousands of Berry. If that was the case, I’d pay it, as long as Smoke would give me my bounty. But then Smoke opened his mouth with fifty million, and I’m not playing along.
Isn’t it just carpentry? If it ends up crooked and lopsided, don’t blame me!
Smoke probably realized that too. After racking his brains for a while, he finally spoke: “Alright, I’ll give you a third option. Stay at the Loguetown Marine base and serve as a swordsmanship instructor for one year. The Marines will handle the repair of the execution platform. What do you think?”
Ian looked at Smoke in confusion, wondering why he suddenly threw out such a condition.
In truth, Ian didn’t understand Smoke’s current situation. Although it seemed like Smoke had been sent to Loguetown as the person in charge, being transferred from Marine Headquarters to the East Blue was actually a form of disguised punishment. Smoke was a problem child in the Marines—highly opinionated and rarely obeying orders from his superiors. The Marines had taken this opportunity to get him away from headquarters, out of sight and out of mind.
Under these circumstances, the number of people Smoke had brought with him was limited. The elite Marines escorting him on the warship would eventually return. The only subordinates Smoke could truly rely on were Tashigi and a few others. And upon arriving in Loguetown, seeing how the local Marines cowered before pirates, he felt even more that these people were useless.
The sight of Ian killing Krieg with a single slash made him realize that this bounty hunter was a skilled swordsman. So, on a whim, he decided to keep Ian as a swordsmanship instructor. This way, he would have a capable fighter under his command, and he could also use Ian to train the Loguetown Marines. It was a win-win situation.
In fact, this tendency to try and recruit promising individuals into the Marines wasn’t unique to Garp. Many Marine officers felt the same way. The era of the Great Pirate Age had left many Marines feeling short-handed. As long as someone wasn’t a pirate, they would try to bring them into the Marines. So, even someone like Ian, who was a bounty hunter, or even actual pirates, could sometimes be accommodated—that’s how the Seven Warlords of the Sea came about!
Hearing Smoke’s words, Ian shook his head vigorously: “One year is too long. No deal! I’ll just do the carpentry!”
“How long can you accept?” Smoke asked.
Ian thought it over and realized he did need to stay in Loguetown for a while. First, he had to wait for Garp to return and give him Ace’s letter, while also asking if Garp could help. Second, it had been a long time since he left, and he wondered how Master Koushirou, Zoro, and Kuina were doing. Since he was still in the East Blue, he might as well write a letter to let them know he was safe.
Since he was going to stay for a while anyway, accepting Smoke’s conditions wasn’t a problem. Smoke said he would be a swordsmanship instructor, not a Marine recruit. So he would still be free to leave whenever he wanted.
Before setting out to sea, Master Koushirou had asked Ian if he wanted to join the Marines. At the time, Ian had shaken his head and denied it. The Marines were indeed a powerful force, but honestly, he had too little connection to them. Joining the Marines might earn him a decent rank and status through his strength, but it would also cost him his freedom. If his superiors gave an order for him to be stationed on some island base, he might end up stuck there for years, wasting away!
With his card system, Ian had to maintain his freedom. He needed to constantly challenge strong opponents to gain experience and level up, while also finding ways to earn money to draw cards and increase his strength.
Although he didn’t have to rely entirely on the system to grow stronger, it was still a good tool. Ian’s current plan was to learn Haki as soon as possible. If he wasn’t mistaken, once he learned Haki, the system would convert it into corresponding Nen—specifically, Nen that counted as a basic stat! That way, even if his card attributes became harder to increase later, his Nen energy value wouldn’t be as restricted.
Since he had to stay free, being a bounty hunter or a pirate was the best choice. However, Ian also understood that becoming a pirate would inevitably lead to pursuit by the Marines. When his strength wasn’t enough, provoking a massive organization like the Marines was suicide. He didn’t expect to have the same luck as Luffy and his crew, escaping danger every time.
Ian was still confused about his long-term goals. He hadn’t thought about becoming the Pirate King or finding Roger’s great treasure—those things were too far away. But his short-term goals were very clear.
If the Summit War was still going to happen, it meant an era of upheaval was coming. At that point, he might join one side or another. But whether he became a pirate, a Marine, or a Revolutionary, there was one prerequisite: he had to have enough strength to protect himself. Right now, he had no right to choose sides.
In the end, living in this world was just about survival.
With that thought, Ian felt a bit more at ease. He decided it was better not to strain his relationship with the Marines too much. So he raised one finger and said: “Alright, one month! For one month, I’ll be your swordsmanship instructor. In return, drop the compensation for the execution platform. Deal?”
Smoke felt that one month was too short, but seeing Ian’s attitude, there was no room for negotiation. So he nodded in agreement.
Ian snapped his fingers and said: “Great! Then please pay out the bounties first!”
Smoke, for some reason, unconsciously looked toward the Marine flag flying over the base in the distance.
“Thinking you can get rid of me just like that? Fine. Let’s see you deal with the headache of paying out two pirate bounties and the cost of repairing the execution platform!”