Chapter 64: Koushirou's Letter
Ian didn’t know that Smoker planned to use this incident to demand a large budget from his superiors. After reaching an agreement with Smoker, he simply settled down in the Marine base.
He found that this temporary agreement wasn’t bad for him. Staying in the Marine base saved him the cost of renting a hotel, and he didn’t have to pay for meals either. The Marine cafeteria in Loguetown was quite large, and the chef’s cooking was decent.
After the news of the Marine victory spread, the refugees who had fled Loguetown gradually returned. These were mainly local residents. After returning and settling their families, they rushed to the square, pointing at the traces of the battle and discussing animatedly.
They had already heard that the Krieg Pirates and the Buggy Pirates had appeared together this time, but the final result was the destruction of the East Blue’s overlord, the Krieg Pirates, and the escape of the Buggy Pirates.
Not only that, over two hundred members of the Krieg Pirates had been killed in this battle. Among the dead, more than half had been killed by a single Pirate Hunter, while the rest were killed in the battle with the Marines. Their leader, Krieg, had been killed on the spot by that same Pirate Hunter!
When the residents of Loguetown heard this news, they couldn’t help but cheer loudly. The Krieg Pirates’ infamy had spread throughout the East Blue, and now they had been eliminated by a Pirate Hunter. It was truly satisfying news.
People eagerly asked for the name of this Pirate Hunter. The Marines didn’t hide it and revealed Ian’s information.
When they heard that this Pirate Hunter named Ian had not only killed Krieg but also captured the Buggy Pirates, they were utterly shocked: This Pirate Hunter had captured two major pirates with bounties over ten million! (At this point, Buggy’s bounty had already been raised to 15 million.)
Ian’s name was being praised in every street and alley of Loguetown, almost regarded as the strongest Pirate Hunter in the entire East Blue.
Especially when they heard that Ian had become the Marine Swordsmanship Instructor in Loguetown, everyone felt much more at ease. In their eyes, having such a powerful Pirate Hunter teach the Marine soldiers swordsmanship would surely improve the strength of the Loguetown Marines, boosting the residents’ sense of security.
This might have been another purpose of Smoker’s. After all, the chaos in Loguetown had a huge impact. Announcing Ian’s joining the Marines could help stabilize public sentiment.
Of course, at this time, people didn’t know that this “Swordsmanship Instructor” would only stay in the Marine base for a month. Smoker wasn’t about to reveal that.
Out of gratitude, when the residents of Loguetown heard that the execution platform had been destroyed by Ian when he killed Krieg, not a single person blamed him! Instead, they eagerly pointed at the platform under repair and discussed it.
“Did you know? That Pirate Hunter Ian is a Swordsman Master! The execution platform was destroyed by his Flying Slash!”
“Really? That’s amazing!”
“And more, see that building behind? The slash’s final landing point was there. It even cut a crack in the stone, showing how powerful it was!”
Ian had become famous this time. Not only were the people of Loguetown talking about him, but the fleeing members of the Krieg Pirates, having lost their leader, disbanded. As they scattered across the East Blue, they spread the news of Ian killing Krieg everywhere. Ian, the Pirate Hunter, had become a figure feared by pirates.
No one dared to seek revenge on Ian. Many pirates had witnessed Ian killing Krieg with a single blow. Although this stirred hatred in their hearts, after assessing their own strength, they suppressed any thoughts of revenge.
Krieg’s title of “strongest” had been proclaimed for so many years that even if it wasn’t true, it had become so. Now that even the strongest Krieg had died at Ian’s hands, what could the smaller pirates possibly do?
So, for a time, many pirates in the East Blue kept a low profile, afraid that Ian, the Pirate Hunter, would come knocking on their doors.
At first, Ian didn’t expect this impact. It was only when he went to his old hotel to pick up the letter Ace had left that he felt some benefit. The hotel owner, upon learning that Ian was the one who killed Krieg, didn’t even pursue the matter of Ian and Ace eating and staying without paying. Instead, he gratefully treated Ian to another big meal, making Ian feel a bit embarrassed.
He got the letter Ace had left. It seemed Ace had long decided to leave after the matter was resolved; otherwise, he could have handed the letter to Ian in person instead of making him pick it up.
Ian knew that Ace had embarked on his adventure. He didn’t know if Ace would still join the Whitebeard Pirates later—it seemed likely—but because of Ian’s intervention, Ace had learned about Sabo. Perhaps during his adventure, there would be more things to do, like searching for Revolutionary Army members.
Ian didn’t know if Ace would find them. In his memory, Revolutionary Army members were scattered and hidden all over the world, operating in secret. It wouldn’t be easy for a pirate like Ace to find them.
As for what Ace wrote in his letter to Garp, Ian didn’t know, nor did he intend to read it. He just planned to hand the letter to Garp when he returned.
In the following two days, Ian stayed in the Marine base. The Seastone handcuffs on his wrists were opened by a Marine locksmith. After the cuffs were removed, Smoker took them, saying he wanted to polish them and embed the Seastone into his weapon, the Ten Hands, to deal with Devil Fruit Users in the future.
However, under Ian’s strong protest, Smoker only took the remaining chain parts and returned the handcuff rings to Ian. This made Ian look down on Smoker—hadn’t he thought of getting some Seastone while at Marine Headquarters? Why wait until coming to the East Blue to think about embedding it in his weapon?
While waiting for Garp’s return, Ian also started his work: training the Loguetown Marine soldiers for Smoker.
Back in the Shimotsuki Village’s Isshin Dojo, as the senior disciple, he had already supervised the younger disciples’ sword practice, so this job suited him well, and he did it with ease.
More importantly, the Loguetown Marines had witnessed Ian’s battle in the square and held him in awe. When Ian became their Swordsmanship Instructor, they practiced very hard, making Ian’s teaching quite easy.
This kind of teaching wasn’t much—just correcting basic movements and explaining things to watch out for in combat.
To Ian’s surprise, Tashigi also joined his lessons. Although she still had some reservations about Ian killing so many pirates, she practiced more seriously than anyone else and often asked Ian about swordsmanship.
Whenever this happened, Ian couldn’t help but see Kuina’s shadow in her. So, even though he knew Tashigi and Kuina were different people, he still answered her questions wholeheartedly.
This somewhat eased the tension between them.
Half a month passed quickly, but Garp still hadn’t returned. Ian had thought Garp was using his patrol to visit Luffy in Windmill Village, but when he grew impatient and asked Smoker, he was surprised to learn that Vice Admiral Garp had received orders from Headquarters. After inspecting Shells Town, he had returned directly through the Calm Belt! He wasn’t coming back to Loguetown! Now Ian didn’t know how to deliver Ace’s letter.
Smoker was surprised that Ian knew Garp, but he didn’t ask much. After the budget was finally approved, he directly gave Ian the bounty money—a total of 24 million Berries.
Ian also sold Krieg’s diamond gauntlets to a local jeweler, but only got about 3 million Berries. So, Ian now had 27 million Berries in hand!
This was the largest sum Ian had ever received.
Just as he was happily thinking about how to spend the money, a newly arrived mail ship brought Ian a letter.
Recognizing the handwriting as Koushirou’s, Ian remembered he had sent a letter to Koushirou a few days ago. He hadn’t expected a reply so soon.
Opening the letter, Ian read slowly.
“To my disciple Ian: Ian, I hope this letter finds you well! I received your letter. The dojo is fine, and so am I. Zoro and Kuina are the same as always. We’ve heard about what happened recently. These days, even Shimotsuki Village is spreading the news of you killing Krieg. I’m very pleased. It seems that after going to sea, you’ve gone further on the path of the sword. When Zoro heard about you, he clamored to go to sea too, but like you back then, I stopped him. He’s in a bad mood now, probably wishing time would jump to when he’s 18, haha!”
“You mentioned in your letter that you plan to go to the Grand Line. I won’t stop you, but you must be careful. Also, there’s something I want to tell you!”
The letter was long. Ian smiled as he read the first part, then turned the page to continue.
“I’ve never talked to you about your origins. I only told you that you were adopted, nothing else. When you went to sea, I hesitated about whether to tell you your true origins, but by the time I decided, you had already left.”
“I don’t know if it’s appropriate to tell you now, but since your strength has grown considerably, I think I should tell you everything.”
“Your hometown isn’t in the East Blue, but in the West Blue. Kuina’s mother and I found you near a small island in the West Blue…”
Reading this, Ian frowned. He wasn’t from the East Blue? Or rather, the original owner of this body wasn’t from the East Blue?