Chapter 68: Successful Coercion
As a competent pirate hunter, or rather, as a money-grubber, how could Ian possibly forget the Arlong Pirates of the East Blue?
Among the few pirates in the East Blue with bounties in the millions, the leader of the Arlong Pirates, Arlong, currently had a bounty of twenty million Berries. Ian would never complain about having too much money.
Unlike the Krieg Pirates, who were known as the rulers of the East Blue due to their massive numbers and influence, Ian had seized the opportunity to take down Krieg when he landed. If it had been at sea, Ian wouldn’t have found it so easy to deal with Krieg—over three thousand subordinates, even if they lined up for him to kill, would take several days.
That was why Ian had been so eager to stop and kill Krieg on the spot. He knew that, being alone, this was his only chance to face Krieg directly. Missing it would have been a waste.
Now that Krieg had been dealt with, two of his key officers captured, and his crew disbanded, and with Buggy having fled after being badly beaten by Ace, he probably wouldn’t show his face for a while. That left only one notorious pirate crew in the East Blue: the Arlong Pirates.
Arlong’s bounty was higher than Krieg’s because of the ferocity of fish-men. While the Krieg Pirates relied on sheer numbers, the Arlong Pirates relied on raw strength. Fish-men were naturally ten times stronger than humans and were experts in sea combat. They could breathe freely underwater and launch attacks on Marine ships from the depths, making it incredibly difficult for the Marines to wipe them out.
Fortunately, the Arlong Pirates didn’t roam around plundering and recruiting like the Krieg Pirates. Arlong despised humans, so his crew was almost entirely made up of fish-men, which naturally limited their expansion. Instead, they occupied Cocoyasi Village in the East Blue, set up a base there, and settled in.
Cocoyasi Village, known for its abundant citrus crops, was also called Orange Town. Since the villagers had a stable source of income, the Arlong Pirates extorted protection money from them on a regular basis, shearing them like sheep. This wasn’t limited to Cocoyasi Village—over twenty surrounding villages suffered the same fate. As a result, their plundering was relatively low-key, which was why Krieg, not Arlong, was considered the ruler of the East Blue.
When Ian first set sail, he lacked proper sea charts and had no idea where Cocoyasi Village was, so he never encountered the Arlong Pirates. In fact, both Buggy and Krieg had come to him; Ian hadn’t gone looking for trouble.
But now things were different. Ian was the swordsmanship instructor for the Marines in Loguetown. Under the guise of a training exercise, he had taken a Marine warship out to sea, giving him a legitimate reason to go after Arlong.
Before leaving, he had studied the sea charts and planned his route, so he didn’t waste time. He ordered the warship to head straight for Cocoyasi Village.
Ian knew that after this, Smoker would likely kick him out of the Marine base for good. But he didn’t care. His term was almost up anyway, and when would he ever get another chance to drag a bunch of Marines along as his muscle?
For a pirate hunter to reach this level in the East Blue was unprecedented.
With the wind at their backs, the warship moved quickly, and before long, they had left Loguetown far behind.
However, after sailing for a while, Tashigi began to sense something was off. Ian hadn’t changed course at all—it didn’t seem like he was just cruising around looking for pirates.
But she didn’t dare ask him, so she kept her doubts to herself, following wherever Ian went, strictly carrying out Smoker’s orders.
Ian ignored her. He calmly dragged a chair onto the deck, sat down, and basked in the sun while counting his Ice Tears.
After his battle with Krieg, Ian had realized the awkwardness of running out of mana. If it hadn’t been for the Evil Eye skill saving him, he would have had to watch Krieg escape. So during his month as a swordsmanship instructor, with no fighting to do, Ian switched to Shelley’s card. Whenever his psychic power was fully restored, he used it all to create Ice Tears for storage.
Ice Tears had a drawback: no matter how much psychic power was used to create them, they only retained 20% of it. A hundred points of psychic power produced an Ice Tear containing twenty points, while eighty points produced one with sixteen points. To maximize efficiency, Ian waited a full day until his psychic power was completely full before creating one.
After a month as a swordsmanship instructor at the base, he now had nearly thirty Ice Tears. If he used them all, they’d provide over six hundred points of psychic power for recovery, which should be enough for the short term.
Just as Devil Fruit users often relied on their abilities, Ian didn’t see anything wrong with relying on his system to grow stronger. Of course, while using the system to enhance himself, Ian was also constantly exploring additional uses for his cards.
The Ice Tears he created were beautiful round gems, but oddly enough, no one else could see them. Even if Ian held one in his palm, others would see an empty hand. This was completely different from the exclusive items that could be manifested.
Ian had already used all the bounty money Smoker gave him to recharge. After all, carrying that much cash was inconvenient. The total was twenty-seven million Berries, enough to pile up on a table. Converting it all into diamonds made it easier to carry and allowed him to draw cards whenever he wanted.
However, Ian hadn’t drawn any cards yet. His third card slot wasn’t unlocked, so even if he got a good card, he could only swap it in. He planned to wait until he reached level ten before drawing.
Killing Krieg, defeating the Demon Gin, and cutting down so many pirates had earned Ian a lot of experience. He had gone from level six and a half to over level seven, and he was close to level eight.
This was another reason he had his sights set on the Arlong Pirates. Fish-men were stronger than ordinary humans, so fighting them would yield more experience, right? Maybe after taking down the Arlong Pirates, he could reach level ten. Then, if he drew a good card to equip, he’d have more security in the Grand Line.
After sailing for about an hour, a Marine soldier suddenly ran up to Tashigi and whispered something. Tashigi’s face flushed with anger as she stormed over to Ian.
“You… you brought us to Cocoyasi Village!?” Tashigi’s hand was already on her sword, ready to draw it. She gritted her teeth and said, “Do you know where this is!? Are you trying to get these soldiers killed!?”
“Oh?” Ian smiled faintly. “So, we’re almost there?”
He stood up and looked over the railing. Sure enough, land was visible in the distance.
“You’re still smiling!?” Tashigi fumed. “You knew exactly where this was! Calling it a training exercise—you’re just using us to go after the Arlong Pirates, aren’t you?”
The more Tashigi spoke, the angrier she got. Though she had only been in the East Blue for a short time, she had learned about the local pirates. The Arlong Pirates’ infamy was well-known. The Marines had tried to capture them before, but they never even reached their base. The fish-men attacked the ships from underwater, sinking the warships and forcing the Marines to retreat in failure.
Without thorough preparation, the East Blue Marines wouldn’t dare to move against such a pirate crew. And now, this guy Ian was dragging a bunch of low-level Marine soldiers out under the guise of a training exercise, trying to get them all killed at the bottom of the sea?
Tashigi didn’t care about herself. She was a Marine and had accepted the risks. If it were just her, she would have come and fought alongside Ian. But the other soldiers were different—they lacked strength and stood no chance against the Arlong Pirates.
“Turn the ship around! We’re going back!” Tashigi shouted. Though Ian was nominally in charge, the warship’s command was in her hands.
But before she could finish, Ian let out a disdainful snort. “So this is what the Marines are like? Running away before even seeing a pirate?”
Ian had planned to get them on board first and deal with the consequences later. Now that they were this close, there was no way he was letting them turn back. He used words to corner them.
“You…!” Tashigi spun around to face Ian, feeling that he had never been more infuriating.
He was using the Marines’ honor as leverage!
The other soldiers hesitated to carry out Tashigi’s order. If they turned back, they would be branded cowards who fled without a fight. None of them wanted to bear that dishonor.
“Relax,” Ian sighed, patting Tashigi on the shoulder. “Do you really think I’m that stupid? Fighting fish-men at sea? I don’t want to die either.”
“Then what are you planning?” Tashigi asked, confused.
Ian addressed the soldiers on the ship. “I know asking you to fight fish-men pirates might be too much, but rest assured, I promised Smoker I’d bring you all back safely, and I will. I’ll handle the Arlong Pirates’ officers. You just need to capture the small fry. That shouldn’t be a problem, right? Isn’t that what Marines do—catch pirates?”
Tashigi gritted her teeth, torn. She didn’t know whether to agree. If she refused, the Marines’ honor would be tarnished. But if she agreed, she had no idea if Ian could pull it off.
Ian stood beside her, not looking at her, and said quietly, “Tashigi, we’ve been together for a month now. We’re friends, right? Do you really think Captain Smoker had no idea what I was planning? Yet he still approved the exercise. Do you know why? Can’t you just do this as a favor for a friend?”
These words became the final straw. Tashigi clenched her teeth and shouted, “Maintain course! Target: Cocoyasi Village!”
After the soldiers acknowledged with a roar, Tashigi turned to Ian and said, “You’d better keep your word and bring these soldiers back safely.”
Ian smiled faintly. His coercion plan had finally succeeded.
So he shouted loudly, “Listen up! Even if you see the Arlong Pirates’ ships, don’t fire a single cannonball. We’re docking directly at Cocoyasi Village!”