Chapter 74: The Face Really Is Still Black
When the Arlong Pirates were escorted into Loguetown, the entire town erupted in excitement!
Over three hundred Marine soldiers, chests puffed out, marched with rifles along both sides of the road, while in the middle, a long chain of fish-men pirates clanked along in heavy iron shackles. This spectacle drew everyone in Loguetown out to watch the commotion.
The Arlong Pirates' infamy in the East Blue was no less than that of the Krieg Pirates, but now even they had been captured. Some townsfolk who had suffered from pirate raids couldn't help but weep tears of joy.
However, most people were actually there to see what fish-men looked like. They pointed at the fish-men pirates, muttering things like "disgusting" and "terrifying" under their breath. Though they spoke quietly, afraid to say it openly, it was clear that people not only feared fish-men but also held some prejudice against them.
In the East Blue, this situation was already considered mild; in the Grand Line, such discrimination was far more severe.
Arlong had woken up and was being personally escorted by Ian. Hearing these remarks, his eyes turned menacing again.
"Don't even think about resisting!" Ian warned him, knowing Arlong's immense strength. "If you dare break your cuffs and cause trouble in front of all these people, I'll kill you without hesitation!"
Arlong shot him a glance and said, "If it weren't for that strange flame of yours, do you think I'd have lost to you?"
"That's your weakness—what's wrong with me exploiting it?" Ian snorted. "Seems like you fish-men aren't as tough as you claim!"
Arlong had no comeback for that. Unable to refute Ian's words, he turned his gaze to the crowd pointing and whispering at him, muttering under his breath, "One day, fish-men will show you humans what true fear is."
Ian overheard him and sighed, replying quietly, "Fear only makes people afraid; it doesn't earn their recognition. The more you think that way, the more humans will discriminate against you..."
"What did you say?" Arlong turned to look at him.
"Nothing," Ian shook his head. He didn't want to dwell on this topic. Discrimination against other races was a societal issue, not something he could change with a few words.
With the Arlong Pirates captured, Ian became famous once again. Many had seen him personally escorting the leader of the Arlong Pirates. In an instant, Ian's reputation as a pirate hunter in the East Blue became unmatched. The three most notorious pirate crews in the East Blue had all fallen to him, solidifying his title as the strongest pirate hunter in the East.
However, capturing the Arlong Pirates also burdened the Loguetown Marine Base. To guard these vicious fish-men pirates, the base had to allocate a large number of personnel to prevent any escape attempts.
Because of this incident, as soon as Ian returned to the base, he got into a fight with Smoker.
Smoker had allowed him to take Marines out for a practical exercise, knowing full well that Ian intended to use the opportunity to catch pirates. But Smoker never imagined Ian would target the Arlong Pirates. When he learned the news, even Smoker broke out in a cold sweat!
After all, Ian had taken nearly half the base's forces with him. If they had failed and been captured, Loguetown would have instantly lost half its manpower, with severe consequences.
Thus, Smoker's anger was understandable. Fighting Ian was a light punishment; it was only because they had achieved a complete victory that Smoker didn't immediately put a bounty on Ian's head.
Ian knew he had overstepped this time, so when Smoker fought him, he didn't resist much, taking a few punches to let Smoker vent his anger.
Smoker cooled down a bit, but Ian's tenure as the swordsmanship instructor was over. Smoker threw Ian the bounty money for capturing Arlong and kicked him out of the base.
Ian didn't mind. With the bounty, he spent over six hundred thousand Berries on a massive shopping spree in Loguetown, buying ingredients and delivering them to the Marine base's cafeteria, treating Tashigi and the Marines who had sailed with him to a feast.
This gesture erased the last bit of resentment the Marines felt, and they cheered as they saw Ian off.
From the window of the base building, Smoker watched Ian casually leave the Marine base. He then sat at his desk, chewing on his cigar, deep in thought.
After a long while, he picked up a pen and wrote his assessment of Ian on a piece of paper: "Bold, no fear of Marine authority, greedy for money, willing to use Marine connections for bounties."
Such a person, if he became a pirate, would be a major headache for the Marines. Smoker felt it was necessary to take note of this, so he sent his evaluation report to the Marine Headquarters' intelligence department to update Ian's file, hoping it would prove useful someday.
After finishing this, Smoker still had another headache: how to deal with the 16th Branch...
Ian, unaware of what happened next, left the base without a care. After leaving, he wandered around town, asking if any merchant ships were heading to the Grand Line, hoping to hitch a ride.
As luck would have it, he soon heard at a tavern that a merchant convoy from the Goa Kingdom had recently docked in Loguetown for supplies and planned to depart for the Grand Line the next day.
Ian rushed to the docks and found the convoy. It was a small one, consisting of twelve ships of various sizes, belonging to three small trading companies, all from the Goa Kingdom.
Such a convoy would definitely need guards, so when Ian approached them and introduced himself, they eagerly accepted him, offering a hiring fee of five million Berries!
This was a top-tier price in the East Blue, but since Ian had recently been earning tens of millions, he didn't feel much about it and simply agreed.
That night, Ian settled onto the convoy's largest ship. They gave him the best cabin and even assigned a pretty maid to attend to him.
The convoy leader never doubted Ian's identity. With his reputation from capturing the Arlong Pirates, Ian's image had spread throughout Loguetown. His iconic bear-ear hat was instantly recognizable.
Lying on the luxurious bed in his cabin, sipping fine wine provided by the convoy, with a beautiful girl waiting outside the door for his summons, Ian felt less like he was on a ship and more like he was in a high-end hotel.
He had already met the ship's captain, a middle-aged man with a big beard named Bill, about fifty years old. Bill was an experienced captain who had traveled between the East Blue and the Grand Line over a dozen times. This ship carried the most valuable cargo—spices—while the other ships mostly carried alcohol, considered "acceptable losses."
Ian chatted with Captain Bill for a while and learned that traveling to the Grand Line was extremely dangerous, especially for merchant convoys. Every voyage, the chance of returning intact was pitifully small. At sea, they had to guard against pirate raids, storms, abnormal weather, and various sea monsters. Bill said that surviving over a dozen trips to the Grand Line was already a blessing from heaven. He knew his luck couldn't last forever, so this was his final voyage; he planned to retire afterward.
Hearing Bill's grim description, Ian felt a bit uneasy. He knew that his current strength was fine in the East Blue but might not hold up in the Grand Line.
Since he had just received Arlong's bounty, Ian decided to focus on his mind, planning to draw more cards to bolster his arsenal.
Earlier, Ian had converted all 27 million Berries into diamonds at a 200:1 ratio, giving him 135,000 diamonds. With an additional 10% bonus for the recharge, he now had a total of 148,500 diamonds!
Seeing that number, Ian's eyes practically sparkled.
Back when he first set sail, he had been worried about saving enough diamonds for a single ten-pull. Now, he had so many.
But after drooling for a moment, Ian counted on his fingers and realized something was off. A ten-pull cost 5,000 diamonds, meaning 140,000 diamonds would only get him 29 ten-pulls!
Twenty-seven million Berries—enough to support a family of three for decades—only bought him 29 card pulls!?
This gave Ian a bad feeling. During his first ten-pull, because it was a first draw, he was guaranteed a four-star card. Now that his first draw was gone, would the system still give him complete four-star cards?
With a cautious heart, Ian began his first ten-pull.
The familiar screen appeared: two rows of face-down cards flipped over one by one, from top to bottom, left to right.
"You obtained Breakthrough Stone ×30!"
"You obtained Blue Equipment: Knight Armor Fragment ×5!"
"You obtained Two-Star Card Fragment: Master Roshi ×5!"
"You obtained Equipment Enhancement Material: Refined Iron ×10!"
"You obtained Exclusive Treasure: Ebony and Ivory Fragment ×2!"
"You obtained Advancement Stone ×20!"
"You obtained Three-Star Card Fragment: Ryoga Hibiki Fragment ×3!"
"You obtained Purple Equipment: Fine Steel Boots Fragment ×2!"
"You obtained Treasure Enhancement Material: Magic Crystal ×5!"
"You obtained Blue Equipment: Knight Helmet Fragment ×5!"
That was it...
Ian, who had been full of anticipation, stared at the results, his jaw dropping to the floor!
Damn it! 5,000 diamonds—a million Berries—and this is what I get!?
This pull introduced two new items: Refined Iron for equipment enhancement and Magic Crystal for treasure enhancement, which Ian hadn't expected.
New items meant the chances of pulling cards were squeezed. And the system claimed ten-pulls had a higher chance of good cards? Was this what "higher" meant?
True, Ian hadn't seen any one-star cards in either ten-pull, probably filtered out. That was good, but now there were all sorts of junk like Breakthrough Stones, Advancement Stones, equipment fragments, and treasure fragments mixed in. The system's money-grubbing nature hadn't changed—it just found a new way.
Though Ian could use these materials, he still felt annoyed. Equipment enhancement was for later stages; right now, he needed cards!
Looking at the only two card fragments he got—Master Roshi and Ryoga Hibiki—Ian knew Ryoga was from the manga *Ranma ½*, a three-star character. But Master Roshi, from *Dragon Ball*, was rated two stars, which confused him. In terms of combat power, Master Roshi should be stronger than Ryoga, right?
So, he asked the system, "What's the basis for the star ratings?"