Chapter 110: Origami
On Sabaody Archipelago, the most noteworthy thing is the bubble culture.
Based on the characteristics of resin bubbles, people have developed many ways to use them. Tying a rope to a bubble allows it to be used as a shopping bag; the bubble's buoyancy offsets the weight of the goods, making it easy and effortless. Alternatively, attaching a specially made windmill to a bubble allows it to move forward with just a gentle push using the wind. On Sabaody Archipelago, such a mode of transportation is even more useful than a bicycle.
Even more noteworthy are the coating and the bubble hotels. Coating refers to applying a layer of resin from the mangrove trees onto the ship's hull. Then, by opening an air valve at the bottom of the ship, the resin expands, enveloping the entire vessel in a giant bubble. This bubble can withstand the immense water pressure of the deep sea, helping ships cross beneath the Red Line.
Bubble hotels are another application. Countless bubbles are strung along rows of cables. People coat the bottom of these bubbles with an alloy paint, which not only adds weight to maintain the bubble's balance but also serves as a foundation-like surface that can be walked on and used to hold items. Because the alloy coating is opaque, it also provides privacy. As a result, these bubble hotels are very popular on the island and are a sought-after experience for many tourists from other places.
Ian, led by the cripple, arrived at 32GR, the so-called 32nd mangrove area. There were many hotels here. Each hotel consisted of rows of bubbles strung between two pillars, and the bubbles were colorful, looking quite beautiful.
"Is Lucius here?" Ian asked the cripple.
"Yes, he's staying in that hotel!" the cripple said, pointing to a hotel on the right front.
"How do we lure him out?" Ian asked. "Is it okay to act directly here?"
"Of course not!" the cripple said. "This isn't a lawless zone. If we cause trouble here, the Marines will show up quickly. We have to lure him to an isolated place."
Ian really didn't know much about these things, so he simply patted the cripple on the shoulder and said, "Alright, I'll leave it to you guys!"
The cripple nodded and made a few hand gestures to a guy who looked like he was begging at the entrance of the hotel. The beggar nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Ian was quite surprised. "Is he one of ours?"
"Yeah!" the cripple said. "He's from our family. He's in charge of surveillance."
Damn, that's a new one. To be honest, Ian hadn't noticed anything about that guy that suggested he was a thug; he really looked like a beggar. Ian had even seen someone drop money into his bowl earlier!
"Let's go, Boss Ian. We'll wait in an isolated place," the cripple said.
Ian followed the cripple away from the spot and headed toward the edge of the 32nd mangrove area. During this process, Ian noticed that people were gradually following behind them, all of them his newly acquired subordinates. He guessed the cripple had used a Den Den Mushi to notify them to come.
To be honest, it was a bit embarrassing. These people were nominally members of the Ian Family, but Ian still couldn't even call out their names...
When they reached an isolated place, the cripple let out a whistle, and everyone immediately scattered to find hiding spots.
"Boss Ian, do you want to hide too?" the cripple asked.
"No need. I'll just wait here," Ian said, shaking his head.
The cripple didn't say anything more and limped off to find a hiding spot. Ian noticed him casually checking his gun.
Ian sat cross-legged on the ground, his Enma sword resting upright beside him as he waited. Before long, about twenty minutes or so, Ian saw people finally appear.
Leading the way was the guy Ian had seen earlier disguised as a beggar, and behind him, a group of people was chasing him.
Needless to say, they were Lucius's men. Ian could see from a distance that Lucius, dressed like a noble, was following unhurriedly behind, while his subordinates were chasing with weapons in hand.
The guy disguised as a beggar ran breathlessly toward Ian's location. He stopped when he saw Ian and said, "Boss Ian... I, I lured them here!"
"How did you do it?" Ian asked curiously. "By the way, what's your name?"
"Boss, the brothers call me Monkey. I spat on him when he came out! Then he chased me with his men!" Monkey said with some pride. "Guys like him who look like nobles can't stand that kind of thing!"
Ian was impressed. His subordinates really had some tricks up their sleeves.
As the Flay Pirate crew appeared, Ian's people gradually emerged from their hiding spots. Lucius had initially thought it was just a beggar who had offended him, but when he chased them here, he realized something was wrong.
His men stopped cautiously. Lucius stepped forward, squinting at Ian, and said, "Looks like I've been targeted."
"You're Lucius, right? The guy nicknamed Leech?" Ian asked with a slight smile.
"That's me. And who might you be?" Lucius's voice was sharp and thin, matching his pale skin.
"I'm Ian. I'm a pirate hunter," Ian said, walking forward step by step. "I won't hide it from you. I'm here for your bounty."
Lucius squinted again, looking somewhat surprised. "You want to catch me? You've got some nerve!"
Then Lucius said to his men, "Shoot him! Kill him!"
The Flay Pirate crew immediately followed Lucius's order, firing bullets at Ian with a bang.
Ian leaped up on the spot, dodging the bullets, and lunged toward Lucius ahead. At the same time, Ian's people behind him also opened fire on the Flay Pirates.
Lucius hadn't brought many men, so the cripple and the others had the courage to face these ordinary pirates head-on. They knew that at this point, they had to help Boss Ian a bit. If they just hid and did nothing while Ian handled everything himself, they'd probably get a beating when they got back.
So, they gritted their teeth and charged in...
When Ian landed, he swung his sword twice, cutting down two Flay Pirate members beside him. Then, with a large overhead strike, he slashed at Lucius.
Lucius quickly pulled out his cane, which turned out to be a thin sword. With a clang, he blocked Ian's slash. However, Lucius's strength was clearly no match for Ian's, and the force of the blow sent him stumbling backward.
Seizing the opportunity, Ian withdrew his hand and thrust forward with both hands gripping the sword. Lucius sidestepped to dodge, and the blade grazed past his chest.
Ian then angled the blade and slashed horizontally toward Lucius's chest. Lucius had to hold the sword hilt with one hand and press down on the tip with the other, using both hands to block the horizontal slash. The clash of metal sparked.
After a few probing strikes, Ian could clearly tell that Lucius's swordsmanship wasn't very impressive. Feeling more confident, he pressed the attack, aiming for Lucius's vital points.
At first, Lucius tried to parry with his sword, but after a few blocks, he couldn't keep up with Ian's speed. Ian landed a cut on Lucius's left ribcage.
However, after the strike connected, Ian didn't feel the sensation of cutting into a human body. Instead, it felt like a swoosh, as if his blade had sliced through a piece of paper.
Looking closely, Ian saw that Lucius's chest had been torn open with a large gash, but not a single drop of blood was flowing out.
"It's useless. I'm a Paper-Paper Fruit user!" Lucius sneered at Ian. "Your sword may be better than mine, but you can't hurt me!"
With that, Lucius reached out and tore a piece of paper from his own body.
"Paper Knife!"
Like throwing a playing card, Lucius turned a part of his body into a sharp paper knife, pinched it between two fingers, and flung it at Ian.
Ian tilted his head slightly, and the sharp piece of paper grazed past his face, cutting off a few strands of his hair.
From the start of the fight, Ian had activated his Psychic Field, so such an attack couldn't harm him. But just as he was about to counterattack, he sensed something flying toward him from behind and quickly withdrew his sword to dodge.
The paper knife Lucius had thrown earlier had returned like a boomerang, landing on Lucius's body and merging back into him.
"Hmph! You can dodge one, but can you dodge ten or a hundred?" Lucius said coldly, and then his entire body suddenly transformed into countless pieces of paper!
These pieces of paper spun and flew toward Ian all at once.
It was like hundreds of sharp paper knives attacking Ian simultaneously, surrounding him from all directions!
Lucius's Paramecia Paper-Paper Fruit indeed had its strengths. It was similar to Buggy's Chop-Chop Fruit—not only was it immune to physical slashing attacks, but its offensive capabilities were far superior to the Chop-Chop Fruit.
Seeing so many pieces of paper flying toward Ian, the cripple and the others behind him were shocked, thinking Ian wouldn't be able to dodge this time.
However, Ian just smiled slightly because he had no intention of dodging.
Gripping his sword with both hands, Ian suddenly swung it forward, unleashing a whirlwind!
The flying pieces of paper collided head-on with the whirlwind, their trajectory twisted. They were swept up by the wind and blown back a short distance.
When the whirlwind dissipated, the pieces of paper reassembled in midair into Lucius's original form. His earlier smile was gone, replaced by a grim expression.
Lucius didn't land. Since he had transformed into paper, he had no weight and could float in the air using the wind. A large white piece of paper appeared in front of him, and it began folding rapidly.
Soon, as the paper transformed, a paper cannon appeared before Ian!
"Origami Cannon! Fire!"
With Lucius's command, the paper cannon actually fired a paper ball cannonball at Ian.
Ian quickly leaped away from his spot, and the paper ball hit the ground where he had been standing, exploding with a bang!
"Aha, interesting!" Ian's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected the Paper-Paper Fruit to have such a unique ability.
This was the peculiarity of Devil Fruit users—many abilities seemed to defy science.
Lucius had developed his Paper-Paper Fruit's abilities quite impressively. No wonder he had a bounty as high as 86 million Berries.
The Origami Cannon continuously fired at Ian, explosions sounding one after another. It looked like a fierce battle, but in reality, Ian was just running back and forth, dodging the slow-moving paper ball cannonballs. They couldn't touch him at all.
Lucius also noticed this problem. His paper ball cannonballs weren't real cannonballs and didn't have that much speed. So, he quickly manipulated the paper cannon again.
The paper cannon rapidly unfolded and then refolded. Soon, an origami dinosaur appeared before Ian.
"Haha, this is hilarious!" Ian laughed happily. "Is this an origami show?"
"Hmph! You'll see if it's a show or not!" Lucius snorted, then waved his hand, and the origami dinosaur lunged at Ian.
When the origami dinosaur reached Ian, it opened its mouth wide and bit at him. Seeing how large it was, Ian had to jump away to dodge. The dinosaur's mouth clamped down on the ground, and a piece of rubble was actually crushed by its bite!
"Oh, it actually has the strength of a real dinosaur!?" Ian was a bit surprised.
He had figured it out. Lucius's origami ability seemed to allow only one form at a time. The cannon had to be dismantled before the dinosaur could be folded.
In other words, if he could deal with this origami, would Lucius still be able to use such an ability?