Chapter 123: System Evolution Complete
Seeing that Ian understood, Rayleigh didn't say much more, only adding, "From now on, whether you're training in physical combat or swordsmanship, use Haki as much as possible. That way, you can continuously strengthen it."
Ian nodded. "Yes, Mr. Rayleigh!"
"Call me Master," Rayleigh said with a sudden smile.
Ian felt a surge of joy. By saying this, Rayleigh was officially confirming Ian's status as his disciple, not just the simple guidance he had mentioned before. It showed that Rayleigh was fairly satisfied with him. So Ian immediately responded, "Yes, Master Rayleigh!"
Since arriving in this world, Ian had only two formal masters: one was Koushirou, and the other was now Rayleigh.
"Since you've called me Master, I won't hide anything from you anymore," Rayleigh said. "I was once the first mate of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. After Roger died, I've been living in seclusion here on Sabaody Archipelago..."
Ian smiled slightly. "I knew you had to be someone important."
"Important? I'm just an old man now," Rayleigh said, taking a sip of his drink. "Do you know why I took you to the auction house?"
Ian shook his head. He also felt that Rayleigh's reason for bringing him to the auction house wasn't simply to awaken his Haki.
"Ian, you're a good kid," Rayleigh sighed. "You have a conscience, which is why everything in that auction house made you angry. But I've been on Sabaody for so long and seen so much that I've gradually become numb. Not just me—probably many people on this island feel the same way. I used to not quite understand why Roger said what he did when he died..."
"Honestly, I don't fully understand either," Ian said. "His words kicked off the Great Pirate Era, and it led to more pirates committing evil deeds. In the end, it's always the ordinary civilians who suffer."
"I thought the same way back then," Rayleigh said. "But after spending so much time on Sabaody, I've slowly come to understand why Roger did it. The World Government's rule has lasted for centuries. In places unseen, it's been slowly rotting. The Celestial Dragons, as a privileged class, are the most obvious example. If this decay continues to be covered up by the World Government, with the world only seeing a facade of peace and prosperity, then the harm people will suffer in the end will be far worse. By starting the Great Pirate Era, Roger used the impact of pirates to gradually expose these festering wounds."
"It's like a building," Rayleigh gestured. "If it starts crumbling from the top, it takes a long time to collapse. But the countless pirates are like waves crashing against the base of that building, speeding up its fall..."
"You mean Roger wanted to use the power of pirates to overthrow the World Government's rule?" Ian asked, puzzled.
"I don't know," Rayleigh shook his head. "Even what I just said is just my own speculation. Only Roger himself knew his true intentions."
Ian wanted to ask more, but Rayleigh said, "Alright, enough of that. I'm just a washed-up old man. Our era is coming to an end. Talking too much about it is useless. Let's change the subject. Think about the consequences of your little stunt at Auction House No. 1 today."
At that, Ian frowned.
Indeed, even though he had knocked out everyone in the auction house with his Haki, it wouldn't erase their memories. When they woke up and found the slaves they had bought were gone, there would definitely be repercussions.
"Don't worry. They won't find you anytime soon," Rayleigh said with a smile. "I had you disguise yourself to protect you. If they investigate, they'll only trace it back to me. The forces behind Auction House No. 1 are huge, but they might not dare to retaliate against me. So for now, you can stay on the island safely."
Ian knew very well that the power behind Auction House No. 1 was Doflamingo of the Seven Warlords. Doflamingo could be considered the biggest dark force among the Warlords. Ian had no confidence in facing him now, but it was different with Rayleigh. Doflamingo would likely be wary of Rayleigh.
Moreover, there were no Celestial Dragons in the auction house this time. As long as those privileged classes weren't involved, Ian figured that given Doflamingo's arrogance, he wouldn't care about ordinary nobles and rich people. If he were to confront Rayleigh head-on just because of their complaints, it wouldn't be worth it. So Ian guessed that Doflamingo would probably just sweep the matter under the rug.
After chatting with Rayleigh for a while longer, Ian headed back. Rayleigh told him he planned to stay at Shakky's Rip-off Bar for a while and that Ian could find him there if anything came up.
For now, Ian's training with Rayleigh had come to a temporary halt. So after returning to the family territory, Ian called for Hogkin and asked about the family's recent situation.
Recently, because the World Conference was about to be held, the Marines had sent many people to escort dignitaries around the world. As a result, the number of pirates on Sabaody had actually increased. Many pirates were taking this opportunity to head to Fish-Man Island and then push into the New World.
These pirates had varying bounty levels, but the highest was only 92 million Berry. It seemed that apart from Ace, no new pirate with a bounty over 100 million had appeared recently.
On the other hand, quite a few pirates with lower bounties had shown up.
The so-called treasure One Piece left by Roger attracted countless pirates, eager to rush to the New World. But most of them had the ambition without the strength. They had no idea how brutal the New World was. In the end, out of all those pirates, barely one in ten would survive.
Ian couldn't control that. If they wanted to go to the New World, that was their business. However, the appearance of these pirates had boosted the Ian family's business for a while.
During this time, Ian had been training with Rayleigh and hadn't acted personally, but the family members under him had captured six or seven pirates in total.
Most of the pirates they caught had bounties of ten to twenty million and were the weaker ones according to intelligence. Ian knew about this and had called Hogkin today to ask about the situation.
Hogkin didn't hide anything and reported truthfully, "Boss, over these days, the pirates we caught have brought in a total of 120 million Berry in bounties. As you instructed, I took a portion and rewarded the rest to the family members. Besides that, we also paid out some compensation for casualties. So now, the books show a remaining balance of 67 million Berry."
When Ian first heard that his members had earned 120 million Berry, he thought it was pretty good. But when he heard the final balance, he frowned.
"Why is there so little left?" Ian asked. "Didn't I tell you to take eighty percent?"
"That's what I did," Hogkin said with a wry smile. "Eighty percent should have left us with 96 million Berry. But the problem is that the casualties from catching pirates during this period have been too high! The family members are complaining a lot."
"What are the casualties?" Ian asked.
"More than twenty people died," Hogkin said. "As for the lightly and seriously injured, there are countless. Just the compensation for this period alone cost us about 30 million Berry."
"So, their complaints are all aimed at me?" Ian said with a cold smile.
Hogkin swallowed nervously. "Boss Ian, you know that when bounty hunters catch pirates, fights are unavoidable. It's not as easy as robbery or human trafficking."
Indeed, the people Ian had gathered were originally selected from the four families he had taken down. These people had a history of wrongdoing and were used to easy business. Now, under Ian's control, they had switched to being pirate hunters and found it much harder. Although they were still numerous, pirates weren't pushovers either. They wouldn't just surrender without a fight. Over time, the number of battles increased.
The reason Shakky said Ian was an oddball on this island was precisely this: he gave up easy business to take on the hard stuff.
Hogkin reported all this to Ian to warn him about the growing discontent. But Ian had his own considerations. To be honest, he didn't really care much about this family he had set up. The people he had gathered were always meant to be cannon fodder in his eyes. They weren't good people, so he couldn't train them as true subordinates.
Moreover, Ian didn't plan to run this family for long. Sabaody was just a stop. If he ever decided to leave, he wasn't going to take all these underlings with him.
However, Ian couldn't say these things to Hogkin. Hogkin and the original group of old-timers were still loyal to Ian. When Ian eventually left, he would arrange a way out for them.
"I understand," Ian nodded. "For now, just keep things as they are. Give me the remaining money."
Hogkin nodded and left to get the money. Ian sat on the sofa, calculating his assets.
The bounty from catching Lucius earlier still had some left, about 60 million Berry. Adding the remaining balance, he now had 120 million Berry. It was time to top up and draw a batch of cards.
Just as he was thinking this, the system notification sounded in his mind.
"Fusion complete. Please check, Host."
Ian quickly opened the system interface to check. When his Haki had awakened earlier, he had been worried about what changes the fusion might bring. Now he had to confirm.
But when he looked, Ian immediately breathed a sigh of relief!
The biggest change after the fusion of Haki and Psychic Power was the Nen Training skill!
The original Advanced Nen Training skill had directly broken through to Expert level after Ian awakened his Haki! And in the description of Expert Nen Training, the Psychic Power recovery number had disappeared!
[Expert Nen Training Skill: Increases total Nen capacity by 50%. Allows Nen Diffusion and Nen Materialization. Psychic Power recovery is linked to the Host's physical stamina. The more stamina, the faster the recovery. Current proficiency (0/200000)]
Besides the advancement of the Nen Training skill, Ian found that his Psychic Power value had increased significantly, reaching nearly 800 points!
Ian understood that this was likely due to his Haki power being integrated, boosting the value, along with the increase from Expert Nen Training.
In other words, the system's restrictions on Ian had disappeared. Psychic Power recovery was now tied to his physical stamina. Recovering stamina meant recovering Psychic Power, which was the same nature as Haki. At the same time, because the Haki and Psychic Power systems had been unified, Ian could now use the unique skills of his cards through his Haki power!
From now on, for Ian, Haki was Psychic Power, and Psychic Power was Haki! While others using Haki might only achieve applications like Armament or Observation, Ian could also unleash many more special abilities!
Ian looked at this change with great joy. He had not confined himself to the card system and insisted on having his own power. This choice had been the right one!
Now, as long as he upgraded the Flying Shadow card to four stars, he could use Haki to unleash the Black Dragon Wave!
What should he call that move?
Wave... Dragon!?