Chapter 141: Choice
Back to about five or six minutes earlier, Musgarud, who had been knocked down with a single slash by Ian in the treasure room, woke up on an operating table.
Since Celestial Dragons themselves have no combat ability, Ian had treated him like a weakling back in the treasure room, casually cutting him down with one swing.
Although it was a casual swing, how great was Ian's strength now? That single blow was quite severe, carving a massive wound across Musgarud's chest, deep enough to see bone.
For an ordinary person, such a wound would have killed them quickly... but Ian had somewhat underestimated the medical capabilities of the Celestial Dragons.
As the supreme World Nobles, with no one able to defy them and everything in the world at their beck and call, what did such Celestial Dragons have to fear?
Of course they did—life itself!
Though they styled themselves as gods, they were still human at heart, subject to aging, illness, and death. And these Celestial Dragons, greedy for life and afraid of death, each family generally maintained a top-tier medical team to extend their lifespans as much as possible.
Ian had overlooked this point, as he wasn't very familiar with the Celestial Dragons' situation. When he rushed out of the treasure room to free the slaves in their prison, armored guards entered the treasure room, found Musgarud, and quickly sent him for treatment.
Due to the severity of his injuries, Musgarud remained unconscious throughout the rescue. As the current head of his family, the black-suited guards and armored soldiers were all panicked—if the rescue failed and Musgarud died, they, as his protectors, would be implicated and executed along with him.
It was precisely because of this state of affairs that these people forgot to notify the Marines about what had happened to the Musgarud family.
This was also why, when Ian led the slaves in a rampage through Mary Geoise, the intelligence the Marines received kept indicating it was just a slave uprising.
However, after rescue efforts and stimulation, Musgarud finally escaped danger and woke from his coma.
The first thing Musgarud did upon waking was to contact the other Celestial Dragon families, informing them of the incident.
Celestial Dragons were extravagant and lecherous. When they saw a beautiful woman, they would simply take her as a wife. A single Celestial Dragon could marry as many as one or two hundred women.
But these "wives" were only nominal; in essence, they were mere playthings. Celestial Dragons placed extreme importance on bloodline purity. Even if these forcibly taken women became pregnant, the children were not allowed to be born. Such impure half-breeds were not recognized by the Celestial Dragons and would be executed along with their mothers!
For residents of the Sabaody Archipelago who knew something about the Celestial Dragons, this was no secret...
The bloodline truly recognized by the Celestial Dragons came from descendants born through intermarriage between the various Celestial Dragon families. Through such alliances, they strengthened ties between families while maintaining bloodline purity.
Musgarud's idiot son was one such pure-blooded direct descendant.
Yet that idiot son had been killed by Ian...
Every time Musgarud thought back to that scene after waking up, his blood pressure soared and his heart ached. Direct descendants were hard to come by, and every family treasured them.
His son's death was certainly heartbreaking, but there was something even more alarming: what he had seen—the black-clad man taking something!
That was the identity chip of the Musgarud family, passed down for 800 years, the proof of the family's status as Celestial Dragons!
Originally, this item had been safely stored in the treasure room. The secret chamber's mechanism could only be opened using pure Celestial Dragon lineage factors, but by a twist of fate, Ian's killing of Musgarud's son had triggered its opening.
The identity chip had been stolen. This was even more serious than his son's death, because without the identity chip, the Musgarud family would no longer be recognized by other Celestial Dragons and might even be expelled from Mary Geoise!
Having grown accustomed to the lofty life of World Nobles, what kind of miserable state would expulsion from Mary Geoise bring?
No need to overthink it—there was a real example: the former Donquixote family was a lesson!
And that wasn't all. The identity chip seemed to be connected to the Celestial Dragons' "national treasure," so no matter what, the chip had to be recovered!
The reason Musgarud hadn't contacted the World Government first, but rather the other Celestial Dragon family heads, was to seek their support. Due to intermarriage, the Celestial Dragons' relationships were deeply intertwined and not easily shaken. When they learned that the Musgarud family's identity chip had been stolen, the other families were certainly furious, but they still agreed to help, jointly pressuring the World Government.
This was why Aokiji was now receiving the call and being informed of the matter.
A bounty of 500 million Berries, with a demand for capture alive—this was because the Celestial Dragons feared the black-clad man might hide the identity chip, so they wanted to catch him and force him to reveal its location.
After understanding the full story, Aokiji straightened up, stood from the ground, flicked his coat over his shoulder, and looked at the ice coffin before him, muttering to himself: "Quite bold. I was originally planning to let you off lightly for that girl's sake, but since you've done something like this, I can't be blamed."
Among the three Marine Admirals, perhaps only Aokiji's justice was the most "rational." During the Ohara incident years ago, Aokiji chose to let the sole survivor, Nico Robin, go free. And this time, witnessing the slave girl shoot herself because she couldn't trust the Marines, Aokiji once again made his choice, stopping his pursuit to give the slaves more time to escape.
However, the time the slave girl bought with her life was disrupted by that phone call.
The matter had escalated from a simple slave uprising into an attack on the Celestial Dragons. With this, Aokiji could no longer be lazy. Though he had compassion, his position as a Marine Admiral forced him to respond accordingly.
"But you've really picked up a good protective charm..." Aokiji murmured, quickening his pace as he charged forward.
Indeed, for Ian at this moment, the identity chip was not only a death warrant but also a protective charm. Under the demand for capture alive, Aokiji couldn't kill Ian outright.
Because he first had to ensure the whereabouts of the Celestial Dragon's identity chip...
Ian knew nothing of these events. In fact, he hadn't even figured out what the thing in his pocket was.
At this moment, he had led the group of slaves to the dock. This was actually a relatively gentle riverbank. From a distance, Ian could hear the roar of water, presumably the sound of Mary Geoise's so-called great waterfall.
This gentle riverbank served as a dock, with many ships moored there. But further ahead, one could see the sloping river channel heading downward.
The dock was littered with black-suited guards and armored soldiers, presumably the work of the long-leg tribe members who had been the vanguard.
Sure enough, when Ian and the others arrived, they saw the long-leg tribe members waving their arms and beckoning from a large ship. They were all somewhat injured but in high spirits.
A gangplank had already been extended from the ship's side to the shore. Seeing this, the running slaves wept with joy.
"We're saved! Hope is right ahead!"
"Charge!"
"Board the ship! We're heading for freedom!"
The Marines were already following, firing their guns. Among the slaves, those still capable of fighting stayed behind to engage the Marine soldiers, clashing with them to let the weak and ordinary people board first.
Getting over five hundred people onto the ship would take some time. Ian also stayed behind with the others to fight the Marine soldiers. Knowing that a battle with a powerful opponent was likely coming, he refrained from using any major skills, attacking the Marines with simple, efficient moves to conserve his strength.
The Marine soldiers formed formations and fired at the group, but the slaves fighting in the rear were no pushovers—bullets had little effect on them. Forced into a corner, the Marines began setting up mortars and firing at them.
Among the crowd, the giant warrior was the most conspicuous target. With his towering stature and muscular build, as soon as the Marines set up their mortars, he was hit by several shells.
The shells exploded against his body, leaving him charred black. Yet despite his injuries, he still roared and charged into the Marine ranks, slashing wildly.
Ian saw this too and was shocked by the giant's combat prowess. Just then, he noticed a Marine Captain slash at the giant's ankle.
The giant stumbled and fell to the ground with a thunderous crash. Seizing the opportunity, the Marine Captain leaped up, gripping his sword with both hands as he aimed for the giant's neck, trying to take down this formidable fighter first.
Just as the Captain's blade was about to reach the giant's neck, Ian's figure suddenly appeared before him.
Ian delivered a slash that blocked the Marine Captain's sword. The black blade of the Enma sword cut the opponent's weapon clean in two, leaving a massive gash across the Captain's chest.
The Marine Captain fell to the ground in disbelief, never expecting to be defeated in a single blow.
But Ian paid him no further attention, turning to the giant's massive head and asking, "Are you alright?"
"Benefactor, I'm fine!" The giant struggled to his feet, saying, "A warrior of Elbaf isn't so easily beaten!"
"Oh!? I didn't expect you to be a giant from Elbaf!" Ian was slightly surprised.
The giant was about to respond when shouts came from behind: "Benefactor, everyone, hurry and board the ship!"