Chapter 164: Going to the Four Emperor's Territory
The first battle with the Marines ended in a complete victory for the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
This filled everyone on the ship with excitement. As soon as they left the battle zone, they immediately began wildly cheering and celebrating.
Matthew, Margaret, and the others who hadn't participated in the battle smiled as they brought food and drinks to reward the crew, causing the clinking of glasses to be heard everywhere.
"Haha, those Marine soldiers couldn't take a hit! I'm telling you, I took down four of them!"
"I did better than you—I took down five!"
"Bullshit, Sardine took down the most. He threw his shield and knocked over dozens!"
"And we grabbed so much loot this time—food, weapons, even cannons. That'll last us a while."
"Of course, those were Marines. Much more profitable than robbing pirates!"
"If you ask me, it's our captain who's the real deal. He not only took out their Rear Admiral but also destroyed a warship with one strike. And that was a headquarters warship!"
"Yeah, when I think about the looks on those Marines' faces, I can't help but laugh."
"Haha, a toast to the captain!"
"Cheers!"
Everyone on the ship raised their glasses together, and Ian did the same, celebrating their victory.
After downing a big gulp of wine and letting out a satisfied sigh, Anseta, the leader of the Longleg Tribe, spoke up curiously, asking Ian, "Captain, speaking of which, why did you let those Marine soldiers go? And that warship looked pretty good—sturdier than our ship. Why didn't we take it for ourselves instead of destroying it?"
Everyone looked at Ian. In fact, many of them had the same question.
"Not keeping the warship is because it's too conspicuous," Ian said, sitting on the deck with a wine glass in hand, smiling. "Besides, who knows if the Marines left any tricks on it—like a tracker or a self-destruct device. Using their ship wouldn't be as reassuring as using our own."
When Ian said this, everyone suddenly understood. Yeah, pirates knew Marine ships were sturdy, but it was rare to see pirates actually commandeer one. Was it because they lacked the ability? No. In the New World, most pirates were ruthless and vicious—how could they fail to seize a warship?
As Ian said, it really was safer to use their own ship.
Setting down his glass, Ian continued, "As for letting those Marine soldiers go, that's based on other considerations. I'm not the type to enjoy killing. With so many wounded Marines, it's better to leave them for the Marines to deal with. That's how it is at sea—without a ship, having more people is useless. We just need to hurt them enough; there's no need to escalate to a fight to the death."
Ian took another sip of wine and smiled. "To be honest, I don't want an Admiral chasing us just yet!"
Everyone burst into laughter. Indeed, during their days on the ship, they'd heard Ian say he wasn't yet a match for a Marine Admiral. His fight with Aokiji had relied heavily on ability compatibility.
If they had actually massacred those Marine soldiers, it might have provoked the Marine Headquarters into sending out an Admiral out of fury, and that would have been trouble.
Moreover, the next Admiral sent wouldn't necessarily be Aokiji—it could be Kizaru or Akainu. Against those two's abilities, Ian really didn't have a good countermeasure for now...
Well, no, maybe the Railgun skill could be somewhat useful against Kizaru, Ian mused.
The bullets fired by the Railgun, though short-ranged, traveled at three times the speed of sound. At close range, such speed surpassed human reaction time. Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit was said to have attack speed at the speed of light, but his own reaction speed couldn't possibly reach light speed, could it?
Even the claim of attack speed being light speed made Ian skeptical. If it truly were light speed, every attack would have the power of a nuclear bomb. How could that be possible? Would he just nuke wherever he fought? That would be a complete bug! How could such a person exist in this world?
That would be godlike power...
So Ian guessed that Kizaru's speed was probably just an attack that was incredibly fast, beyond normal reaction time.
After thinking for a while, Ian stopped pondering. Guessing here was useless; only by actually fighting would he know the truth.
So everyone continued drinking and celebrating, sailing toward their destination.
……………………
About two hours after Ian and his crew left, the Marine Headquarters' rescue ships finally arrived at the battle zone.
Ian had left a Den Den Mushi with the Marine soldiers so they could call for help.
The rescue was led by Vice Admiral Momonga of the Marine Headquarters. Melny had been sent out on patrol under his orders, so when Momonga received word that the patrol ship had been completely wiped out, even he was startled.
Hearing that the ship had sunk, he initially thought the Marine casualties were severe.
But when he arrived at the battle zone and saw that most of the soldiers had survived, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Still, this was a huge blow to the Marines. Rear Admiral Melny was severely injured, and the warship had been destroyed.
Remember, this was a standard Marine Headquarters warship! For this mission to capture the mastermind behind the Mary Geoise arson, the Headquarters had only dispatched four such warships. Losing one so suddenly was painful for Momonga.
Some might think it was just one warship.
But that would be a mistake. For example, the Marines' Buster Call (also known as the Demon Slaying Order) could easily destroy an entire island, yet even that only mobilized ten warships.
These standard Marine warships could carry 800 soldiers and were quite large, making them difficult to produce even for the Marines.
"Who destroyed our ship?"
After taking the soldiers aboard, Momonga called witnesses for questioning. Melny was still unconscious from his injuries, so he had to ask the Marine soldiers.
"It was a pirate crew with an unknown flag—probably a newly formed one," a Marine soldier replied. "This crew is extremely strong. They charged straight into our cannon fire, and then a Giant threw their captain over, disrupting our formation. After that, they engaged us in boarding combat. Rear Admiral Melny was defeated by their captain."
"A Giant?" Momonga was surprised. "A pirate crew with a Giant joining them shouldn't be unknown, should it?"
"That's not all. The crew also had several Longleg Tribe and Longarm Tribe members, and even a Mink Tribe member!" the soldier answered.
Momonga's heart stirred. So many different races on the same ship?
Could this pirate crew be the escaped slaves they were looking for?
He quickly pressed further, "When you fought them, did you see any special marks on their bodies?"
Due to the World Government's cover-up, they had only publicly stated that Ian and his group had committed arson, without mentioning the slave escape. These soldiers, who had been at Marine Headquarters in Marineford, might not know the full story. Momonga couldn't tell them they were hunting slaves, so he had to ask vaguely.
The Marine soldiers thought hard but then shook their heads.
No help for it—Ian had used the power of Orihime Inoue's card to erase the slave marks on everyone. How could the soldiers have seen them?
Momonga wasn't willing to give up and asked, "Were there any Fish-Men on board? Or did you see any masked humans?"
Having a few Giants or Mink Tribe members could be a coincidence, but there had been quite a few Fish-Men rescued from Mary Geoise. Momonga asked this hoping to confirm it.
Unfortunately, he would never have guessed that Jinbe had appeared and taken all the Fish-Men from Ian's ship.
Plus, Ian hadn't worn a mask this time, so how could the soldiers give a clear answer?
Truth hidden in falsehood, falsehood hidden in truth. Based solely on a few minority races, they couldn't confirm whether the Dragon Hunter Pirates were their target, but Momonga still felt it was highly likely.
And regardless, just for sinking a Marine warship, Momonga was determined to hunt down this pirate crew.
"Which direction did they head?" Momonga asked.
The soldiers pointed it out, and Momonga checked the Log Pose and sea charts, quickly deducing which island the crew might be heading to.
After confirming, Momonga exclaimed in surprise.
"They're heading to Stripe Island!? That's the territory of the Four Emperor Whitebeard..."
"Could this pirate crew be connected to Whitebeard?" Momonga pondered. Soon after, he gave the order, "Contact Vice Admiral Fighting Dog immediately. Have them rendezvous with us at Stripe Island!"