Chapter 176: Going Their Separate Ways
What the hell is going on? Why are they fighting!?
Ian was quite certain that Boa Hancock appearing on the island wasn't really aimed at his Dragon Hunter Pirates, but what was going on with her Kuja Pirates?
He wasn't stupid, either; in an instant, he figured it out. Boa Hancock probably hadn't explained the real situation to her warriors.
What a misunderstanding this was!
The Kuja Pirates were a troublesome crew. Ian knew very well that these female warriors from Amazon Lily were all capable of using Haki. In Boa Hancock's country of Amazon Lily, only the strongest warriors were selected to join the pirate crew and become pirates.
So, even though the Kuja Pirates only had one ship, their combat strength was quite formidable.
Worried that his people might suffer losses in the battle, Ian quickly quickened his pace and rushed toward the harbor.
At that moment, neither the Dragon Hunter Pirates' ship nor the Kuja Pirates' ship had set sail. Both vessels were docked at the pier, exchanging fire from a distance.
The female warriors of Kuja mostly used bows and arrows as their means of attack. Each warrior raised a snake as both a pet and a partner, and their bow was that very snake! When battle began, the snake would coil its body, transforming into a curved bow for them to use.
It was easy to imagine that the Kuja Pirates' ship was practically filled with archers! Their archery skills were also quite formidable.
When Ian arrived at the harbor, what he saw was a dense rain of arrows shooting over from the Kuja ship!
These arrows were all coated with Haki. The moment they struck the hull of Ian's ship, they would explode with a bang. Although the power wasn't too great—only equivalent to a large firecracker—there were just too many of them!
"Damn it! My ship!" Ian glanced at his Dragon Hunter Pirates' vessel and felt his headache grow even worse.
By now, the ship's sails had been shot full of holes. The side of the ship facing the Kuja Pirates was also riddled with pits and craters of various sizes. Arrows kept flying in, accompanied by the sound of bangs and explosions, followed by splinters of wood flying everywhere.
However, the Kuja Pirates didn't seem to have gained much of an advantage either.
The members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates didn't back down from the attack either. Everyone capable of fighting had gathered on the deck, blocking the incoming arrows.
Sardine held up his massive shield, enduring the rain of arrows, covering the gunners below as they lit the cannons.
Four cannons were operated by eight gunners. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound of cannon fire came one after another, and cannonballs flew toward the Kuja Pirates' ship.
Since both ships were stationary, the cannons were quite accurate.
Just as the cannonballs were about to hit the Kuja pirate ship, two massive female snake-women swung their tails, knocking the incoming cannonballs away.
These two snake-women were naturally Boa Hancock's two sisters. One was Boa Sandersonia, who had eaten the Snake-Snake Fruit, Anaconda Form, and the other was Boa Marigold, who had eaten the Snake-Snake Fruit, Cobra Form. Both were Zoan-type Devil Fruit users, so their strength was naturally considerable. Knocking away cannonballs wasn't a problem for them.
However, the two could only cover the cannonballs heading for the deck. As for those that directly struck their ship's hull, they were powerless to stop them.
Whenever a cannonball hit their hull, the Kuja Pirates' ship would tremble violently, and a hole would be blasted into it.
Both the Dragon Hunter Pirates and the Kuja Pirates were waiting for their leaders to return. So even though they knew that continuing this fight would result in mutual damage to both ships, they still gritted their teeth and persisted in the battle.
This can't go on. If this keeps up, the ships won't be able to set sail anymore!
Ian quickly switched to his Yasuo card and, in a few leaps, jumped onto his own ship.
Seeing him appear, the members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates were overjoyed and shouted excitedly, "Captain!?"
Ian didn't have time to answer them. He swiftly drew the Enma sword and raised a massive wall of wind along the ship's railing. The arrows shot from the other side, upon encountering this wind wall, fell weakly into the sea.
Wind Wall—this move was incredibly useful against long-range attacks. This wall of wind directly blocked eighty percent of the arrows coming from the other side.
The members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates let out excited cheers. The captain was indeed the captain; with one move, he had turned the tide of battle.
The gunners operating the cannons eagerly prepared to fire again, wanting to take this opportunity to give the other side a good pounding.
But just then, Ian spoke up: "Stop! No more fighting!"
The members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates had great faith in Ian's words, so they immediately stopped.
"There's no need to fight them. Raise the anchor; we're preparing to set sail!" Ian said.
"Yes, Captain!" the members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates responded loudly and immediately began preparations for departure.
Just then, another wave of arrows rained down on Ian from the Kuja Pirates' ship.
Ian could command the Dragon Hunter Pirates, but he couldn't command the Kuja Pirates. Even though his side had stopped, the other side wouldn't.
However, dealing with these incoming arrows was far too easy for Ian. Even if they were coated with Haki, the Wind Wall could still block them effortlessly.
"Who is that man!?" asked the plump, cobra-form Boa Marigold, watching the scene.
"I don't know, but he should be the captain of the Dragon Hunter Pirates. He's got some skill indeed!" said the thinner, anaconda-form Boa Sandersonia, flicking her tongue.
The Kuja Pirates, unwilling to give up, fired several more waves of arrows at Ian, but they had no effect at all. During this time, Ian and his crew had completed their departure preparations, and the ship slowly began to pull away from the dock.
Seeing Ian and his crew leaving, the Kuja Pirates naturally weren't willing to let them go. Their ship's hull had also been heavily damaged by the cannon fire.
"Go find Big Sister immediately!" Boa Sandersonia ordered. "It's strange. Didn't Big Sister go ashore to cause trouble for this Dragon Hunter Pirates? Why hasn't she returned even though their captain has shown up?"
A female warrior from Kuja immediately jumped off the ship and went to find Boa Hancock.
At that moment, Boa Hancock was being stopped by the Marine Major who had come looking for her, begging her to restore the petrified people.
Boa Hancock was getting annoyed by the pleading when the Kuja female warrior found her and reported the battle situation between the two sides.
"What!? The ship is wrecked?" Boa Hancock, who had been looking for an excuse, was delighted to hear this. She said happily, "Set out immediately! Pursue the Dragon Hunter Pirates!"
As she spoke, Boa Hancock led the Kuja female warrior toward the harbor. The Marine Major tried to rush forward and stop her, but the Kuja female warrior drew her bow and aimed at him, forcing him to stand still and watch helplessly as Boa Hancock left.
Once Boa Hancock boarded the ship, the Kuja Pirates' vessel, pulled by two fierce sea snakes, immediately set sail from the harbor, following the Dragon Hunter Pirates' ship.
By the time Vice Admiral Momonga reached the harbor, both ships had already disappeared from sight.
The Marine Major reported the situation to Momonga in detail. Upon learning that the Dragon Hunter Pirates and the Kuja Pirates had actually fought, Momonga no longer suspected Boa Hancock. However, he had no idea what to do about the petrified people.
Helpless, he finally ordered the petrified Marine soldiers to be carried onto the ship, planning to return to Marine Headquarters and recall Boa Hancock through them, so she could undo the petrification.
As for the Whitebeard Pirates' Ramos and his group, Momonga could only leave them on the island and let Whitebeard figure it out when he arrived.
After that, the Marine warship also left Stripe Island. Who knew how much of a headache this would cause Marine Headquarters when they returned...
(37 Chinese)