Chapter 181: The Whitebeard Pirates' Revenge
After the Kuja Pirates' ship departed, Ian and his crew set sail once again.
Due to the Marines' sudden landing on Stripe Island, the Dragon Hunter Pirates' resupply plan had failed to materialize. Now, the ship's water and food supplies were running low, forcing Ian and the others to find another place to restock.
For now, they could only head to the nearest island.
Fortunately, Margaret was a competent navigator. While Ian and the others were on Stripe Island, she hadn't been idle. During a conversation with an elderly fisherman on the island, Margaret unexpectedly managed to buy a sea chart of the area near Stripe Island from him.
To the southeast of Stripe Island lay an inconspicuous small island, about three days' journey away. This island couldn't be reached via a Log Pose, as it was one of those islands without magnetic fields. However, with the sea chart, they could naturally get there.
So Ian's ship was now heading toward that island.
During the voyage, Ian kept a close eye on news from Stripe Island.
He knew that the Marines' forcible entry onto Stripe Island to arrest people would not sit well with the Whitebeard Pirates. They would surely retaliate.
What Ian didn't expect, however, was how quickly the Whitebeard Pirates' revenge would come.
On the morning of the third day after leaving Stripe Island, Ian bought a newspaper from a News Coo. The headline reported that the Whitebeard Pirates had attacked a Marine fortress under construction.
According to the news, the incident occurred yesterday—meaning the Whitebeard Pirates had acted just one day after the Stripe Island incident.
The forces deployed were the Whitebeard Pirates' Fifth and Eighth Divisions, led by their respective commanders: Flower Sword Vista and the Fish-Man Namur. With about three thousand men, they directly destroyed a Marine fortress being built in the New World. After killing the Marines stationed there, they used cannons to level the island where the fortress stood.
Many other pirate crews had been on Stripe Island at the time. After the Marines' forceful invasion, these fleeing pirates spread the news. Some who harbored grudges against the Whitebeard Pirates secretly mocked them.
However, the Whitebeard Pirates' swift and decisive retaliation stunned these people. Those who had been gossiping immediately fell silent.
Everyone knew that in recent years, the Marines had been trying to advance into the New World to bring it under their control. But due to insufficient forces, progress had been slow. So the Marines adopted another strategy: gradually building fortresses on suitable islands in the New World.
This was clearly a plan to advance step by step, slowly encroaching. The Marines used the fortresses' control ranges to gradually connect these areas.
Observant people could see this clearly. But Marine fortresses were heavily fortified with strong defenses and immense firepower—some reportedly had over a thousand cannons. Only pirate crews with massive strength dared to even think about attacking them.
The Four Emperors and the Marines were locked in conflict. Logically, they wouldn't allow the Marines to develop like this. But since the Four Emperors weren't united and were wary of each other, attacking a fortress could lead to heavy losses. So they could only turn a blind eye to the Marines building fortresses.
Of course, the Marines were careful to avoid building fortresses on the Four Emperors' territories. Both sides maintained a delicate bottom line that neither dared to cross.
But the Stripe Island incident angered the Whitebeard Pirates, and they struck.
Destroying the fortress under construction caught the Marines completely off guard. It was not only an act of revenge but also a warning—a warning against the Marines' fortress-building strategy.
This time, the Marines were hit hard. Although the fortress wasn't yet operational, it was guarded by five warships and over four thousand Marines. In the Whitebeard Pirates' attack, all five warships were destroyed, and more than four thousand soldiers suffered heavy casualties, nearly wiped out.
Although the Whitebeard Pirates also suffered significant losses in the battle, they achieved a complete victory. After bombarding the island with cannon fire, the Marines could no longer build a fortress there.
This operation by the Whitebeard Pirates was the Marines' largest casualty battle in recent years. It not only hurt the Marines but also intimidated many pirates.
Such fierce and swift retaliation made some ambitious individuals realize that Whitebeard was still Whitebeard. This monster, known as the "Strongest Man in the World," might be old, but his claws were still razor-sharp.
That day, as the News Coo spread the report worldwide, the entire world trembled before the enraged Whitebeard.
The Marines had no choice. They knew Whitebeard had already shown restraint.
Compared to the entire Whitebeard Pirates storming Marine Headquarters to demand an explanation, merely destroying a fortress was a relatively light form of revenge.
At Marine Headquarters in Marineford, Sengoku sat in his office, staring at the report in his hands, his headache returning.
Recently, Sengoku's headaches had been nonstop. First, there was the great fire in Mary Geoise, where the black-clad man murdered a Celestial Dragon and then wounded Aokiji before escaping.
Aokiji's injuries would take months to heal. During this time, the Marines effectively couldn't deploy an Admiral-level combatant. And the Celestial Dragons, instead of being grateful, pressured the World Government daily to capture the culprit quickly.
Then came the World Conference, where the motion to abolish the Heavenly Tribute was brought up again, sparking disputes between several member states and the World Government.
The Heavenly Tribute motion was eventually suppressed by the World Government, widening the rift with many countries. After the World Conference ended, these kings and leaders, who had nowhere to vent their anger, didn't threaten to leave the member states. But as soon as they returned to their countries, they immediately expelled the Marines stationed there.
Once again, the Marines took the hit.
And it didn't end there. After receiving reports from Momonga and Fighting Dog, the Marines gritted their teeth and approved their operation to attack Stripe Island. They had hoped to capture the mastermind behind the Mary Geoise incident, only to find that the black-clad man on the island was a fake.
For the sake of a fake, they had angered Whitebeard, resulting in the destruction of a Marine fortress and the loss of all the manpower and resources invested.
Even that wasn't the worst part. On Stripe Island, a Dragon Hunter Pirates had emerged. Their captain was a formidable guy who, during the battle with the Marines, broke Vice Admiral Fighting Dog's hand!
These endless troubles were the root of Sengoku's frustration. It felt like, overnight, the Marines had gained countless enemies, and he couldn't focus on any one of them.
"What exactly is this Dragon Hunter Pirates?" Sengoku frowned, asking Momonga, who had returned to report.
"I don't know," Momonga shook his head. "The Marines know nothing about them. All we know is that their captain is a Devil Fruit user who can control lightning, but he's not a Logia—he's a Paramecia."
"Do you have a photo?" Sengoku asked.
"Here," Momonga said, handing over a photo.
When Sengoku saw the photo, he froze. The person in it looked very familiar.
Momonga had never seen Ian before, so he didn't recognize him. But Sengoku had. Back when a group gathered on Sabaody Archipelago to target the Heavenly Tribute, Sengoku had removed Ian's name from the list.
"Why is it this guy again?" Sengoku stared at the bear-eared hat in the photo, recalling Bartholomew Kuma's return.
If he remembered correctly, Kuma had been injured while fighting this very person.
According to Kuma, this person had also been injured by him. Now, suddenly appearing in the New World, he had formed a pirate crew?
After recognizing Ian, Sengoku wasn't too surprised that Fighting Dog had been injured. Among Marine Vice Admirals, despite the same rank, strength varied. Since this person could injure the Seven Warlord Bartholomew Kuma, it wasn't strange that he could injure Fighting Dog.
What Sengoku was considering now was whether to issue a wanted poster for this person...