Chapter 182: The Casino
Sengoku hesitated for a reason.
Being able to injure a Vice Admiral meant that the captain of the Dragon Hunter Pirates was certainly no weakling. If a bounty were to be issued, it would definitely be over 100 million.
Some time ago, according to intelligence obtained by the Marines, Fire Fist Ace had been taken away by Whitebeard. Knowing Whitebeard as he did, Sengoku was well aware that the old man, who loved adopting sons as family, would surely extend an invitation to Fire Fist Ace.
Although no definitive news had arrived yet, Sengoku estimated that Fire Fist Ace joining the Whitebeard Pirates was all but certain.
At this moment, Fire Fist Ace’s bounty was 220 million Berries. After joining the Whitebeard Pirates, his bounty would likely be increased again, and with his addition, the Whitebeard Pirates’ strength would rise further.
Before this matter with Fire Fist Ace was even resolved, if another bounty criminal worth over 100 million appeared, and Whitebeard caught wind of it, he might start scheming again…
If possible, Sengoku really didn’t want to issue so many bounties. Every additional bounty criminal meant another enemy standing against the Marines. It was almost as if the Marines were using bounties to continuously create new foes for themselves.
At present, Sengoku was planning and preparing to deal with the Whitebeard Pirates. If he issued a bounty for this person named Ian—yes, Ian—it would be like pushing another powerful individual straight into Whitebeard’s arms. That would completely contradict his plans.
But… the Dragon Hunter Pirates had injured a Marine Vice Admiral and a Rear Admiral. If he didn’t issue a bounty for them, Sengoku would have a hard time justifying it to his subordinates.
Sengoku was racking his brains over this when suddenly something occurred to him. He asked Momonga, “You said earlier, what ability did the captain of this Dragon Hunter Pirates use?”
“The power of lightning!” Momonga described. “It seemed he could use lightning to gather iron sand and form a very special sword. He could also infuse lightning into bullets and fire them at extremely high speeds!”
Hearing this, Sengoku frowned. That didn’t add up! When Kuma had returned, the clothes on his arm had been burned away by flames!
Thinking it over, Sengoku searched for the old photo of Ian and compared it with the one Momonga had brought back. They were indeed the same person.
“So that means there are two possibilities here!” Sengoku mused silently. “The first possibility is that Kuma lied. The person who injured him wasn’t this pirate hunter Ian, but another flame ability user! The second possibility is that Kuma didn’t lie, but this pirate hunter Ian has gained a new lightning ability!”
Known as a strategic genius, Sengoku’s mind was meticulous. He began to analyze: “If it’s the first possibility, then why would Kuma lie? The fact that he was injured can’t be faked. The Marine research facility has his repair report… However, it’s also possible that this was a self-inflicted injury by Kuma. This pirate hunter Ian wears the same hat as him. There must be some connection. Kuma might be trying to hide something for this pirate hunter Ian…”
After analyzing the first possibility, Sengoku couldn’t go further. He had no knowledge of Kuma’s true identity and lacked key intelligence, so he couldn’t deduce anything.
So, he turned to analyzing the second possibility.
“Ian’s former alias was ‘Burning Blade,’ which suggests he can indeed use flames!” Sengoku analyzed. “If we consider this flame ability as some kind of special swordsmanship, then the lightning power he displayed while fighting Fighting Dog might be an ability he acquired separately!”
Acquiring another ability usually meant eating a Devil Fruit. This pirate hunter Ian, after fighting Kuma, had suddenly disappeared for a while. When he reappeared, not only had he become a pirate, but he also had a new special ability…
Suddenly, Sengoku recalled the two stolen Devil Fruits from the Celestial Dragons!
At first, the Celestial Dragons hadn’t reported the theft, thinking Devil Fruits weren’t a big deal. But when the Marines later investigated the incident in detail, they discovered this missing piece.
Since two fruits had been stolen, the Marines had been keeping an eye on underground auction houses for a while, looking for anyone auctioning Devil Fruits with the same appearance as the stolen ones, hoping to use that as a lead.
Now, Sengoku suddenly wondered: what if the fruit that was likely a Mythical Zoan had been eaten by this pirate hunter Ian?
“If that’s the case, it would explain why he suddenly gained a lightning ability!” Sengoku followed this line of thought. “Suppose this pirate hunter Ian, after being injured and fleeing from his fight with Kuma, secretly infiltrated Mary Geoise, intending to steal the Devil Fruits. But he was discovered by the Celestial Dragons and killed them to silence them?”
“No, that’s not right. If it was him, then why did he display such astonishing flame abilities when fighting Aokiji?” Sengoku frowned. “Could it be that by then, he had already eaten that peculiar Devil Fruit and gained even stronger flame powers? Then how do we explain the lightning ability later?”
“Or perhaps that fruit allows him to use both flame and lightning powers?” Thinking this far, Sengoku grew even more astonished. “That seems highly possible. After all, the idea that the fruit was a Mythical Zoan was just speculation. What kind of Devil Fruit it is can only be known by the one who eats it. The lightning ability might have been developed later!”
Regardless of which guess was correct, Sengoku felt that this pirate hunter Ian was highly suspicious. Momonga had also mentioned that when he saw several different races on the Dragon Hunter Pirates’ ship, he had suspected Ian might be the mastermind behind the Mary Geoise incident. That’s why he had chased them to Stripe Island, leading to the subsequent misunderstanding.
Bang! Sengoku slammed the table and stood up, shouting, “Immediately investigate the captain of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, Ian!”
“Shouldn’t we issue a bounty for him first?” Momonga asked, startled.
“No! Absolutely not!” Sengoku glared at him. “I don’t want to make a fool of myself a second time!”
The earlier failure to identify the black-clad masked man before issuing a bounty had already embarrassed the Marines. If they issued another bounty for this Dragon Hunter Pirates’ captain, and the investigation later confirmed that Ian was indeed that masked man, it would mean the Marines had issued two bounties for the same person!
What would that prove? It would prove the Marines’ incompetence! Sengoku absolutely wouldn’t allow that to happen…
Although Momonga didn’t understand what was on Sengoku’s mind, he unconditionally carried out his orders.
More than ten days after the second slave liberation movement in Mary Geoise (as the Marines internally called it), the Marines finally ended their aimless investigation and found the right direction.
Of course, for now, Ian was only a primary suspect. Everything would have to wait until the Marines’ investigation results were out before it could be confirmed. How long that investigation would take was uncertain.
Ian naturally had no idea what was happening at Marine Headquarters, but even if he did, he wouldn’t be surprised.
He had long been prepared for his true identity to be discovered. Living in this world, no matter what you did, you always left traces and clues. He didn’t expect that a simple masked disguise would fool the Marines forever.
At this moment, under Margaret’s guidance, the Dragon Hunter Pirates could already see the island they were about to reach.
It was a small island, named Grambo Island on the sea chart.
After entering the harbor and docking, Ian sent some crew members ashore to buy supplies. He didn’t want to repeat the mistake on Stripe Island. Who knew what unexpected events might happen on this island? So, he decided to finish resupplying first.
Ian didn’t go ashore for now. He stayed on the ship, waiting for everyone to return.
About two hours later, the members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates came back, carrying large and small bags of supplies.
“Captain!” Zeke, the Longarm Tribe member, returned excitedly and said to Ian, “This island is so strange! The resources aren’t abundant, and the residents are poor, but there’s a huge casino here!”
“What’s so strange about that?” Ian replied with a smile. “If the resources aren’t abundant, and there’s no way to attract tourists, how else would the people on this island survive?”
“Hehe!” Zeke rubbed his hands together. “Captain, how about we go to the casino and have some fun? Since we’re here…”
Ian didn’t answer him right away. Instead, he first looked at the expressions of the others and noticed that many of them had eager, hopeful looks in their eyes.
Sailors and men at sea generally had two vices: one was alcohol, and the other was gambling. On the ship, Ian often saw his crew members gathering to play cards and gamble. He didn’t interfere much, just told them to know when to stop. He understood that without some form of entertainment on the ship, they would soon go crazy from boredom.
When they gambled on the ship, it was only among the crew, and the wins and losses were trivial. But now that they heard there was a casino on the island, things were different.
“Alright, since you all want to go to the casino, let’s go together!” Ian said with a smile. “I was planning to make some money anyway!”
“Whoo! Long live the captain!” Everyone cheered excitedly and eagerly surrounded Ian as they disembarked.
Of course, some didn’t want to go and volunteered to stay and guard the ship. Matthew and Erlang were among them.
Ian wanted to make money at the casino, not because he liked gambling or had a talent for it, but because…
In Ian’s experience, people who ran casinos were generally not good people. Since they didn’t plan to stay on the island long, maybe they could rob the casino before leaving?
Forget about gambling skills or card tricks. Ian knew he only had one thing.
Force.