Chapter 198: What Should Be Done?
Sitting on a deck lounge chair, Ian was basking in the sun while checking his level status.
Over this period, Ian had been in quite a few battles. Starting from injuring Aokiji, then taking down a Marine Rear Admiral, breaking Fighting Dog's arm, and now killing Vergo—all of these were fights against opponents with considerable strength.
Except for not gaining any experience points from Boa Hancock, Ian had earned substantial experience from these battles. The kill on Vergo, in particular, yielded even higher experience. His current level had already risen to 18 with over 20% progress.
It seemed that, in the system's default, killing an opponent granted more experience than merely defeating them.
Thinking about it, this made sense. For an opponent who was only defeated, as long as they didn't die, there might still be a chance to fight them again, meaning Ian could farm experience from them once more. But killing them meant that person was dead, and the experience gained from them was equivalent to being given to Ian all at once.
As for killing Vergo, Ian had actually been a bit unable to hold back at the time, but he didn't regret it.
If Vergo had been a pure Marine Vice Admiral, Ian might not have necessarily killed him. Like Fujitora, Ian had a clear sense of right and wrong. The Marines were now his enemies, but Ian still had no ill will toward those among them who upheld their own justice.
However, Vergo was actually a member of the Donquixote Family. It was precisely because of his involvement that the children had been kidnapped and sent to Caesar for human giantification experiments.
Ian didn't know if Caesar and Doflamingo's cooperation would continue after Vergo's death, but at least without Vergo, perhaps there would be fewer kidnapped children?
According to Ian's speculation, Caesar and Doflamingo's partnership might not end because of Vergo's death, but this at least disrupted some of Doflamingo's plans.
Given Doflamingo's personality, since Ian had killed one of his family members, he would surely harbor a deep hatred for Ian. From this moment on, Ian's relationship with Doflamingo had turned hostile.
If he had to roughly classify strength levels, in Ian's view, the Seven Warlords of the Sea were generally stronger than Marine Vice Admirals, with Marine Admirals being a tier above that.
Of course, this classification was very broad. Among the Vice Admirals, there were figures like Garp, who could have become an Admiral but chose to remain a Vice Admiral. Similarly, among the Seven Warlords, there was someone like Hawk-Eye Mihawk, who could fight evenly with Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, yet remained a Warlord.
The lack of clear boundaries made Ian uncertain how he would fare against Doflamingo. He guessed that he probably wasn't a match for Doflamingo yet. That guy not only had Haki mastery but was also a Devil Fruit user, and an awakened one at that, with strength far exceeding an average Marine Vice Admiral.
Level 18. It wouldn't be long before Ian reached level 20. Then, a new card slot would open, allowing him to boost his strength a bit more.
Moreover, according to the system, after level 20, a five-star red card could undergo its first awakening.
When the Flying Shadow card advanced from four-star to five-star, there hadn't been much change in essence. Besides allowing Ian to use the ultimate technique, Evil King Flame Slayer Black Dragon Wave, the upgrade only increased the attribute gain to 48 points per level, which was 2 points less than a native five-star red card. The bonus attributes it gave Ian only increased by 10%, which wasn't much. But this wasn't the real benefit of a red card.
The true advantage of a five-star red card over a four-star card lay in this awakening. Only by advancing to a red card could the awakening function be unlocked.
According to the system's introduction, a five-star red card could awaken once every 20 levels, each time granting different attribute boosts. Ian didn't know the specifics yet, but he was looking forward to it.
He set aside his level status and stopped paying attention to it. What was troubling him now was his swordsmanship skill.
Ian had an emotional attachment to the swordsmanship he had learned since childhood. However, during his fight with Vergo, he realized that his current Expert-level swordsmanship was no longer sufficient.
When facing opponents with strong Armament Haki, Ian's current swordsmanship couldn't break through their defenses, let alone cut them.
But Ian couldn't abandon swordsmanship altogether. While his powerful Psychic Power skills were formidable, they lacked endurance. For Ian, fighting with swordsmanship consumed the least energy. If he could elevate his swordsmanship to the next level, then fighting with a sword would still be the most cost-effective method.
Now that Fujitora was around, Ian's swordsmanship training was gaining proficiency quickly. However, he knew that to advance from Expert-level to Master-level swordsmanship, proficiency alone wasn't enough. He also needed to comprehend the way of the sword.
This situation had already occurred once when Advanced swordsmanship advanced to Expert-level. So even with Fujitora's help, once his proficiency was maxed out, whether he could successfully advance still depended on Ian himself.
"Forget it, I'll just train for now!" Ian thought, getting up to find Fujitora, who was still gambling.
…………………………
While Ian and his crew were sailing toward Grambo Island, Marine Headquarters received news of the destruction of the G-5 branch base.
Although there were few casualties among the ordinary soldiers, the base commander of G-5, Vergo, had died in the battle!
This news immediately shocked Marine Headquarters. Especially after hearing the descriptions from the surviving soldiers of the G-5 branch, Marine Headquarters didn't know what to do.
An emergency meeting was immediately convened at Marine Headquarters.
A black fire dragon had appeared over the base, which immediately made the Marine officers recall the mastermind behind the Mary Geoise incident.
With a "slap," Vice Admiral Momonga slammed a wanted poster onto the conference table and said, "Fleet Admiral, and fellow colleagues, we can now be one hundred percent certain that the black-clad mastermind of the Mary Geoise incident is the captain of the Dragon Hunter Pirates! The man known as the Burning Blade, Ian, was once a bounty hunter, but now he is a top-tier criminal who has injured Admiral Aokiji, broken Vice Admiral Fighting Dog's arm, and killed Vice Admiral Vergo! I recommend immediately updating the old wanted poster and revealing his face to the world!"
Vice Admiral Garp, naturally, was also present at the meeting. In front of him was a photo of Ian. He was staring at it, unsure of what to say.
Garp had met this young man before. He had even entrusted Ian with capturing Ace. But he never expected that times would change so unpredictably. The former bounty hunter had become a great pirate.
First Ian, then Ace. Was being a pirate really that attractive to young people?
Fleet Admiral Sengoku glanced at Garp but said nothing. He asked Momonga, "Wasn't Boa Hancock supposed to have pursued this Dragon Hunter Pirates?"
Momonga shook his head and said, "The pursuit was fruitless. It seems the Pirate Empress couldn't do much against them either."
Sengoku sighed regretfully. "I thought Boa Hancock could help us capture him. That woman is quite formidable... Updating the wanted poster is a minor matter, but the question is, how do we capture this Dragon Hunter Pirates?"
Kizaru, sitting with his arms crossed in a striped suit, pursed his lips and said, "How about I make a trip?"
Deploying a Marine Admiral would at least be an acceptable response to the Celestial Dragons. Sengoku was about to agree when Vice Admiral Tsuru suddenly spoke up. "Wait a moment!"
As the Marine's Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Tsuru was not only elderly but also widely knowledgeable. She was well-versed in the major figures across the world's oceans, so her opinion could not be ignored. When she spoke, everyone in the meeting turned to look at her.
"One Marine Admiral alone might not be enough," Tsuru said hesitantly.
Hearing this, Sengoku was startled. "What do you mean?"
Tsuru rubbed her forehead in frustration and said, "You've overlooked one thing: the blind man who appeared alongside this Ian, as reported by the soldiers."
"Who is he?" Sengoku asked, looking at the photo in front of him. The Marines had also obtained a picture of Fujitora.
Tsuru rested her chin on her hands and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this is likely Issho. I've heard some things about him. He might be a monster capable of matching a Marine Admiral."
These words shocked the entire room. Momonga exclaimed in surprise, "Vice Admiral Tsuru, are you... are you sure?"
"Absolutely certain," Tsuru said. "The meteor that ultimately destroyed the entire base was definitely Issho's doing, not that young man Ian's."
Suddenly, everyone fell silent. One was a man who had injured Aokiji, and the other was a man described as a monster. Without a doubt, the fact that these two had appeared together at the G-5 branch base and jointly attacked the Marine base meant they were allies.
In other words, Vice Admiral Tsuru was right. To capture this Dragon Hunter Pirates, deploying just one Marine Admiral would be far from enough.
But... to capture a single pirate crew, they would need to deploy two Marine Admirals? That was utterly outrageous!
Was this pirate crew one of the Four Emperors!?
"No!" Sengoku slammed the table. "Sending two Marine Admirals into the New World at the same time is absolute madness. It would inevitably put the Whitebeard Pirates, the Red Hair Pirates, the Beast Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates on high alert. If we're not careful, this could be the spark for war!"
The Vice Admirals present at the meeting couldn't help but shiver at these words.
The matter of the Whitebeard Pirates hadn't even been resolved yet. If two Marine Admirals were sent into the New World, the Marines might end up facing all four Emperors at once!
The current balance in the New World was maintained by an unspoken understanding between the Four Emperors and the Marines. Breaking it would have severe consequences. Although the Marines had always wanted to expand their power into the New World, they absolutely could not rush it.
"So, what should we do about this Dragon Hunter Pirates?"