Chapter 204: Sode no Shirayuki?
It was only when the captain tremblingly pulled out two wanted posters that Ian finally understood what was going on.
"So, my identity has been found out after all!" Ian said, looking at his own photo on the wanted poster with a hint of regret.
Although he had mentally prepared himself for this, seeing the wanted poster made him realize that his days of quietly making money and living freely were over.
However, when he saw Fujitora's wanted poster, Ian immediately felt better. He walked over to Fujitora with the poster and said, "Old man, heh, you've got a bounty of 300 million Berries too!"
Fujitora didn't seem too bothered and replied, "I knew this might happen sooner or later."
"So now you're a wanted pirate too. How about it? Want to officially join my crew?" Ian said with a smile. "Look, the wanted poster says you're a member of the Dragon Hunter Pirates. We can't let the Marines wrong you, so why not make it true?"
Fujitora laughed heartily but didn't say anything, heading back into the cabin. Ian scratched his head, unsure of what he meant, and turned back to look at the captured pirate captain.
Ian also understood why they had been attacked by pirate crews repeatedly over the past two days. Without a doubt, these pirates had seen the news and his wanted poster.
Logically, Ian's bounty was so high—500 million Berries—that it should have been enough to intimidate most pirates. But his photo on the poster didn't look fierce at all; in fact, he looked very young. Combined with the crimes listed on the poster, which labeled him as the mastermind behind the Mary Geoise arson incident, some small, uninformed pirate crews assumed Ian was the type whose crimes outweighed his strength.
Don't doubt it—there are plenty of ignorant people in this world. There are always those who cling to wishful thinking, hoping to step on others to gain fame.
Back when Ian's true face hadn't been exposed, there were already many people trying to impersonate him, the 500 million Berry bounty criminal, by wearing masks. Now that Ian's photo had been revealed and the name of the Dragon Hunter Pirates had spread across the world via news coos, some pirate crews thought they could gain fame by defeating the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
This reckless behavior was the reason Ian and his crew had been harassed over the past two days.
And this was just the beginning. As Ian and his crew continued to crush wave after wave of fame-seeking pirates, they might face a second type of harassment: an endless stream of pirates coming to admire Ian and seeking to join him.
Fame brings trouble, and Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates had their hands full.
But these were minor issues. What Ian truly cared about was the Marines' reaction.
However, after questioning the pirate captain, Ian gasped in shock. They had been sailing at sea for the past two days with no source of information, and only now did he learn from the captain that the Marines had dispatched ten warships and two Marine Admirals to hunt down his Dragon Hunter Pirates!?
The two Marine Admirals were Kizaru Borsalino and Black Arm Zephyr. This news had already spread like wildfire throughout the New World over the past two days.
The presence of two Marine Admirals leading a force into the New World had caused panic among many pirates. Although they speculated that the Marines were targeting the newly emerged Dragon Hunter Pirates, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire if they encountered the Admirals.
As a result, many pirate crews stationed in the front areas of the New World had stopped lingering and set sail deeper into the New World, afraid of accidentally running into the Marines' guns.
This was also why Ian and his crew had been encountering so many pirate crews at sea over the past two days.
Afterward, Ian let the pirate captain go. Such small fry weren't worth his time.
The ship continued forward, and Ian stood at the bow, staring at the sea, lost in thought.
For now, the Marines hadn't caught up to them, but it was hard to say when they would. The Marines' ships were faster, and when that day came, the Dragon Hunter Pirates might face an unprecedented fierce battle.
The one thing Ian was incredibly grateful for was that he had managed to temporarily bring Fujitora aboard!
Although their agreement was only for a month, Ian believed that given Fujitora's personality and principles, he wouldn't stand idly by. After all, he had participated in the destruction of the G-5 base.
Two Marine Admirals—one Kizaru, the other Zephyr. If Fujitora stepped in, he should be able to hold off one of them.
In Ian's plan, it would be best for Fujitora to take on Kizaru while he himself dealt with Zephyr. The reason was simple: Fujitora was a Devil Fruit user, and Zephyr now had a Seastone arm. If Fujitora fought Zephyr, his abilities would be neutralized, putting him at a disadvantage. So it was better for him to occupy Kizaru.
Fujitora's Observation Haki was incredibly strong, and since he was blind, he wouldn't be affected by Kizaru's flashes. This seemed like a good counter to Kizaru. However, given the extreme speed of Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit, could Fujitora keep up? Even if his Observation Haki could sense Kizaru's movements, could he react in time?
Thinking about this, Ian shook his head, deciding it should be fine. Silvers Rayleigh had managed to hold off Kizaru, so Fujitora should be able to as well.
That left the question: could he himself hold off Black Arm Zephyr?
To be honest, Ian had one advantage against Zephyr: his abilities weren't true Devil Fruit powers, so Zephyr's Seastone arm would be ineffective against him!
However, Zephyr didn't rely solely on Seastone to fight. He also possessed powerful Armament Haki and immense strength!
Strength had always been Ian's weakness. He was a speed-type fighter, so it was hard to say who would win or lose in a fight with Zephyr.
Ian looked at the Enma sword in his hand. Although he had been training hard under Fujitora's gravity-assisted training, the proficiency required to advance from Expert-level swordsmanship to Master-level was too high. Ian couldn't improve his swordsmanship for now. He also considered using the remaining diamonds to upgrade Enma to five stars, hoping that the sword's dimensional slash ability might manifest.
That power, capable of cutting through space, would make Ian's slashes much stronger and might give him a better chance in battle.
But after carefully consulting the system, Ian realized that upgrading a four-star exclusive item to five stars wasn't easy.
Aside from using enhancement items obtained from ten-draw summons to strengthen the exclusive item, he would also need a sufficient number of identical exclusive items in the later stages.
For example, to upgrade Enma to five stars, Ian would need to fully enhance it to level 10. Starting from level 5, he would need identical exclusive items: one for level 5 to 6, two for level 6 to 7, and so on, with the requirements increasing as the levels went up.
This would require a massive amount of diamonds. First, he would need to obtain three-star items through ten-draw summons, then exchange them for four-star Enma swords. Both diamonds and luck were indispensable.
Ian also considered directly exchanging for a five-star item, but after asking the system, he found that exchanging a four-star item for a five-star one cost one million diamonds, and exchanging between five-star items also cost one million per attempt. Moreover, this required activating the Supreme VIP status.
Ian had always felt that his luck wasn't great. He didn't know how many exchanges it would take to get a five-star Enma, and he wasn't sure if his remaining diamonds would be enough.
"So, should I consider exchanging Enma for another four-star item?" Ian thought.
Exchanging between four-star items cost 50,000 diamonds per attempt, which allowed Ian to try many times.
Enma's only notable feature was its sharpness. Combined with Armament Haki hardening, it could even cut through Seastone, though it might require multiple strikes on the same spot. Zephyr's Seastone arm probably wouldn't give him that opportunity.
If he could exchange for another exclusive item with special abilities, it might be more useful than a four-star Enma.
With that thought, Ian gritted his teeth and decided to give it a try.
He withdrew Enma and placed it into the exchange interface, then began the exchange.
After the first exchange, Enma disappeared, and in its place appeared a pair of pistols!?
Ian was stunned. Looking at the pistols' design, they were Dante's Ebony and Ivory!
The sleek gun bodies, the metallic sheen—Ian almost drooled! As a man, aside from swords, guns were among his favorite things, especially such a famous pair!
Ian paused the exchange, took them out, and equipped them. Two guns immediately appeared at his thighs.
After playing with them lovingly for a while, he put them away. Unfortunately, although he really wanted these two guns, their design was too different from the common guns in this world. Ian didn't know how others would react. Moreover, Ebony and Ivory required corresponding gun skills to use.
It was a pity, but Ian had to exchange them again.
However, to his surprise, the second exchange also yielded guns—and this time, four of them!
The Four Infernal Guns? These were from the protagonist of Bayonetta, the stylish Bayonetta's guns!
These four famous guns were named Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme. When equipped, they could be held in both hands and also attached to the feet, allowing bullets to be fired during kicks. This likely fell under the category of gun-fu.
Ian didn't particularly like these four guns, and knowing the properties of Ebony and Ivory, he realized he couldn't use this pair either.
Was today his day for guns? Ian gritted his teeth and chose to exchange again.
The next second, his eyes widened.
The third exchange finally yielded a katana!
But this katana was pure white, breathtakingly beautiful! At the end of the hilt, there was even a snow-white ribbon-like ornament.
Sode no Shirayuki!? This... this is a Zanpakutō!?