Chapter 206: The Easiest Maid to Train
Just as Ian and the others were stunned, the two figures in the sky suddenly climbed higher and began circling far around their ship.
Their altitude was probably over a thousand meters; Ian couldn't be sure. From the ship, it was impossible to make out their features clearly.
"Get me a telescope!" Ian shouted.
Since these two were circling his ship, it meant they had already spotted the Dragon Hunter Pirates from above and were scouting them out. Ian needed to determine whether they were friend or foe.
However, when Ian raised the telescope and looked up, he was startled to see one of the flying figures suddenly dive straight toward their ship. Before he could even get a clear look at them, he shouted in alarm, "Watch out! They might be attacking!"
As the flying figure neared the Dragon Hunter Pirates' ship, Ian finally got a clear view of them.
The first thing he saw was a large face, surrounded by a ring of strange propeller-like hair spinning rapidly. The owner of that face was grinning widely, baring a row of teeth, and on those teeth was a black pattern.
The pattern was a round face split in half by a diagonal black line!
Donquixote Doflamingo's symbol!?
Seeing this pattern, Ian immediately realized who was in the sky. Sure enough, looking a bit higher, he saw a woman sitting on the flying man's back. She wore goggles, smoked a cigarette, and was dressed in a maid outfit.
The flying man was Buffalo, a combatant of the Donquixote Pirates and a Paramecia-type Spin-Spin Fruit user, nicknamed "Big Buffalo." His ability allowed him to turn his hair into propellers, enabling flight similar to a Zoan-type.
And the woman on his back was naturally Baby 5, the Donquixote Pirates' maid and assassin, a Weapon-Weapon Fruit user.
Why were these two here!?
"Uncle Issho! Use your ability to pull them down!" Ian quickly shouted.
"Oh, oh!" Fujitora responded, just drawing his staff sword to activate his ability when Baby 5 launched an attack from above.
Cigarette dangling from her lips, she turned her left arm into a machine gun, steadying it with her right hand while sitting on Buffalo's back. She rained down a hail of bullets on Ian's ship from above.
With so many people gathered on the deck, the dense barrage inevitably hit some. Ian and Fujitora could easily deflect bullets aimed at them with their blades, but the ordinary crew members couldn't. They might not withstand the attack, so Ian immediately equipped his Yasuo card and slashed a Wind Wall upward.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat! A torrent of bullets poured onto the deck, leaving smoking holes in the wood. However, the area where the crew was gathered was protected by Ian's Wind Wall, rendering the aerial assault ineffective.
"Uncle Issho!" Ian called out again.
"Understood!" Fujitora replied, activating his Gravity-Gravity Fruit's power, which enveloped the area above the ship.
Buffalo and Baby 5 flew past Ian's ship and tried to circle back for another strafing run. But then, a suffocating pressure suddenly hit them. Buffalo could no longer fly and plummeted straight toward the sea.
"Ahh!" As Buffalo fell, Baby 5 couldn't escape either. She screamed and plunged into the water as well.
Ian glanced at Fujitora, realizing his Gravity Fruit was incredibly effective against flying opponents. With him around, the area above the ship was essentially a no-fly zone.
Without Fujitora, the crew would have had no good way to deal with the Buffalo and Baby 5 combo. Ian could fly, but not for long at the moment.
"Send two people to fish them out!" Ian ordered. "Go to the cabin and get Erlang to treat the injured."
The crew obeyed. Two members who could swim jumped into the sea with a splash and swam toward where Buffalo and Baby 5 had fallen.
Ian stared grimly at the water. He didn't believe Buffalo and Baby 5 had just happened to show up here to rob a ship. Their presence meant that the Celestial Demon Doflamingo was already searching for him.
When he killed Vergo, Ian knew Doflamingo would seek revenge. Doflamingo had planted Vergo in the Marines long ago, and after years of effort, Vergo had finally reached the rank of Vice Admiral. But Ian's unexpected appearance had ruined all of Doflamingo's plans.
Not only had the plan gone awry, but Vergo was also like "family" to Doflamingo, which made him even more furious.
Now, with the Marines revealing Ian's true identity and the Dragon Hunter Pirates as a clear target, Doflamingo naturally had someone to take revenge on. Buffalo and Baby 5 were likely sent to track down the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
First two Marine Admirals, and now the Celestial Demon Doflamingo—Ian couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
The Dragon Hunter Pirates quickly fished Buffalo and Baby 5 out of the water. Both were Devil Fruit users, completely powerless when submerged. If Ian hadn't bothered to retrieve them and left them to their fate, they would have died. Fortunately, Ian wanted to ask them some questions, so they got a second chance.
"Cough, cough!" The two lay on the deck, soaked and coughing violently. They had fallen quite far from the ship, swallowing a lot of seawater before being rescued. They had passed out and only woke up after the crew drained the water from them.
Ian crouched in front of them and asked coldly, "Where is Doflamingo now? Is he heading this way?"
Buffalo looked up at Ian and sneered, "Since you know our young master's name, you'd better let us go! Otherwise, when he gets here, he'll make sure the Dragon Hunter Pirates die without a burial!"
"So you really are after the Dragon Hunter Pirates," Ian said. "Then tell me, have you already notified Doflamingo?"
Buffalo bared his teeth, showing the pirate symbol on them, and said, "Guess! I'll never tell you!"
"That's right, you won't get a single word out of me!" Baby 5 tilted her chin proudly.
"Is that so?" Ian smiled, then suddenly changed his tone and said to Baby 5, "Could you please tell me?"
Baby 5's face instantly flushed red. She cupped her cheeks and thought, "He... he's asking me? I... I'm needed?"
The next second, she answered without hesitation, "Yes, I've already notified the young master!"
"Then how long will it take him to get here? Please tell me that too!" Ian said.
"Okay, the young master should arrive in about three hours!" Baby 5 said, still holding her flushed face.
"Baby 5!" Buffalo was fuming beside her and couldn't help but shout.
He was well aware of his partner's ability, but her personality—where she couldn't resist agreeing whenever someone asked her for something—was incredibly frustrating.
Because of this trait, Baby 5 had been proposed to by countless scumbags, each time treating them as her fiancés, forcing Doflamingo to step in and kill them for her.
But come to think of it, how did this Dragon Hunter Pirates captain know about Baby 5's weakness right from the start? Had he investigated Doflamingo's Donquixote Pirates?
Buffalo's shout snapped Baby 5 out of it. Embarrassed and furious, her right hand instantly turned into a blade and stabbed at Ian.
Ian tilted his head slightly, dodging the attack. But Baby 5 didn't give up. She stood up and attacked again.
With most of the seawater gone, she could use her ability freely. Her right leg turned into a scythe and swung at Ian's head.
Ian was still crouching but didn't flinch. "Your skirt is showing," he said.
"So what? I'll kill you!" Baby 5's leg came down, but Ian blocked it with his left arm, hardening it with Armament Haki. It wasn't hard to withstand the blow. This maid-dressed Baby 5 didn't seem to know Haki.
After Ian blocked her attack, Baby 5's right leg suddenly transformed into a large-caliber rifle, aiming to shoot him at close range.
Ian was startled. There was no way he'd let her fire at this distance. He grabbed her ankle and slammed her to the deck.
Bang! The shot hit the wooden deck.
"Could you please stop for a moment?" Ian said as Baby 5 prepared to turn into another weapon.
"Oh, okay!" The next second, Baby 5's face turned red again, and she immediately stopped.
"Hahaha!" Fujitora couldn't help but laugh, finding the girl's personality hilarious.
Ian also thought she was amusing. Once you understood her personality, she was really easy to train.
Baby 5 stopped, but Buffalo wasn't about to let it go. His ring of hair spun rapidly, and he blew a spiral storm at Ian.
Even while dealing with Baby 5, Ian had been keeping an eye on Buffalo. As soon as Buffalo acted, Ian drew his Thousand Cherry Blossoms from his waist and swung it, sending a tornado back.
The two tornadoes collided, sending powerful winds scattering in all directions. Buffalo wasn't much of a fighter. Seeing his attack fail, he grabbed Baby 5 and tried to flee.
With Fujitora around, Ian wasn't worried about them escaping, but he didn't want to have to fish them out of the sea again. So he vanished in a flash, reappearing behind Buffalo the next moment, and punched him hard in the back of the head.
Thud! Ian's punch was forceful. Buffalo stumbled forward, his head smashing into the deck, and he immediately passed out.