Chapter 214: Salamis Great War (5)
Ian was stunned. He never imagined that after two days, instead of Ace and Whitebeard arriving, the Marines had shown up first!
But why did the country's army react so strongly to the Marines?
Seeing his confusion, the Mohawk-headed man explained, "Ian Boss, you might not know this, but the World Government treats non-member nations very harshly. There was once a precedent where they labeled a non-member country's king a criminal and sent the Marines to arrest him!"
"Something like that happened!?" Ian couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock.
"Ah, forget that for now! The Salamis Duchy's soldiers will handle the negotiations with the Marines!" the Mohawk-headed man said urgently. "I came to find you because there's something else I need to tell you!"
"What is it?" Ian asked.
"Old Man, Ace, and all the division commanders are already on the Moby Dick heading here!" the Mohawk-headed man said, sweating profusely. "But we just got word that about thirty kilometers outside Salamis Island, they spotted the Beast Pirates' trail!"
"The... the Beast Pirates!?" Ian was so shocked he nearly bit his tongue. "Are you saying that Kaido of the Four Emperors is in the outer seas!?"
"We don't know yet if Kaido came personally!" the Mohawk-headed man said, his face full of fear. "Either way, something huge is about to happen! Old Man can't land right now—he's locked in a standoff with the Beast Pirates!"
Ian's heart sank as he heard this. He quickly said to the Mohawk-headed man, "I need to gather my crew members. The Marines are definitely coming for me!"
"Alright, Ian Boss, I'll go rally the Fourth Division too. Old Man gave orders for us to coordinate with you!" the Mohawk-headed man replied. "If we can break out to sea, we'll rendezvous with Old Man and the others!"
Ian thought it over and decided that was the only option. He really hadn't expected the Marines to move so fast. After all, when Ian and his crew attacked the G5 branch base, that location was about two weeks' travel from the Red Line into the New World. Even if the Marines had reacted immediately and dispatched a fleet, their travel time should have been about two weeks behind Ian's crew.
Yet here they were, only two days late, and the Marines had already caught up to Salamis Island.
Could it be that the Marines had been heading here from the very start? Was their intelligence network really that formidable?
What Ian didn't know was that his guess was slightly off this time. The intelligence didn't come from the Marines themselves but from Zephyr's Pirate Hunter Squad!
Zephyr's Pirate Hunter Squad had been relentlessly hunting pirates in the New World, so they had extensive intelligence on many pirate crews. Ever since Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates were exposed, the Pirate Hunter Squad had been tracking their movements from the start.
Since Zephyr had accepted Sengoku's commission and teamed up with Kizaru to lead the expedition to wipe out the Dragon Hunter Pirates, they naturally had a clear picture of the crew's movements. From their course, Zephyr had easily deduced that the Dragon Hunter Pirates' next destination was likely Salamis Island.
In the pirate world, it was common knowledge that the bigger the ship, the larger the sails, and the faster it could go. Ian's ship was no match for a Marine warship in speed. On top of that, Ian and his crew had fought several other pirate crews along the way, which had cost them extra time. Being caught up to so quickly wasn't surprising at all.
Ian and the Mohawk-headed man split up, each using the small Den Den Mushi on their wrists to contact their respective people. Both were so absorbed by the impending crisis that they completely forgot about the young journalist standing behind them.
He turned his head left to watch the departing Mohawk-headed man, then right to see Ian leaving. Suddenly gritting his teeth, he decided to follow Ian again.
"This is going to be huge! The Whitebeard Pirates, the Beast Pirates, and the Marines!" the young journalist thought, his excitement growing. "Oh my god, has my luck finally turned, Pritts? This is big news—absolutely massive news!"
As he trailed behind Ian, Pritts carefully pulled a Den Den Mushi with long eyelashes from his pocket. His camera was broken, but he still had a special Den Den Mushi for contacting the newspaper office. This one couldn't take photos, but it could record video and audio!
Yes, it was a Video Den Den Mushi—Pritts' last resort!
He picked up the receiver on the Den Den Mushi's back and dialed his editor's number. As soon as the voice came through, he lowered his voice and said excitedly, "Hey, Editor, massive scoop!"
That single word immediately grabbed his editor's attention. "What massive scoop?"
"I'm in the Salamis Duchy right now—yes, on Salamis Island in the New World!" Pritts said. "There's chaos on the island, and a Marine fleet has appeared here. But that's not all—the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beast Pirates are also heading this way!"
The editor on the other end gasped, horrified. "This... this... are the Marines about to start a war with two Emperors at once!?"
"I'm not sure about the specifics!" Pritts said. "My camera is broken, so I only have the Video Den Den Mushi left. I'm planning to get footage of the scene. Can you set up a live broadcast for me?"
"No problem!" the editor immediately replied. "I'll apply for approval right away. If it goes through, your report will be broadcast across Sabaody Archipelago and all the places with video screens around the world!"
Hearing this, all of Pritts' worries vanished. His editor was giving him, an intern reporter, such massive support. He knew that if he could send back footage of this event, he would become the greatest reporter in the News Group!
Promotion, a raise, marrying a beautiful woman—all the good things in life were riding on this one report.
Letting out a long sigh of relief, he kept close to Ian. It was at that moment, looking at the bear-ear hat on Ian's head, that he finally remembered who Ian was.
And as the memory hit him, Pritts' eyes widened in terror.
"Oh my god! He... isn't he the one from that new wanted poster I saw earlier!? He's Ian the Burning Blade!?" Pritts' pupils dilated. "The Dragon Hunter Pirates, a five-hundred-million Berry pirate, the mastermind behind the Holy Land Mary Geoise arson! How... how is he on this island too!?"
"And from their conversation earlier, it sounds like Whitebeard came here for him!?"
In that moment, Pritts felt an overwhelming sense of relief. He realized he had made the right choice by following Ian. If he had made the wrong choice and followed the Mohawk-headed man from the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division, he would have missed this revelation entirely.
One Salamis Island, and suddenly so many terrifying figures had gathered. Every time Pritts thought about it, he felt both fear and a surge of adrenaline!
"Come on, come on! If I, Pritts, survive this, I might just witness an event that shocks the world!"
The island was now filled with chaos and panicked crowds, so Ian naturally didn't notice Pritts trailing far behind him. As he ran, he contacted the members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, telling them to gather at the port.
Meanwhile, at the port, two warships from the Salamis Duchy were setting out.
These two warships were nothing compared to Marine warships, as they were built by the Salamis Duchy itself.
Over a thousand soldiers from the Salamis Duchy were aboard these two ships, sailing toward the Marine fleet on the distant sea.
On the blue ocean, ten Marine warships with blue hulls and white sails lined up in a row, appearing on the horizon in a grand formation as they sailed toward Salamis Island. They were moving quite fast, and the soldiers on the Salamis Duchy's ships could already faintly see the dark, gaping muzzles of the triple-mounted cannons at the bows of the Marine ships!
Even though they knew the Marines wouldn't recklessly open fire, the soldiers on the Salamis Duchy's ships still felt an immense pressure bearing down on them.
*Gulp*—the sound of someone swallowing saliva echoed from somewhere on the ship...