Chapter 238: Bounty Rises Again (Third Makeup Update)
Although the flames of the Black Dragon Wave were not conventional flames in the usual sense, the principle of temperature was the same.
Ace placed his hand above Ian's wrist, quietly sensing the temperature of the Black Dragon Wave. After a long moment, he spoke to Ian, "Can you release this black fire dragon at me? I want to truly experience the offensive power of this flame."
Ian looked at him with some surprise and asked, "Are you serious? This is no joke!"
Ace nodded with rare seriousness and said, "I know it's dangerous, but I still want to try."
Ever since he had seen Ian's black fire dragon and heard Ian's understanding of the Flame-Flame Fruit, Ace had been aiming to achieve the same effect as Ian's black flames.
As a user of the Flame-Flame Fruit, Ace now felt an affinity for all flames. He could sense the might and dominance of this black flame and envied Ian's ability, naturally wanting to replicate the same flame effect.
However, simply observing and sensing it wasn't enough for Ace, so he proposed that Ian attack him once with the Black Dragon Wave to see what it was like.
Ian hesitated because this was a very dangerous matter. So far, the only Logia user Ian had truly attacked with the Black Dragon Wave was Aokiji, and even he had been injured at the time.
But that attack had involved some element of attribute advantage. When facing Kizaru, the user of the Glint-Glint Fruit, Ian had also considered using it on him to see if the high temperature of the Black Dragon Wave could harm him.
After all, the Black Dragon Wave was transformed from his Psychic Power. For Ian, Psychic Power was Haki, and Haki was Psychic Power. This Black Dragon Wave could also be seen as a pure Haki attack. In Ian's estimation, the Black Dragon Wave might still be effective against Kizaru.
However, considering Kizaru's speed, Ian had been afraid he might dodge it and waste the Black Dragon Wave, so he had ultimately chosen to devour it instead.
Now, Ace, another Logia user, was requesting that Ian attack him with the Black Dragon Wave. This made Ian somewhat intrigued. If he could use Ace to verify the actual attack effect of the Black Dragon Wave against Logia users, it would be quite beneficial for him.
So, after thinking it over, he finally agreed and said, "Alright, I'll try to attack you with the Black Dragon Wave. I'll do my best to control its flight path. If you sense something wrong, dodge quickly, understand?"
Ace nodded, stood far across from Ian, and after preparing himself, he shouted to Ian, "Start!"
Ian didn't hold back and directly launched the Black Dragon Wave forward!
The roaring black fire dragon immediately flew out along Ian's arm. The direction Ian fired it was offset from where Ace was standing, and since this was Carlos's private beach with no one else around, there was no need to worry about harming innocents.
Although Ian had been saying that the Black Dragon Wave might not be able to hit Kizaru, its flight speed was actually quite fast. As soon as it was launched, it was already nearing Ace!
Unlike when it was tamed around Ian's wrist, the Black Dragon Wave's immense heat truly manifested after being released. Even though Ace knew the Black Dragon Wave wasn't aimed at him, he still nervously crossed his arms in front of himself. When the Black Dragon Wave brushed past him, Ace even felt a threat of death and had no choice but to quickly jump aside.
Seeing this, Ian immediately raised his hand, controlling the Black Dragon Wave to shoot up into the sky. After the Black Dragon Wave's energy was exhausted and it disappeared, he quickly ran over to Ace and asked him, "How was it? Are you okay!?"
Although Ian didn't know the exact temperature of the Black Dragon Wave, he was confident that its temperature exceeded that of magma.
In other words, the Black Dragon Wave would likely be effective against Akainu as well.
So it was hard to say whether Ace would be injured when facing flames of this temperature.
However, when Ace grinned and showed Ian something in his hand, even Ian was surprised.
Because in Ace's hand, he was actually holding a clump of black flames!
It was a small clump of flames he had grabbed from the Black Dragon Wave the moment he jumped aside!
Ace's hand showed signs of burns. Without a doubt, Ian's guess was correct: the Black Dragon Wave, as a pure energy attack, was still effective against Logia users. However, since Ace himself was made of flames, the damage from the Black Dragon Wave was minimized for him. By leveraging his ability to control flames, he had managed to intercept a portion of the energy from the Black Dragon Wave.
This clump of flames quickly extinguished in Ace's hand as its energy was depleted, but Ace laughed and said, "Haha, Ian, I think I've gained some insight!"
Hearing this, Ian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Good, as long as you're okay. I'll say it again: the development of your fruit ability ultimately depends on you. My help is limited."
"This is already great!" Ace adjusted his cowboy hat and smiled. "Give me a bit more time, and I'll definitely catch up to you!"
Ian nodded, knowing that this couldn't be rushed and would take time.
The reason Ian was helping Ace develop his fruit ability was that he had his considerations. He didn't know if Ace would still end up facing Blackbeard in the future. If he did, then Ace, with his higher flame temperature, might give that bastard Blackbeach a real headache!
Today's experiment couldn't continue for now. Ian switched to Orihime Inoue's card and healed Ace's hand. Just then, a tall, muscular man in armor appeared on the beach. As soon as he saw Ian and the others, he shouted, "Marco, Ace, and Ian! The Old Man is looking for you!"
Ian naturally recognized this man. He was the commander of the Third Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, Diamond Jozu!
Jozu, a user of the Diamond-Diamond Fruit, could turn his body into diamond or partially diamondize it, possessing the world's strongest physical defense. In Ian's words, this guy was the Whitebeard Pirates' ultimate tank!
Despite Jozu's sharp, fierce, and imposing appearance, Ian had found during their interactions over the past few days that he was a man of few words, quiet and taciturn, but extremely loyal to Whitebeard.
Over these days, Ian had become familiar with almost all the division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. Because of Ace, everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates treated Ian like a brother. Ian himself was easygoing, so he could joke and mess around with them without restraint. In contrast, Fujitora, the older man, got along very well with Whitebeard, perhaps due to their age.
Hearing Jozu's shout, Ian and Ace walked back. Marco asked Jozu, "What does the Old Man want us for?"
"I don't know!" Jozu shook his head and then said to Fujitora, "You should come too, sir. The Old Man wants to see you as well."
Fujitora nodded without saying anything, and the group followed Jozu away from the private beach, heading toward the port.
Although Whitebeard was an old friend of Carlos, he didn't stay in the palace all the time. After all, he was a pirate, and he had to be mindful of his influence among the people. Additionally, his illness required care from the ship's nurses, so most of the time, he stayed on the Moby Dick at the port.
When Ian and the others arrived on the Moby Dick, they found that besides Whitebeard, all the other division commanders were gathered there as well.
Except for the Second Division commander's position, which was vacant for unknown reasons, the Whitebeard Pirates had a total of 16 divisions and 15 commanders. Each commander led a hundred crew members, meaning the Whitebeard Pirates' direct subordinates numbered over 1,600!
And that was just the direct forces. Under the Whitebeard Pirates' banner, there were also 43 independent pirate crews, all ready to respond to the Old Man's call and fight for him. So the entire Whitebeard Pirates were a massive force.
Now, all 15 commanders were gathered around Whitebeard, which made Ian puzzled, thinking something major had happened.
When he saw Ian, Whitebeard had the Fourth Division commander, Sachi, hand Ian three wanted posters and said, "Take a look, Ian, you little brat!"
Ian took them and saw that they were his and Fujitora's wanted posters.
The bounty amounts had been updated. Ian's current bounty had soared to a staggering 650 million Berries!
The same went for Fujitora; his bounty had been raised from 300 million to 500 million!
This meant that the Marines had once again increased their threat assessment of the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
As for the third wanted poster, it was Ace's. Needless to say, it had also been increased. Ace's bounty was now 400 million! Although this was still some distance from the final bounty of 550 million that Ian remembered, it was still quite impressive.
Ian frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
"Just received it today!" Whitebeard said. "It seems the Marines are paying a lot of attention to you. With such a high bounty, they still insist on capturing you alive. What kind of leverage have you got on them?"
Ian hadn't told Whitebeard about the identity chip, but Whitebeard was an old hand and could naturally see the abnormality in this. He guessed that Ian might have obtained something important from the Marines or the World Government.
Ian shook his head and said, "It's better if you don't know, Old Man."
Whitebeard glanced at him but didn't press the issue. Since Ian didn't want to say, he didn't pursue it further. He simply asked, "What are your plans now?"
"I think we'll be fine for now. The Marines won't be able to send a second wave of Admirals to catch us in the short term," Ian said.
"But this can't go on forever!" Whitebeard laughed heartily. "Why not join my Whitebeard Pirates and become my son? That way, the Marines won't be able to touch you at all!"
Ian heard this and smiled. He had long anticipated that Whitebeard might extend an invitation to him, and now it had finally come...