Chapter 270: No Way Out
At this moment, Ian desperately wished he could equip the Shimura Shinpachi card and unleash a torrent of tsukkomi (comic commentary) commentary. He really wanted to grab Waldo by the collar and ask him where his aesthetic sense had gone.
Not just Ian—even the members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates couldn't help but burst out laughing when they saw this Thunder Roar Cannon. It wasn't that everyone was being crude; the problem was that this cannon was just too ridiculous.
The design simply didn't match such a cool name as Thunder Roar Cannon, so Ian stubbornly insisted that this cannon's real name was the Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon!
This left Waldo completely confused. He couldn't understand why Ian was so serious about emphasizing that name.
It was at this moment that large numbers of rebel miners began to surge toward the palace.
After capturing the mines and freeing the remaining miners there, the rebel army had turned back to surround the palace. As Waldo saw more and more people staring at him with hatred, he no longer dared to argue with Ian about the cannon's name.
"You brought this on yourselves!" Waldo glared hatefully at Ian. "Habs, prepare to fire the Thunder Roar Cannon!"
"No! Don't let him fire!" Arions shouted, immediately leading the rebel miners in a charge toward the tank Waldo was riding in.
This sudden move caught Ian completely off guard. They had arrived later, so they didn't know what had happened earlier. Waldo had been willing to stay behind and hold off the Dragon Hunter Pirates just to let Habs get this cannon out of the basement. This was clearly his final trump card. Arions and the others, knowing nothing, charged straight in—did they really think this was just an ordinary cannon?
"Stop! Don't go over there!" Ian grabbed Arions, but he couldn't stop all the other rebels.
They had probably lost their heads seeing Waldo right in front of them. Remember, it was because Waldo had hired those pirate crews that hundreds had been slaughtered. The hatred between the rebels and Waldo ran as deep as the sea.
As Arions was pulled to the ground by Ian, the other rebels had already reached the tank. But facing these people with red eyes wanting to kill him, Waldo just sneered contemptuously, clasped his hands together, and tore at the air around him again!
Those in the front immediately suffered. With the activation of the Rip-Rip Fruit's ability, their bodies were torn in half!
"Tch!" Ian clicked his tongue at this horrific sight, frustrated at their recklessness. He leaped into the air, drew Thousand Cherry Blossoms mid-flight, and condensed a blazing black flame blade, stabbing down at Waldo from above.
Waldo noticed Ian's attack coming and immediately tore at the air above him again. Ian wasn't sure if Armament Haki hardening could defend against this power, so he played it safe, twisting in midair to dodge Waldo's attack. As he twisted, he swung his arm, sending a massive sword slash toward Waldo.
Seeing the slash coming, Waldo quickly ducked into the tank's chassis.
Ian's slash struck the tank's body. The immense force made the tank shake slightly, but then something astonishing happened—the tank's hull showed no damage at all!
How was this possible? Ian was shocked. His sword slashes could easily cut through steel now—why were they ineffective against this tank?
"Hahaha!" Waldo popped back out of the hatch, laughing at Ian. "This turret is made entirely of Wine Iron Ore, second only to Seastone in hardness. You won't cut through it so easily!"
"Wine Iron Ore?" Ian was puzzled by the term, but seeing Waldo's arrogant demeanor, he landed, raised his blade, and fired a Hundred Eight Style: Dark Hand at the tank.
Blazing purple flames flew toward the tank, engulfing it. The temperature of the Annihilation Azure Flame was extremely high, and soon Waldo's panicked voice came from inside: "So hot! So hot!"
Ian sneered and lunged at the tank again. Although the Wine Iron Ore was incredibly hard, since it was metal, it could be melted with fire. Ian had plenty of ways to deal with Waldo.
But to Ian's surprise, even though the Azure Flame raised the internal temperature drastically, the Wine Iron Ore didn't melt. Waldo didn't come out either. As Ian reached the tank, Waldo had already aimed the cannon at him.
With a crackling sound, the two "egg" positions at the base of the Armstrong cannon—which Ian found so ridiculous—suddenly sparked with massive electrical currents. Strangely, the leaking electricity appeared spiral-shaped, with one side spinning clockwise and the other counterclockwise.
Then, in an extremely short time, a powerful flash of electrical light gathered at the cannon's muzzle.
Ian's heart jumped, and he immediately dodged. But as he moved, the cannon instantly tracked him and fired!
Waldo had once been Vegapunk's colleague and was a renowned scientist himself. During his time working with Vegapunk, he had learned many of his techniques. This instant-tracking technology was actually the locking system Vegapunk used in his Pacifista project. Waldo had already locked onto Ian, but the cannon's turning speed couldn't keep up with Ian's movement, so the shot grazed past Ian's back.
It was a scorching hot, high-pressure jet stream. The moment it fired, the blinding white light nearly dazzled everyone present.
Since Ian was right in front of the tank, the cannon had been aimed low at him. The intense electrical flash flew out and struck the ground behind Ian.
A charred black hole appeared in the ground, but that wasn't the end. The next second, the energy that had penetrated the ground exploded violently. A sphere of lightning burst from underground, and the spreading electrical force crackled and expanded, affecting a large area.
The Dragon Hunter Pirates members, being cautious, hadn't gotten too close, but the dense crowd of rebels was caught in the blast. In the area where the electricity exploded, over a dozen people were swept up. This kind of intense electrical explosion often carried a pulling force, and the moment those people were caught, they were instantly electrocuted into charcoal.
Seeing this, Ian gasped. He had seen Kizaru's laser cannon in action, but Waldo's Thunder Roar Cannon seemed even more powerful!
"Fall back! Everyone fall back!" Arions had been angry at Ian for pulling him earlier, but after seeing this, he realized Ian had been trying to save him. The rebels were too densely packed around the palace now, unable to help and only risking heavy casualties from the cannon. So he shouted desperately for the rebels to scatter.
The other Dragon Hunter Pirates members also knew they couldn't help much, so they retreated as well, leaving only Fujitora and Konenai behind.
"The captain's flames can't force him out," Konenai said. "That iron box probably has cooling equipment inside!"
"Then I'll crush it!" Fujitora stepped forward, drew his staff sword, and applied immense gravity to Waldo's tank.
Creaking, grinding sounds came from the tank. Under such pressure, even steel would be flattened into a pancake, but it only made the tank groan. The thing was incredibly sturdy. Fujitora's efforts only managed to sink it into the ground.
Inside the tank, Habs was already coughing up blood from the immense gravity. Only Waldo gritted his teeth and persisted. His eyes were bloodshot, but he still tremblingly reached out to flip the internal switches, continuing to charge the Thunder Roar Cannon. But this was his limit.
Just then, he heard a strange sound from above. Confused, he looked up and saw a black flame sword tip slowly piercing through the Wine Iron Ore armor above his head, inch by inch.
Outside, while Fujitora was pressing the tank into the ground, Ian had used the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword, channeling the Black Dragon Wave's flames to slowly drive his blade in.
The Black Dragon Wave's flames condensed into a blade edge, providing greater penetrating power. Once part of the blade had entered this iron lump, the rest was easier.
"Scatter, Thousand Cherry Blossoms!"
Ian stood on the tank, gripping the hilt of Thousand Cherry Blossoms, which was now embedded, and softly uttered these words.
Inside the tank, Waldo was astonished to see the sword tip dissolve into countless cherry blossom petals, drifting into the space within.
Under Ian's control, the petals began to ravage the tank's interior. Their sharp edges not only cut Waldo all over but also severed many of the tank's internal cables.
A high-pitched whine sounded, then quickly faded. The lights inside the tank went out.
Waldo's ultimate weapon had been disabled just like that!
It had to be said that Waldo's Thunder Roar Cannon was incredibly well-defended, but fortresses are always breached from within, and this time was no exception.
The cannon that Waldo had placed so much hope in had been dealt with so simply by Ian and the others.
Countless petals drifted back out through the gap, reforming into Thousand Cherry Blossoms' blade on the hilt. Ian then crouched by the opening and called down to Waldo inside: "Come out. You have no way out now!"