Chapter 273: Lightning Spear
"Hmph, of course it works!" Waldo sneered. "But are you asking for my Thunder Roar Cannon?"
"What, you're not willing to give it?" Ian asked him with a smile.
"We're enemies. Don't expect me to help you fix it!" Waldo turned his face away.
Ian did indeed want this cannon. Although its design was rather crude, its power was immense. The reason Waldo had been subdued by Ian and his crew despite having this cannon was mainly because he had fought them on land. If this cannon had been mounted on a ship, things would have been different at sea. He could have fired at Ian's ship from a sufficient distance, and at that point, even defending would have been a problem for Ian and his crew!
Imagine the scene of those plasma-like cannonballs crashing onto the ship. In the entire Dragon Hunter Pirates, aside from Ian who could use the Three-Day Barrier to block, the others had no way to deal with such an attack!
Such a special weapon should either be kept in one's own hands or completely destroyed. On the seas of this world, naval battles were the most common form of combat. Ian didn't want anyone else to use such a cannon to attack his ship in the future; he only wanted to attack others himself!
However, to repair this cannon, he could only rely on Waldo. The cannon was his design, and only he knew its principles. Now, this guy Waldo was refusing to cooperate, which was giving Ian a headache.
After thinking for a moment, Ian suddenly smiled and said, "Do you really think your cannon is that impressive?"
"Of course it is!" Waldo said arrogantly.
"Then let me show you something!" Ian said noncommittally, then turned to the surrounding Dragon Hunter Pirates members and said, "Everyone, move back a bit."
Fujitora knew what Ian was about to do, so he smiled slightly and led Sardine and the others back, clearing a large area. Konenai and the others, however, didn't understand Ian's intention and could only follow suit with confusion.
Once the space was cleared, Ian stood still and began to output his Psychic Power.
Under Waldo's puzzled gaze, Ian's clothes began to flutter gently. Then, with a crackling sound, a spark of electricity flickered across Ian's forehead.
This jumping arc of electricity was not the end but the beginning. After it disappeared, more arcs began to appear!
A continuous sizzling sound arose as a large number of electric arcs burst from Ian's forehead, spreading into the surrounding air. The arcs grew brighter and longer, and Ian's entire body became enveloped in electric currents.
Waldo stared at Ian in shock as Ian raised his right hand and swept it across his forehead. A large number of electric arcs began to converge toward his hand. With a wave of his right hand, Ian pulled out a bolt of lightning flashing with intense thunder, condensing it into a scorching white ball of light in his palm!
"Watch closely! Lightning Spear!" Ian shouted at Waldo, then hurled the ball of light diagonally into the sky!
Crackle! The moment it left Ian's palm, the light transformed into a swift bolt of lightning, instantly tearing through the darkness of the night sky, leaving a straight trail of lightning in its wake!
It was incredibly fast. Since air also has resistance, the lightning's speed was sub-light, but to the onlookers, it was just a flash of brilliant light. After Ian threw it, the lightning struck a cloud layer above the island!
Everyone saw the lightning disappear into the clouds, and immediately, sparks flickered within the cloud layer. Then, a thunderous boom echoed.
The sound was so loud, like a thunderclap! It was the kind of lightning seen only during thunderstorms! Because the sound came so suddenly, several girls like Walnut were startled, screaming and quickly covering their ears.
The nearby rebel soldiers watched Ian in terror. They knew that the massive bolt of lightning just now had been unleashed by Ian. After experiencing Waldo's Thunder Roar Cannon attack, Ian had now pulled off a similar feat, truly frightening them. Especially Arians, who, although he knew Ian was a Warlord of the Sea, had only a vague concept of what that meant. It was only now, seeing Ian casually unleash an attack no less powerful than the Thunder Roar Cannon, that he truly understood what kind of existence their rebel alliance was cooperating with...
Ian himself was also quite surprised. He had thrown the Lightning Spear in a random direction, not expecting it to hit the clouds above, causing a discharge that resulted in a thunderclap.
But the effect was extraordinary. Waldo never expected that Ian could harness such powerful lightning force through his own strength. This bolt of lightning was remarkably similar to the attack from the Thunder Roar Cannon!
"See that?" Ian turned to Waldo and said, "Your current Thunder Roar Cannon is no different from my attack. So, do you still think your Thunder Roar Cannon is so impressive?"
Waldo remained silent, his scarred face showing a look of dejection. But then, he said indignantly, "That's because my Thunder Roar Cannon isn't fully completed yet!"
"But do you still have time to complete it?" Ian spread his hands, gesturing around them. "See these rebelling miners? Because of you, many of them have died. Now that you've been defeated and captured, if I hand you over to them, what do you think your fate will be?"
Waldo looked around and couldn't help but shudder, seeing the angry glares of the miners.
He lowered his head and asked, "So what do you want?"
"Fix this cannon for me and install it on my ship!" Ian said. "If you can do that, I'll put in a good word for you and ask them not to kill you!"
Konenai heard this and tugged at Ian's sleeve, whispering, "Don't you want to bring him onto our ship? Waldo is not only a Devil Fruit user but also a rare scientist. Don't you want to recruit him?"
"Of course I do!" Ian replied quietly. "But this guy's thinking is too willful and naive. He not only needs restraint but also tempering. Leaving him with the rebels to imprison him for a while and let him fully understand his situation will make him truly willing to join us!"
Konenai thought about it and nodded in agreement.
"Besides, because of him, many innocent people have died!" Ian continued. "I've always believed that everyone must be responsible for their actions. He needs to atone in some way. We also need to cooperate with these miners. If we don't let them vent their resentment toward Waldo, it will create a rift!"
Ian indeed didn't want Waldo to join at this moment. Although he could do so—given his status, he could forcefully protect Waldo—it would not only give Waldo a sense of "they need me" but also secretly anger Arians and the others.
Their quiet conversation wasn't heard by Waldo, whose mind was in turmoil. No one wanted to die, but he knew that if he fell into the hands of these miners, these rough men would surely kill him. At that point, many of his ideas and research would come to nothing, and he would never be able to pursue his beloved scientific studies again.
And all of this was in the hands of this young man before him.
So Waldo gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll fix the Thunder Roar Cannon for you, but you have to keep your promise!"
"I'll do what I say!" Ian nodded.
However, at that moment, the girl Walnut suddenly raised her hand and said, "Captain! I object!"
Ian was taken aback. "What are you objecting to?"
"I object to this cannon being installed on our ship!" Walnut puffed out her cheeks angrily. "This cannon is way too ugly. If it's going on the ship, its appearance has to be changed!"
Reminded by Walnut, the other members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates also reacted and chimed in, "Yeah, Captain, we also object to this design. If we're putting this cannon on our ship, it better get a makeover!"
Ian also felt that if this Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon were installed on his ship, his reputation would be ruined. Joking about it was fine, but having it on his own ship was absolutely unacceptable.
So Ian looked at Waldo and asked, "Can it be changed?"
Waldo felt very aggrieved. "Is the design of the Thunder Roar Cannon really that ugly? I think it looks great!"
Hearing this, everyone was speechless...
It seemed that Waldo not only needed a reform in his thinking but also a reform in his aesthetic sense...