Chapter 298: Divination
Faced with Ian's invitation, Hawkins thought it over quite seriously, but in the end asked, "Aren't the Seven Warlords supposed to be on the side of the World Government and the Marines? Shouldn't a Warlord be capturing a pirate like me? Why extend an invitation instead?"
"Tch!" Ian said. "Who told you that? The World Government doesn't force Warlords to catch pirates, you know? It all depends on their mood!"
Hawkins nodded and said, "Then if I decline the invitation, would you be in a bad mood?"
Ian glanced at him and replied, "Maybe."
However, Hawkins still said, "In that case, allow me to respectfully decline. Even if I want to see the Grand Line, I wish to rely on my own strength, not shelter under someone else's wings."
Hearing this, Ian smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "Not bad, you've got ambition!"
In truth, Ian understood that these people who would later become Supernovas were never content to be subordinate to others. How could a single sentence recruit them? And to be honest, Ian's interest in Hawkins was only a spur-of-the-moment whim. His goal was simply to expand the number of Devil Fruit users in his own crew; he hadn't insisted on Hawkins joining.
Moreover, Ian didn't really know Hawkins that well and wasn't clear on his character. So after the refusal, Ian didn't press the matter further.
Since the Hawkins Pirates had picked up such a big shot as Ian midway, their original plans were naturally canceled. They changed course and, following Ian's instructions, sailed toward Reverse Mountain.
After hitching another ride, Ian settled into a life on Hawkins' ship where everything was handed to him. He spent his days lounging on the deck with his legs crossed, wearing sunglasses while sunbathing or fishing—a proper lord of leisure.
The Hawkins Pirates, now only hoping to safely send Ian off, catered to his every need with meticulous care.
During this rare leisure time, Ian took the opportunity to thoroughly review his recent growth.
The recharge of 10 billion Berries had brought Ian a massive amount of diamonds to spend, but using diamonds wasn't just about mindlessly dumping them all into purchases.
Recently, whenever he had time, Ian kept refreshing the card shop, buying and integrating the card fragments he needed.
As for the ten-draw, he did it sparingly, only once a day to test his luck. Since recharging, Ian no longer lacked cards to use, so the ten-draw was mainly for supplementing the bond attributes of the cards he used. He hadn't reached level 40 yet, so the fifth card slot wasn't unlocked. However, thanks to the bi-weekly King's Tower challenge, Ian's level was slowly rising and was close to 40.
When the time came, he could select a suitable card from his reserves and place it in the slot.
Since bond attributes were percentage-based, the higher the card's level, the better the bonus effect. Ian was currently perfecting these bond attributes.
The Flying Shadow card was one Ian had kept in his card slot all along. Now, he had obtained two four-star cards—Urameshi Yusuke and Kurama—activating two of his other bonds. Only the Yomi card remained, a five-star native red card that he hadn't yet collected.
As for the Iori card, Ian had recently upgraded it to a five-star red card by purchasing fragments. Like the Flying Shadow card, the Iori card's upgrade attributes were also 48 points. Only two of Iori's bond attributes had been activated: Kyo Kusanagi and Chizuru Kagura. The Orochi and Goenitz bonds were both red card bonds.
Since the newbie gift pack had given Ian 60 Orochi card fragments, he had been prioritizing collecting this card for the fifth slot. But he had underestimated the rarity of native five-star red cards appearing in the shop. After countless refreshes over many days, he had only managed to buy 46 more Orochi fragments. The total was now 106, still far from the 180 needed for synthesis.
The Misaka Mikoto card had also been upgraded to five-star by Ian. He found that upgrading four-star cards to five-star was relatively easier when diamonds were sufficient.
These three cards were Ian's current go-to cards. As for the remaining card slot, Ian had been swapping cards frequently.
The reason was simple: he was switching cards to learn more sword techniques and swordsmanship.
Ian's swordsmanship, originally taught by Koushirou, was only the most basic. This had brought him a huge advantage: with a solid foundation, learning other special sword techniques was twice as effective with half the effort.
Starting with the Akechi Mitsuhide card, Ian had learned the Flash Slash skill. Combining it with his speed, he created his own one-sword style Iaido slash.
Now that Ian had broken through to master-level swordsmanship, his ten-draws had started yielding cards from the Samurai Shodown series and the Last Blade series.
He now had a Haohmaru card, a Jubei Yagyu card, and a Shishioh card!
These three cards shared a common trait: they all possessed flashy sword techniques without requiring special energy like the Yasuo card's Wind Force. In other words, as long as Ian could comprehend them, he could fully convert these cards' sword techniques into his own.
Haohmaru's sword techniques were powerful, heavy slashes, each strike carrying the overwhelming aura of a thousand-man beheading—a manifestation of strength. Jubei Yagyu's style was speed-based, his sword draws renowned for swiftness, also belonging to the Iaido school, perfect for Ian to study. Shishioh's techniques were balanced between offense and defense.
Although the three cards' sword styles differed, and learning them simultaneously might not yield optimal results, Ian himself had no fixed style. All his swordsmanship was foundational, so he could absorb them without issue.
Once he could integrate them, he believed creating his own style wasn't impossible.
Yes, despite Ian's various special abilities from different cards, he still saw himself as a swordsman. He was accustomed to fighting with a sword. Back in Shimotsuki Village, Kuina had made a pact with Zoro to become the strongest swordsman. As the senior disciple, how could Ian be willing to lose to them?
Whether Kuina or Zoro, each had their own sword path. Ian was the same. He didn't possess their extraordinary swordsmanship talent, but he had his own cheat. Perhaps creating his own sword techniques was too demanding, but learning and borrowing from others was within his reach. The card system allowed him to acquire a wealth of swordsman combat skills.
Of course, Ian never stopped his daily practice. He knew that without effort, he would regress.
So, although Ian seemed like a lord on Hawkins' ship, that was only during his rest. When he practiced swordsmanship, every member of the Hawkins Pirates saw him drenched in sweat.
And every time, Hawkins would stand with his arms crossed at the cabin door, watching.
He couldn't quite figure out Ian's abilities. From his sword practice, Ian was clearly a swordsman. Yet during their earlier clash, Ian had displayed powerful flame and lightning abilities. Hawkins initially thought Ian was a Devil Fruit user, but then recalled Ian swimming from the sea—something no Devil Fruit user could do.
Thus, Hawkins found Ian quite mysterious.
In fact, this was likely the world's greatest perception of the newly appointed Warlord Ian: mystery. Other Warlords, due to their age, had roamed the seas for years, and many had witnessed their abilities. Only Ian, rising too quickly and almost explosively, left people with very limited knowledge of him.
Of course, limited knowledge aside, the world still recognized Ian's strength as a Warlord. After the battle on Salamis Island was broadcast worldwide by the intern reporter Pritz, everyone knew Ian could go toe-to-toe with Kizaru.
Hawkins, having fought Ian firsthand, understood just how formidable Ian was.
He was now very curious why Ian had traveled all the way from the New World, crossing the Calm Belt, to head to Reverse Mountain.
Ian noticed his curiosity but just smiled without saying anything. Over the past few days, he had grown somewhat familiar with Hawkins. Seeing Hawkins at the cabin door, he asked, "What, no divination today?"
"No, I've already done it," Hawkins said. "Nothing will happen today."
Ian nodded, then suddenly had an idea. He asked Hawkins, "Your divination is quite accurate, isn't it?"
Hawkins didn't answer directly, only saying, "Mortals cannot truly see the will of fate. Divination only reveals the direction fate takes."
"Then, could you do a reading for me?" Ian asked. "To see if this journey of mine goes smoothly."
"As you wish," Hawkins said, glancing at Ian. He walked over and took out his tarot cards from his pocket.
He sat down in front of Ian, placed the cards one by one on the deck, and said, "Think of the purpose of your journey in your mind, then choose one card from these."