Chapter 312: Drum Island
By now, Buggy had nothing worthwhile left to offer, so Ian didn't linger any longer and quickly set off again.
As for capturing Buggy or anything like that, Ian simply didn't have the time. Although his status as a Warlord of the Sea allowed him to collect bounties, just like when he was a Pirate Hunter, Ian felt that whether he captured someone or not depended entirely on his mood. He had no obligation to work that hard for the World Government. Moreover, once he captured a pirate and claimed the bounty, it meant he had wiped out a pirate crew, and according to the agreement, he would have to hand over a portion of his spoils to the World Government. Ian would have to be crazy to do that!
He could just take Buggy's money directly. As long as he didn't capture Buggy, that money wouldn't count as spoils.
And in fact, that's exactly what Ian did. He was short on travel expenses, and when he happened to run into an "old friend," of course he had to "borrow" from Buggy!
After Ian left, Buggy stood on the *Big Top*, watching his retreating figure, grinding his teeth in frustration but utterly helpless. Ian had taken all the money the Buggy Pirates had plundered on this voyage—several million Berries—leaving behind only some bulky loot that couldn't be carried away. And Buggy, who loved money more than anything and had mostly stolen cash, found that after Ian's thorough looting, this trip had basically been for nothing...
Mochi and Lion Richie were still waving handkerchiefs at Ian's departing back, praying they'd never run into this guy again. For once, Buggy wholeheartedly agreed with Mochi.
After leaving the *Big Top*, Ian continued toward Reverse Mountain. He had initially thought about hitching a ride on Buggy's ship to get there, but then he reconsidered. Bullying Buggy relentlessly seemed a bit unfair—after all, he'd taken the guy's money and then wanted to freeload on his ship. That was just too much...
So, Ian set off alone again. Fortunately, the weather in the East Blue over the next few days was fairly calm, with smooth seas, and Ian successfully reached Reverse Mountain once more.
This was already his third visit to Reverse Mountain. He had considered taking the Calm Belt this time to re-enter the Grand Line, since crossing the Calm Belt from the East Blue would lead directly to the first half of the Grand Line. However, the Calm Belt was notoriously difficult to navigate. Even though Ian had the strength to enter and exit it, he wasn't a masochist—why would he want to be chased by Sea Kings there for no reason?
Under his control, his small boat once again rode the current up Reverse Mountain. Ian had thought he might see the whale Laboon this time, but when he was swept down the other side, he still didn't spot Laboon!
Not only that, but the caretaker of Twin Cape, Crocus, was also absent!
What was going on? Ian scratched his head, realizing he seemed to have no luck with Laboon. He'd passed Twin Cape twice and still hadn't seen it.
Crocus was probably inside Laboon, treating it or something. Ian had wanted to get a Log Pose from him, but after waiting at Twin Cape for over an hour, Crocus still hadn't returned.
While waiting, Ian also encountered a merchant ship from the West Blue. They had likely taken advantage of the brief silence when Laboon wasn't crying to cross Reverse Mountain.
Since Crocus wasn't coming back anytime soon, Ian decided not to wait any longer. He bought a Log Pose from the merchant crew and set off again in his small boat. Needless to say, this behavior left the merchants staring wide-eyed. A single person in a tiny boat, daring to challenge the Grand Line—that was incredible!
Although Ian had a permanent Log Pose pointing to Alabasta, it only indicated the direction of Alabasta, meaning it pointed along the shortest route between two points.
However, starting from Reverse Mountain, even with a permanent Log Pose, it would take many days to reach Alabasta. The food Ian had taken from Buggy's ship was plentiful, but he had no way to preserve it, and it would spoil within a few days. So, he still needed to find some islands along the way to restock supplies. That was why he got the Log Pose.
In fact, a Log Pose didn't mean Ian had to visit every single island to store magnetic energy before moving on. With the permanent Log Pose to Alabasta, he could head straight there and would inevitably encounter islands along the way where he could store magnetic energy. In other words, he could skip islands and jump ahead!
By now, Ian was a veteran of the Grand Line, so its mystery had faded for him.
Traveling this way for about a week, Ian noticed that the temperature on the sea was dropping.
This obvious temperature change meant Ian was approaching an island's range. When he saw snowflakes starting to fall on the sea, he realized he was likely nearing a winter island.
This was good news. Ian's food had run out four days after entering the Grand Line, leaving only some preserved items that could last a while. To supplement his nutrition, he'd had to rely on fishing for fresh fish over the past few days. An island, whether winter or summer, would give him a chance to restock on food and vegetables.
Taking a big swig of alcohol from his bottle, Ian paddled forward vigorously.
Alcohol was a great thing at sea. It helped Ian avoid vitamin deficiencies, and a gulp of it warmed him up, so even if he was landing on a winter island, he wouldn't feel cold.
However, as he approached the island, Ian sensed something was off. He noticed that the island had some towering, cylindrical peaks!
Since it was a winter island, it was perpetually shrouded in snow and wind. These cylindrical peaks looked like they were frozen, gleaming with crystalline white.
Not just the peaks—the entire island was the same color.
"Could this be Drum Island?" Ian wondered, shielding his eyes with his hand as he looked over.
Alabasta was definitely on the route Luffy and his crew had taken—Ian had no doubt about that. But since he was following the direction of the permanent Log Pose first, he had likely missed some islands along the way. He hadn't expected that, despite missing some, he would end up at Drum Island.
Well, that was fine. Drum Island was a famous medical kingdom, home to many renowned doctors. Maybe he could find some medical books to take back. When he had left, the Dragon Hunter Pirates' ship doctor, Erlang, had asked him to bring back some medical books if possible. As a ship doctor who couldn't fight and didn't like bars, he often found himself bored and hoped for some books to pass the time.
As Ian's small boat neared the island, he saw soldiers guarding the harbor.
The so-called "soldiers" were only about seven or eight people, but they wore fairly uniform thick winter coats and carried guns, standing guard at the entrance. When they saw Ian approaching alone in his tiny boat, their faces were full of astonishment.
Especially when they saw Ian wearing only a sleeveless coat as an outer layer, with nothing underneath—they found it unbelievable!
Dressed so lightly and daring to come to Drum Island—wasn't he afraid of freezing to death!?
They had no idea that Ian's physical combat training had reached the expert level. With his current physique, he had strong resistance to the cold. Moreover, since his right arm was nurturing the Black Dragon Wave, it radiated heat constantly, which even the curse-marked bandages couldn't fully conceal. If he wore a long-sleeved shirt, it would quickly catch fire. Under these circumstances, how could Ian possibly feel cold?
Since it was just a small boat, Ian didn't fly a pirate flag or anything. The soldiers didn't know who he was, but they still raised their guns and aimed at him.
A bearded soldier, who seemed to be a captain or something, shouted loudly at Ian, "Stop! Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"A traveler!" Ian glanced at him and said, "I'm here to restock supplies!"
"Oh? Is that so? Then you must have money on you?" The bearded man's eyes flickered, and he broke into a grin.
Hearing this, the other soldiers at the harbor also started chuckling, exchanging sly glances with each other, looking like they were up to no good.
Ian noticed the soldiers' expressions but just curled his lip in disdain.
He could roughly guess what these soldiers were thinking. They saw him alone, carrying money for supplies, and thought he was easy prey. They wanted to extort or rob him?
Too bad—no one knew who would be extorting whom yet...
Ian was just a bit puzzled. Seeing that these soldiers dared to target a lone traveler meant they weren't good people. If the upper beam is crooked, the lower one will be too. Did that mean King Wapol of the Drum Kingdom was still in power?
If Drum Island was still under Wapol's rule, then it wasn't surprising that his soldiers would act like this...
Ian decided to see how things played out. Ignoring the soldiers' sneers, he maneuvered his boat to a spot in the harbor and docked.
The moment Ian stepped onto the shore, the soldiers surrounded him. They grinned maliciously, closing in on him, and asked, "First time in the Drum Kingdom? According to the rules, we need to inspect your boat and luggage. Otherwise, if you've brought any contraband onto our island, that would be a problem..."