Chapter 354: Mixed Doubles (4/20)
Intuition told Ian that the Vinsmoke Family might have been set up this time as well!
One hundred billion was indeed a huge sum of money, but the problem was that it was offered by Doflamingo. In Ian's impression, Doflamingo's Donquixote Pirates were quite famous in the North Blue. Many newly emerging pirates considered it an honor to join the Donquixote Pirates. Doflamingo's influence in the North Blue was enormous.
Although Doflamingo was now the king of Dressrosa in the New World, his roots were still in the North Blue, which was also his foundation. Every year, many pirates from the North Blue joined his crew, allowing it to grow stronger.
If the Vinsmoke Family still wanted to restore their former glory of unifying the North Blue, they would inevitably come into conflict with Doflamingo's pirates, after all, the Vinsmoke Family's business was hardly legitimate.
So, in Ian's estimation, the Vinsmoke Family and Doflamingo were probably in a state of covert struggle. And clearly, this time Doflamingo had executed a perfect two-birds-with-one-stone plan, not only trapping Ian but also dragging the Vinsmoke Family into it.
Since Doflamingo had issued the bounty through the underworld, offering a high reward for someone to attack Travira Island, the Vinsmoke Family probably had no idea that this bounty originated from Doflamingo.
Ian could guess it was Doflamingo because, among his current secret enemies, only Doflamingo had the closest ties to the underworld. The Vinsmoke Family, unaware of this, walked right into the trap.
Moreover, Ian speculated that besides the high bounty, the Vinsmokes had likely investigated the relationship between Ian and Doflamingo before taking on this job.
Because on the surface, Doflamingo and Ian, a Warlord of the Sea, were allies!
Doflamingo had supplied Ian with a batch of weapons—this couldn't be hidden from anyone who bothered to investigate. So, the Vinsmoke Family might have thought that suppressing Ian, an ally of Doflamingo, would deliver "indirect damage" to Doflamingo!
Realizing this, Ian was pretty exasperated. Damn it, was Germa Group stupid!? It wasn't that easy to form an alliance between pirates!
Gaji, the leader, had always looked down on pirates, so he probably didn't understand the ins and outs of pirate politics. Falling into the trap was only natural.
But then again, the Vinsmoke Family was incredibly bold. The Warlords of the Sea were nominally on the side of the World Government and the Marines, yet they still dared to act. It seemed their family's relationship with the World Government was even closer than imagined; otherwise, how could they be so reckless?
Now, with the Vinsmoke Family leading Germa Group to attack the Dragon Hunter Pirates' base, Ian was definitely going to retaliate. Doflamingo had not only avenged Vergo through Ian but also used Ian's hand to strike at the Vinsmoke Family. Doflamingo truly deserved his reputation as a master manipulator in the underworld, handling these schemes with practiced ease.
However, Doflamingo probably didn't realize that Vergo's identity was no secret to Ian. In other words, even though Ian and Doflamingo appeared friendly on the surface, Ian had long since figured out that Doflamingo was the mastermind behind the scenes.
Now, Ian was thinking about how to escape the trap Doflamingo had set. Since he had roughly guessed Doflamingo's intentions, he certainly wouldn't jump into the pit so easily.
Ian had to retaliate against the Vinsmoke Family for attacking Travira—that was certain. But he felt he couldn't fight them to a mutual destruction. Even if he gathered so many fighters to teach the Vinsmoke Family a harsh lesson, Ian thought he shouldn't go too far.
In short, he couldn't let Germa Group suffer too many casualties, and he needed to subtly make the Vinsmoke Family understand that Doflamingo was the one behind it all, redirecting their anger toward Doflamingo.
That way, Ian would end up sitting back and watching the show like a spectator. Even if the Vinsmoke Family and Doflamingo beat each other's brains out, it wouldn't have anything to do with him.
With this in mind, Ian's thoughts gradually became clearer. He roughly formed a solution in his mind and calmly waited for Jinbe and the others to arrive.
From his call with Walnut, Ian also learned that Germa Group had likely already withdrawn. The Dragon Hunter Pirates on Skypiea were safe for now. Ace and the others had been poisoned, but it wasn't a lethal poison. The Vinsmoke Family's eldest daughter, Reiju, might have held back when she attacked. With Erlang around, Ace and the others could hold on until Ian returned.
Hawkins' fortune-telling was quite accurate. Ian had indeed encountered danger, but it manifested in his pirate crew's situation, not specifically directed at him personally.
Calming down, Ian stayed on the ship, fishing with Sabo every day and chatting about the Revolutionary Army when no one was around. It wasn't too boring.
But this was tough on Crocodile. He hadn't come voluntarily; Ian had coerced him. Traveling every day was bearable, but suddenly staying in one place waiting for people for so long—after four or five days, Crocodile couldn't stand it. During this time, he had been scheming to snatch back his soul from Ian.
Unfortunately, after Ian discovered that the souls extracted using the Great Serpent's ultimate skill could be stored in his system's inventory backpack, Crocodile was doomed to fail.
Crocodile had thought his soul was still in Ian's pocket. He tried to snatch it back when Ian wasn't paying attention, but when he reached out, he grabbed nothing!
Then Ian and Sabo teamed up to beat him up!
After leaving Alabasta, a desert country, Crocodile lost his home-field advantage. All three of them were on the ship, surrounded by the sea—water everywhere. And Crocodile's biggest weakness was water; many of his abilities were severely limited in this environment.
Moreover, Crocodile was the type to pursue the ultimate power of a Devil Fruit. He had been training his Devil Fruit abilities, aiming for awakening, but had neglected training in Haki. (In the original story, Crocodile was the first to mention Devil Fruit awakening, during his time in Impel Down, so it's speculated he had similar ideas.)
By now, Crocodile was nearly 40 years old. If he still hadn't mastered Haki at this point, he was basically saying goodbye to that "bicycle" of power.
With environmental limitations and being outnumbered, Crocodile got a thorough mixed doubles beating from Ian and Sabo. Only then did he realize how strong Sabo, this guy who appeared with Ian, really was!
Although Sabo wasn't a Devil Fruit user now, his physical combat was stunning. Having stayed with the Revolutionary Army, he had been trained by its leader, Dragon, and Kuma. His Dragon Claw technique was so powerful he could snap steel with his bare hands!
And most surprisingly to Ian, Sabo had also mastered Armament Haki. With two Haki users teaming up against Crocodile, a Logia user, they beat him black and blue.
After this beating, Crocodile finally calmed down. He understood that the situation was against him. Since he couldn't get his soul back, he could only hope Ian would keep his promise.
Of course, if he was willing to lose that tenth of his soul, he could just run away and not get involved in Ian's mess. But the problem was, could any normal person bear to have their soul incomplete when it was so important?
Under these circumstances, on the fifth day, Ian finally saw Jinbe and Boa Hancock arrive.