Chapter 355: Goodbye, Jinbe
On the vast sea surface, Aokiji Kuzan was leaning back on a chair made of ice, his hands behind his head, wearing his eye patch as he rested with his eyes closed. His bicycle was placed nearby, its tires frozen solid with ice, standing upright.
Devil Fruit users typically dislike taking the ordinary path, and Aokiji was no exception. He was a lazy person but loved to travel, and his method of travel was nothing like ordinary people taking a ship. With a bicycle in hand, he could traverse the entire sea. As a Logia Ice-Ice Fruit user, he was perhaps the only one unafraid of seawater. Stopping casually on the sea surface like this was child's play for him.
His current position was a considerable distance from Ian's ship. Compared to the vast ocean, Aokiji's lone figure was far too small. Without a telescope, Ian and his crew couldn't spot him, which made it convenient for Aokiji to keep watch over them.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku had a bad feeling about this, which led to Aokiji, a Marine Admiral, tailing them. However, Aokiji himself wasn't too concerned. Even though Ian and Crocodile had joined forces, Aokiji felt Sengoku might be overreacting.
Still, he was a bit puzzled. He had been monitoring Ian and his crew for several days now and hadn't seen any movement from their ship. This left Aokiji wondering what they were planning to do here.
"Whatever! It's a rare excuse to travel!" Aokiji muttered, intending to close his eyes and doze off again.
But just then, Aokiji heard a strange sound on the sea surface, different from the usual waves.
He lifted his eye patch and looked toward Ian's ship.
What he saw surprised him greatly. Near Ian's ship, several large round bubbles were slowly emerging from the sea!
Aokiji was familiar with these bubbles—they were the coating bubbles for ships. Rising from the seabed, they indicated that a ship was surfacing.
Too far away to see clearly, Aokiji pulled out an ice-made telescope and peered ahead.
Under his gaze, three large coated ships gradually appeared on the surface. When all three had fully surfaced, the bubbles covering their hulls burst with a pop. Without the reflective effect of the bubbles, Aokiji finally recognized the ships.
"Fish-Man Pirates!?" Aokiji exclaimed in surprise when he saw the black pirate flag atop the mast. "This is... Jinbe's pirate crew!?"
Indeed, rising from the sea were the ships of the Fish-Man Pirates led by Sea Knight Jinbe. While Fish-Men could move freely in the sea, their ships couldn't, so when they needed to use ships, they coated them and brought them up from the seabed.
Through the telescope, Aokiji spotted the flagship among the three Fish-Man Pirate ships and saw the tall figure of Sea Knight Jinbe on board.
Puzzled, Aokiji shifted the telescope slightly toward Ian's ship and indeed saw Ian waving to Jinbe in greeting.
"Jinbe... is also someone Ian recruited for help!?" Aokiji muttered to himself, frowning. He finally realized something was wrong.
Earlier, when Ian and Crocodile suddenly appeared at Marineford, Aokiji and Sengoku had understood Ian's intentions. But at that time, they thought Ian had only recruited Crocodile for help. Now that Sea Knight Jinbe had also appeared here, Aokiji immediately realized that Fleet Admiral Sengoku's concerns were likely justified.
Three Warlords of the Sea. Who was Ian's enemy, requiring so much combat power?
……………………
"Jinbe, big brother!" When Sea Knight Jinbe boarded Ian's ship, Ian greeted him happily. "Thank you for coming to help!"
"No need to be polite, Ian, little brother!" Jinbe replied with a smile.
Ian and Jinbe had some history. Ian had once saved many of Jinbe's Fish-Man compatriots, and later, through their connection with Whitebeard Old Man, they had grown closer. Now, Jinbe had taken to calling Ian "little brother."
Given Jinbe's age, personality, and conduct, many people called him "big brother," so this form of address between them wasn't out of place.
Jinbe had been invited after Hack delivered a letter to Fish-Man Island. Hack had returned as well and stood quietly beside Sabo. Sabo, faced with so many strangers, instinctively lowered his hat brim and said little, keeping a low profile.
With Ian and Crocodile, both Warlords, drawing attention, even Aokiji, watching from afar, didn't realize that Sabo was also a remarkable figure.
After greeting Ian, Jinbe glanced at Crocodile nearby. He knew Crocodile and couldn't help but snort coldly. "Sand Crocodile, you've appeared in the New World again. What, still planning to make a move on Whitebeard Old Man?"
"Shut up, Jinbe!" Crocodile raised his chin and said to Jinbe. "Or do you want to settle this with me right now?"
"I'd welcome it!" Jinbe shot back immediately.
With that, the atmosphere between them turned tense and murderous, as if they might come to blows at any moment.
Just then, Ian stepped between them, looking puzzled. "Wait, you two know each other?"
"Of course we do!" Jinbe sneered at Crocodile. "This guy once tried to assassinate Whitebeard Old Man, but I stopped him!"
Crocodile sneered back. "Jinbe, you're not even part of the Whitebeard Pirates, yet you defend him so much. Have you, a Warlord, become Whitebeard's lapdog?"
"What lapdog!" Jinbe roared. "Whitebeard Old Man has done Fish-Man Island a great favor. He is my benefactor. Repaying that debt is a matter of chivalry and justice. What's wrong with that!?"
Seeing them argue again, Ian's head began to ache. This was something he hadn't anticipated at all.
He was recruiting helpers, but before they could help, they were about to fight among themselves. Reluctantly, Ian took out Crocodile's soul orb, gripping it tightly. "Crocodile, if you still want your soul back, shut up!"
Between Crocodile and Jinbe, Ian would naturally side with Jinbe. So when he brought out the soul orb, Crocodile gritted his teeth in fury but snorted and finally fell silent.
Seeing Ian subdue Crocodile so easily, Jinbe gave Ian a curious look, intrigued.
Once things calmed down, Ian was able to talk with Jinbe.
"Ian, little brother, is what you said in the letter true?" Jinbe asked. "Is Ace, little brother, in danger?"
"Yes!" Ian pulled out Ace's Vivre Card and showed it to Jinbe. "This is Ace's Vivre Card. After arriving in the New World, I got word that he's been poisoned. Fortunately, the poison isn't fatal yet. He and my crew members have escaped to a safe place for now."
"Who did this?" Jinbe asked curiously.
"It's the Germa Group, the Vinsmoke Family!" Ian explained the situation to Jinbe. "Have you heard of them?"
"No wonder Ace, little brother, and Fujitora Issho together suffered a loss!" Jinbe crossed his arms and nodded slowly. "If it's the Germa Group, that's not surprising. I've heard of them. It's said that even Marine Admirals can't do anything about their science unit. Back in the North Blue, the Germa Group had a legend of 'slaying four kingdoms,' using their army to defeat four countries at once."
"This is an organization second only to the Four Emperors!" Crocodile interjected. "Let me be clear: I'm just here for show. Don't expect me to go all out against them."
Ian hadn't expected much from him anyway. As long as Crocodile could hold off one of their experts, that was enough, so Ian didn't pay much attention to his words.
"Even though I don't know much about the Germa Group, Ian, little brother, this number of people might not be enough," Jinbe said.
"I know," Ian nodded. "That's why I've recruited others."
Just as Jinbe was about to ask who else Ian had found, his expression suddenly stiffened, and he walked to the ship's railing.
"What's wrong?" Ian asked him.
"The fish in the sea... are panicking!" Jinbe stared at the water. "Some terrifying creature is approaching..."