Chapter 397: Aftermath (Part 2)
Well, it turned out that Aokiji had already figured out a solution, which was why he acted so directly!
That made sense too. As a Marine Admiral, Aokiji couldn't recklessly use his powers on the island without considering the consequences. Now that the island had not only Ace, a Flame-Flame Fruit fire user, but also Ian, someone with healing abilities, Aokiji was basically saying: I've already seen through everything...
But for Ian, this was going to be exhausting work!
There were who knows how many people frozen on this island. Aside from those with strong constitutions who wouldn't suffer much, everyone else would need Ian's treatment to recover. Just thinking about it made him want to go crazy!
So after hearing Aokiji's words, Ian stared at him with a look that said, "Are you fucking kidding me!?"
But Aokiji completely ignored him, because at this moment, Aokiji was also annoyed with Ian.
The trouble Ian had caused the Marines this time was immense. So many World Government officials and intelligence agents had been restored, and the Marines would have to record all their reports one by one. Plus, Dressrosa was a World Government allied nation, so the Marines and the World Government had to give the angry citizens of this country an explanation, since Doflamingo was a Warlord they had personally appointed.
The biggest headache was that a Warlord member had now been pushed back onto the opposing side of the Marines, and this Warlord showed signs of colluding with the Four Emperors...
Right now, Aokiji had a massive headache thinking about how to report this to Fleet Admiral Sengoku. He had been sent by Sengoku to monitor Ian, but Ian had caused such a huge commotion on the island, and not only had Aokiji not stopped him, he had even helped out. It made it look like the Marines were in cahoots with Ian...
Now that Doflamingo had escaped, Aokiji didn't know if it would have any adverse effects on Fleet Admiral Sengoku's plans.
Aokiji had stopped Ian from chasing Doflamingo precisely because of this consideration. He knew very well that Fleet Admiral Sengoku, as the leader of the Marines, naturally wanted to take down the mountain of the Four Emperors that stood before the Marines. Sengoku liked to plan carefully before acting, but Ian's actions always created unexpected trouble for Sengoku.
Right now, under Sengoku's planning, the entire Marine force was actively gathering strength, preparing to deal with the Whitebeard Pirates first. Although Whitebeard was known as the strongest man in the world and had the most powerful faction among the Four Emperors, he was old and his body was weakening, which gave Sengoku an opportunity.
If they wanted to deal with the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marines couldn't be too careful. As things stood, the Marines only had enough strength to handle one Emperor at a time; they couldn't afford to provoke another Emperor simultaneously. That was why Aokiji stopped Ian. Even if Ian had captured Jack the Drought and Perospero, the Marines wouldn't dare take them in.
As for Doflamingo's escape, it was even worse. Not only could they not take him in, but it also cost the Marines the combat power of a Warlord...
Because of Sengoku's carelessness, Ian had stirred up such a mess. If Sengoku had known this would happen, when Ian first went to Marine Headquarters for help, he might as well have sent all three Admirals to assist Ian. At least then, things would have stayed under Marine control. With overwhelming force, Ian could have finished dealing with the Germa Group and gone home, without ever dragging Doflamingo into it.
Aokiji could already imagine Fleet Admiral Sengoku flipping his desk in anger after hearing the report...
Seeing that Aokiji was unwilling to negotiate, Ian had no choice but to take the blame. Regardless, at least Aokiji's intervention had helped, preventing the bombs buried on the island from causing too many casualties.
Just as Ian was worrying about how to treat all the frostbitten people across Dressrosa, a group of figures appeared in Ian's field of vision.
When Ian saw the towering figure among them, he knew it was Dorry and the others!
The giant's height was just too obvious...
Boa Hancock had asked Ian to find her second sister, Sandersonia, and Sandersonia had been acting with Dorry. Ian had been planning to look for them, but now they had appeared on their own.
However, Ian was a bit surprised to see that Dorry and the others were all injured, and quite seriously at that. But they hadn't been frozen by Aokiji's Ice Age; they had made their way back slowly.
When they got closer, Ian finally understood why. He saw that on everyone's shoulders stood several small Tontatta tribespeople!
"Captain!" Dorry called out to Ian from a distance. When he walked over, he plopped down on the ground and said with lingering fear, "We almost didn't make it back."
"What happened?" Ian looked at the Tontatta people on their shoulders, who were hiding their bodies and looking at him with some fear, and asked, "How did you get so badly injured?"
"We ran into a really tough guy!" Dorry and the others didn't know Jack the Drought, so they could only describe him.
Ian immediately recognized who it was and said in surprise, "You ran into Jack the Drought!? He gave you those injuries?"
Damn, he hadn't expected this. No wonder the direction Jack had appeared from looked familiar to Ian—it was the path leading to Green Bit...
Looking at Dorry and the others' injuries, Ian gritted his teeth in anger. If he had known that Jack had run into Dorry and beaten them so badly, he would have been even harsher with that bastard. At the very least, he should have cut off those annoying horns of his!
Hearing that the person they had encountered was the infamous Jack the Drought, Dorry and the others couldn't help but feel terrified. Sandersonia held a Tontatta tribesman in one hand and handed him to Ian, saying, "Lord Ian, luckily these guys helped us. They saved our lives."
Ian leaned in and said to the Tontatta tribesman, "You saved my companions? Thank you so much!"
But the Tontatta tribesman standing in Sandersonia's palm looked at Ian warily, holding a sword that was like a needle to Ian as a weapon, pointing it at him and saying, "Are you their captain? That big big person said you're very strong, so we followed along! Are you a good person or a bad person?"
Big big person? These Tontatta people called humans "big persons," so they called Dorry, a giant, a "big big person"? That logic was pretty simple.
"Uh, I guess I'm a good person," Ian nodded.
"I don't believe you!" The guy didn't let his guard down.
Then Ace chimed in from the side, "Ian really is a good person!"
As Ian's brother, Ace naturally vouched for him. But surprisingly, as soon as he said that, the Tontatta tribesmen immediately believed it. A group of them burst into laughter: "So he really is a good person!"
These simple-minded Tontatta people, though wary of strangers, were too trusting. If you repeated something a few times, they would immediately believe it.
Ian was speechless as he watched these Tontatta folks. After believing he was a good person, they jumped off Sandersonia and Dorry in groups, then huffed and puffed as they climbed onto Ian himself, sitting unceremoniously on his shoulders and arms.
"So, what exactly are you here for?" Ian couldn't help but complain. With a personality like this, these guys would probably help count the money if someone sold them!
And in fact, they really had been sold out by Doflamingo...
"Since you're their captain, you must be very strong, right?" The Tontatta tribesman who had spoken earlier stood in Ian's hand, looking up at him, and asked, "Can you help us rescue Princess Mansherry and our companions?"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Ian quickly said, "Princess Mansherry? By the way, what's your name?"
"My name is Leo!" the Tontatta tribesman said.
It really was this guy. Ian hadn't expected to run into him here. But thinking that Doflamingo had already fled, the guards at the underground factory for cultivating Artificial Devil Fruits had probably run off too, so he nodded and said, "Actually, you can go find them now. Doflamingo has been beaten by us and has left this country."
"R... really?" Leo's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Ian. When Ian and the others were fighting Doflamingo, the Tontatta tribe had no idea what was happening. They had only noticed the commotion on the island and wanted to take the chance to rescue their companions. After saving Dorry and the others, they heard this unbelievable news from Ian.
"It's true!" Ian knew their personality, so he deliberately emphasized and repeated it.
Sure enough, Leo and the others immediately accepted it. The Tontatta tribesmen present raised their weapons and cheered.
Then Leo looked at Ian expectantly and asked, "What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Ian. What's up?" Ian replied, a bit confused.
The next second, Leo and the Tontatta little people present shouted Ian's name loudly: "Ian Land!! Ian Land!!"
Four hundred years ago, Montblanc Norland had come to this island and helped the ancestors of the Tontatta tribe, becoming a legendary hero in their stories. Since then, the Tontatta tribe had gotten into the habit of adding the suffix "Land" to the names of people they considered heroes!
Although Ian's name had been changed without his consent, he knew that this was the Tontatta tribe's way of honoring a hero. So he accepted it with a chuckle, and it actually felt pretty good...