Chapter 403: Ian's Thoughts
Hearing Crocodile's words, Ian couldn't help but laugh.
He sat down on a stone by the roadside and gestured for Crocodile to sit down and talk as well.
Crocodile was very reluctant, but with no choice since Ian held leverage over him, he awkwardly found another stone and sat facing Ian. He spread his legs, rested his elbows on his knees, and casually puffed on his cigar while staring at Ian—this was his way of losing without losing face.
"Old Sand!" Ian had gotten used to calling him that by now, so he said directly, "If I return your soul to you, what do you plan to do next? Go back to Alabasta?"
"Where else would I go?" Crocodile snorted dismissively.
"Still planning to carry out your scheme?" Ian asked, stroking his chin with interest. "Still planning to seize Alabasta and search for clues about Pluton?"
Crocodile was no longer surprised that Ian knew about his plan. He squinted at Ian and said, "What? Are you going to stop my plan like you stopped Doflamingo's? That guy Sabo is the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff. Since you're connected to him, are you trying to follow the Revolutionary Army's way of thinking?"
"No, I'm not that much of a goody-two-shoes!" Ian shook his head. "Even if there are things I don't like, as long as they don't involve me, I won't bother with them. Doflamingo was my enemy, so I went after him. It has nothing to do with the Revolutionary Army or anything!"
Crocodile snorted again, showing he didn't believe Ian's words. The appearance of Sabo had made Crocodile constantly suspect Ian's identity, wondering if he was also a member of the Revolutionary Army. But out of fear of Ian and dread of the Revolutionary Army's leader, Dragon—the world's greatest criminal—Crocodile decided to keep this matter to himself.
Ian didn't mind the snort and continued, "The reason I bring this up is that I don't understand the point of what you're doing. Even if Alabasta really does have clues about Pluton, that ancient weapon is over eight hundred years old. Even if it still exists somewhere in the world, it's probably weathered and decayed by now. What use would finding it be?"
"That's my business!" Crocodile snorted again, growing impatient. "What exactly do you want to say to me?"
"Join my pirate crew!" Ian stared at him. "My ship still needs a Chief of Staff position!"
Crocodile was stunned, but then he pointed his pirate hook at Ian and burst out laughing: "Wahahahaha!"
He laughed so loudly that he felt like he might cry from it, looking utterly insufferable, but Ian just smiled back at him.
"You, you actually want to recruit me, a fellow Warlord, to be your Chief of Staff?" Crocodile laughed so hard he could barely breathe. "Ian, I admit you're strong, but don't you think this idea is ridiculous? I'm Sand Crocodile Crocodile, a Warlord just like you! What makes you think you can recruit me?"
Ian wasn't bothered by Crocodile's mockery. In fact, when he said those words, he had already anticipated this reaction.
In Ian's view, Crocodile was indeed someone worth winning over. Although Crocodile appeared as a villain, if you looked closely, there was a fundamental difference between his evil and Doflamingo's.
Doflamingo's evil was a contempt for everything, treating all life as ants from a lofty position. He saw his evil deeds as natural—garbage and the weak had no rights and deserved to die. Crocodile's evil, on the other hand, was simply using any means necessary to achieve his goals.
On Ian's pirate crew, the only truly high-end combatants were himself and Fujitora. As for the rest, Ian was trying his best to expand his forces, but they still fell short of the term "high-end combatants." This was unavoidable—truly powerful individuals in this pirate world had already made names for themselves and weren't so easily recruited.
The idea of defeating them and forcing submission was just wishful thinking. Every strong person had their own principles. How could pure force make someone loyal? The reason Fujitora joined Ian's ship was simply because their personalities were very similar.
But regardless, Ian had realized the benefits of having enough high-end combatants during his fight with Doflamingo. Facing the infamous Heavenly Yaksha Doflamingo, they had practically steamrolled him. The only trouble in that battle was Doflamingo himself; his senior officers didn't even make a splash.
Aware of the benefits of strong power, Ian was trying his best to find more strong individuals to join his crew, and Crocodile was clearly a good candidate.
Even though he had lost to Ian, his strength was undeniable.
Crocodile's response was as arrogant as his personality—even if he wasn't Ian's match, he never considered being subordinate to anyone.
But as he saw Ian's calm smile, his laughter gradually faded, and he asked Ian, "Are you serious?"
"Let's put it this way!" Ian tilted his head, thinking. "You might find this proposal hard to accept right now, but I'll say this: if you ever change your mind in the future, my pirate crew will always have a spot for you!"
Ian's expression of "I really think highly of you" made Crocodile quite annoyed.
After saying that, Ian didn't waste any words. He pretended to reach into his pocket but actually took Crocodile's soul orb from the system's item bag and casually tossed it to him.
Crocodile fumbled to catch his soul orb and roared at Ian, "Be careful!"
He was very displeased with Ian's careless attitude toward his soul.
Ian shrugged.
"How do I put this back?" Crocodile asked him.
"Swallow it... probably!" Ian scratched his head.
Crocodile's forehead bulged with veins. What did that uncertain tone mean? He wanted to grab Ian by the collar and demand, "Have you ever taken my soul seriously!?"
But thinking about it, that sounded too dirty, so he had no choice but to swallow his soul orb in one gulp.
Fortunately, this method was correct. The soul orb dissolved in Crocodile's mouth and merged back with him.
This was the first time Crocodile had eaten his own soul, and it felt strange.
The sudden fullness in his spirit made him realize that his soul had truly returned. He looked at Ian, a restless glint in his eyes.
Now that the leverage Ian held was gone, Crocodile wanted to get back at him.
But Ian wasn't flustered at all. Seeing Crocodile's intention, he casually picked his ear and said, "Think carefully. I took your soul out once, and I can do it a second time! If I take it out again, I can't guarantee I won't accidentally crush it!"
"Hmph!" Hearing this, Crocodile finally restrained himself. He knew Ian's abilities countered him in many ways, and fighting Ian would likely end in defeat. So he dropped the thought and asked, "Do you really intend to keep Nico Robin on your crew?"
"Yeah, with you, she was just someone to be used!" Ian nodded. "But to some people, she's very important."
Ian was naturally referring to the Revolutionary Army. He was thinking that if he got Nico Robin as a companion, he might be able to meet the Revolutionary Army's leader, Dragon?
If he could meet Dragon, he wanted to ask what was going on with Kuma.
In this life, Ian had a few people he couldn't let go of: one was Kuina, another was Zoro—both were family to him—and then there was Ace, his brother, and finally, Kuma.
Kuma was someone who had given Ian great help without ever asking for anything in return. Ian was grateful to him and respected him deeply. He was like a selfless elder, so Ian had always been concerned about Kuma's voluntary decision to become Vegapunk's experimental subject.
Now, the transformation was irreversible. Ian knew that the day the transformation was complete would be the day he lost an elder forever. This feeling left Ian very disheartened.
Since he couldn't stop it, he at least wanted to understand Kuma's true intentions. The Revolutionary Army might be planning something, and perhaps he could contribute to Kuma's wishes?