Chapter 405: Zoro Captured (11/28)
Since Ian planned to help Ace pursue Teach, he naturally needed to bring some hands along. He wouldn't make the same mistake Ace had made back then, being so overconfident as to set off alone on the chase. Back then, Ace hadn't brought a single member of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division with him; he'd gone solo against Teach and his four men, which was why he'd lost and been captured by Teach.
Ian wasn't about to repeat that error now. However, he also couldn't take the entire pirate crew with him.
Barron Sky Island was now the true rear base of the Dragon Hunter Pirates. Not many pirate crews could boast having a sky island as their headquarters, so Ian took it seriously. The renovation work on Barron Sky Island was still ongoing and required supervision and someone to hold down the fort, so he had to entrust that to Old Man Fujitora. As for Waldo, there seemed to be communication issues between the sky island and the ground—Den Den Mushi couldn't pick up signals—so Ian planned to set up a main Den Den Mushi hub in the sky island city. Once that was done, Ian could contact them anytime, even from the outer seas.
Thus, these two had to stay on the sky island.
Ian mulled it over and finally decided to bring Konenai along. Besides her, there was Matthew the chef, who could at least cook for him. But if he brought Matthew, that guy Dorry would probably tag along too. Right now, aside from Matthew, no one could satisfy Dorry's enormous appetite.
At the same time, Ian also planned to bring Nico Robin and Reiju. He was bringing Robin because he hoped that while chasing Teach, he might find more Poneglyphs. Having Robin around would make deciphering them easier. As for Reiju, Ian had promised to let her meet Sanji.
Ian didn't know if they'd run into Sanji, but even if they didn't, he couldn't just leave Reiju on the sky island. For now, Reiju was still an outsider to the Dragon Hunter Pirates, and she couldn't be allowed to learn their trump cards.
Oh, and there was also Baby-5. As a maid, Baby-5 was perfectly qualified. With her help taking care of things, Ian's journey at sea would be a bit more relaxed.
After deciding on the candidates, Ian went to find Fujitora and told him everything.
"Please take care of things, Old Man Fujitora!" Ian said a bit apologetically. He felt like he'd been leaving Fujitora to guard the home base a lot lately.
"It's only right. I am, after all, the vice captain of this crew!" Fujitora chuckled, not minding at all. He actually felt pretty good in the Dragon Hunter Pirates. He could play mahjong anytime, and now he had Walnut and Sugar, those two girls, to keep him company. Life felt full of sunshine.
"Mm, about the Marines—if they're willing to trade Pacifistas for the research data, hand it over to them!" Ian said. "As for receiving the Pacifistas, Old Man, you can handle it yourself. Put them on the sky island as a defensive measure."
"And about Sugar—even though you're personally watching her, you'd better be careful!" Ian added. "If it really doesn't work, contact Aokiji and ask the Marines for some Seastone supplies. Have Sugar wear them."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful!" Fujitora replied.
Ian scratched his head and said nothing more. He actually found his relationship with Fujitora a bit strange. Although Fujitora was technically his vice captain, perhaps because Fujitora was older, he gave Ian the feeling of an elder, helping and guiding him.
With everything settled, Ian thought it over and felt there were no lingering worries.
Although Doflamingo and Kaido of the Beasts were potential threats, the moment Ace came to him, it had already signaled a reconciliation between the Dragon Hunter Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates. Well, to be precise, when Teach defected, Old Man Whitebeard had already made peace with Ian. Now that Ian and Ace were chasing Teach together, even without explicitly asking, Whitebeard would quietly look out for the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
That guy Kaido? He couldn't afford to provoke Whitebeard Old Man...
Thinking it over carefully, Ian was surprised to realize that, without even noticing, he had gradually built up his own network of connections.
As the saying goes: Don't fear having many enemies, as long as you have many friends too, there's nothing to worry about.
Once the decision was made, Ian and Ace set sail the next day on the Kuja Pirates' ship. It just so happened that Boa Hancock was planning to return to Amazon Lily, so Ian and Ace got to hitch a ride again.
Come to think of it, Ian's level of hitching rides seemed to be getting higher and higher, huh...
Robin had no objections to Ian bringing her out to sea. She actually wanted to learn more about Ian as a person. The reason she had so readily accepted her fate and joined the Dragon Hunter Pirates wasn't just because she lacked the strength to resist Ian, but also because she had known of Ian for a long time. Of course, back then, Robin's knowledge of Ian came entirely from newspaper reports. She had read about Ian's rampage at Mary Geoise and his clashes with Marine Admirals. Deep down, Robin admired Ian greatly because she saw in him a strong spirit of rebellion—something she herself lacked.
However, Robin was a mature woman. Admiration aside, until she fully understood Ian, she still had to be cautious around him, especially when Ian brought out the Poneglyph rubbings.
Robin, Konenai, Reiju, Baby-5—Ian was bringing mostly women this time, so riding on Boa Hancock's ship didn't seem too out of place.
But regardless, this was the first time men had ever boarded a Kuja pirate ship. As soon as they came aboard, Ian, Ace, Matthew, and Dorry became the focus of the Kuja female warriors' attention. Although these warriors recognized Ian and his group, this was their first time being so close to them.
This left Ace and Ian quite flustered, because the girls kept trying to reach out and touch them...
The Kuja pirate ship set sail. By the time Aokiji came storming over to find Ian, he had already missed them.
Aokiji had come to ask Ian about Sabo and the disappearance of that ship full of weapons and ammunition, but Ian didn't give him the chance. And Aokiji couldn't very well chase after Ian to question him. After finishing up with the Dressrosa Island matter, he needed to return to Marine Headquarters to report to Sengoku.
In truth, the one most affected by Ian's commotion on Dressrosa Island wasn't the Marines, but the World Government. After all, Doflamingo, as a Warlord of the Sea, had close ties with the World Government. But for the Marines, it was different.
Many Marine Vice Admirals, and even the Admirals, didn't think much of the Heavenly Yaksha Doflamingo. Fleet Admiral Sengoku especially felt this way. He had cursed Doflamingo as scum more than once in private.
Moreover, Sengoku's dissatisfaction with Doflamingo stemmed largely from his former student, Captain Rosinante!
Yes, that was Doflamingo's own younger brother, Rosinante. Rosinante had originally been a spy Sengoku placed in the Donquixote Pirates, but he was discovered and killed by Doflamingo's own hand. Although Sengoku never showed it, he harbored a deep hatred for Doflamingo. In the past, constrained by Doflamingo's relationship with the World Government and the Celestial Dragons, Sengoku couldn't say anything. But this time, Ian's clash with Doflamingo had finally exposed Doflamingo's crimes.
Trading Artificial Devil Fruits with the Beast Pirates of the Four Emperors, plotting to usurp a kingdom, smuggling weapons—any one of these was a grave offense.
Especially when news came back from Ian suggesting that Vergo, the former base commander of G5, was also a Donquixote Pirates executive sent as a spy in the Marines—Sengoku knew that even the Celestial Dragons couldn't protect him now.
Knowing that Doflamingo's position as a Warlord of the Sea would definitely be stripped, Sengoku laughed heartily. For the first time, he thought that this Ian guy wasn't so bad after all!
Of course, they'd still need to find someone to replace Doflamingo's Warlord seat. It was troublesome, but Sengoku was still in a good mood. While having afternoon tea with Garp, he ate a few extra cookies and immediately declared that if Vice Admiral Tsuru was still willing to pursue Doflamingo, he'd give her the manpower and let her go...
Amid all this chaos and commotion, as Ian and his group sailed out to sea, far away on the other end of the Grand Line in the East Blue, Zoro had run into trouble.
He had been captured by the Marines. And the one who caught him was an old acquaintance of Ian's—Lieutenant Commander Morgan... oh, no, now he was a Captain!
(37 Chinese Net)