Chapter 414: Teach's Plan
The curse of the Gorgon and all that was actually a fabrication by Boa Hancock to deceive her people. She had no choice—she didn't want anyone to see the slave brand on her back, so she made up this lie to keep the citizens away while she bathed.
The people of Amazon Lily, unaware of the truth, trusted their empress and took it as fact. So when Boa Hancock told them the curse of the Gorgon had been lifted, the entire island erupted in celebration.
These women were overjoyed for their queen.
From that day on, Ian became the benefactor of the entire Amazon Lily...
The whole island celebrated the event. Even Ace and the others on the ship received large quantities of food and alcohol from the island's residents.
Although Ace and his crew didn't know exactly what Ian had done on the island, they understood that this warm hospitality was because of him, so they joined in the festivities.
That night, Ian drank quite a bit. Eventually, he couldn't hold on any longer and passed out asleep in the banquet hall.
When he woke up the next morning, his head still ached a little. But remembering the plan to set out today, he forced himself to stand up, intending to find Boa Hancock and say goodbye.
However, when he saw Boa Hancock, Ian was stunned.
Today's Boa Hancock, though her clothes hadn't changed, was wearing a pair of pure white lace stockings. Beneath her high-slit cheongsam that reached nearly to her waist, the lace patterns at the top of her thighs were faintly visible, incredibly alluring.
"Ian-sama, do... do I look good?" Boa Hancock asked Ian with a flushed face.
Actually, after returning from Spring Island back then, Boa Hancock had tried wearing stockings once, because she still remembered what Ian had said to her. But at that time, she had only worn them for herself to see.
Later, after receiving Ian's letter asking for help, Boa Hancock hadn't worn stockings for the sake of combat convenience—after all, her fruit's petrification ability, like Perfume Femur, required contact to take effect. So it was only now, with Ian about to leave, that she remembered to put on stockings for him to see, as a farewell gesture.
Stockings weren't something every woman could pull off, especially pure white ones. But clearly, Boa Hancock wore them perfectly.
When Ian saw the pure white visual sensation on her long, shapely legs, he felt a heat in his nose, as if something was about to flow out. He quickly covered it and gave Boa Hancock a thumbs-up in praise!
At that moment, Ian wished he had a camera to take hundreds of photos of Boa Hancock from every angle!
If he could stay on Amazon Lily forever with Boa Hancock by his side, Ian might have said something like "The joy here makes me forget about home." But unfortunately, he still had to leave.
Ace had sent word that they had tracked down Blackbeard Teach's whereabouts...
When Ian returned to the ship, everything was ready. The three Boa sisters sailed the Kuja Pirates' ship, towing Ian's vessel behind them, and escorted them out of the Calm Belt.
At the moment of parting, Boa Hancock showed great reluctance. She didn't want Ian to leave, though she herself didn't understand where this feeling came from.
Ian felt the same. As the ship departed, he stood at the railing, gazing back at Boa Hancock from a distance.
Reiju, arms crossed, leaned against a barrel, watching Ian's expression. She suddenly smiled and asked, "Have you fallen in love with this Pirate Empress?"
"Fallen in love?" Ian touched his nose and laughed self-deprecatingly. "Hard to say!"
Indeed, it was hard to say. Everyone liked beautiful women, but whether it was truly love or not, Ian himself couldn't tell.
Actually, Ian's impression of Boa Hancock was fairly good. At least her usual cold and proud queenly demeanor hadn't shown itself much in front of him. Perhaps it was because Ian, like Fisher Tiger, had also caused a ruckus at Mary Geoise, so Boa Hancock had always regarded him as a benefactor on equal footing. What she showed him was a girlish side, and she had helped him greatly from start to finish.
So Ian had always had a good impression of Boa Hancock. Among the women he knew, she was one of the closer ones.
Shaking his head, Ian temporarily set aside these distracting thoughts and called Ace over, asking him, "Which direction are we heading now?"
Ace was holding a plate of breakfast in one hand and a fork in the other, shoveling food into his mouth with bulging cheeks. He mumbled indistinctly, "The info came from the Old Man. Someone saw Teach's ship heading toward the Calm Belt from the West Blue. He might have already entered the Grand Line by now."
Normally, pirates entering the Grand Line went through Reverse Mountain. But for those strong enough, crossing through the Calm Belt was the same. And clearly, Teach had taken the Calm Belt route.
Ian thought for a moment and asked, "Teach came from the West Blue. Was he alone?"
"No," Ace shook his head. "He's apparently found a few companions."
Ian nodded. Based on the intelligence Ace had gathered, Teach had probably already found companions like Laffitte and Doc Q. Well, it was possible he only had one or two of them—some members of the Blackbeard Pirates might have been recruited after entering the Grand Line. But regardless, Blackbeard wasn't alone anymore.
Ian knew well that in the original history, after entering the Grand Line, Teach had coincidentally followed the same route as Luffy and his crew. But now, with Ian's intervention, the original history had become completely unrecognizable. So Ian had no idea if Teach would still take that path.
Fortunately, with the Whitebeard Pirates' intelligence and the Revolutionary Army's covert information, Ian and Ace could still track Teach's movements. No matter which route he ultimately took, they would find him.
Actually, from the Revolutionary Army's standpoint, letting Teach run wild would be the best option!
Because Ian knew that Teach was a man of great ambition. If left unchecked, this ambitious man would soon stir up chaos in the world. Like the Straw Hat Pirates, he would become one of the two great troublemakers, causing massive upheaval. Since Ian had chosen the path of the Revolutionary Army, such turmoil would benefit him.
Since setting sail, Ian had experienced many things. He understood clearly that he could never go back. He was already a part of this world, and sooner or later, he would have descendants of his own bloodline here.
If the Celestial Dragons, the world's greatest cancer, still existed, then perhaps his descendants might one day offend a Celestial Dragon and be tragically executed.
Every time he thought of this, Ian began to understand what the Revolutionary Army was fighting for... As long as such a privileged class existed, people would forever struggle for freedom and equality. This was humanity's innate spirit of resistance, something that could never be extinguished.
That was the meaning of the Revolutionary Army's existence. So it could be said that this kind of turmoil was exactly what they wanted to see.
But unfortunately, Ian and Ace had become brothers—something beyond anyone's control. And if Teach were left unchecked, Ace would be dragged into it. Ian couldn't stand by and watch Ace truly be defeated and captured by Teach.
Ian had come to terms with it now. Since history was already in shambles, he might as well destroy it even more thoroughly and create a new history himself.
Killing Teach might prevent the Summit War altogether. Then, even if the Marines wanted to strike at the Whitebeard Pirates, they would have to do it head-on. Who would win or lose in that case was anyone's guess.
And Ian himself would be fully immersed in the unfolding of this history...
"Let's go! Target: the Blackbeard Pirates!" Ian stood up, resting his hand on the hilt of Thousand Cherry Blossoms at his waist, his gaze fixed firmly on the distance.
...
At the same time, at the junction of the West Blue's Calm Belt and the Grand Line, a large ship had just passed through. On its mast flew a black pirate flag with three skulls arranged side by side.
This was Teach's pirate ship.
"Zehahaha! The Grand Line! I'm back again!"
Teach stood at the bow, arms spread wide, revealing his hairy chest, his face filled with excitement as he shouted at the sea of the Grand Line.
"Captain!" A man carrying a strange long rifle approached. He wore a monocle over his left eye—this was Van Augur, a companion Teach had found and the sniper of the crew.
He came up behind Teach and asked, "We've reached the Grand Line. What do we do next?"
"What else?" Teach laughed heartily, his gap-toothed mouth wide open. "We find some famous pirate crews, defeat them, and quickly make a name for the Blackbeard Pirates! That way, I'll have the capital to secure a position as a Warlord of the Sea!"
"You want to take over Doflamingo's Warlord seat?" Van Augur asked.
"That's right! Who would've thought that brat Ian would give me such a big gift!"
At the mention of Ian, Teach's face twisted with a ferocious expression. He recalled the pain Ian had inflicted on him during the assassination attempt.
He touched the left side of his chest, where a scar had formed. Though it had healed, it still throbbed with pain.
The pain was secondary. What frustrated Teach most was that Ian's blade had pierced straight through his leftmost heart, killing him once and damaging that heart in the process.
"I wonder if this heart can still serve as a 'vessel,'" Teach thought to himself. "If it can't, then I won't be able to go after the Old Man's strongest Paramecia Tremor-Tremor Fruit..."