Chapter 430: Catching Up
When Ian saw Princess Vivi and Igaram, Nami finally snapped back to reality. She pointed to the left and said to Ian, "Our ship is at the harbor over there!"
Ian nodded, dragged Luffy along, and started walking.
"Damn it, why is he here?" Zoro stared at Ian's back, gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and reluctantly followed.
Sanji followed behind Zoro, a large sack slung over his back. As he ran, he asked Zoro in confusion, "Hey, seaweed-headed idiot, you seem to know him too?"
But before Zoro could answer, a slightly excited voice rang out from behind Sanji.
"Sanji!? You really are alive!"
Sanji turned his head to look back, and the moment he saw Reiju's curly eyebrows, he immediately collapsed on the spot...
"Rei... Rei... Reiju!? Big Sister!?"
He had been about to ask Zoro who the two beauties following Ian were, but when he turned around, damn it! It was his own sister!?
The terror in Sanji's heart at that moment could have filled the entire ocean of the Grand Line!
Zoro, running ahead, spat out a laugh when he heard Sanji's voice.
He wanted to shout to the heavens, "What the hell!?"
Everyone followed Ian as they ran toward the harbor. Ian, in the lead, dragged Luffy with one hand while Chopper clung to his leg, making for a very eye-catching sight.
Princess Vivi and Igaram ran at the back, and Vivi asked Usopp, "Who are they? Friends or enemies?"
Usopp had never seen Ian before, so he wasn't sure either. If they were friends, why did it look like Luffy was being kidnapped by that man? But if they were enemies, why were Zoro, Sanji, and Nami all running after him?
At this point, Princess Vivi hadn't yet seen Robin's face clearly. If she had, she would have definitely recognized her as Miss All Sunday...
With these doubts in mind, the group soon arrived at the harbor, and Ian finally saw the Straw Hat Pirates' ship, the Going Merry. Its cute little sheep figurehead looked very adorable.
Ian tossed Luffy onto the ship, jumped aboard himself, and let out a long sigh of relief. He patted Chopper's head to signal him to let go.
Soon, the others boarded one by one. Ian sat down on the deck, and Zoro silently sat across from him.
Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Usopp, Princess Vivi, and Igaram all stood behind Zoro, while Reiju, Robin, Dorry, and Matthew stood behind Ian. The two groups were clearly separated, like they were about to negotiate.
Luffy, finally adjusting his hat, asked Ian in confusion, "Who are you, anyway?"
Ian smiled, pointed at Zoro, and said to them, "Ask him!"
So Luffy, Usopp, and the others all turned their gazes to Zoro.
Zoro looked like he had a stomachache, reluctantly answering, "He's my senior brother. His name is Ian, and he's a Warlord of the Sea!"
After hearing Zoro's answer, the Straw Hat Pirates' reactions varied widely, making for a very amusing scene.
Sanji already knew Ian's identity. Back when Ian left the Baratie, Red-Leg Zeff had told him about it, so he wasn't too surprised now.
Chopper was the same; he had always admired Ian. Although Chopper didn't really understand what a Warlord of the Sea was, his big, adorable eyes still sparkled like stars as he looked at Ian.
But for those who understood what a Warlord of the Sea meant, it was a different story.
"A... a Warlord of the Sea!?" Usopp was so scared he foamed at the mouth and collapsed onto the deck.
Princess Vivi and Igaram were also startled, covering their mouths and stepping back in unison. At that moment, they finally got a clear look at Robin, who was standing behind Ian wearing a cowboy hat. When they realized this woman was Miss All Sunday, both Vivi and Igaram instinctively drew their weapons.
Fortunately, Nami quickly grabbed their hands and stopped them.
Only Luffy, who didn't have a deep understanding of the Warlords, tilted his head in confusion after hearing Zoro say Ian was his senior brother. "What's a senior brother?"
"Idiot!" Nami gave Luffy a headbutt and scolded, "He's Zoro's big brother!"
Luffy slapped his fist into his palm with a look of sudden realization. Strangely enough, that gesture was quite similar to Vice Admiral Garp's.
Feeling utterly speechless at Luffy's dense stupidity, Nami decided to ignore him and walked up to Ian, staring down at him with a displeased expression.
"Hey, Nami! About your matter... I'm sorry..."
Nami glared at Ian with resentment. Ian knew why she looked that way. Although Arlong's secret release wasn't strictly Ian's fault, he still felt like he had let Nami down somehow, so meeting her now was a bit awkward.
But to Ian's surprise, after staring at him for a while, Nami suddenly sighed in defeat and said, "Forget it, it's not your fault! If I had left with you earlier back then, maybe none of this would have happened..."
Although Nami acted like a fierce queen on the Straw Hat Pirates' ship, she was actually a kind and reasonable girl. She knew that Arlong's secret release was the Marines' fault, the World Government's fault, and had nothing to do with Ian. On the contrary, Ian had actually captured Arlong in the first place, and for that, Nami had to be grateful.
So Nami stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Ian's neck, and kissed him on the cheek again. "Big Brother Ian, it's good to see you again. Now I can finally say thank you to your face..."
Just like over two years ago, Nami expressed her gratitude in her own way. This method of kissing to say thanks was undoubtedly inherited from her mother. The difference was that Nami was now more mature and fuller, with more feminine charm, making this move even more effective on men.
Ian was a bit stunned by her kiss, but at that moment, someone nearby exploded!
"Ahhh! Nami-san's kiss!" Sanji, burning with jealousy, erupted and pointed at Ian, shouting, "Even I've never gotten a kiss from Nami-san! What makes you deserve it!?"
In his fury, Sanji seemed to have doubled his combat power and was about to charge at Ian for a duel, but Usopp, who had just woken up, grabbed him tightly. "Don't do it, Sanji! You'll get us all killed!"
"Hahaha!" Luffy was clapping and laughing without a care in the world.
Headache! That was the only word Ian could think of to describe the situation. The scene was getting out of control, and with Sanji's outburst, he had even forgotten what he wanted to say.
So Ian turned around, pointed at Sanji, and said to Matthew, "Matthew, shake hands with this guy!"
"Oh..." Matthew replied slowly, walked up to Sanji, and extended his hand.
Sanji was taken aback. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"He's the chef on my ship!" Ian said with a grin. "He makes great food. Get to know him!"
"Oh, really!?" Hearing that the other guy was also a chef, Sanji perked up immediately. He grabbed Matthew's hand and said, "Let's have a cooking..."
Before he could finish, a powerful drowsiness hit him, and he collapsed to the ground, snoring loudly.
With that noisy guy out of the way, the scene quieted down considerably. Only then did Ian have a chance to ask Zoro, "How does it feel to be out at sea?"
"It was fine until I saw you. Now it's not!" Zoro said gloomily. "Why are you here?"
"I'm here because I have business," Ian said, pointing at Luffy. "Smoker and Kuina were trying to catch him, so I took him away on a whim."
"Kuina!?" Zoro was surprised to hear that Kuina was also on this island.
Luffy grinned foolishly beside them. "Yeah, that smoke guy we met in Loguetown came to Alabasta too!"
Zoro ignored Luffy and asked Ian suspiciously, "Have you met Kuina?"
"Of course!" Ian nodded. "I heard about your departure from her. Kuina probably won't arrest you, but you'd better stay out of her way."