Chapter 444: Teach's True Purpose
What Ian didn't know was that, just as he swung his blade and cut off Teach's arm, a figure was watching the scene from high above the port's sky.
This figure wore an open floral shirt, a tall top hat, and carried a cane in hand. With an effeminate face, who else could it be but Lafitte of the Blackbeard Pirates?
At that moment, his arms had clearly transformed into wings as he flew high in the sky, yet strangely enough, in Ian's eyes, all five members of the Blackbeard Pirates were lying injured on the ground.
What was going on here?
When he saw Ian swing his blade without mercy, Lafitte sighed in relief: "Just as the captain guessed... This Black Dragon Ian really does hate the captain to the bone! Good thing the seeds of suggestion were already planted earlier. They probably won't notice, right? Now, I need to go complete my mission..."
With that, Lafitte turned without looking back, spread his winged arms, and flew off into the distance.
Meanwhile, as Ian and Ace tied up the Blackbeard Pirates with ropes, the dying-looking Doc Q lifted his head and weakly said to Ian: "Fate measures a person's worth. For now, fate stands on your side, but that doesn't mean we're worthless..."
Ian couldn't quite understand what this guy was trying to say. Finding him cryptic and odd, Ian simply elbowed Doc Q in the face, knocking him to the ground, and tied him up along with his sickly horse, all four limbs bound.
The same went for Burgess. When Dorry tried to tie him up, the man resisted unwillingly, only to be slapped down by Dorry with a single blow.
Both were strongmen, but Burgess, heavily injured, was clearly no match for Dorry.
As for Van Augur, he tried to resist too, but Robin used her Flower-Flower Fruit ability to lock his hands and feet, and then Matthew tied him up.
However, when they tied up "Lafitte," there was surprisingly no resistance at all. Reiju bound him, thinking his injuries were too severe—after all, Lafitte had been hit by Ian's Flame Drop earlier—so she didn't think much of it. After tying him up, she brought Lafitte over. Once all five members of the Blackbeard Pirates were gathered together, Reiju said to Ian: "Aren't you going to stop Teach's bleeding? He might bleed to death like this!"
Ian thought for a moment, drew out Thousand Cherry Blossoms, black flames leaping up the blade, and pressed the edge against Teach's severed arm, using the fire to cauterize the wound and stop the bleeding.
Needless to say, Teach let out another heart-wrenching scream...
After doing this, Ian still felt uneasy, so he said to Reiju: "Can't you use your poison ability? Give them some poison, just don't kill them!"
Reiju nodded, crossed her arms over her chest, and suddenly her butterfly-shaped cloak swelled and fluttered. A cloud of pink mist enveloped her body, and then she controlled it, sending it drifting toward the five Blackbeard Pirates, shrouding them.
Soon, Teach and the others showed the same poisoning symptoms Ace had earlier.
Seeing this, Ian was satisfied and asked Reiju curiously: "Is this a Devil Fruit ability?"
Reiju nodded: "Yes, I'm a Devil Fruit user, the Bug-Bug Fruit, Morpho Butterfly form."
Ian immediately understood. The so-called morpho butterfly, though poisonous, gains its toxins from consuming poisonous plants. That meant Reiju herself didn't produce poison, but she could absorb toxins to gain poison abilities. This explained why she had kissed him earlier to suck out the poison.
The port of Raintree City was essentially destroyed. The battle between Ian and the Blackbeard Pirates had inevitably affected the area, so now Ian and the others had to escort Teach and his crew into the city. Ace had already contacted Marco via Den Den Mushi, but it would take some time for Marco to arrive.
Over the next week, Ian and the others stayed in the city.
During this time, the Straw Hat Pirates had already reached the capital of Alabasta, but the country's rebellion was growing more severe. Even staying in Raintree City, Ian could hear people anxiously discussing the clashes between the rebels and the royal army.
Ian and Ace knew that Luffy, Zoro, and the others were likely already fighting Baroque Works members. They were a bit worried, but as older brothers, they also understood they couldn't protect them from everything. Both Luffy and Zoro needed to grow. So aside from keeping an eye on news from Alabasta's capital, Alubarna, they waited for Marco to arrive, doing nothing else.
What made Ian increasingly uneasy, though, was that Teach had been very docile during this time, not trying to escape or anything.
Normally, that would be a good thing, but for Ian, who knew him well, it felt out of character.
He had fought Teach before, the first time on the Whitebeard Pirates' ship. Back then, when Ian tried to assassinate him, Teach might have been cornered and desperate, but Ian had to admit that Teach possessed extraordinary physical combat skills. The punch Teach landed on him had carried immense force.
Especially considering that in the original timeline, Ace had chased Teach alone and fallen into his hands. Besides Teach's Dark-Dark Fruit ability to grab Devil Fruit users' bodies, it was likely because Ace lost to Teach in physical combat.
And Ian knew from his understanding of Ace that Ace's physical combat was also very strong!
This indirectly confirmed that Teach didn't rely solely on his Devil Fruit to fight. Yet this time, Teach hadn't shown those physical combat abilities.
Due to Teach's unusual behavior, Ian grew more vigilant, even thinking at times whether he should just kill Teach outright, regardless of Ace's mission.
Teach clearly sensed Ian's killing intent, so during this period, he never dared to let Ian guard him alone, always insisting that Ace be present.
With Ace around, Ian couldn't go back on his word and kill Teach, so he had to wait...
........................
While Ian and the others waited, the real Lafitte had flown to a place Ian was quite familiar with.
This was the Red Line, the location of Marine Headquarters, Marineford!
As soon as Lafitte's figure appeared, the Marine guards spotted him, and countless guns and cannons aimed at him.
But Lafitte calmly landed on the ground and said to the Marine captain who came to question him: "If possible, please grant me an audience with Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
The Marine captain warily eyed Lafitte and replied: "Impossible! How could a shady pirate like you meet Fleet Admiral Sengoku? Men, arrest him!"
Just as the Marine soldiers rushed forward, Lafitte smiled and said: "What if it concerns the Whitebeard Pirates?"
The Marine captain froze, raised his hand to stop the soldiers, and asked Lafitte in disbelief: "You... what did you just say!?"
Before Lafitte could answer, a voice came from above: "Let him come!"
Looking up, the Marine captain saw Fleet Admiral Sengoku looking down from the Celestial Tower, so he had no choice but to let Lafitte through.
Lafitte finally got his audience with Sengoku, though it was under the watchful eye of Marine Admiral, Akainu Sakazuki.
"Alright, speak. Who are you?" Sengoku asked Lafitte.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lafitte, navigator of the Blackbeard Pirates!" Lafitte said, removing his top hat with a flourish and bowing to Sengoku. "I'm here to recommend a candidate to fill the vacant Warlord position for the Marines!"
"We don't need your recommendation!" Sengoku waved his hand impatiently. "The Marines have their own considerations for the Warlord position. We don't need a pirate's input!"
But Lafitte calmly replied: "Don't be hasty! The candidate I recommend is my captain, Marshall D. Teach, also known as Blackbeard. I believe you've heard of him!"
Just then, Sakazuki spoke up, sneering: "So, a small-time pirate who defected from the Whitebeard Pirates. And you want to recommend him as a Warlord? Are you out of your mind?"
"Heh heh!" Lafitte laughed nonchalantly, twirling his cane. "Trust me, this candidate won't disappoint. Because soon, our captain will make a name for himself across the world!"
Sengoku looked at Lafitte's confident expression and asked suspiciously: "What do you mean?"
"Right now, my captain, Blackbeard, has been captured!" Lafitte said leisurely. "And the ones who caught him are Warlord Black Dragon Ian and Fire Fist Ace!"
Sengoku and Sakazuki were stunned, unable to understand what Lafitte was getting at.
But before they could ask, Lafitte continued: "Though he's been captured, I must say, the captain did it on purpose! Because next, he'll be sent back to the Whitebeard Pirates by Fire Fist Ace!"
"Damn it, what are you trying to say!?" Sengoku was growing impatient.
"Entrusted by the captain, I've come here to strike a deal with the Marines!" Lafitte said. "The deal is this: the Blackbeard Pirates will create an opportunity for the Marines to crush the Whitebeard Pirates! In return, the Marines will promise to make my captain, Blackbeard, a Warlord!"
"Oh!? An opportunity to crush the Whitebeard Pirates?" Sengoku exchanged a glance with Sakazuki. They were finally interested. "And how do you plan to do that?"