Chapter 453: Legend
To be honest, aside from Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates—Chopper, Nami, and Usopp—were all quite timid. Especially when they saw the three of them get knocked down in one move by that strangely appearing masked man, it would be a lie to say they weren’t terrified. With the fate of that previous ship fresh in their minds, they also feared that the Merry Go might be destroyed by this strange man’s cannon fire.
However, the moment Ian made his move, Nami and the others inexplicably felt a sense of relief. Sure enough, as soon as Ian acted, he directly subdued this strange masked man. If it weren’t for the fact that his rocket launcher had been shattered by Ian’s blade, exploding upon firing and sending fragments flying everywhere, forcing Nami and the others to dodge, they would have loved to give Ian a thumbs-up and say, “Old pal, solid!”
With the rocket launcher exploding at close range, Ian temporarily released the man’s ankle and swung his sword to block the flying weapon fragments. But the Shandian was worse off—still in an upside-down position, he couldn’t react fast enough, and his right hand was instantly torn and bloodied by the blast.
Still, he managed to break free from Ian’s grip, clutching his bleeding arm as he stood back up.
Injured as he was, Ian thought he would retreat. Unexpectedly, however, he dropped the shield from his other hand, leaped up, and lunged at Ian. As he reached Ian’s head, the strange ice-skate-like shoes on his feet suddenly emitted a burst of cloud-like mist, carrying his entire body in a 180-degree flip through the air. He vaulted over Ian’s head and landed behind him.
This Shandian attacker extended his uninjured hand, aiming to press his palm against the back of Ian’s neck.
His fighting spirit and courage were commendable, but unfortunately, he was up against Ian.
The Shandian was using a unique combat technique native to Skypiea. Generally speaking, any Blue Sea person encountering it for the first time would be caught off guard by this distinctive fighting style. However, he had no idea that every move he made was being sensed by Ian’s Psychic Field.
Just as his hand was about to touch Ian, a tremendous sense of danger suddenly struck. The Shandian’s heart jolted, and he quickly withdrew his hand, leaping away again with all his might.
The next second, he saw Ian’s Flame Wings suddenly snap shut behind him, erupting with intense heat.
These wings, formed from the demonic flames of the Black Dragon Wave, had long been mastered by Ian through constant practice. Earlier, to fly and save Usopp, Ian had been controlling the flames’ temperature to prevent heat leakage—a technique he’d recently discovered. By equipping the exclusive item, the Rune Bandage, he could suppress the flames’ heat; otherwise, he wouldn’t dare approach others with his wings out.
And if he could suppress the heat, he could also release it. When this Shandian tried to attack him from behind, Ian couldn’t be bothered to turn around and slash him. Instead, he simply closed his wings and unleashed the heat.
A fierce wave of heat instantly erupted aboard the Merry Go. Nami and Chopper screamed, feeling as though the air around them was being scorched, and quickly retreated further away.
The Shandian was the worst off. If he had withdrawn his hand even a moment later, it would have been carbonized by Ian’s flames. Even so, his hand was instantly covered in burns—injuries caused by the scalding hot air nearby!
Sweating profusely, he let out a pained cry, finally realizing the situation was hopeless. This man before him was terrifying, far beyond his ability to handle. So he quickly used the jet shoes on his feet, performed a backflip, leaped off the ship, and plunged into the cloud sea below.
Ian flew up and looked toward where he had fallen, but the man didn’t resurface for a long time, likely diving away to escape.
Ian hesitated, wondering whether to dive into the water to try and catch him. He was quite interested in this Shandian.
If he wasn’t mistaken, the reason the man had jumped behind him and reached out to press his palm against Ian’s neck was likely because his palm was wrapped around an Impact Dial! Impact Dials, and the Jet Dials on his feet—Ian knew this was part of Skypiea’s unique “Dial” culture. He really wanted to see the special effects of these Dials firsthand.
But before he could jump into the water, he sensed someone entering his Psychic Field’s perception range. He looked up toward the sky behind him.
There, floating in midair, was a man riding a winged pegasus, clad in armor. From the silhouette alone, it looked incredibly cool. But upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an old man with a long beard, and the pegasus beneath him was covered in spots—ugly as hell.
Everyone stared in shock at this suddenly appearing old man. Zoro and Sanji tensed up, suspecting he might be connected to the masked man who had just attacked them.
Only Ian knew that this old man was no ordinary person.
Noticing that the old man’s gaze was fixed on him, Ian smiled faintly, retracted his Flame Wings, and landed on the deck. Looking up, he said, “Not coming down for a chat?”
“Hey, Ian, is that okay?” Zoro asked anxiously upon hearing Ian’s words.
“Don’t worry, he’s not with that masked man,” Ian explained to Zoro.
Hearing Ian’s invitation, the old man on the pegasus descended. He was holding a long knight’s lance, and to show he meant no harm, he even placed the lance on the ground. The pegasus he had been riding transformed into a sharp-beaked bird upon landing.
“Wh-What is that?” Nami and the others stared at the bird in astonishment.
“Oh, don’t worry! It’s Pierre!” the old knight explained. “He’s a bird that ate the Horse-Horse Fruit.”
“Horse-Horse Fruit!?” Nami couldn’t help but glance at Chopper.
Devil Fruits weren’t limited to humans; animals sometimes ate them by accident. Chopper had eaten the Human-Human Fruit. If he had eaten a different Zoan-type fruit, his transformation might have turned out differently.
“And who are you?” Sanji lit a cigarette, looking at the old man with a sour expression.
Sanji had been in a bad mood lately because Reiju had shown up again. Although he missed his sister, the problem was that she kept appearing alongside Ian, which really annoyed him.
“I am Gan Fall, the Sky Knight! Pierre is my partner. We’re mercenaries!”
After explaining, Gan Fall turned his gaze back to Ian and said, “I’ve seen quite a few Blue Sea people who’ve come to Skypiea, but someone as strong as you—this is my first time.”
“W-Wait a minute!” Nami interrupted. “You’ve seen other people? Does that mean there are other ways to reach this Skypiea!?”
“Of course,” Gan Fall nodded.
Ian also nodded. This was one of the things that amazed him most about Luffy—how he kept surviving despite constantly courting death. There were many ways to reach Skypiea, but Luffy had to pick the most dangerous one, and unfortunately, he dragged Ian into it too.
For instance, according to Ian’s estimation, if the windmill at the Gray Terminal on that sky island kept turning and moving in other directions, it might also lead to other sky islands.
Next, Nami chattered away with Gan Fall for a while, asking about Skypiea.
According to Gan Fall, he had come here hoping to make a quick buck—to see if Ian and his crew needed to hire him as a mercenary to deal with the attacking Shandian. But as it turned out, there was no need for his help on this ship.
Still, following the principle of “nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Gan Fall left a whistle before departing. He told Luffy and the others that if they needed him, just blow it, and he would come quickly to help.
Ian said nothing, simply watching him leave. Then he told Sanji to head toward the place with the waterfall ahead.
What Ian didn’t know, however, was that after Gan Fall left, riding on Pierre, his expression turned serious.
“Black wings… that man… could it be that the legendary enemy of the gods is real?”