Chapter 477: Requisition
In truth, from start to finish, this entire incident on Skypiea had been resolved almost single-handedly by Ian. From that perspective, even if he took all the gold for himself, no one could say anything about it.
However, the Straw Hat Pirates had too deep a connection with Ian. Just look at their crew: Luffy was Ace's little brother, Sanji was Reiju's little brother, and Zoro was Ian's junior disciple. Even setting aside Luffy and Sanji, Ian himself couldn't possibly shortchange Zoro.
Moreover, if he remembered correctly, the ship Going Merry had already been damaged. Ian didn't want them to be unable to repair it due to lack of funds.
So, giving them a share of the profits was something Ian had already considered. That was why he had mentioned it to Nami while riding the Waver together on the way to the sacred ground.
The reason, of course, was that among the Straw Hat Pirates—from the captain to the first mate, the cook, the sniper, and even the pet—they were all idiots! If money fell into their hands, they wouldn't know how to use it properly. Only Nami, despite being a bit of a money-grubber and stingy, managed the crew's finances for the entire Straw Hat Pirates.
Sometimes Ian wondered: what would happen to the Straw Hat Pirates without Nami?
If he gave them a share of the profits, Luffy would probably buy a dozen figureheads for the ship, while Zoro would exchange all the money for sake…
Considering the likelihood of that scenario, Ian had no choice but to give the share to Nami.
As a result, the moment Ian brought it up, Nami lunged at him, tackled him to the ground, and puckered her lips, planting fierce kisses all over his face.
"Ian, big brother, I love you to death!" Nami gazed at Ian with affectionate eyes, but all Ian could see in them were golden Berry symbols. So he wasn't fooled at all—what she really loved to death was the money, right?
In her excitement, Nami's intense actions toward Ian caused Sanji behind them to burst into flames: "Aaaah! Damn it, let go of Nami-san right now!"
Fortunately, Zoro and the others knew Nami's personality well, and besides, it was clearly Nami who wasn't letting go of Ian, right?
So they held Sanji back, preventing him from charging forward, afraid that Ian might just kick him flying.
Ian barely managed to break free from Nami and stood up. To be honest, Nami's kisses felt great, but being kissed like that was really embarrassing.
Nami didn't care about any of that. After Ian broke free, she immediately pounced onto the pile of gold, looking at Ian with eager eyes, and said in a syrupy sweet voice: "So, Ian big brother, how much are you planning to give us?"
"Hmm… I'll give you three hundred million Berry worth of treasure!" Ian thought for a moment and held up three fingers.
"What!?" Nami immediately protested, her sweet voice vanishing and turning into a fierce tone as she shouted at Ian: "This pile of gold is worth ten billion Berry, and you're only giving us three hundred million!?"
"Three percent is already plenty, okay!" Ian spread his hands.
Ian was planning to give them the amount from the original storyline. That sum should be enough for their expenses, including ship repairs, so he thought it was sufficient.
But the problem was that the current situation differed from the original plot. With Ian's extensive looting, the amount of gold on display had increased significantly, and its estimated value had skyrocketed. In comparison, Nami naturally felt it was too little.
"No way!" Nami grabbed Zoro and slapped his back vigorously, saying to Ian: "He's your junior disciple! Can you bear to see him eating chaff and swallowing vegetables in the future!?"
Ian nearly spat out. Three hundred million Berry, and she was still talking about eating chaff and vegetables? Was she kidding him!?
"Hey! Nami!" Zoro also felt that description was off and spoke up: "Three hundred million Berry is already a lot. We can buy plenty of sake to store on the ship…"
Zoro, you idiot, he actually thought three hundred million Berry was a lot, which was why he said that. But that one sentence completely infuriated Nami. With a fierce expression, she punched him directly on the head and yelled at him: "Shut up! If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!"
Zoro crouched down, holding his head, but Luffy and the others still hadn't realized why Nami was angry, so they chimed in with Zoro: "Yeah, Nami, three hundred million Berry can buy a super big figurehead to put on the ship…"
"Cannons! We can also buy lots of cannons!" Usopp said, stroking his chin with a dreamy look.
"We can buy lots of books! And lots of cotton candy!" Chopper added, squinting with a smile.
But as soon as they spoke, there were three loud thuds, and all three got punched on the head by Nami. Like Zoro, they ended up with big bumps on their heads, crouching down with tears in their eyes…
Reiju, Robin, and the others watched with sweat drops the size of beans on the backs of their heads. They hadn't expected that this cute and sweet girl, Nami, could be so terrifying when angry. She was practically the queen of the Straw Hat Pirates…
Even Enel widened his eyes, thinking that this woman, Nami, was really fierce.
After disciplining Luffy and the others, Nami put her hands on her hips, let out a sigh, and said angrily to Ian: "Ten percent! At least give us ten percent!"
Ten percent would be roughly one billion Berry. Ian naturally couldn't accept that and shook his head, saying: "It's three hundred million Berry. Too much money wouldn't be good for you!"
But Nami wouldn't give up. She rushed over, trying to grab Ian's arm to use her persuasion technique on him. However, seeing her move, Ian shuddered and quickly dodged.
Oh my god, back on the Waver, it was already one touch for one million Berry. Now, in front of this pile of gold, she wouldn't try to charge him one billion Berry per touch, would she!?
So there was no way he would let her grab his arm again. Nami, you girl, definitely needed to be guarded against this trick.
Unable to catch Ian, she couldn't use her persuasion technique. Nami pouted angrily at Ian and said: "Ian big brother, you're already so rich, why can't you give us a little more!?"
"I'm serious!" Ian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said to Nami: "I'm sure you don't want wave after wave of pirates targeting you and trying to rob you, right?"
"What about you? Aren't you afraid!?" Nami had just said this angrily when she suddenly realized something.
She looked at Ian's smile and felt a bit deflated. Yeah, of course Ian and his crew weren't afraid. He was a Warlord of the Sea. Pirates would avoid him; how could they dare to rob him?
"Alright, alright!" Robin saw that things had gone far enough and stepped in to mediate. She hugged Nami and comforted her: "Something is better than nothing, isn't it?"
"Robin, big sister!" Nami rubbed against Robin's chest and said: "Just give us a little more…"
Robin didn't say anything, just smiled and stroked Nami's orange hair. Seeing that the indirect approach wasn't working, Nami had no choice but to reluctantly accept the fact.
Ian quietly gave Robin a thumbs-up, indicating that she was really impressive.
With Nami settled, Zoro and the others naturally had nothing more to say. Ian had them pick out about three hundred million Berry worth of gold from the treasure pile, completing the profit-sharing.
"Captain, what should we do with the rest of this gold?" Dorry scratched his head and asked naively: "I can carry it, but I don't think there's anything to hold it all…"
That was true. The gold Nami and the others had taken was small in quantity and light in weight. Each of them could carry a bundle and be done with it. But for Ian and his crew, with so much gold, even the strongest bundle wouldn't hold it.
Fortunately, after thinking for a moment, Ian came up with a solution.
With a crackling sound, countless electric sparks burst from Ian's hands. He placed his hands on the gold and increased the output of his electrical energy.
"Gold Storm!"
Enel widened his eyes, watching Ian use the lightning power he was familiar with again. Then he saw the remaining gold gradually rise into the air, connected by the electric current!
This technique was essentially a modified version of the Iron Sand Storm. Gold was an excellent conductor. By using the power of lightning to create an electromagnetic field, Ian could manipulate the gold like iron sand, making it float. However, the weight of this gold was enormous, so his Psychic Power output had to increase accordingly, making it a bit strenuous.
To be precise, this technique used electromagnetic force, not lightning power. It was different from Enel's use of his Devil Fruit ability, so Enel watched in surprise.
If he could use this kind of electromagnetic power, why would he need to install propellers and Wind Dial on his ark? Couldn't he just use his own power to make the ark fly?
Seeing a different application of lightning power in Ian, Enel felt as if a new world had opened before him.
"Let's go, we're heading back!" Ian called out to everyone, then said to Enel: "I'm requisitioning your ark!"
"Wh… why!?" Enel snapped out of his daze and couldn't help but protest: "That's my ark!"
"It's mine now!" Ian gave him a cold look and said: "What, do you, as a prisoner, have a different opinion?"
"N… no!" Meeting Ian's gaze, Enel's momentum immediately weakened.
"Good, then let's set off!" Ian said, and he was the first to control the floating gold, exiting through the mouth of the giant serpent…
Once outside, Ian saw that the Shandians had gathered quite a few people, who were dragging the Golden Bell, trying to put it back in its original position in Shandora. When they saw Ian appear, many Shandians looked at him with awe. Although they also saw the dense array of gold items beside him, no one dared to question him.
The Shandians who arrived later had already learned from Wiper about what had happened. They knew that Ian had defeated Enel and helped them find the light of Shandora. So they had no objections to Ian, their benefactor.
Thus, without disturbing them, Ian led his group upward through the clouds, planning to return to the God's Palace via the vine.
Enel's ark, the Ark Maxim, was also made of a large amount of gold. But Ian wasn't short-sighted enough to just strip the gold from the hull. That would be a waste of its potential. The reason he requisitioned Enel's ark was to repair it and see if it could be reused.
This ark used the technology of the ancient Moon People. The scientist in his crew, Waldo, had already studied many ancient technologies from the Barron Gray Terminal. So he might be able to repair it. And if it could be repaired, Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates would have a one-of-a-kind pirate ship!
A pirate ship that could fly!