Chapter 506: Sudden Change
Among those present, perhaps only Ian, Kizaru, and former Marine Vice Admiral Drake knew the true identity of the "Tyrant Kuma" before them!
That was not the former Warlord at all, but merely a giant robot—or rather, a cyborg—with Bartholomew Kuma's appearance...
And the fastest and most effective way to deal with so-called robots happened to be lightning!
Ian had a trade agreement with the World Government involving Thunder Stones, so he knew full well that the Pacifistas' bodies definitely contained Thunder Stones as their core energy source. The electric current Ian had just released outside the Pacifista's body would guide the Thunder Stone's output power, causing an instantaneous violent discharge. As a result, the Pacifista would experience overload and short-circuiting, and immediately shut down.
Hawkins and the others watched in astonishment, unaware that these Pacifistas were actually the easiest targets for Ian and even Enel.
However, this didn't mean the Pacifistas were weak. In fact, even Ian knew that this batch of Pacifistas had just been completed. The Marines had brought them to Sabaody Archipelago mainly for performance testing. Even so, these Pacifistas possessed considerable combat power.
The most intuitive reference was former Marine Vice Admiral Drake. He had fought a Pacifista and ended in a draw, but suffered a slight disadvantage. This showed that with a complete weapon system, the Pacifistas now had combat power roughly equivalent to a Marine Vice Admiral.
A single Vice Admiral might not be much of a threat, but the key was that Pacifistas weren't as hard to train as a real Vice Admiral—they were mass-produced!
Once the Marines approved of the Pacifistas' combat power, they could instantly gain hundreds of officer-level fighters, or even more!
Just thinking about it was terrifying...
This Pacifista lay at Ian's feet. He bent down, tore open the clothing around its neck, and saw its serial number.
PX-...
Ian nodded and waved at Dorry, who was on the floating Ark Maxim above.
Dorry and Matthew had been watching the battle between Enel and Kizaru from the ship. Seeing their captain's signal, Dorry immediately jumped down, his massive weight shaking the ground.
"Captain!" Dorry came to Ian's side and asked, "What are your orders?"
"Throw this thing onto the ship!" Ian said. "It's our trophy. We're taking it with us!"
Ian had used powerful electric currents to disable this PX, preserving the Pacifista intact. Even if there was overload and short-circuiting, it was just a common malfunction. He believed that with Waldo's technical skills, they could repair it once they brought it back.
Ian had said before leaving Marineford that if the Marines didn't want to trade, he would take it himself. Now he had done it!
The Pacifistas were connected to some matters concerning Kuma. Ian couldn't let go of this grudge, so he had to get his hands on them. He wanted to see if he could find out why Kuma had cooperated with the Marines' human experiments, and even look for a way to restore these Pacifistas to human form.
After all, these Pacifistas weren't purely robots—they were modified from Kuma's clones!
Germa Group also had a clone army, and this cloning technology was likely based on Lineage Factor. As the discoverer of Lineage Factor, Vegapunk could naturally create clones too. That's why the Marine Science Unit was interested in Germa's combat suit technology but didn't care about their cloning technology.
Hearing Ian's orders, Dorry complied, hoisting the Pacifista's massive body and throwing it toward the ship.
But at that moment, a flash of light appeared mid-air. Kizaru's figure materialized, facing the Pacifista thrown by Dorry, and kicked down hard!
"How dare you!!?" Ian shouted as soon as he saw Kizaru's figure, realizing something was wrong.
But Kizaru ignored Ian's roar. His heavy kick sent the Pacifista crashing back to the ground with a thunderous boom!
The impact created a huge crater in the ground. When the dust cleared, Ian saw that the Pacifista's right side had been shattered by Kizaru's light-speed kick, leaving a dented hollow like something had bitten into it. Sparks crackled from the gap, with scattered parts and wires protruding, along with a small amount of red blood and pale yellow oil.
Needless to say, this Pacifista was completely destroyed by Kizaru!
"Kizaru, are you deliberately trying to start a war?" Ian's hand was already on his sword hilt, his thumb pushing up the guard of Thousand Cherry Blossoms, his face cold as he spoke to Kizaru.
He hadn't expected that the cunning Kizaru would suddenly abandon Enel, teleport here, and successfully intercept his attempt to get the Pacifista onto the ship.
"Heh heh, Ian!" Kizaru floated in mid-air, hands in his striped suit pockets, sneering at Ian. "Did you think I'd let you have your way? Don't forget, Fleet Admiral Sengoku has ordered your capture. Admiral Aokiji is also heading to this island. Soon, you'll join these rookie pirates in Impel Down!"
Hearing Kizaru's words, Hawkins and the others gasped. Another Marine Admiral was on his way!?
Although they knew Admiral Aokiji was likely coming for Ian, not for them as Supernovas, it still sent chills down their spines.
One Admiral was already hard enough to handle. If another arrived, what then?
Enel had also come to Ian's side, glaring furiously at Kizaru. The fact that Kizaru had suddenly left their fight infuriated him.
Ian, meanwhile, was calculating in his mind.
He was somewhat surprised that Sengoku had directly ordered his capture. This meant Sengoku was now willing to burn bridges without regard for consequences?
Although he had anticipated this, hearing it from Kizaru's mouth still shocked Ian at Sengoku's decision. With the Seven Warlords' combat power so depleted, Sengoku still had the nerve to risk losing another Warlord by issuing such an order. This showed the Marines had big plans this time...
As for Kizaru's claim that Aokiji was on his way, Ian wasn't too worried.
The Ian of today was no longer the penniless fugitive who had escaped Mary Geoise. Now, facing Aokiji, he had no fear. His flame abilities were a clear counter to Aokiji's ice.
Enel could handle Kizaru, while Ian dealt with Aokiji. Even against two Marine Admirals, Ian was confident he could remain undefeated.
However, the battle would be hard to control. Fighting two Admirals—would Sabaody Archipelago even survive?
Ian calculated the time it might take for Aokiji to arrive. He figured Aokiji would still be a while before reaching the island. Even if Aokiji set out immediately after waking up, he would be on a Marine warship, not as fast as Ian's flying Ark. Conservatively, Aokiji would be twenty to thirty minutes behind them!
Enough time! That was enough to exploit a time gap and cripple Kizaru before Aokiji arrived!
With that thought, killing intent spread in Ian's eyes. He reached for his sword.
But at that moment, the monk Urouge came up behind Ian and Enel, then suddenly knelt on one knee before Enel, saying, "God, please allow me to join the battle!"
This stunned Enel, Ian, and even Hawkins and the others.
Hawkins couldn't understand why Urouge called Enel "God," while Ian hadn't expected Urouge to show such respect to Enel.
As for Enel, he was stunned because he hadn't expected to hear someone address him that way again in the Blue Sea.
But then Ian realized. He saw the unusually large wings on Urouge's back and remembered that the four priests of Skypiea had wings of similar size.
No way? Was this monk Urouge also from Enel's homeland, Skypiea's Birka?
And judging by how he addressed Enel, was he a follower of Enel?
"You are..." Enel tilted his head, hands on his hips, looking uncertainly at Urouge.
"I am Urouge," Urouge said, lowering his head before Enel. "I am..."
Before he could finish, a sudden change occurred. While Enel was completely off guard, Urouge suddenly attacked. A massive stone club in his hand slammed hard into Enel's stomach!
With a boom, Enel, who hadn't expected Urouge to attack him, didn't elementalize his body. The blow made him spit blood, and he was sent flying, crashing into the rubble across the way!
This turn of events caught everyone off guard, even Ian.
After sending Enel flying, Urouge's ever-present smile turned dark and sinister. He spoke, "I am an avenger, whose homeland you destroyed!"
(37 Chinese Net)
Writer's Block
Damn it. I had a good streak for a few days, and today I planned to add an extra chapter for the new Alliance Leader. But I sat in front of the computer for three hours, drank three cups of tea, and only wrote a thousand words. And it was choppy, not satisfying at all.
Long-term serialization is like this. Sometimes you suddenly hit a low point. Let me take a breather. I'll re-read some One Piece manga tonight to find inspiration. 8)
(37 Chinese Net)