Chapter 514: About the Summons
Perhaps because Ian's appearance had blocked the two Marine Admirals, Kizaru and Aokiji, the Straw Hat Pirates did not face the crisis of total annihilation.
As a result, although Kuma appeared, he did not send the Straw Hat Pirates flying as he originally would have. Instead, he handed them over to Ian, asking him to take them away from there.
In Ian's view, Kuma likely believed that since Luffy was Dragon's son, Ian, as a Revolutionary Army officer, would not abandon him. With Kuma himself at risk of exposing his identity, it was not wise for him to do too much, so he passed the matter to Ian.
However, once Kuma washed his hands of it, Ian had a headache. He looked at the Straw Hat Pirates' crew and noticed that compared to when they were on Skypiea, they had gained three new members.
One was the skeleton Brook, one was the iron man Franky, and the last was the original Mr. 2, the okama Bon Clay.
Well, Ian wasn't surprised by the first two. After all, on the route Luffy and his crew were taking, encountering these two wasn't strange. But what was the deal with Bon Clay?
With such a group handed over to him, how exactly was he supposed to teach them?
Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji were one thing—Ian could guide them in swordsmanship and Haki. But how was he supposed to teach Chopper, Nami, and Usopp?
Forget it, he would take it one step at a time.
With that thought, Ian called out to everyone, "Let's go. I'll take you somewhere to hide first."
Ian had already sent Dorry and Matthew to park the Ark Maxim in a remote spot. Now, he led the group through the mangrove forest of Sabaody Archipelago.
At this moment, Sabaody Archipelago was in chaos. First, a group of pirate Supernovas had beaten up a Celestial Dragon and caused trouble. Then, the Marine Admirals had arrived. After that, Ian had gone on a rampage, destroying part of the island. Now, the entire island was in a state of panic. Tourists were scrambling to leave on ships, and pirates were doing the same. As for the locals, especially those in the lawless zones, they were either taking advantage of the chaos to loot or were too scared to leave their hideouts.
This meant that Ian and his group encountered very few people along the way.
"Hey, isn't this the direction to Shakky's bar?" Nami, being the navigator, was naturally sensitive to directions. She noticed something was off and couldn't help asking.
"Yeah!" Ian nodded. "Since we're here, I want to see Uncle Rayleigh."
Luffy got excited immediately and rushed forward to ask, "You know Uncle Rayleigh too!?"
By now, the Straw Hat Pirates had already met Rayleigh.
Ian rolled his eyes at Luffy and said, "Why do you think you're following me now?"
If it weren't for this connection, Ian wouldn't bother with Luffy. Taking over this matter from Kuma felt like a huge hassle.
Brook and Franky hadn't met Ian before and didn't know much about him. Seeing Luffy, Nami, and the others chatting and laughing with Ian, and even Chopper, who was usually shy, clinging to Ian, they found it strange. But they didn't say anything, just quietly observed.
When they arrived at Shakky's Rip-off Bar, Ian led the way and pushed open the door.
"Ha! If it isn't little Ian?" Shakky was pouring a cup of coffee at the counter. She was delighted to see Ian and immediately greeted him.
Rayleigh was there too. Seeing Ian, he smiled and said, "I knew it was you!"
Ian asked curiously, "Uncle Rayleigh, did you know I was on the island?"
"Yeah!" Rayleigh laughed heartily. "After all, there aren't many people who can stop Admiral Kizaru. It saved me, an old man, from having to step in..."
Great, just like Kuma—both of them were lazy...
Ian rolled his eyes but then smiled. He walked over, hugged Rayleigh, and patted him on the back. "Uncle Rayleigh, long time no see!"
Rayleigh patted Ian's shoulder approvingly, looked him over, and said, "It seems you've grown a lot during this time."
"That's because you taught me well!" Ian flattered him and then turned to Shakky, opening his arms. "Shakky, a hug?"
"Brat, don't try to take advantage of me!" Shakky said with a smile. "Sit down. The coffee's ready. Still the same, a cup of tea?"
"You know me best, Shakky!" Ian laughed and gestured for everyone to sit down.
Luffy and his crew didn't stand on ceremony and noisily took their seats. But Urouge and Trafalgar Law were shocked. They had heard Ian call Rayleigh by name and immediately connected it to a certain person.
"Hey, could he be... Silvers Rayleigh?" Urouge whispered to Luffy.
"Yeah!" Luffy grinned and nodded.
Urouge and Law suddenly became nervous. They never expected to meet a legendary figure in such a small bar.
Enel, however, didn't know much about the Blue Sea and had no idea what the name "Silvers Rayleigh" represented. He just sat down casually.
Rayleigh observed the group as they entered and roughly guessed that Enel, Urouge, and Law were likely Ian's subordinates; otherwise, Ian wouldn't have brought them here.
After chatting about recent events, Shakky took the initiative to ask Ian, "Little Ian, you came here specifically to see me, didn't you?"
"Yes!" Ian nodded. "I received intelligence that the Marines seem to be gathering in the Edd War Sea area, and it seems related to the Whitebeard Pirates. I wanted to ask you for more precise information."
"Your intelligence is correct!" Shakky held a cigarette between her fingers, took a puff, and gently exhaled smoke. "But are you planning to get involved in this war?"
"Well..." Ian frowned. "Old Man Whitebeard has been kind to me. Back on Salamis Island, if he hadn't suddenly appeared and forced back two Marine Admirals, Kizaru and Zephyr, I would have been captured. I have to repay that debt. Besides, Ace is my brother. I can't just stand by and watch the Marines scheme to attack them."
Before he could finish, Luffy suddenly stood up, shocked. "Ian, did you just say... Ace!?"
Ian looked at him but said nothing, just nodded.
Luffy immediately panicked, ran over, and anxiously asked Ian, "What are you talking about? The Marines? What's going on? How is Ace involved?"
Ian didn't know whether to tell Luffy about this. He knew that if he did, given Luffy's personality, he would definitely want to help Ace. So Ian could only tell him to calm down.
"I don't know the specifics of the Marines' deployment in the Edd War Sea area!" Shakky shook her head. "But I think rushing in like this might be too risky. Your forces are nothing compared to the Marines and Whitebeard."
"I know!" Ian nodded. "That's why I was thinking of going to Fish-Man Island. Maybe I can get Jinbe to join. He has deep ties with the Whitebeard Pirates and won't stand by."
"Sea Knight Jinbe?" Shakky frowned. "But I have some bad news. Two days ago, my intelligence mentioned that Jinbe seems to have been secretly arrested by the Marines!"
"What!?" Ian was startled and stood up. "Was it because he opposed the Marines' attack on the Whitebeard Pirates? But... the Seven Warlords haven't received a summons from the Marines yet..."
Before he could finish, Ian suddenly realized something. He himself was a member of the Seven Warlords. If the Marines had already summoned the Warlords to prepare for battle, he should have been notified. But two days ago, he was at Marine Headquarters, and the Marines hadn't mentioned a word about it.
It seemed that Sengoku had already decided to completely bypass him.
Both Ian and Jinbe were Seven Warlords—one was under house arrest at Marine Headquarters, and the other had been secretly arrested. Their situations were similar, but the difference was that Sengoku hadn't mentioned the summons to Ian, so he had no excuse to arrest him. Jinbe, on the other hand, had been arrested after receiving the summons and opposing the Marines' actions.
The Marines might have still had some expectations for Jinbe, so they asked for his opinion. But Sengoku had no expectations for Ian at all, so he didn't even bother asking.
Realizing this, Ian felt a bit fortunate. Good thing he had gotten intelligence from Kuina and escaped early. Otherwise, the moment Sengoku decided to act, Ian might have been thrown into prison too.
Ian calmed down, sat back in his chair, and began to think rapidly.
If the Marines had already sent out summons to the other Seven Warlords while Ian was under house arrest at Marine Headquarters, then by now, the Warlords willing to come should have arrived at Marine Headquarters.
But not every Warlord would want to get involved. For example, Boa Hancock. Since Luffy hadn't been sent flying to Amazon Lily by Kuma, she probably wouldn't want to come.
However, if he thought about it, the Marines didn't have many Seven Warlords they could use now.
Ian was one, Jinbe and Crocodile were in prison, Doflamingo had sided with Kaido, so the Marines couldn't summon him back. That left only Hawk-Eye Mihawk, Gecko Moria, and Boa Hancock.
Well, maybe Kuma would also be counted as one by the Marines. He was a former Warlord. Even though Kizaru and Aokiji were suspicious of him after today's events, without any evidence, they would probably still include him.
That meant only four Warlords were available. With such a shortage of combat power, the Marines would likely do everything they could to force Boa Hancock to participate. They wouldn't let her stay on Amazon Lily and do nothing. The privileges of being a Warlord weren't free.
In other words, the Marines might threaten Amazon Lily with war.
Was there a way to exploit this? For example, making that war threat a reality and then, while the Marines were attacking Amazon Lily, suddenly striking from behind to weaken their forces?
Or perhaps, he could try to contact Boa Hancock, get her to accept the Marines' summons, and then act as a mole, like in the original timeline?