# Chapter 598: Drake's Request
In the New World, a saying had always circulated: pirates who came here either challenged the Four Emperors or submitted to them.
Because across the entire sea of the New World, the Four Emperors had already divided up all the territories. A group of proud, ambitious Supernova rookies, after crossing the Red Line and entering the New World, would inevitably come into conflict with the Four Emperors' forces over issues of interest. Bounties exceeding a hundred million Berry, along with confidence in their own strength, led these Supernova newcomers to first choose to challenge the Four Emperors rather than submit.
However, the cruelty of reality would strike them down hard...
About a week ago, Drake had led his pirate crew onto a winter island in the New World, but that island turned out to be one of Emperor Kaido's territories, with Beast Pirates stationed there.
The leader was a guy who looked like some kind of cyborg. When he saw Drake, he immediately issued a warning.
But Drake completely ignored the warning and directly took him down.
This behavior successfully drew the attention of the Beast Pirates, and then his troubles began. The Beast Pirates sent retaliatory forces, and over the course of an entire week, Drake's crew was hunted down several times, with each wave of pursuers growing stronger.
The island they had seized was no longer safe, so Drake had no choice but to take his crew out to sea and flee. However, what he hadn't expected was that shortly after setting sail, another group of Beast Pirate pursuers had already locked onto them, and this time, the leaders were three Division Commander-level figures of considerable strength.
Drake fought them, but found that two fists were no match for four hands, so he had to fight while retreating. As they reached this sea area, the sound of cannon fire happened to reach the sky island above, where Ian heard it.
Originally, Ian didn't have much feeling about Drake as a person. Although his Devil Fruit ability being an Ancient Zoan was quite unique, Ian had never really interacted with Drake, so they weren't familiar. The only time they had met was back on Sabaody Archipelago, when Ian had saved Drake, and Drake had just said a few words of thanks before leaving.
So when Ian saw Drake's pirate ship, he initially didn't want to bother with it. However, when he saw that the ships behind them belonged to the Beast Pirates, Ian immediately changed his mind.
Floating high in the air, Ian's entire body radiated traces of lightning. He raised his hand and summoned a mass of black thunderclouds into the sky!
This was a weakened version of Final Lightning Strike. When Ian felt it was enough, he swung his hand down, and several thunderbolts appeared out of nowhere in the sky, carrying dazzling electric light as they struck directly at the five Beast Pirate ships below!
The Beast Pirates' attention was all focused on Drake's fleeing ship ahead, so they hadn't noticed the sky at all. When five massive bolts of lightning descended unexpectedly, simultaneously striking their ships, they still hadn't processed what was happening.
Boom! In a tremendous roar, the Beast Pirate ships struck by Ian's lightning instantly shattered into fragments amidst a flash of white light. The moment those fragments scattered, they were charred black by the electricity, while the Beast Pirate members on board were directly roasted...
The three leading Beast Pirate Division Commanders, though tough enough to survive, fell into the sea along with their destroyed ships. As Devil Fruit users, falling into the water meant certain death, especially since they were unconscious when they hit the water.
The pirates of Drake's crew stared dumbfounded at the scene, equally unable to process what had happened. They had only seen several bolts of lightning fall, and then the pursuing Beast Pirates were completely annihilated.
But Drake reacted quickly, looking up at the sky, and immediately spotted Ian flying high above!
Those enormous black Flame Wings were so striking that they were impossible to ignore. Such wings had practically become synonymous with Black Dragon Ian, so even though Drake couldn't clearly see Ian's face, he immediately understood who he had encountered.
After watching all the Beast Pirate ships sink, Ian slowly descended and came to hover above Drake's ship.
"Ah! It's... it's Black Dragon Ian!"
When they realized who it was, the pirates of Drake's crew were terrified. After letting out a startled cry, they didn't dare make another sound, nervously looking up at Ian.
Drake placed his hand on his chest and bowed to Ian before speaking: "Lord Ian, this is the second time you've saved me..."
Ian landed on their deck, retracted his wings, and asked: "You've got some nerve. Are you that eager to challenge Kaido?"
"..." Drake looked around, then gestured to Ian and said: "Could we speak privately?"
Ian was taken aback. Drake's expression suggested he had something he wanted to discuss alone, but that was strange. Ian didn't think he and Drake had the kind of relationship that warranted a private conversation!
Saving Drake's crew had just been a casual act on Ian's part. He had originally planned to say a few words and then leave, but he hadn't expected Drake to invite him for a private talk.
Driven by curiosity, Ian thought it over briefly and then nodded in agreement. He followed Drake into the cabin of his ship. The surrounding pirates looked at Ian with awe, knowing that their captain had something to discuss with this great figure, so none of them dared to approach.
Once they reached the captain's quarters, Ian didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down on a sofa and said: "Alright, no one's here now. If you have something to say, go ahead."
Drake took a deep breath and said: "Forgive my presumption. I never expected to run into you here. In fact, I was originally planning to seek you out and find your crew, but I didn't know where your base was..."
"Oh? Seeking me out specifically?" Ian rubbed his chin with interest and asked: "What do you want from me?"
"This..." Drake hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke: "I watched the live broadcast of the New Edd War battle."
"Oh..." Ian responded, waiting for him to continue.
"If I'm not mistaken, that ball of light you pulled out of Kaido's body was his soul power, or rather, his lifespan, wasn't it?" Drake said.
"What does that have to do with you?" Ian asked with a frown.
"I don't know what you did with that lifespan," Drake said, his expression tense as he stared intently at Ian, his eyes somewhat eager.
"What business is that of yours?" Ian said, somewhat annoyed.
Seeing that Ian was getting angry, Drake quickly waved his hands and said: "Please don't misunderstand! I have no intention of prying into your abilities. I just want to know if Kaido's lifespan power is still in your hands. If it is, could you please... please give it to me!?"
When Ian heard this, a dangerous glint flickered in his eyes. He looked at Drake with a half-smile and slowly said: "Oh? Do you intend to use this to threaten Kaido? Or do you want to take Kaido's lifespan from me and use it as a ticket to curry favor with him and join the Beast Pirates?"
In Ian's memory, Drake had indeed ended up joining the Beast Pirates later on. Ian didn't know what had happened to him, but if Drake couldn't withstand this Beast Pirate pursuit and was already leaning toward joining Kaido, it wasn't impossible.
But if he thought he could take something from Ian to ingratiate himself with Kaido, he was sorely mistaken!
Feeling the murderous intent gradually emanating from Ian, Drake realized that his words had seriously caused a misunderstanding. If he didn't explain himself quickly, Ian might attack him in the next moment.
Drake was self-aware enough to know that if Ian wanted to wipe out his crew, it would be effortless. He wouldn't even be able to resist.
So, after thinking it over, Drake gritted his teeth and decided to lay all his cards on the table.
"Lord Ian, I'm sure you've heard of me!" Drake said. "Although I'm a pirate now, many people call me the Fallen Marine Rear Admiral..."
Ian nodded. He had indeed heard of Drake's nickname.
Seeing that Ian was patient enough to listen, Drake breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued: "That's right. Before I became a pirate, I was indeed a Marine Rear Admiral. But what you might not know is that the unit I served in was the Marine Science Unit..."