Chapter 602: The Bystander Sees Clearly
The Supernovas that Ian had saved on Sabaody Archipelago, including Luffy and Zoro, actually numbered seven in total.
Law and Urouge had joined his pirate crew, but Hawkins, Drake, and Scratchmen Apoo had ultimately left.
At the time, Ian hadn't thought much of it. Although these Supernovas had potential, he hadn't expected to recruit all of them. So when Drake and the others left, they left, and Ian didn't dwell on it.
But who would have guessed that this guy Drake was hiding such a huge secret?
If he hadn't happened to run into him again here and saved him once more, and if Drake hadn't needed something from him after Ian had extracted a massive ball of life force from Kaido during the earlier war, then Drake might have kept his secret forever and never mentioned it to him at all...
These Supernovas, called the "Worst Generation," were clearly no pushovers.
"So..." Ian sighed and asked Drake, "You want me to give you back Kaido's life light orb, so you can take it to him, earn his trust, and use that to join the Beast Pirates?"
"Yeah, that's right," Drake nodded. "Because of Kaido, both my father and I went from Marines to pirates, and our lives changed completely. If I don't find out what Kaido's experiment back then really was, I won't rest. Whether it's him or the World Government, I have to uncover the truth! And to get to the truth, I have to get close to Kaido!"
However, Ian shook his head and said, "I understand your thinking, but have you considered this? Even if you take Kaido's life force back, how are you going to explain it? Kaido might be a madman, but he's not an idiot. How could you, of all people, get this from me? And right now, he and I are enemies. If you're connected to me, aren't you afraid that the moment you bring back his life light orb, he'll kill you on the spot?"
"Then... what should I do?" Drake frowned. In truth, the moment he saw Ian, the idea of getting close to Kaido had popped into his head. But now that Ian pointed it out, he realized he might have been overthinking it. Kaido's madman brain didn't work like a normal person's.
"Kaido's life light orb is indeed with me," Ian said as he pulled out the orb.
He had originally wanted to give it to Whitebeard, but Whitebeard had refused to accept it, so Ian could only store it for now. After the war ended, at Whitebeard's headquarters, Ian had tried using it on others. But when he tested it on Luffy, he discovered he had been overthinking things. The life force extracted from someone else couldn't be given to anyone else!
This light orb could only be touched by Ian and the victim himself. If anyone else reached out, their hand would pass right through it.
In other words, the life force extracted by Ian's Soul Extraction had only two uses: destroy it or return it to its original owner. It seemed that in the Great Serpent's card, this skill was still defined as a pure damage ability. He couldn't grant it to others to extend their lives like Big Mom could.
Although this result was somewhat disappointing, Ian could accept it. The Soul Extraction skill was already incredibly overpowered, completely ignoring the opponent's defenses and directly stealing their life force. And if he destroyed it, it would deal massive damage to the enemy. Plus, he could use the Soul Extraction skill on the same enemy multiple times. That meant even someone like Kaido, if Ian got close enough, could have his life force drained continuously.
Since he couldn't give it to others to extend their lives, Ian had kept the orb. Returning it to Kaido was out of the question, but he hadn't crushed it either. He planned to use it the next time he faced Kaido—crush it right in front of him, taking advantage of Kaido's injury and opening to take him down more easily...
To discourage Drake's idea, Ian tossed the orb toward him. Drake scrambled to catch it, but the orb passed right through his palm, leaving him grasping at nothing.
"See?" Ian retrieved the orb and said, "Even if I gave it to you, you couldn't carry it. How would you bring it back?"
Drake looked dejected. He hadn't expected such a limitation.
"But don't worry," Ian said. "There are plenty of ways for you to get close to Kaido. Your bounty is 220 million Berries, and you're a Zoan-type Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit user. Kaido loves collecting talent like you... Of course, if you just go to him directly, he might be suspicious. The best approach is to target his pirate crew. If you can provoke Kaido into coming after you personally, then after you lose, he might give you a chance to join the Beast Pirates..."
"Be defeated by him?" Drake smiled bitterly. "I guess that's the only way. Actually, to be honest, before I met you, that was exactly my plan..."
"Meeting me isn't a bad thing," Ian said with a smile. "If you ever need help in the future, feel free to contact my Dragon Hunter Pirates. To be honest, I'm pretty curious about this so-called truth..."
Ian didn't mention one more thing: he remembered that Kaido still had a red Poneglyph in his possession... Maybe he could use Drake's joining the Beast Pirates to make some kind of move later.
For now, Ian was glad he had used lightning from high above to take out the Beast Pirates' pursuers. If he had appeared in person and been seen saving Drake, it would have made things difficult for Drake later.
After leaving Drake his private Den Den Mushi number, Ian stood up to take his leave.
Drake's crew members had no idea what their captain and Ian had discussed. But since they shared Drake's fortunes, they wouldn't dare leak the details of their meeting to Kaido. Ian gave them a casual glance, then spread his wings and soared into the sky.
Drake and his crew watched Ian's figure disappear into the clouds high above. One pirate said with lingering fear, "I heard the Dragon Hunter Pirates have a Skypiea as their base. Looks like it's true... We're really lucky to have run into that big shot here. If he hadn't shown up, we'd be in a real mess..."
The other pirates nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's a good thing our captain has a connection with him."
"But who knows if this big shot's appearance is a good thing or a bad thing..." another pirate said. "The Dragon Hunter Pirates' strength is already close to that of an Emperor. But the territories in the New World have already been divided up by the Four Emperors. And the concept of the Four Emperors has existed for so many years. People are used to there being four emperors on the sea. If a fifth one appears..."
"The interests of the other Emperors are bound to be affected," another pirate chimed in. "If Ian doesn't expand his influence, it might be fine. But if he does, it will immediately provoke hostility..."
"That's not right!" a pirate objected. "He has a good relationship with the Whitebeard Pirates..."
"His relationship with the Whitebeard Pirates is good, that's true. But what about the other Emperors?" someone argued. "At the very least, Big Mom and Kaido won't just sit by and watch him rise, right?"
Just then, Drake suddenly spoke up. "Enough. Stop talking. These matters are far beyond us. Set sail immediately!"
Despite saying that, Drake knew his crew's discussion was valid.
Although the Whitebeard Pirates had won the war against the Marines and prevented the balance of the Four Emperors from being broken, Ian's appearance had quietly planted a seed of instability on this sea.
He no longer held the title of Warlord. His current identity was just a pirate. But this awkward, in-between position couldn't last forever.
Maybe Ian himself hadn't realized it yet, but the bystander sees clearly. Many people had already understood that no matter how Ian and his Dragon Hunter Pirates ultimately chose—whether by defeating an Emperor to take their place or by becoming the fifth Emperor—it would trigger massive upheaval in the New World...
This was beyond his control...