Chapter 603: Descending from the Sky
When Ian returned to Skypiea, he recounted his encounter with Drake and briefly shared some of the things they had discussed. Everyone was utterly astonished.
Especially Law. When he heard Ian mention that Drake's father had once traded the Surgery Fruit, he immediately realized that he had been indirectly saved by Drake back then, purely by chance.
Moreover, in Ian's pirate crew now, Baby-5 had also been involved in that incident. At the time, she had been tasked with riding on a large water buffalo, eavesdropping on Marine communications from the sky. But back then, she had no idea that the young man rescued by the Marines was Drake; she had always thought it was Law who had been saved.
"Honestly, I never expected you to be that lucky back then!" Baby-5 said to Law, a cigarette dangling from her lips.
Law shot her a dark, murderous glare, instantly scaring Baby-5 into hiding behind Fujitora.
When they were kids, back when Law was still with the Donquixote Pirates, Baby-5 had always been afraid of him. Even though they had both grown up now, seeing that look in his eyes still made her flinch.
Sugar stood beside Fujitora, holding a large bowl of grapes, popping them into her mouth one by one. She had joined the Donquixote Pirates later on and didn't know about their childhood, so she glanced at the two of them curiously before quickly shifting her gaze and starting to chat quietly with Walnut beside her.
Two little girls with the appearance of young lolis had actually become good friends, huddled together, looking quite adorable...
"It's strange..." Robin said, pulling down the brim of her cowboy hat after listening to Ian's story. "Based on the intelligence we've gathered so far, the World Government's experiments on Kaido seem to involve combining the Lineage Factors of multiple races... But what's the point of all this?"
"..." Crocodile wore a sly expression, chewing on his cigar as if pondering something. Seeing this, Ian asked him, "Old Sand, have you noticed something?"
"Stop calling me that!" Crocodile shot Ian a glare, but still replied, "Do you remember how Doflamingo and Gecko Moria suddenly disappeared from the battlefield back then?"
"Of course. Haven't we already analyzed that? Doflamingo probably brought Kaido there!" Ian nodded.
"After Kaido appeared, Doflamingo slipped away instead of joining forces with him to attack us or the Marines!" Crocodile said. "Even though the Marines had summoned him, you should have noticed that he never actively attacked us on the battlefield. And before the Marines even left, he took off on his own. What does that suggest?"
"Maybe he saw that the Marines were losing and decided to leave early?" Konenai suggested.
"No, I think Doflamingo had another purpose for being on that battlefield!" Crocodile shook his head. "Don't forget, Gecko Moria was with Doflamingo the whole time, but afterward, we only found a torn piece of Moria's clothing and a pool of blood. Moria himself was nowhere to be found. Doesn't that mean something happened between Doflamingo and Moria?"
"Haven't we already analyzed this? Doflamingo might have fought Moria!" Reiju said, crossing her arms nearby. "Even though no one saw it, the possibility is high!"
Crocodile grinned and said, "Then have you considered why Doflamingo would attack Moria? Was it his own decision, or was he ordered to do so?"
"Impossible, boss! Who could order Doflamingo around?" Mr. 1 spoke up.
"Who says? At least the World Government could!" Crocodile sneered. "That guy Doflamingo has an unusual relationship with the Celestial Dragons. Even if he lost his Warlord status, the World Government might still strike a deal with him—like having him take out Gecko Moria on the battlefield..."
"But Moria was a Warlord. Wouldn't that be cutting off their own hand?" Fujitora asked, frowning.
"What if Moria's existence posed a threat to the World Government?" Crocodile spread his hands. "I was puzzled before, but if Kaido's immortal body really came from the World Government's experimental plan, then everything becomes clear... Have you considered that Gecko Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit ability could also achieve a similar effect? Though the meaning of 'immortality' differs between the two, there might still be common ground..."
Hearing Crocodile's analysis, everyone shuddered and fell silent.
Indeed, Crocodile's reasoning could very well be true.
Especially for Ian. In his memories, Doflamingo had once mentioned that the immortality surgery of the Surgery Fruit seemed to be the key to the Celestial Dragons' "national treasure"...
If immortality surgery represented eternal life force, then Kaido's immense vitality and Gecko Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit ability to create undead zombies could be linked together.
In Ian's speculation, he had always thought that the Celestial Dragons' national treasure might be related to the ancient weapon Uranus. If the eternal life granted by the immortality surgery could control Uranus, then what was the World Government trying to achieve by studying an experimental subject like Kaido at Punk Hazard?
Were they trying to create an "artificial Uranus"?
The question was: If the Celestial Dragons knew about this experimental plan, did that mean the original ancient weapon Uranus had some kind of problem, forcing the World Government to seek an artificial solution?
Alternatively, if the Celestial Dragons didn't know—meaning the World Government was secretly conducting this plan behind their backs—then things got even more interesting...
Did this mean the World Government was quietly trying to seize power from the Celestial Dragons? Had they grown tired of being seen as puppets of the Celestial Dragons and wanted to go solo?
Whether there was some shady deal between them or their friendship was on the verge of capsizing, Ian felt that either way, things were about to get interesting...
Shaking his head, Ian clapped his hands and said, "Alright, thinking too much about this won't help. We have too little intel. It's already impressive that we've managed to deduce some things. There's no need to rack our brains over this. I've left a way to contact Drake. Whenever he finds out something he can share with me, he will."
Everyone nodded, agreeing that Ian was right. With so little information, further speculation was pointless.
Just then, Zeke ran over, shouting loudly, "Captain, we've arrived! I can already see the giant ship, the 'Gran Tesoro'!"
"Is that so!" Ian smiled and waved his hand. "Alright, everyone, prepare for a descent. We've worked hard for so long; it's finally time for a vacation!"
"Whoo-hoo!!!"
Everyone on the Dragon Hunter Pirates cheered, and even Robin and Reiju clapped and smiled.
Fujitora was especially excited. He had long heard of Tesoro's golden gambling ship. As a gambling enthusiast, he had always wanted to visit it, but unfortunately, back then, he was just a broke old man and couldn't afford it.
But now, things were different. The Dragon Hunter Pirates had a large amount of gold to exchange. Once they cashed it in, the entire crew would become wealthy, allowing them to enjoy themselves to the fullest on the gambling ship.
Soon, the Dragon Hunter Pirates had packed up the gold into five large bundles. Sardine carried one, Dorry carried one, and Ardy carried another. The remaining two were made weightless by Fujitora and carried by Zeke and the others. Seeing this, Ian thought to himself, "Good thing I sent that fool Buggy away earlier with the Impel Down prisoners. If he had come up to Skypiea and seen this gold, with his greedy nature, he'd never leave..."
He wondered if Buggy would still receive an invitation from the World Government to become a Warlord. Regardless, by then, the Buggy Pirates could be considered a subordinate crew under him...
Without thinking too much, Ian saw that everyone was ready and holding balloons. He waved his hand and shouted with vigor, "Let's go!"
Then, spreading his Flame Wings, he leaped off Skypiea first. Behind him, the Dragon Hunter Pirates cheered and jumped down like dumplings, descending toward the massive ship floating on the sea below...