# Chapter 634: Ian's Marriage
Akainu and Kizaru's speculation was not wrong. Given Arest's location, by the time he could reach Gran Tesoro, it would be far too late.
At this moment, not far from the Gran Tesoro, a Marine warship was drifting on the sea.
This was the only property Aokiji had taken with him when he left the Marines, and the Marines hadn't argued with him over it. However, Aokiji had long since removed the Marine insignia from the ship, yet he hadn't hung any other flag either. Now this ship was neither a warship, nor a pirate ship, nor a merchant vessel—it looked rather nondescript.
On this warship were several other Marine officers. These were people who had left the Marines together with Aokiji. Ian looked at them and felt a vague sense of familiarity, probably having seen them back at Marine Headquarters in Marineford. But Ian didn't know their names, so when he saw them, he only nodded and didn't pay them much attention.
However, these officers were extremely surprised when they saw Ian and his group, along with Perospero and Katakuri, boarding the ship. They never imagined that such a collection of people would end up together.
Ian and his group had hitched a ride on Aokiji's ship, but they hadn't sailed far. They stopped nearby, and everyone stood on the deck, watching the boats streaming out of Gran Tesoro like ants fleeing their nest, feeling a sense of melancholy.
Just a few dozen minutes ago, the Golden City had been a bustling city that never slept, where people indulged in luxury and enjoyed an unparalleled extravagant life. But in the blink of an eye, they were abandoning it as if fleeing a disaster.
No wonder people said that splendor was like passing clouds—there was indeed truth to it.
And Ian, the culprit who had caused all this, looked up at the sky, hands behind his back, and said with a deep expression: "Life is full of disappointments, nine out of ten times..."
Enel and Urouge exchanged speechless glances, feeling that Ian was quite a schemer. If Tesoro heard this fake, pretentious sigh, would he spit blood?
Kuina, however, understood Ian's personality well. She couldn't help but recall the time back in Shimotsuki Village when Ian had pranked Zoro, and she couldn't help but chuckle.
Perospero and Katakuri were disgusted by Ian's pretentious behavior. Now that the money was in hand and the tea party invitation had been delivered to Ian, they didn't want to stay on this warship a moment longer. So they urged Ian to quickly divide the spoils so everyone could go home.
"Uncultured!" Ian was annoyed by their interruption of his moment, so he looked down on them, but he still led everyone to the gold chests they had carried out.
With so much money, plus the weight of the gold chests, Aokiji's warship had its waterline pressed down significantly. It hadn't been necessary to go through all this trouble—Ian could have simply recharged the money and taken it out—but he hadn't done so.
Apart from needing to give Perospero and Katakuri their share, and not being able to explain the missing money, Ian also felt that he probably didn't need to recharge too much.
These 500 billion Berry were a massive fortune. Using all of it for recharging would be too wasteful. Ian felt that even if he recharged 50 billion Berry, the diamonds he obtained would be enough for his expenses for a long time.
So he planned to use this money for other things.
The first thing was to allocate some funds to set up a proper research laboratory for Waldo. Although Waldo had clashed with Ian before, that was in the past. Since following Ian, he had come into contact with some ancient Moon People technology, as well as Germa technology obtained from Reiju, and later even Vegapunk's Pacifista. For a scientist like Waldo, Ian was like a huge treasure trove that always brought surprises, so now he was completely loyal to Ian as his boss.
Ian was never stingy with his own people. Waldo had been working on analyzing Vegapunk's Pacifista, hoping that one day he could create his own Pacifista. However, the laboratory designated for Waldo at the Barron Gray Terminal in Skypiea had always been small-scale, lacking many facilities. So Ian felt it was necessary to use this money to purchase equipment for Waldo and truly establish his laboratory.
Research facilities like this were always expensive, requiring continuous investment to produce results.
Besides establishing the research institute, Ian also planned to give some funds to Aokiji.
Kuina was his sister, and Ian certainly didn't want to see her roughing it with Aokiji. Before leaving the Marines, Aokiji and the other Marine Admirals had everything supplied by the Marines. But now that Aokiji had left the Marines, he no longer received such support. The people on this ship couldn't just go without food and drink, could they? And all of this required money.
So Ian felt he should not only give Aokiji a share but also give him more. If possible, Ian even wanted to see Aokiji use these funds to recruit troops and establish a new Marine force.
Whether it was Aokiji or Kuina, Ian could see that their Marine dreams had not been extinguished.
With Ian, Luffy, and even the Supernovas constantly becoming active, and the Revolutionary Army gradually emerging from the shadows, this world would become increasingly turbulent. The arrival of a new era was unstoppable—it was a historical trend. This trend might be delayed or accelerated by certain people, but it would come eventually.
Pirates, Marines, Revolutionary Army—no one knew what kind of chemical reaction these three forces would ultimately produce. But Ian didn't believe that under the decaying World Government's leadership, the Marines could accomplish much. Perhaps one day, when the World Government collapsed under the Revolutionary Army's assault, the Marines would fall with it.
At that time, the force represented by Aokiji and Kuina might be able to reappear before the world under the name of the Marines once again.
Of course, these premonitions were vague, and Ian himself couldn't say exactly what would happen. But people have intuition, and Ian's intuition told him he should do this.
And since he was giving funds to Aokiji, he naturally couldn't play favorites with the Revolutionary Army. Ian also planned to provide some military funds to them. For some reason, Ian always felt that Dragon's sudden appearance at Gran Tesoro this time might have been specifically to find him. It was just unexpected that before he could find Ian, that old hag Bakkin recognized him, ultimately causing this commotion.
Ian was temporarily staying here now, waiting to see if Dragon would come.
How could that guy Tesoro possibly be a match for Dragon? After all, Dragon was from the same era as Aokiji! Comparing him to Aokiji made it clear that Dragon's strength was at least at the Marine Admiral level!
And as the leader of a force that could shake the world, Ian didn't mind estimating his strength even higher...
So he wasn't worried about Dragon's situation at all. The battle between the Revolutionary Army and the World Government intelligence agents in the Golden City would probably end soon. Tesoro might try to stop the Revolutionary Army from destroying his ships, but if he was unlucky enough to encounter Dragon, he'd probably get beaten up again...
Taking out 25 billion Berry in cash, Ian handed it to Perospero and Katakuri.
Since he had made a promise, Ian didn't intend to go back on it, even though his side's strength could easily take down Perospero and Katakuri. As he had said before, most of the time, Ian was willing to follow the rules. But if someone didn't follow the rules, they couldn't blame him—Tesoro was a case in point.
Fortunately, Perospero and Katakuri didn't cause any trouble. After receiving 25 billion Berry, they were quite satisfied and felt that cooperating with Ian had been pleasant. So Katakuri reached out and shook Ian's hand, saying: "This gift will definitely make Mama very happy... So, I hope to see you at Mama's tea party. I'll show you around Whole Cake Island then."
"Oh..." Ian didn't say much, just nodded. In fact, he still hadn't decided whether to go or not.
Katakuri and Perospero jumped onto a small boat they had seized nearby and quickly left.
However, after they had distanced themselves from Ian's ship, Perospero said to Katakuri: "My dear brother, is it really okay not to mention to Ian that Mama intends to marry Smoothie to him?"
Katakuri shook his head and said: "You have to understand, Peros brother, if we had mentioned this when handing over the invitation, Ian would have beaten us both up right then and there!"
"Did you see that future?" Perospero asked.
"Yes!" Katakuri said with certainty: "Although it was blurry, that was indeed the case. And we would have had no power to fight back, because both your and my abilities are completely suppressed by Ian..."
"Indeed..." Perospero fell silent, then said: "But speaking of which, this is really a marvelous thing. Look, Mama's Prometheus and Zeus are exactly one lightning and one fire. The power Ian has displayed is also these two types. If Ian appears on Whole Cake Island, Prometheus and Zeus might really like him... Plus his unique ability to extract souls, no wonder Mama is so interested in him..."
"So, do you think Mama really wants to form a marriage alliance with Ian this time, or does she intend to obtain Ian's ability?" Katakuri suddenly asked.
"...Probably both!" Perospero thought for a moment and said: "If it can be achieved through peaceful means, that would naturally be best. After all, Mama has always been concerned about the Dragon Hunter Pirates' giant Sardine. For Mama, who has always wanted to mend relations with the Giant Tribe, Ian is definitely her most important opportunity!"
"But what if Ian refuses this marriage?" Katakuri asked: "If Mama brings this up at the tea party and Ian refuses, and Mama gets angry, then everything will be ruined..."
Perospero had a headache. He didn't know how to solve this problem now. If it wasn't handled properly, it might really lead to a confrontation between the Big Mom Pirates and the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
Maybe he should advise Mama not to be too hasty about this matter when they return?...