Chapter 646: Traces of the Blackbeard Pirates
Flying at high speed, Ian didn't take long to follow the Log Pose to his first destination.
The Glass Archipelago was a country consisting of one main island and four subsidiary islands. Though small in area, its commerce was quite prosperous.
Beneath the sea surrounding this country, high-quality quartz sand deposits were abundant. The residents mined these quartz from the seabed and smelted them into various glass products. Over the past two hundred years, the country's glass craftsmanship had become exceptional, selling well throughout the New World.
When Ian descended from the sky and landed on the island, he discovered that the residents' buildings were actually glass houses. Skilled artisans among them could even blow an entire house using glass-blowing techniques!
Ian happened to witness such a scene and was utterly stunned. He felt these people were incredibly impressive—without any steel frame structure, they could create round glass houses.
Moreover, these blown glass houses weren't as fragile as Ian had imagined. Some tempered glass was even harder than rock.
Of course, these glass houses were opaque, as people needed privacy. The glass used for building houses was colored, each piece a different hue. The entire small town was filled with these colorful glass houses, creating an absolutely stunning landscape. When sunlight shone down, the city became a rainbow city.
Ian had come here mainly to purchase a large quantity of glass test tubes, beakers, Florence flasks, and other experimental supplies from the procurement list. These items could naturally be bought at their best in this Glass Country.
Upon landing, Ian deactivated his Super Saiyan state, retracted his Flame Wings, and even put on a cloak.
This was because Ian noticed that the Glass Country, Glass, seemed to be one of the World Government's member states. The World Government's flag was hung in the towns.
However, there were no Marines stationed in this country. This was likely due to its geographical location—the Marines' sphere of influence couldn't reach here. So, despite being a World Government member state, Glass had to form its own military.
After all, this country was wealthy...
Ian initially thought there might be problems. Such a wealthy country, without Marine presence, even with its own military, would probably struggle to deal with the endless stream of pirates. But as Ian walked through the streets, he found the place quite peaceful. The people's expressions were cheerful, not gloomy.
Only after going deeper did Ian see a flag and suddenly understood.
That flag belonged to the Red Hair Pirates... meaning this country was under the protection of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks!
That made sense, Ian thought. In the New World, which country could escape the influence of the Four Emperors?
Glass had acted quite cleverly. They hung the World Government's flag at the outermost area, while the Red Hair Pirates' flag was placed deeper inside the town. This way, they received the Four Emperors' protection while also satisfying the World Government.
However, Ian estimated that even without Marine presence in such World Government member states, CP intelligence agents would be hidden among them. He was here for procurement and didn't want to attract their attention, so he wore a cloak while walking through the city.
In this country, Ian's eyes were truly opened. The residents' use of glass was beyond imagination—if you could think of it, they could make it!
Ian even saw someone wearing clothes made of glass! It was a garment crafted from soft colored glass. As the person moved, the glass deformed accordingly, quite interesting.
Not just clothes, but also glass hats, glass bikinis, glass shoes. They even rode glass bicycles. A group of children ran happily past Ian, holding a string of glass balloons...
The people of this country were utterly obsessed with glass products.
When Ian found the largest glass product store in town and entered, the shopkeeper quickly greeted him. Ian handed over the list, and the shopkeeper immediately said there was no problem—these were all common items with plenty in stock. However, gathering them would take some time, so he asked Ian to wait.
While waiting, Ian began browsing the other glass products in the store.
There was a type of fruit glass that was quite interesting—various fruit-shaped products made of glass. Ian not only saw common fruits but also lifelike Devil Fruit-shaped glass items.
Ian marveled, picking them up one by one to examine. The craftsmanship was exquisite, giving a sense of realism that could fool the eye.
Ian saw a bunch of glass grapes made from purple-tinted red glass. This bunch wasn't molded as a single piece; each grape was individual, connected by soft glass vines. They looked smooth and fresh, almost identical to real grapes, making one's mouth water.
"If I buy this for Sugar, she'll definitely be fooled, right?" Ian thought, his mischievous side acting up, and decided to buy it.
Since he was buying for Sugar, he had to get one for Walnut too. So Ian found a glass walnut.
Besides fruits, what amazed Ian most were the glass statues in the store. There were statues of the three Marine Admirals—Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji—as well as the Four Emperors. Ian picked up Whitebeard Old Man's glass statue and examined it closely, finding the carving incredibly accurate, even the muscle lines were precise.
"Is the customer interested in the Four Emperors' statues?" the shopkeeper, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, asked with a smile as he came out.
"Is it really okay to make and sell these statues?" Ian asked in surprise.
"Of course it is!" the middle-aged man laughed heartily. "Actually, not just the three Marine Admirals, the Four Emperors also have many admirers. In this Great Pirate Era, it's not strange at all. These glass statues sell very well here—I move tens of thousands of them every year!"
"Tsk, I've learned something new!" Ian exclaimed in admiration.
"But customer, if you want to buy one, let me recommend another!" The middle-aged man took out a different statue from the cabinet. "This is a new product!"
The moment Ian saw the statue, his eyes nearly popped out!
Because the statue was of him!
The middle-aged man said proudly, "See this? It's the statue of the Seven Warlord Black Dragon Ian. The Flame Wings are mixed with black crystal, using a wire-drawing technique to create the flame effect. The pose is from the Battle of New Edd War. It's the best-selling item in the store now. Many big merchants buy in bulk. Definitely worth collecting!"
If Ian weren't sure the man hadn't recognized him, he would have thought he was being flattered!
But... damn, this feeling was really awesome!
Ian never imagined that his image would one day be made into souvenirs for sale. At that moment, Ian found this middle-aged man incredibly agreeable...
Suppressing his wildly excited, secretly smug heart, Ian picked up the statue, pretending to examine it, and said, "Hmm, not bad. It really looks like me. I'll take it!"
"Alright! I'll wrap it up for you, customer!" The middle-aged man turned around cheerfully.
Meanwhile, Ian happily examined his own glass statue. As the shopkeeper said, the Flame Wings behind the statue were beautifully made. At first glance, they looked like real burning flames.
Ian kept rotating the statue, looking at it from all angles. But then, he suddenly paused.
The Flame Wings had a black base, so they were reflective. Just now, as Ian looked, he saw the reflection of what was behind him in the black wings. A very familiar figure walked past the store's entrance.
When Ian saw this figure, his heart skipped a beat.
Because that person was "Champion" Burgess of the Blackbeard Pirates!
Once he realized this, Ian immediately put down the statue and said to the middle-aged man, "Wrap it up for me. I'll come back for it!"
Then, without waiting for the shopkeeper's reaction, he chased after him.
Damn it, I've finally found traces of them!
Since the Blackbeard Pirates attacked Mary Geoise and escaped, they had seemed to vanish recently. There had been no news about them at all.
Although the Whitebeard Pirates had also deployed people to search for Teach and his crew, the sea was vast. Especially since these guys knew their situation was extremely dangerous, they were deliberately hiding their tracks, making it very difficult to find them.
But Ian never expected that while here for procurement, he would accidentally run into Burgess!
There was no way he was letting this guy get away...