# Chapter 647: All That's Left Is Their Cunning
Burgess was very tall, so as soon as Ian stepped out of the shop, he immediately spotted the man's figure among the crowd.
Ian promptly followed from behind, pulling the hood of his cloak a little lower.
He kept a considerable distance but activated his Psychic Field, sensing every move Burgess made.
Burgess had a huge backpack strapped to his back. It was bulging, stuffed with who knows what, probably weighing no less than several hundred kilograms. Yet Burgess carried it on one shoulder with ease. In his other hand, he held a glass bottle of liquor, striding boldly forward while tilting his head back to gulp down the drink.
After taking a big swig, he wiped the corner of his mouth with satisfaction, let out a pleased sound, and then continued drinking.
Not only was this guy strong and burly, but he was also drinking like a drunkard right on the street. Everyone he bumped into dared not speak out in anger and could only avoid him by stepping aside.
This made Burgess even more smug. Precisely because of this, he never imagined that a tail was following him.
Ian was trailing him for now, not directly confronting Burgess. He wanted to see where Burgess was headed. If he was rushing back to meet up with Teach and the others, that would be even better—Ian could find their hideout directly.
As Burgess walked forward, a little dog suddenly started barking loudly at him, wagging its tail incessantly while staring fixedly at the backpack on his back.
This scene made Ian's mind stir. He quickened his pace to get closer, sniffed the air, and indeed caught a whiff of meat fragrance wafting from the backpack.
This guy came to buy food? Ian guessed.
The barking little dog was kicked flying by Burgess, landing far away with a pitiful whimper. Burgess didn't even glance at it, continuing to walk and drink.
Ian kept observing his movements and noticed that Burgess's drinking was somewhat abnormal—like someone who hadn't had alcohol for a very long time, gulping it down ravenously.
At the same time, Ian was also watching the surroundings, suspecting whether other members of the Blackbeard Pirates might appear to rendezvous with Burgess.
However, to Ian's surprise, Burgess headed straight toward the city's port. Once he arrived at the port, Burgess tossed his backpack onto a small boat, causing it to sink noticeably lower. Then he untied the mooring rope from the shore, leaped onto the boat in one bound, and began rowing the oars to leave.
"This guy is alone!" Ian immediately realized.
What to do? Show himself now, or find a way to continue tracking him from behind?
Continuing to follow would be too easy to expose. On the vast ocean, staying too far would risk losing him, and staying too close—Burgess wasn't stupid, how could he not notice?
It seemed the only option was to track him from the air!
Ian didn't rush. He waited until Burgess had rowed his small boat out to sea for a while before finding a secluded spot, taking off his cloak, and spreading his Flame Wings to fly.
Once airborne, Ian ascended straight to a high altitude, then looked down from above, near the cloud layer, and spotted Burgess's small boat.
Using only the Flame Wings to fly consumed little energy, so Ian could stay at high altitude for a long time. The only problem was that from his perspective, Burgess's small boat was moving far too slowly!
There was no help for it—Burgess's boat wasn't a sailboat. It relied solely on Burgess's extraordinary arm strength to row, so its speed across the sea was naturally very slow.
Ian knew that tracking required patience, so he suppressed his restlessness, hovering silently at high altitude, his eyes fixed on the progress of Burgess's boat. After all this time, Burgess had only just left the port a short distance...
Although Burgess was rowing, he hadn't forgotten about drinking. He would row a few strokes, then reach for the bottle and take a gulp. Precisely because of this, he completely failed to notice Ian, the high-altitude observer. His attention seemed entirely focused on drinking.
Ian looked ahead in the direction Burgess's boat was heading but saw no islands in sight. This troubled him, as he realized that Burgess's distance from the Blackbeard Pirates' hiding spot was probably very far!
This could be inferred from the fact that he was buying so much food at once.
It seemed the Blackbeard Pirates were being very cautious. But that made sense—not only were the Whitebeard Pirates hunting them, but the World Government was also enraged by their attack on the Celestial Dragons and theft of classified documents. At this point, Blackbeard had enemies everywhere. Carelessness was not an option.
At this rate, who knew how many days Burgess would have to row to reach his destination?
Just as Ian was hesitating about whether to use his high-speed flight to scout ahead and see if there were any islands in this direction, his heart suddenly tightened. He twisted his body sharply in midair!
A round object flew past him, grazing his side!
Was that... a bullet!? That was Ian's first reaction. At the same time, he heard the sound of a gunshot reaching his ears!
Because he was at high altitude, although Ian hadn't expected anyone to attack him, he had instinctively kept his Psychic Field active. That was why, when the bullet flew toward him, he sensed it in time and dodged the shot.
Turning his head, Ian looked toward the direction of the Glass Islands!
Judging from the bullet's trajectory, the shot had come from the town behind him!
From the town to Ian's current position was at least several kilometers away. The only person Ian could think of who could accomplish this was the Blackbeard Pirates' sniper, Van Augur!
Damn it! Ian hadn't expected Burgess to actually have accomplices. These guys were too cunning—letting Burgess, who was buying supplies, row away first while Van Augur watched from behind to see if anyone was following him!
Ian instantly understood what was happening. The Blackbeard Pirates' situation must really be dire for them to be so cautious, even having someone provide cover when going out to buy food...
Glancing back at the town, Ian knew that if he went back to look for Van Augur now, it would be very difficult to find him. That guy only needed to blend into the crowd in town and disappear immediately. In a town with so many people, how could Ian possibly locate him?
So, it seemed he had no choice but to capture Burgess!
With this thought, Ian dove straight down toward the sea.
Burgess naturally heard the gunshot. Van Augur was his comrade—how could he not recognize Van Augur's gunfire? The moment the shot rang out, although Burgess hadn't yet seen who Van Augur was attacking, he understood that it was a warning. He hastily threw aside his bottle, turned the boat around, and began rowing back!
He was being followed, which meant the other party wanted to use him to find the Blackbeard Pirates' hiding place. He couldn't continue forward now—that would be equivalent to exposing the direction of their hideout to the enemy.
When they had set out, Teach had specifically instructed them to be extremely careful and not to lead anyone to the hiding spot. So now, Burgess's plan was to go back first, join forces with Van Augur, and take out the tracker.
However, just as he was rowing frantically, the bow of his boat suddenly sank, and a figure landed on it.
Burgess had been somewhat drunk, but the moment the gunshot rang out, he had sobered up. Now, when he saw who had landed on the bow, he was terrified out of his wits!
"D-Damn it! Why is it you!?" Burgess's voice trembled.
He had originally thought the tracker might be some bounty hunter group or pirates greedy for the bounties offered by the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government. But he had never imagined that the person following him was the Blackbeard Pirates' greatest enemy, the most fearsome demon star...
"Burgess!" Ian rested his hand on the Thousand Cherry Blossoms' blade, sneering at him. "Where is your captain, Teach?"
"I don't know! I don't know!!" Burgess was panicking now, shouting repeatedly. He suddenly leaped over the side of the boat and jumped into the water.
He remembered that Ian was a Devil Fruit user and thought he could escape Ian's threat this way.
However, while this method might work against other Devil Fruit users, trying to escape by swimming was simply idiotic in front of Ian!
Ian didn't even bother jumping down to chase him. He simply raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning immediately struck down from the sky, hitting the spot where Burgess had jumped into the water.
With a crackling sound, the lightning spread through the seawater for a moment, and then Burgess's convulsing body floated back up to the surface.
He looked no different from the fish floating belly-up around him, electrocuted by the current...