Chapter 648: Burgess's Death
Paddling the oars, Ian rowed the small boat over to Burgess's side. He leaned down, grabbed Burgess by the foot from the edge of the gunwale, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed him onto the boat.
Burgess had been completely knocked unconscious by the lightning. Now that Ian had activated the five-star Trunks card, which granted a passive doubling of attack power, even a casual, effortless bolt of lightning could unleash power comparable to Enel's sixty million volts. After being knocked out, Burgess had also unconsciously swallowed a fair amount of seawater.
So, after Ian threw him onto the boat and saw he wasn't waking up, he directly stomped on his stomach!
Simple and crude, but effective! Burgess's entire body curled up like a shrimp from the stomp, and he coughed up a mouthful of seawater, finally regaining consciousness.
"Where is Teach?" Ian stepped on Burgess, asking coldly.
"Cough, cough!" Burgess coughed, speaking with difficulty, "I... I won't tell!"
Ian shook his head and said, "Stubborn? Don't forget, you're just a pirate, not some great figure who can face death with dignity. What good does keeping a secret do you?"
Burgess's eyes, hidden under his hood, darted around, but he didn't speak. He turned his head away, looking completely uncooperative.
"Do you think I can't find Teach just because you won't tell me?" Ian sneered, drawing Thousand Cherry Blossoms. He used the tip of the blade to pry open the bag of food Burgess had left on the boat, and with a clatter, the contents spilled out.
"Let me see... Hmm, dried meat, canned goods, hard-skinned fruit. These can be stored for quite a while..." Ian examined the food as he spoke. "To prevent spoilage, you didn't bring anything perishable. But judging by the boat you came on, your Blackbeard Pirates' hideout can't be more than five days' travel from this island. If it were farther, you'd have taken a larger boat. Am I right?"
When Burgess heard Ian's analysis, his body trembled slightly. Although he quickly controlled his body and expression, Ian, who had a foot on him, still felt the tremor and became even more confident in his judgment.
"Five days is the maximum estimate, but I think it's no more than three days," Ian continued slowly. "Since they sent you and Van Augur out to buy food, it means your current food supplies are running low. If it took you five days to get back, Teach and the others would probably go hungry... Don't doubt me; I've been on the Whitebeard Pirates' ship and seen how much that guy can eat!"
The muscles on Burgess's face twitched.
"Given the speed of your little boat, three days' travel means no more than a thousand nautical miles," Ian pressed on, analyzing point by point, gradually shattering Burgess's mental defenses. "You know I can fly. If I use this island as a center and search all the islands within a thousand nautical miles, I'll find your hideout. But if I do that, you'll be useless, and I'll just chop you up and feed you to the Sea Kings..."
Burgess couldn't hold back any longer and shouted at Ian, "So what!? Even if I tell you, you're not going to spare my life, are you!?"
"Of course not!" Ian said bluntly. "You have to die! But if you talk, I might let you die a quick death, as a reward for saving me some trouble."
Back when he caught the Blackbeard Pirates in Alabasta, Ian had already decided to kill them. It was only because Ace insisted on taking them back for Whitebeard to deal with that Ian let them go. But now that they'd fallen into his hands again, no one could stop Ian.
Burgess never expected Ian to be so straightforward. For a moment, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go! If you want to get information out of me, you should at least try to trick me a little!
Faced with this situation, Burgess didn't know how to respond.
Just then, a blue-purple flame suddenly flickered to life in Ian's left hand. He gently shook his hand, and the flame swayed with the motion.
"See this? You probably know a bit about my abilities, but let me explain in detail," Ian said with a smile to Burgess. "Most of my powers aren't useful for torture, but this flame is the only exception. It has a special effect: it freezes a person's perception of time. So, when I light this flame on you, your body will be quickly consumed and burned away, but from your perspective, it will be an extremely slow process. The slowed time perception will make you witness every inch of your skin, every piece of flesh, and even every bone being erased. But the pain of the burning will be transmitted to your mind and nerves without any reduction. What would normally be a second of agony will last for an hour, or even over ten hours..."
"Tsk, tsk!" Ian shook his head, feeling it was inhumane himself. "I've only used this move once before, to burn down the Celestial Dragons' houses in Mary Geoise. This will be the first time I've used it on a person."
Ian was referring to the special skill of the Iori card, the Eight Wine Cups. He had been planning to swap out this card, but since he hadn't found a suitable replacement yet, it was still equipped in his card slot. Now, it was perfect for interrogating Burgess.
As Ian described it, Burgess felt a chill run down his spine. Over ten hours of agony—he couldn't imagine what that would be like. He thought Ian might just be trying to scare him, but he didn't dare take the risk!
He didn't dare gamble on whether Ian was telling the truth...
"Ah, right!" Ian suddenly remembered. "I have another trick! Let me give you a taste first!"
Before Burgess could react, Ian raised Thousand Cherry Blossoms and slashed it across Burgess's chest!
With a *pfft*, Burgess's robust physique and abundant blood meant that when Ian cut a gash over ten centimeters long across his chest, blood spurted high into the air.
Burgess hadn't expected Ian to attack without warning. Seeing his own blood spray out and feeling the sharp pain in his chest, he couldn't help but scream in agony.
But the next second, Ian placed his hand over the wound on Burgess's chest. The glow of the Twin Heaven Return Shield slowly emanated, and Burgess's wound gradually began to close.
Before long, Burgess's bleeding stopped, and his chest was smooth, with no trace of Ian's cut.
"Th-this..." Burgess was dumbfounded.
"See?" Ian smiled, stepping on him from above. "I can cut you hundreds of times, then heal you, then cut you hundreds more times. As long as I don't kill you, I can bring you back. But then you'll have to face the horror of being sliced into a thousand pieces. I hope you can hold on and not go mad..."
"M-monster!!" Burgess trembled. When the Blackbeard Pirates had encountered Ian before, most of Ian's attention was on Teach, and he hadn't paid much attention to Burgess. This led Burgess to underestimate Ian, only knowing he was incredibly strong—even their captain Teach couldn't handle him. But now, facing Ian alone, he realized just how terrifying Ian truly was.
"So, are you ready to talk now?" Ian asked, lightly tracing the tip of Thousand Cherry Blossoms across Burgess's chest.
This malicious act of tracing little cuts on his chest made Burgess's hair stand on end. The cold, icy blade sent chills through him, making every hair on his body stand up...
"I... I..." Burgess wavered. As Ian had said, the Blackbeard Pirates were true pirates; loyalty had nothing to do with them.
Every day on this sea, countless pirates emerged. Some were newly formed, but many others had taken over by killing their previous captains. Greed and betrayal were commonplace for pirates.
If Teach had succeeded in his original plan to ambush the Whitebeard Pirates and steal the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to become an Emperor, then Burgess and the others might have been loyal to him, because such a Teach would have the power to dominate them.
But now, thanks to Ian's interference, Teach had been playing on hell mode from the start.
Not only had Ian killed him once before he even betrayed the Whitebeard Pirates, but even after becoming a Warlord, Teach hadn't enjoyed a few days of glory. He had to turn back halfway to Impel Down, failed to recruit his original crew, and suffered a massive weakening of his forces. Now, both the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government were hunting them. Though they were famous, their situation hadn't improved; it was still extremely difficult.
Being a pirate this miserably, having to sneak around just to buy food—how could that be a good life?
So Burgess and the others harbored some resentment. Now, with Ian pressing him step by step, Burgess was wondering whether to keep being so stubborn.
"Maybe Van Augur has already used the Den Den Mushi to notify the captain to move..." Burgess thought. "So, even if I tell him, it shouldn't be a big deal..."
Just as Burgess could no longer bear the psychological terror and was about to speak, suddenly, with a *bang*, a large amount of blood spurted from his temple!
Burgess's expression froze instantly. His eyes rolled back, and his entire body went limp.
Dead...
Ian stared at Burgess in shock, hearing a gunshot in the distance.
Van Augur! Ian immediately understood. He had actually shot his own crewmate first!
Ian had thought Van Augur would warn Burgess and then run off to hide. He never expected him to be so bold, secretly observing and, upon seeing Burgess captured, killing him to prevent him from revealing the crew's location!
Damn, that's even more ruthless than me!
Ian reacted quickly. As soon as Burgess was shot, he grabbed his steel arm guard. With a flash of lightning, he melted the guard into a small iron ball. Then, based on his memory of the bullet's trajectory, he fired a super electromagnetic cannon directly!
This was basic counter-sniper protocol: attack the original direction before the sniper can change position.
With increased attack power and a larger projectile, Ian's super electromagnetic cannon could now hit targets at much greater distances. Of course, that was only if he could see them. Van Augur's position was too far away, and Ian didn't have the long-range vision aids he had. But from the angle, to shoot Burgess, who was low on the boat, Van Augur would have to be at a high point. Ian fired his super electromagnetic cannon at a slight upward angle, so he didn't have to worry about hitting civilians in the town.
With a massive sonic boom, the small iron ball turned into a blazing white streak, splitting the sea surface and shooting diagonally toward a tall glass tower in the town.
On top of the tower, Van Augur, with a sniper scope over one eye, was about to head downstairs to leave. But he hadn't expected Ian's counterattack to come so fast. When the blazing white light shot toward him, Van Augur didn't hesitate. He didn't bother with the stairs; he leaped straight off the high tower!
*Boom!* Ian's super electromagnetic cannon directly destroyed the top of the tower. The massive explosion sent countless shards of glass flying, causing the townspeople who saw it to scream in terror.
Van Augur, in his haste to jump, twisted his ankle upon landing. But he couldn't afford to care about the pain. He struggled to get up and limped into a nearby alley.
Sure enough, as he turned and ducked into the alley, a roar sounded, and Ian flew at supersonic speed to the destroyed tower, searching for his trail.
Seeing Ian's entire body wreathed in golden aura, Van Augur's heart tightened. In the time they hadn't seen each other, Ian's strength had become even more terrifying! How could his flight speed be so fast? He'd just attacked, and he was already here!
Captain, Captain, how did you ever get tangled up with this guy?
Van Augur hid in the dark corner of the street, trying to steady his heartbeat. He knew that with his twisted ankle, he couldn't move well. If he tried to run, he'd be easily spotted. So now, he could only pray that the spot he'd chosen wouldn't be noticed by Ian.
At that moment, Ian was frowning. Although he had arrived at the scene immediately and activated his Psychic Field, the townspeople, drawn by the destruction of the tower and his appearance, were gathering one by one. They didn't dare come close, only watching from a distance, but their presence was indeed interfering with his perception...