Chapter 682: The Wound Problem
While Ian and Arest were fighting, Katakuri not far away was having a low conversation with Big Mom.
"Mom, what exactly is going on with that Arest?" Katakuri asked her. "He gives me the feeling, like with Brûlée, of having a dual personality..."
"I don't know either!" Big Mom said, her face dark. "But I have heard rumors that Father Arest fights like a bloodthirsty wolf. Seeing it now, it seems to be true."
"So what do we do? Should we step in and stop them?" Perospero asked from the side. "They're both fighting for real now. If one of them gets killed, it won't be good for us either way..."
Perospero was right. If Arest were killed by Ian, then regardless of the circumstances, this newly appointed Marine Admiral would have been killed on Big Mom Pirates' turf. They would be implicated. Although the Big Mom Pirates weren't afraid of the Marines, if the Marines were determined to retaliate, it would still be a headache.
Similarly, if Ian were accidentally killed by Arest, it would also be troublesome. Didn't they see Smoothie looking so worried? That was Mom's chosen son-in-law, after all...
In short, in Katakuri and Perospero's view, these two fighting on Whole Cake Island was absolutely not a good thing.
However, after thinking it over, Big Mom made a decision that surprised them. "No, let them fight. And the fiercer, the better!"
"Huh!?" Katakuri and Perospero were very confused.
Big Mom explained in a low voice, "That old bastard Arest dared to hide the fact that he became a Marine Admiral. He deserves to die. But I don't think he can beat that kid Ian. Don't forget, Ian even crippled Akainu's hands. Arest can't be stronger than Akainu, can he? If Ian kills him here, then when the Marines seek revenge, most of their spearhead will be aimed at his Dragon Hunter Pirates. The Dragon Hunter Pirates aren't strong enough to fight the entire Marines yet. That way, he'll have no choice but to rely on the power of our Big Mom Pirates!"
"I see. Mom, you want to use the Marines' hand to push Ian over to our side?" Perospero realized. "But even so, he might not necessarily side with us. There's still the Whitebeard Pirates, isn't there?"
However, Big Mom glared at Perospero and said, "So what about the Whitebeard Pirates? Ian didn't join them, did he? But we're different. As long as Smoothie marries him smoothly, he'll be family in our Big Mom Pirates. Would that old man Whitebeard be shameless enough to interfere in our family affairs!?"
Smoothie, listening from behind, was overjoyed and praised, "Mom is right! That's the logic! He's my man, so of course he's a member of our family!"
"Alright!" Katakuri and Perospero, seeing that Big Mom had made her decision, could only go along with it. They shrugged and said, "Let's just hope these two don't destroy Whole Cake Island too badly..."
So, the Big Mom Pirates stood by and watched from the sidelines. The guests like Ferudo, seeing that the Big Mom Pirates weren't intervening, naturally shrank back and kept quiet.
The Vinsmoke Family members watched the battle with their arms crossed, observing the fight. This was a chance to fully understand Ian's combat strength, and they needed to gather some data. Although Reiju was a bit worried about Ian, she also knew that with his current strength, dealing with a Marine Admiral was well within his grasp. So she stayed with Gaji and the others, watching.
The most worried person on the scene was probably Capone Bege and his Fire Tank Pirates. They had been about to start eating the wedding cake, but first Caesar was found, then Stussy's identity was exposed, and now, to make matters worse, a Marine Admiral had inexplicably infiltrated the wedding, served as his and Chiffon's witness, and then started fighting with Ian.
Capone Bege was now extremely anxious. Couldn't they just eat the damn cake properly!?
He already had a guilty conscience, so his patience for these unexpected events was naturally the lowest. Right now, he was probably the one who most wanted Ian to quickly kill Arest and get things back on track.
He looked at where the wedding cake was, then at where Big Mom was. Capone Bege turned his head and looked at his subordinate, Vito. Vito noticed Capone Bege's gaze and gently patted his own pants pocket, signaling that the remote control was still with him and telling Capone Bege not to worry...
However, at that moment, an unexpected scene occurred. From many of the Fire Tank Pirates' subordinates and some of the Big Mom Pirates' members, a thin thread of blood suddenly floated out from each person!
These thin threads of blood converged from all directions, heading towards where Arest was.
Even the blindest person could see this strange sight, and then many people were horrified to discover that these blood threads were coming from their own bodies. On some inconspicuous spot on each of them, a shallow wound had appeared at some unknown time. The blood was flowing out from this wound.
There was no pain at all, and the wounds were very shallow. But strangely, the bleeding couldn't be stopped. It kept flowing out, floating in the air, and converging towards Arest.
Arest looked up at Ian, who had spread his Flame Wings in midair, and a sinister grin appeared on his face. He spread his arms, and the blood surging in from all directions began to condense in his palms, forming two blood balls that grew larger and larger.
"D... damn it, is this bastard the one causing this!?" The people who were bleeding suddenly realized and couldn't help but curse loudly.
Arest had been preparing for this moment of battle all along. When Stussy was forced to reveal her identity by Ian, he knew trouble was coming. So, while everyone was gathered together, he had quietly made his move.
With incredible speed, his thin dagger had slashed the skin of over a hundred people, leaving wounds that could seep blood. Since Arest had the ability to control blood, he directly suppressed the platelets in their blood, preventing these shallow wounds from healing. Now that he had started fighting Ian and needed to use his ability, he explosively drew their blood.
This was why, when Stussy was thrown to the ground and tried to beg Arest for help, she couldn't see his figure. At that time, Arest was moving stealthily.
Of course, Arest couldn't wound powerful individuals without them noticing. So, the hundred-plus people he had cut were almost all weaker individuals present. Some were from the Fire Tank Pirates, and some were from the Big Mom Pirates.
After drawing enough blood, Arest suddenly squeezed the blood ball in his right hand, splitting it into two masses. These two masses of blood then floated behind him, transforming into a pair of blood-red wings!
"5000 CC, Blood Wings!"
Then, Arest also flew up. Using the flapping of his Blood Wings behind him, he gained temporary flight capability, rising to Ian's level and staring at him from a distance.
"Whoa! There's such a trick?" Ian looked at the blood-red wings behind him, resembling angel wings, and was also amazed.
Since he was a Marine Admiral recruited from the civilian world, Arest naturally wouldn't know the Moon Step technique. Ian had originally thought he could gain an advantage with aerial mobility, but he hadn't expected Arest to also fly.
However, Ian also noticed that Arest's ability was probably related to blood...
Indeed, Arest's Blood-Blood Fruit ability meant that the more blood he controlled, the stronger his combat power.
But what Ian didn't know was that when Arest flew up and saw Ian's condition, he was suddenly stunned and blurted out, "You... where are your wounds!?"
Arest remembered clearly that he had inflicted quite a few wounds on Ian using a trade-blow-for-blow tactic. But now that he had flown up, he suddenly realized that the wounds on Ian's body had somehow disappeared!
Although there were still bloodstains at the wound sites, they were already dried. Arest's ability was very sensitive to wounds. He could "smell" the scent of fresh blood from wounds to judge the opponent's injury. But now, he couldn't "smell" that scent on Ian's body.
This was what surprised Arest the most. He had controlled the platelet aggregation in Ian's blood when he injured him, preventing the wounds from healing. Logically, the bleeding from Ian's wounds shouldn't have stopped!
Only when the opponent was bleeding could Arest use his Devil Fruit ability to control the blood in their body, giving him a huge advantage in battle. Now that Ian's wounds had suddenly healed, it was definitely beyond Arest's expectations.
Ian was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but then he reacted and couldn't help but grin, showing a row of white teeth. "Heh, guess!"
He finally understood Arest's general ability. After saying this, a golden aura suddenly burst from Ian's body.
Accompanied by a loud sonic boom from breaking the sound barrier, Ian shot towards Arest at an unimaginable speed, swinging his sword down at his head!