Chapter 722: Sea Encounter (4/60)
Ian certainly couldn't carry Bonney himself while flying—who knew what might happen with all that hugging and holding? When he met Ace, how would he explain it?
"Hey, I treated you like a brother, and you try to get with my sister!?"
Then how would Ian answer? Would he say, "You might not believe this, but your sister's chest made the first move!?"
So it was better to let her ride Marco instead. Besides, riding a phoenix through the sky—how many people in this world could boast such treatment?
Whitebeard also didn't really want to keep Bonney on the ship. That girl's appetite was simply too enormous. In just a few days, she had nearly eaten through half the food stores on the Moby Dick. Pirates were already big eaters, but she out-ate them all—they simply couldn't afford to keep her! So when Ian skillfully shifted the blame to Marco, the matter was settled.
Ian pulled out Ace's Vivre Card, watching it slowly move forward. After judging the direction, he spread his Flame Wings and shot into the sky.
Marco followed close behind, his arms transforming into phoenix wings. But before he could take off, Bonney jumped onto his back from behind, wrapping her legs around his waist and locking her arms tightly around his neck. "Come on, come on, fly!"
Marco nearly had his tongue sticking out from the chokehold, his forehead covered in black lines. Glumly, he said, "Sit still!"
Then, with a sweep of his arms, he too soared into the sky.
"Yahoo!!!" The moment they lifted off, Bonney held Marco's neck with one hand while pressing her hat down with the other to keep the wind from blowing it away, letting out an excited cheer.
Once Marco was airborne, he intended to catch up to Ian, but something felt off. What were those two soft lumps pressing against the back of his head!?
His concentration wavered, and Marco nearly fell from the sky, wobbling and flipping a few times before barely stabilizing his flight. Throughout this, Bonney clung tightly to him to avoid being thrown off.
Then, right then, Bonney whispered in his ear, "Hey there, Marco-kun, I didn't expect you to be so sneaky, using this method to give yourself a little treat?"
As she spoke, she pulled Marco's head closer, pressing it against her chest, and added, "If you want a treat, just say so. It's not like I wouldn't give it to you. Using this method is so low!"
I...
Marco felt like crying. How was I being deliberate? You're the one messing around here! You nearly dragged me into the sea too!
And to make matters worse, she was his brother's cousin—he couldn't hit her or scold her. At that moment, Marco finally understood why Ian hadn't wanted to carry Bonney. This was pure suffering!
So, when Marco caught up to Ian, who had deliberately slowed down to wait for him, his face was full of resentment...
Watching the two fly off, Jozu stood beside Whitebeard, gazing at the sky. "Old Man, do you think they'll be alright?"
"Of course they will!" Whitebeard said, taking the last sip of sake from the flask Ian had given him, then tossing it aside. "Two grown men like them—can't they take care of a little girl?"
After saying this, Whitebeard grabbed his naginata, using the handle to stand up. His towering figure rose on the deck as he roared, "Sons, prepare to set sail!"
Everyone understood Whitebeard's meaning. Although the Whitebeard Pirates couldn't intervene in the Wano Country matter, Ace's capture demanded some kind of response. Otherwise, where would the dignity of a Yonko crew go?
And the root cause of all this lay with the Beast Pirates. So the Old Man was going to take them on.
First, he'd take over a dozen of the Beast Pirates' territories!
As for whether this would spark a war between the Yonko, the Old Man no longer cared. He needed to vent first!
Hearing Whitebeard's words, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates on the Moby Dick erupted into thunderous cheers and immediately sprang into action...
In the sky, Ian and Marco's black and blue Flame Wings stood out vividly.
As Ian had said, Marco's blue flames were a natural trait of his Devil Fruit power—quite wondrous. They burned fiercely, yet their temperature was restrained. When Bonney lay on Marco's back, surrounded by seas of flame on both sides, she felt no heat at all.
In contrast, Ian was different. Even from a distance, Bonney and Marco could feel the terrifying heat waves.
He wasn't deliberately controlling the temperature of his Flame Wings, because the fiercer they burned, the faster he flew.
Although Marco was carrying Bonney, as he'd said earlier, his flight speed wasn't slow. But... the restless Bonney was now stroking the sparse beard under his chin...
"Hey, Ian, how about we take turns carrying her?" Marco said helplessly.
But Ian shook his head and refused: "No."
Could you be any more blunt?! How can you screw over your brother like this?! Can't we still be good family!?
Marco was speechless...
Bonney, hearing this from his back, immediately got annoyed. "Hey, carrying a young, pretty beauty like me, and you're still not happy?"
"You call yourself a beauty? Who knows how old you really are? You won't even say!" Marco snorted.
That comment earned him a bear hug from Bonney...
Come to think of it, if it were just Ian and Marco, they might have silently pressed on. But with Bonney along, the journey was much livelier and not so dull.
To match Marco's speed, Ian didn't fly at supersonic speeds. After about two hours of flight, Ian spotted a small island on the sea below and called out for Marco to land and rest.
Although flying seemed impressive, in truth, neither Ian nor Marco could maintain it for long. Ian's flight consumed Psychic Power, and Marco's flight consumed stamina, since he was using his Devil Fruit ability.
Before leaving, the Whitebeard Pirates had prepared a large bag of supplies for them—all food and water—which Ian carried. When they landed on the island to rest, they took out some food to eat.
As soon as Bonney saw all that food, she lost control again, stuffing it into her mouth frantically until her cheeks bulged.
Ian and Marco stared in shock as that large bag of food was devoured by Bonney in no time, leaving only half. Their feelings were indescribable.
Back when he ate with Ace, Ian had thought Ace was a big eater, clearing dozens of plates like it was nothing. But now, seeing Bonney, Ian realized Ace was nothing compared to her.
"Y-you should eat sparingly!" Ian and Marco winced as they watched Bonney. "That's supposed to be for all of us!"
This was meant to last two days, but at this rate, Bonney would finish it in one meal. Would they have to find an inhabited island to restock?
"Don't worry, I'll leave some for you!" Bonney didn't care and kept gorging herself.
But just then, a loud boom suddenly rang out, startling Bonney so much that she choked. It seemed the sound came just as she was about to swallow.
Seeing her face red and her neck strained as she pounded her chest, Ian quickly handed her a flask of water, afraid she might choke to death!
Throughout this, the booming sounds continued one after another.
After Bonney finally managed to wash down the food with water, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, annoyed, she stood up and climbed to a high point to look out at the sea, determined to see which bastard had made her choke.
All three had already recognized that the loud noises were cannon fire.
Sure enough, to the southeast of the island, a large number of pirate ships had appeared!
There were no fewer than thirty ships. Although they were too far away to see clearly, they could vaguely make out that the ships varied in size and style, likely belonging to more than one pirate crew.
Ian and the others didn't have a telescope, so they couldn't tell how many crews were among those ships. But they could see that all these ships seemed to be targeting a common enemy.
A ship... flying the flag of the Big Mom Pirates...