Chapter 734: Movements on All Sides
Back in Dressrosa, Ian had led a group of Warlords to beat down the Donquixote Family. However, because Ian's strength at the time wasn't enough to completely overwhelm Doflamingo, and with the interference of two Four Emperor crew executives, Jack the Drought and Perospero, Ian failed to kill Doflamingo, allowing him to successfully slip away.
Although Ian managed to drive the Donquixote Family out of Dressrosa and expose their hidden criminal activities, causing Doflamingo to lose his Warlord title, the problem was that Doflamingo's identity was exceptionally special. He was not only a former Celestial Dragon and an important partner of Emperor Kaido, but also a notorious dark broker in the underworld.
After losing the throne of Dressrosa, the most significant loss Ian inflicted on Doflamingo was the obstruction of the Artificial Devil Fruit cultivation. Without the help of the Tontatta Tribe's planting talents, even with the scientist Caesar still in his hands, Doflamingo couldn't successfully grow Artificial Devil Fruits.
But aside from that, the impact on Doflamingo wasn't too severe. After defecting to Kaido, he continued to handle arms smuggling and Devil Fruit trading in the underworld.
This was the Donquixote Family's old line of business. He had connections, credibility, and channels. As long as he wasn't killed, this trade wouldn't easily be cut off.
The reason Kaido accepted him was precisely because of Doflamingo's familiarity with these dealings. Without Artificial Devil Fruits, Doflamingo could still source genuine Zoan Devil Fruits through underworld channels for the Beast Pirates. Kaido's ability-user army plan had merely become more prolonged, not completely halted.
Ian also knew that Doflamingo could be a lingering threat and wanted to kill him, but unfortunately, Doflamingo was cunning and treacherous enough to avoid any direct confrontation with Ian. Even during the New Edd War naval battle, when he received a secret order from the World Government to eliminate Gecko Moria on the battlefield, he slipped away quietly after completing his task as soon as Ian appeared, leaving only his new boss Kaido to surprise Ian and the Whitebeard Pirates.
Ian only learned about these things later from gathered intelligence. Especially with the recent addition of the Germa Group, Gaji and his people had close ties to the underworld, giving Ian more insight into Doflamingo's situation. He knew that although Doflamingo had joined Kaido's crew, he didn't seem to be treated as an executive of the crew but more like a collaborator as before. Ian couldn't figure out Kaido's thinking—maybe he really liked animals more than people, or perhaps it was some inexplicable compulsion—that led him not to consider Doflamingo, a Paramecia user, as a crew executive.
Doflamingo was now traveling the world collecting various Zoan Devil Fruits for Kaido. So, since he suddenly appeared in Wano this time, what he brought Kaido must be information related to Devil Fruits.
Everyone knows that when a Devil Fruit user dies, the corresponding new Devil Fruit is reborn somewhere in the world. But this rebirth has a characteristic: it's instantaneous!
That is, it's reborn in a very short time! However, because the location of rebirth isn't fixed, the time it takes to appear before the world can vary.
During the battle on Whole Cake Island, many people died there. Big Mom was killed by Ian when her hunger pangs drove her berserk, Perospero was blown apart by a Sky Thunder Cannon, and there were also Katakuri, Cracker, and even the Marine Admiral Arest the White Wolf. These high-bounty, well-known individuals were all ability users who died in that battle—or rather, on that day.
With so many ability users dying, it meant that on that same day, in various corners of the world, several new Devil Fruits suddenly appeared!
When the news of Ian killing Big Mom and becoming the new Emperor spread worldwide, for those who understood Devil Fruit characteristics, besides being shocked like everyone else, they thought more about these newly reborn Devil Fruits.
What is the Soul Fruit? It was the ability once held by the former Emperor Big Mom!
Although no one could say that everyone who ate the Soul Fruit could become an Emperor like Big Mom, Big Mom herself had stamped the Soul Fruit with a label of "immense value."
Whether the Devil Fruit made the Emperor or the Emperor made the Devil Fruit, no one could say for sure, but no one dared deny the power of this fruit!
So, people like Doflamingo were already itching to get their hands on the Soul Fruit that was about to appear after rebirth.
It wasn't just the Soul Fruit. There were also Arest's Blood-Blood Fruit, Katakuri's Mochi-Mochi Fruit, and Perospero's Lick-Lick Fruit. All these fruits had been branded as powerful by their previous owners, driving countless people to frantically search for them.
The moment Ian received Whitebeard's call and heard the news, he immediately understood the connections. In the end, it all came down to that saying: a single move can affect the whole situation. As Ian's influence grew with his rising status, the butterfly effect naturally increased as well.
However, Ian wasn't too concerned about the appearance of the Soul Fruit. He believed that Big Mom's strength as an Emperor came more from herself. Big Mom had been a monster since childhood; the Soul Fruit's ability merely amplified her power further. Even if someone else obtained the reborn Soul Fruit, they wouldn't necessarily reach Big Mom's level after eating it.
It wasn't just the Soul Fruit. The same applied to other fruits. Someone else eating the Mochi-Mochi Fruit wouldn't necessarily become a second Katakuli.
So, he thought Old Man's worry was unnecessary. Over the phone, he shared his thoughts with Whitebeard.
"I know that too!" Old Man sighed after listening and said, "But have you considered this? Kaido is already a Devil Fruit user himself and has many ability users under him. Why would he go to such lengths to personally go after the Soul Fruit?"
Ian was stunned by this counter-question. Yeah, why was that? The Soul Fruit was a Paramecia. Could it be that Kaido wanted to break his "Beast Army" title and start accepting Paramecia users?
Was he planning to rename his crew the "Hundred Beasts and Men" or "Hundred Beast Men" Pirates?
"And there's something else I forgot to mention," Whitebeard said on the other end. "It's not just Kaido who's interested in the Soul Fruit. The Marines are too!"
"Huh?! The Marines!?" Ian, along with Marco and Bonney who were listening in, were all stunned.
"The Marines want the Soul Fruit too? What are they planning?" Ian was full of questions, feeling like he couldn't make sense of the whole situation.
"I don't know. It's hard to say whether it's the Marines who want it or the World Government," Old Man replied. "Right now, the Marines have almost fully mobilized. Twenty-one warships, led by Kizaru, with the new Marine Admirals Momousagi and Chat Don following. It's a massive force! They're heading to the island where the Soul Fruit appeared..."
Three Marine Admirals moving out together! That was quite the lineup...
"Old Man, you told us to hurry back. Do you want to get involved?" Ian asked after thinking it over.
"That's the idea," Whitebeard said. "I don't know what Kaido and the Marines want the Soul Fruit for, but I feel like it's nothing good. Setting Kaido aside for now, the Marines still owe us for the Edd War siege on the Whitebeard Pirates. I'd be happy to cause them some trouble."
Just then, Marco suddenly interjected, "Old Man, that might not be wise. If both the Whitebeard Pirates and Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates join in, it would mean a clash between three Emperors and the Marines. That could trigger a massive war!"
"..." Whitebeard fell silent on the other end, clearly realizing the issue after Marco's reminder.
"Old Man, the situation is unclear right now. Jumping in rashly might not be a good idea," Ian also considered various factors and advised, "Let's wait and see for a while."
"Alright, I'll listen to you both," Whitebeard agreed. "But if possible, wrap things up in Wano and come back quickly. Even if we don't get involved, both our crews need to be prepared."
Ian agreed and hung up the phone.
Even after hanging up, no one in the room spoke. They were all pondering the implications of the news Whitebeard had just delivered.
Bonney suddenly spoke up quietly to Ian, "What if it's the World Government that wants the Soul Fruit? Could they be trying to use its power to extend the Celestial Dragons' lifespans?"
Because of her own ability, Bonney naturally thought of this, but Ian felt it was unlikely.
He knew very well that Big Mom's Soul Fruit could steal others' lifespans, but the stolen lifespan couldn't be transferred to others.
Living people and dead bodies couldn't receive lifespan infusion from the Soul Fruit. Only soulless objects and energy could accept it.
That meant the Soul Fruit couldn't be used to extend the Celestial Dragons' lifespans.
So why were the Marines still getting involved? Three Admirals mobilized together, twenty-one warships—though not as large as the New Edd War scale, it still showed a determined attitude. Ian absolutely didn't believe this wasn't an order from the World Government.
But with too little intelligence, Ian couldn't make a decision easily. So, after thinking it over, he decided to sit back and watch the fight, letting the Beast Pirates and the Marines tear into each other first.
And since Kaido had personally gone to fight for the Soul Fruit and wasn't in Wano, Ian had much more room to maneuver in Wano.
From the intelligence Hitosuki had given him earlier, Ian learned that Queen the Plague, one of the Three Calamities, was still in Kuri, Wano. So, could he capture Queen and use him to find the Beast Pirates' main base?
Kaido's red Road Poneglyph was definitely stored in his main base, wasn't it...