# Chapter 738: Let Me Rest My Hands on My Hips First!
Since the other party was someone close to the shogun, that meant the exit outside was probably already surrounded, right?
Ian looked at the strongest great swordsman of Wano Country with a strange expression. The man seemed to have anticipated that they would come to rescue people, but instead of stopping them, he had proactively provided the saltwater to dissolve the spider webs. This action was quite intriguing...
However, Ian didn't bother with that. He picked up the gourd, pulled out the stopper, and splashed the saltwater inside onto the spider web covering the prison door.
It seemed to trigger some kind of peculiar chemical reaction. As soon as the saltwater touched it, the adult ground spider's web immediately emitted a sizzling sound like burning, then rapidly dissolved and broke apart, releasing a strange odor before being completely destroyed. Even the Thousand Cherry Blossoms blade that Ian had stuck to the web was retrieved.
Every creature has its weakness. Ian couldn't help but marvel at this.
With the spider web no longer blocking the way, Ace and the others were finally able to come out. Bonney let out a cheer and immediately pounced over to hug Ace's head, pressing it firmly against her chest while ruffling his messy bird's nest hair, exclaiming excitedly: "Haha! Finally got to see you, Ace! Did you miss your big sister?"
"Hey hey! What are you doing!?" Ace was almost suffocated. Flustered, he flailed his arms and legs trying to break free from Bonney's chest, shouting: "I've never even met you before, okay!?"
"Ah, I forgot!" Bonney finally realized at that moment. She grabbed Ace's neck and pulled him aside, saying: "Come come, let big sister tell you all about it!"
Leaving Ace and Bonney's commotion aside for now, Fujitora walked forward empty-handed. Standing opposite him, Mogami Yoshii raised his hand and tossed one of the two swords he held in his left hand to Fujitora, saying: "This is your sword!"
Fujitora caught it, and Ian could see clearly that it was indeed Fujitora's staff sword. No wonder it had looked familiar earlier.
"Let's go. The shogun-sama wants to see you!" Mogami Yoshii left these words and turned toward the exit.
"That's your shogun-sama, not mine!" Ian said with a smile. "Sorry, but we don't plan to see him. We're leaving now!"
Mogami Yoshii's appearance here seemed too deliberate. Ian felt his earlier guess was correct—the shogun of Wano Country had probably long known that his Dragon Hunter Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates would come to rescue people. That's why he had specially retrieved Ace and the other two from Kaido's hands and imprisoned them, likely waiting for both pirate crews to show up.
The shogun of Wano Country probably had something to convey to the Dragon Hunter Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates. Otherwise, going through all this trouble wouldn't make sense.
But... what does that have to do with me!?
Ian was full of pent-up anger with nowhere to vent. Although Ace and Fujitora hadn't been mistreated while imprisoned—they could even play cards in their cells—Ian was still unhappy because this couldn't erase the fact that the shogun of Wano Country had captured members of his crew!
Even setting aside the face of an Emperor, protecting one's own crew members is the captain's responsibility. If you can't even protect your own companions, isn't that a direct slap to Ian's face!?
Alright, even if the whole thing started because Fujitora and Ace came to Wano Country on their own, and considering they hadn't been abused, Ian wasn't someone who couldn't distinguish right from wrong. The mastermind was Kaido's Beast Pirates—that score needed to be settled. He could classify the shogun of Wano Country as an accomplice in this matter and let it go.
But since I'm already letting it go, you should be grateful. And now you want me to follow your script!?
Do you really think your identity as shogun is that impressive!?
So Ian refused without a second thought. Now that the people were successfully rescued, who could stop him if he wanted to leave?
Clearly, Mogami Yoshii hadn't expected Ian to deviate from the script. He turned back in surprise and said: "Don't forget, they still have the sponge bugs on them. Don't you want them freed from those?"
"Just a parasite!" Ian chuckled. "As it happens, I happen to know an excellent doctor!"
Although Ian admitted that the peculiar rare beasts of Wano Country had many strange abilities, the world was big. It wasn't like things couldn't work without Wano Country. Even if Ian didn't use his Twin Heaven Return Shield ability to remove the bugs from Ace and the others, his Dragon Hunter Pirates also had excellent doctors. If worst came to worst, he could find Chopper. There were plenty of ways to deal with this kind of parasite.
If the shogun of Wano Country thought a small trick like this could threaten Ian, he was dreaming!
"Move aside!" Ian stepped forward toward Mogami Yoshii. "If you dare block my way, even if you're Fujitora-san's old friend, I'll still cut you down!"
"Heh, quite the big talk!" Mogami Yoshii was amused by this. As Ian approached, his hand also rested on his sword hilt: "Then let me see how you'll cut me down!"
Mogami Yoshii's thumb pushed open the sword guard, and the blade immediately revealed a flash of cold light. However, Ian's waist also emitted the same light!
The next second, Ian's Thousand Cherry Blossoms blade clashed with Mogami Yoshii's sword with a clang!
Boom! The surging sword energy, at the moment their blades collided, erupted in this underground prison, shooting straight up toward the ceiling above!
On the ground, a large number of Wano Country prison guards had gathered, holding weapons and standing ready at the entrance. But suddenly, a huge tremor came from beneath their feet. Then the ground under them burst with light, and a large hole appeared along with flying gravel, causing the surrounding guards to scream and scatter in panic.
Before they could figure out what was happening, two figures leaped up from the cracked hole and landed on the ground one after another.
Mogami Yoshii held a long sword in his hand, looking at Ian with shock and uncertainty. He swung his blade and pointed at Ian, asking: "Who exactly are you!?"
Ian didn't answer him. Instead, he took off the bamboo hat on his head and tossed it aside, then tore open the samurai robe he was wearing. He moved his bare upper body a couple of times, finally feeling much more comfortable.
From that single exchange earlier, Ian had discovered that this strongest great swordsman of Wano Country was probably on the same level as him in terms of swordsmanship—both were grandmaster-level figures. He was likely comparable to Hawk-Eye Mihawk. This was indeed the peak of known swordsmanship. No wonder he was called the strongest great swordsman.
But Mogami Yoshii was the most surprised. He never expected to suddenly encounter a samurai here who was almost his equal!
Because of Ian's previous disguise, he hadn't recognized Ian's identity. He only thought Ian was like Marco—someone sent by the Dragon Hunter Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates to rescue people.
Come to think of it, his surprise was understandable. No one would expect a newly appointed Emperor to personally come for a rescue, right? Moreover, he had never met Ian face-to-face before. Even if he knew from the newspapers that there was a newly appointed Emperor in the Dragon Hunter Pirates, he wouldn't necessarily recognize him on sight.
So he was extremely surprised now, thinking: What kind of pirate crew is the Dragon Hunter Pirates? How can just anyone they send to rescue people be this strong!?
"Lord Mogami Yoshii!" The prison guards finally came to their senses at this point. They all held their weapons and stood behind Mogami Yoshii, forming a formation facing Ian, the intruder.
Ian casually glanced around and found that there were probably no fewer than several hundred people present. Moreover, because of the loud noise just now, even more troops were rushing toward this place.
At the exit, Marco, Ace, Fujitora, and the others had all come out as well, standing behind Ian. Seeing this, Mogami Yoshii spoke again: "Don't resist anymore. This is the capital city. There are tens of thousands of troops and samurai here. You won't be able to escape!"
But these words only made Bonney burst into laughter. She said: "Really, I don't know where you get the confidence to think you can stop an Emperor!?"
"Emperor!?" Mogami Yoshii was stunned.
"Emperor!?" Ace, Fujitora, and Izo were also stunned.
"Huh? You don't know?" Bonney put her hands on her hips and said: "Oh, right! You've been locked up, so you don't know what's happened outside. While you were imprisoned, Ian just took down the BIG MOM Pirates. BIG MOM also died at his hands. He has officially become an Emperor!"
Then Bonney, without any restraint, slapped Fujitora on the shoulder and said: "Old man, you're now the vice captain of an Emperor's pirate crew! Surprised? Unexpected?"
Ace, Izo, and Fujitora's expressions were like this: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ