# Chapter 739: The Assassin
"You... you're not joking, are you!?"
Ace held his head in both hands, looking at Bonney with a somewhat frantic expression. "Doesn't that mean Ian is now in the same position as the Old Man!?"
Marco laughed heartily. "Yeah, he's the youngest Four Emperors in history! The Old Man said as much himself."
Fujitora scratched his head in frustration. "What a surprise... How does it feel like the situation changed again in the blink of an eye while we were in Wano? Am I really getting too old to keep up with the times?"
Izo also chuckled, feeling that Fujitora's words were quite accurate. Before they came to Wano, Ian didn't even have any official status (his Warlord position had been revoked), and yet in an instant, he seemed to have taken a huge leap forward. Izo wanted to express his own feelings, but noticed Ace looking troubled beside him, so he asked, "Ace, what's wrong?"
Ace pressed his hand to his forehead, groaning in frustration for a long moment before asking Ian with a conflicted expression, "Hey, Ian! You're not thinking of becoming the Pirate King too, are you!? I promised back then that I'd help the Old Man become the Pirate King. If you want it too, who am I supposed to support!?"
Ian laughed heartily at that. "Then take your time agonizing over it!"
With that, he turned back to face the most senior samurai and the commotion among the guards behind him, sneering, "You heard all that? So, are you sure you want to be our enemy?"
The most senior samurai's expression shifted uncertainly, but he kept his eyes fixed on Ian's face. He finally matched Ian's appearance with the photo he'd seen in the newspaper, confirming that it really was Ian, the newly ascended Four Emperors, who had come personally!
In that moment, the most senior samurai felt a massive headache coming on!
As the strongest samurai in Wano and the Shogun's personal guard and one of his most trusted confidants, he naturally understood the situation Wano currently faced. He had originally thought that the people coming to rescue the prisoners were just ordinary executives from the Dragon Hunter Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates, which was why he had stepped forward, intending to take them to see his Shogun.
But who could have imagined that the other party's background would be so significant?
It was like playing cards—when someone throws out a low card to test the waters, the opponent immediately drops a nuclear bomb! One could imagine just how frustrated the most senior samurai felt at that moment...
Just as he was hesitating about whether to continue with his original plan and invite Ian, a Four Emperors, to meet the Shogun, more and more Wano soldiers who had sensed trouble at the prison and rushed to support began to arrive in the city. These newly arrived soldiers and samurai had no idea what was happening. Under the loud shouts and commands of officers in armor riding horses with banners on their backs, they charged over aggressively, causing a chaotic scene of neighing horses and shouting men.
The most senior samurai remained silent, but the army kept gathering. This naturally led to misunderstandings. Ace and Fujitora put away their earlier smiles, their expressions turning serious as they faced the growing number of enemies before them.
Ace tried to use his Devil Fruit power, but flames had barely risen from his body before they fizzled out after just a few seconds!
That was when he remembered that the sponge parasites in his body hadn't been removed yet.
That was the nature of sponge parasites—they didn't affect a Devil Fruit user's normal activities, but when the user tried to activate their abilities, the parasites would suddenly flare up, making it impossible to sustain the power.
Of course, they had no lasting effect on the user themselves, so Ace quickly realized this and clenched his fists, preparing to fight with physical combat. Fujitora did the same, his hand already on his sword hilt.
They had been trapped in the spider web earlier and couldn't escape, but now that Ian had rescued them, there was no way they were going back. They couldn't use their Devil Fruit abilities temporarily, but fighting their way out with Ian was still no problem.
However, at that moment, Ian let out a cold snort, and a fierce wave of Haki power exploded outward!
Ian rarely used his Conqueror's Haki, but that didn't mean it hadn't improved. The Wano soldiers and samurai guarding the capital were no ordinary pirate grunts—they were elite forces of considerable strength. But as Ian's Conqueror's Haki swept over them, they still fell one by one, foaming at the mouth and collapsing to the ground. Even the higher-ranking officers in armor on horseback, who were stronger, tumbled from their mounts under the impact of Ian's Haki, then were pinned by their own horses as they too passed out.
Like cutting wheat, the gathered Wano soldiers and samurai, centered around the prison, fell in droves.
The gap in strength between these people and Ian was simply too vast. His current Conqueror's Haki impact could even overwhelm an ordinary swordsman master!
In the end, the scene fell into complete silence, as if the earlier commotion of men and horses had never happened. The only enemy still standing was the most senior samurai...
Bonney, standing behind the group, covered her mouth in shock at the sight. It was the first time she had witnessed Conqueror's Haki in action...
Fujitora and the others, meanwhile, marveled at Ian's control over his Conqueror's Haki. He had precisely targeted only the fan-shaped area in front of him, and those behind him hadn't felt his Haki at all...
"Let's go!" Ian glanced at the most senior samurai across from him, waved his hand, and signaled for everyone to leave.
The most senior samurai slowly sheathed his sword and stepped aside. He understood that he alone couldn't stop Ian.
By knocking out every soldier and samurai present, Ian had made his stance clear. It was an act of anger, expressing his dissatisfaction with the Shogun of Wano... So how could he possibly accept an invitation to meet the Shogun now?
The group followed Ian as they walked forward. When Fujitora passed by the most senior samurai, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but then changed his mind and said instead, "My friend, I'm leaving now. May we meet again someday."
The most senior samurai said nothing, only nodding somberly as he watched Fujitora leave.
They had come by jumping over the walls, so naturally, they couldn't leave the same way. But just as Ian and the others were stepping over the bodies of the unconscious samurai and about to exit through the prison gate, a sudden change occurred!
In the distance, toward the direction of the main castle tower, a burst of firelight suddenly flared up!
The firelight blazed to life under the moonlight, immediately catching everyone's attention. As they looked up, the sound of an explosion followed.
From where Ian and the others stood, they could see a window on the upper floor of the main castle tower erupting with flames and black smoke. In that brief moment as they looked up, the corner of their vision caught a swift, agile black figure leaping out of the window from the explosion's location. The swift figure seemed to glide through the air, heading off into the night.
Ian and the others had no idea what this sudden explosion meant, but the most senior samurai behind them immediately turned pale!
"No good! The Shogun is in danger!"
Leaving behind this terrified exclamation, the most senior samurai kicked off the ground, leaped onto the rooftops, and shot toward the main castle tower like an arrow from a bow.
Ian and the others at the prison gate exchanged bewildered looks at his words.
The Shogun of Wano had been assassinated!?
As if to confirm their thoughts, alarm bells soon rang out from the main castle tower, and panicked voices could be heard in the distance. The guards at the tower were likely in complete chaos...
"Ian!" Fujitora suddenly spoke up. "Quick, follow him! Follow that black figure!"
"Huh? Follow the assassin?" Ian asked in confusion. "We're about to leave. Why are we looking for trouble?"
"No!" Fujitora shook his head. "I suspect someone is trying to stir up trouble in Wano. The civil war here has already claimed the life of one daimyo. We can't afford more conflict. This is, after all, my homeland..."
"Alright, I understand." Ian understood Fujitora's feelings. He immediately spread his Flame Wings and took to the air, saying to the others, "I'll go after the assassin first. You catch up!"
Fujitora nodded. "Don't worry, we'll be right behind you."
With that, Ian turned and flew swiftly in the direction the black figure had disappeared.
As he flew, Ian speculated about the assassin's identity.
His first thought was that the assassin might be a surviving retainer of the Kozuki family, coming to assassinate the Shogun to avenge their fallen lord, Kozuki Oden. But Fujitora's words made Ian realize things might not be that simple.
Fujitora and the others had come to Wano to help the Kozuki family, so they naturally knew the current situation. If Fujitora felt that the avenger wouldn't be a Kozuki retainer, then it definitely wasn't.
Ian chased the assassin through the sky, while on the ground, Fujitora and the others sprinted after him, following his figure as they hurried forward.
What they didn't know was that, at that very same moment, under the night sky of Whole Cake Island, a strangely shaped ship had also arrived.
Crocodile, Robin, Enel, and Reiju were all waiting on the shore. When they saw the flag on the ship, Crocodile couldn't help but mutter in confusion, "Gecko Moria... It really is that bastard's ship. I got a communication earlier and thought he was joking, but he actually came..."
"What does he want?" Reiju asked, crossing her arms in confusion.
Crocodile's face twisted into a mocking smile. "Who knows? But won't we find out once he comes ashore?"