Chapter 749: The Mysterious Person
You know what, Ian was actually thinking exactly that—planning to hand Queen the Plague over to the Marines and the World Government.
This was because Ian’s intuition told him that Queen the Plague was still hiding something. Not that she was lying, but that she simply hadn’t revealed it at all.
Her responses to all of Ian’s questions were flawless, including why she had come to this capital, why she had so readily handed over the Poneglyph rubbing she had obtained, and so on. None of it posed any issues.
But in Ian’s view, there was still one flaw: she couldn’t explain why, when facing Ian, a newly ascended Four Emperors, along with powerful fighters like Fujitora, Ace, and Marco, she had fought to the death without retreating.
Of course, one could also argue that Queen the Plague had fallen victim to one of life’s three great illusions, believing that after transforming into a Moon Lion under the full moon, she could turn the tables and kill Ian and his group, which was why she stayed to fight. That explanation was plausible enough and counted as a reason.
Hmm, it could also be seen as her thinking she couldn’t escape under Ian’s pursuit, so she simply stopped to face them head-on. That reason worked too!
But for some reason, Ian always felt something was off. He consistently sensed that behind Queen the Plague’s seemingly logical actions, there had to be some ulterior motive.
However, this was also Ian’s first encounter with Queen the Plague. He didn’t know her personality or her scheming nature, so he couldn’t guess what deeper meaning she might have.
Since he had his suspicions, he couldn’t follow her rhythm. Whatever she wanted to do, he would do the opposite and not let her have her way.
Queen the Plague wanted Ian to let her go, so Ian was even more determined not to. But Ian couldn’t take her back to his own territory either. After thinking it over, he had only two options. One was to kill her outright, but that might provoke the Beast Pirates into a chaotic retaliation. The territories Ian had taken over from the Big Mom Pirates still needed to be consolidated, and it wasn’t wise to clash with the Beast Pirates now.
So that left only the second option: hand her over to someone else, let them be the scapegoat to bear the Beast Pirates’ revenge and wrath.
Queen the Plague was a Mink Tribe member. Ideally, handing this traitor over to the Mink Tribe of Zou for judgment would be best. Ian also suspected that this fox woman might have some connection with Zou’s two rulers, Master Cat Viper and Duke Dogstorm. But if he handed her over to Zou, the Mink Tribe would have to face Kaido directly. Ian didn’t want Dorry and Bepo’s homeland to be destroyed because of this.
So, after much deliberation, Ian decided that handing Queen over to the Marines was the most suitable!
After all, Aokiji, Kuina, Zephyr, Smoker, and other Marines who had ties with Ian had already left the Marines and defected. Add to that Garp and Sengoku retiring, and the Marines were now led by that bastard Akainu. Ian had absolutely no qualms about screwing over the Marines now!
If he sent Queen the Plague to Akainu and Akainu dared not imprison her, then his so-called “Absolute Justice” would be exposed as a farce, severely undermining his authority within the Marines. But if he actually dared to arrest her, even better. Then they could wait for Kaido to lead wave after wave of prison-break forces!
At that point, Ian could pull up a stool with Whitebeard, munch on snacks, and watch the Marines and Four Emperors Kaido beat each other’s brains out!
Ian slapped his thigh decisively. It was settled! Hadn’t the Old Man called earlier, saying that Kaido was still fighting the Marines over Big Mom’s Soul Fruit? Even if Ian didn’t get directly involved, he could always add fuel to the fire…
Ian smiled warmly at Queen the Plague, feeling that Hawkins’ fortune-telling was no joke. Not only had the trip gone smoothly, but he had also gained such a useful pawn!
Seeing Ian’s expression, Ace immediately knew what he was thinking and asked in disbelief, “No way, Ian, are you really planning to hand her over to the Marines?”
“Why not?” Ian countered.
Ace scratched his head and said, “I don’t fully get it, but I feel like this time you’re going to screw Akainu over so badly he’ll cough up blood!”
Bonney nodded beside him and added, “I’ve heard for a long time that you’re a money-grubber. I didn’t expect it to be true. Even as a Four Emperors, you’re still thinking about making money off the Marines!”
“But this time, that bastard Akainu probably won’t pay you,” Marco said with a laugh. “Queen the Plague has a bounty of 1.38 billion Berries!”
“Whatever, I wasn’t planning on getting it anyway,” Ian shrugged.
The group chatted back and forth about how to handle Queen the Plague, while Queen herself, the one directly involved, listened with a green face!
Ian’s decision completely caught her off guard. She had never encountered someone who played so unpredictably, and she had no idea how to deal with it.
In fact, Ian’s guess was right. Queen the Plague had a deeply hidden goal that she hadn’t revealed.
The reason she stayed to fight Ian and his group head-on was entirely intentional. She knew perfectly well that even if she transformed into a Moon Lion under the full moon, she couldn’t defeat Ian and his crew. But she did it anyway, and her defeat was within her expectations.
After explaining herself, her words about letting her go were also insincere.
Her real goal was to become Ian’s prisoner!
This wasn’t because she had some masochistic trait, but because she wanted to infiltrate the Dragon Hunter Pirates to find someone.
That person was Nico Robin, the Devil Child!
Under Kaido’s leadership, the Beast Pirates had used the chaos in Wano Country to attack the Kozuki Family’s territory. Besides searching for the missing red Poneglyph, they also wanted Kozuki Oden to decipher these Poneglyphs. After all, if they didn’t know what the inscriptions said, what good was collecting all four road Poneglyphs?
In fact, most people in the world didn’t fully understand Roger’s ability to “hear the voice of all things.” Some didn’t even know Roger had such a power. They believed Roger reached the final island, Laugh Tale, because Kozuki Oden had boarded his ship and guided him there.
But to Kaido’s disappointment, after capturing Kozuki Oden, he refused to cooperate. He was as stubborn as a rock, saying nothing, only repeating, “The person Roger is looking for isn’t you.”
Kaido wasn’t a patient man. When Kozuki Oden exhausted his last shred of patience, Kaido, in a fit of rage, brutally boiled Oden to death…
However, with Oden dead, the Beast Pirates found themselves in an awkward position. Without someone who could decipher ancient text, all the Poneglyphs they had obtained became useless stones. This was why, after realizing his mistake, Kaido hastily sent Jack the Drought to chase after the Kozuki family’s fleeing retainers. But in truth, they didn’t hold much hope that any of those retainers could read ancient text.
After all, they hadn’t yet discovered that the Kozuki family’s heir had also escaped with the retainers…
Jack the Drought wasn’t very reliable, so Queen the Plague then thought of Nico Robin, the Devil Child wanted by the World Government. She saw this survivor of Ohara as their last hope.
But… Robin was with the Dragon Hunter Pirates. To capture her, the Beast Pirates would first have to fight the Dragon Hunter Pirates…
Queen the Plague, true to her reputation as the Beast Pirates’ strategist, considered the situation and realized that a direct approach had a very low chance of success. Although the Dragon Hunter Pirates were a newly established Four Emperors crew with an unstable foundation, they still had the Whitebeard Pirates backing them. If war broke out, could the Beast Pirates handle two Four Emperors crews at once?
So, she came up with a clever plan: infiltrate the Dragon Hunter Pirates and secretly kidnap Nico Robin!
This plan was bold but feasible. She knew very well the weight of her status as one of the Beast Pirates’ Three Calamities. She believed Ian would almost certainly take her back as leverage against the Beast Pirates.
If she could infiltrate the Dragon Hunter Pirates’ territory, she would find a way to snatch Nico Robin from under their protection.
So, all that talk about letting her go was just a smokescreen. After a fight, any sensible person wouldn’t let one of the Three Calamities just walk away, right?
And Ian, as she expected, indeed didn’t plan to let her go.
But… Queen the Plague guessed the beginning but not the ending…
She hadn’t considered one thing: how bad the relationship was between Ian and Akainu. This led Ian, while not intending to let her go, to have the wild idea of handing her over to the Marines!
That was why Queen the Plague was dumbfounded. This sudden twist nearly threw her off balance!
Holy crap! If I can’t infiltrate the Dragon Hunter Pirates’ territory, then I took a beating for nothing!?
When she carefully confirmed that Ian wasn’t joking and really planned to hand her over to the Marines, Queen the Plague lowered her head, her eyes darting around.
Her original plan had gone awry, so she couldn’t continue like this. This was playing with fire! She had to find a way to escape.
She quietly tested her physical condition and found that she was recovering quickly. As an awakened Zoan-type ability user, her body’s resilience was beyond imagination. After this period of recovery, all her broken bones had mended, and she could probably manage basic movements.
At that moment, Bonney was not far from her. Queen the Plague calculated quickly, then, enduring the sharp pain throughout her body, suddenly sprang up, darting behind Bonney and reaching out to grab her as a hostage.
That female thug! Earlier, she dared to slap my butt! Just wait, I’ll deal with you!
Queen the Plague’s sudden move, however, hadn’t escaped Ian and his group’s control. Fujitora had been sensing her movements with his Observation Haki all along, especially after Ian said he would hand her over to the Marines. Everyone guessed she might make a move.
So, when Queen reached for Bonney, Fujitora’s staff sword shot out, blocking the path between them. Then, with a horizontal swing, he slammed a Gravity Blade directly onto Queen the Plague.
Queen the Plague was sent flying. This time, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
After landing, Queen struggled to her feet, only to see Ian and his group standing up, looking at her with amused expressions.
“I’ll go all out!” Queen gritted her teeth, raised her head, and stared at the full moon in the sky. The next second, her hair began to grow rapidly, and her tail swelled again.
This time, she hadn’t transformed into a Moon Lion while in her beast form, but her appearance was still quite imposing.
However, as soon as she completed her transformation, Ian and the others braced themselves for a desperate fight, ready to counter her attack. But Queen the Plague suddenly turned and fled!
This move caught Ian and the others off guard for a moment. After snapping out of it, Ian and Marco immediately took to the air, preparing to chase after the fleeing Queen.
But just then, an unexpected scene unfolded. Queen the Plague, who had only run a few dozen meters, suddenly tripped over something and tumbled to the ground!
Although she quickly regained her balance in her Moon Lion form and landed on her feet, that brief delay allowed Ian and Marco to descend from the air, blocking her escape route.
“You…” Queen the Plague gritted her teeth, about to say something, when she noticed that Ian and Marco weren’t even looking at her. Instead, they were staring in surprise behind her.
“Oh dear! I just wanted to sleep outside, and someone had to step on me…”
From the spot where Queen the Plague had tripped, a figure suddenly sat up and complained with that remark.
Not only Ian and the others were shocked, but even Fujitora was equally stunned.
“What’s going on!? There was someone else nearby!? How did he evade my perception!?”