Chapter 792: Calm Belt
Doflamingo was held upside down in Ian's grip like this, becoming a dangling man. Before long, he already felt the sensation of blood rushing to his head.
But in his heart, there was even more shame!
I am Doflamingo! When have I ever been carried around like a trash bag like this?!
Unfortunately, his life was now in Ian's hands, and he couldn't resist. So, aside from grinding his teeth in anger, he didn't dare say a word. He only hoped that Ian would fly quickly to Mary Geoise and end this painful and humiliating posture.
Ian and Ace flew through the air. The closer they got to the Red Line, the more floating corpses they could see. This attack by Uranus, the Ancient Weapon, had coincided with the time when Kaido and the other pirate crews were most densely gathered, causing immense casualties. The entire explosion site was about a hundred nautical miles outside the Red Line, so it hadn't caused much damage to the Red Line itself. It seemed that the Celestial Dragons didn't want their own residence to be affected either.
However, when Ian and the others arrived over Mary Geoise, they found that the Celestial Dragons hadn't been spared either. The entire Mary Geoise was now in a mess, with most of the buildings reduced to ruins.
At first, Ian thought that the fleeing Kaido and the others had clashed with Uranus here. But after observing for a while, he realized that wasn't the case. There were no signs of a massive explosion in Mary Geoise. Instead, it had been struck by a huge island falling from the sky!
At this moment, in the center of Mary Geoise, the shattered island could still be seen. It was now broken roughly in half, but it had also created a massive crater in Mary Geoise. A torrent of countless crushed stones had crushed many of the Celestial Dragons' beautiful mansions. Even the iconic World Government headquarters building had been hit, with half of it destroyed.
"Fufufufufu!" Doflamingo, though upside down, could clearly see the scene in Mary Geoise and couldn't help but laugh wildly. "Well done! That old man, Golden Lion!"
Needless to say, this scene in Mary Geoise was naturally the work of Golden Lion Shiki. It was almost a repeat of the incident where Castom had stolen the Soul Fruit. While the Celestial Dragons had deployed Uranus to attack the Beast Pirates, Golden Lion Shiki had used his Float-Float Fruit ability to successfully strike Mary Geoise.
But... Ian and Ace maintained their altitude and carefully observed the area below. They saw a large number of Marine soldiers and some World Government personnel using various machinery and manpower to clean up Mary Geoise. However, judging by what they were carrying out, most of it was various rubble and debris, with very few bodies being carried out.
"It seems the casualties aren't heavy..." Ace said. "Could it be that the Marines and the World Government anticipated this and evacuated the personnel from Mary Geoise in advance?"
"Very likely!" Ian mused. "The Marines know best what kind of ability Golden Lion Shiki has. When Castom stole the Soul Fruit, the Marines didn't know that Golden Lion Shiki had colluded with Kaido and the others, so it was normal for them to suffer a loss. But since they know now, it would be hard to believe if they fell for it again."
Ace said with some regret, "So it seems the World Government's losses aren't that great either. This falling island, though huge, isn't enough to destroy all of Mary Geoise. Once the rubble is cleared, Mary Geoise can be restored to its former state..."
Then Ace turned to Ian and asked, "So, should we still send Doflamingo down to cause destruction? I think it's meaningless now..."
"Yeah..." Ian frowned. As things stood, the Celestial Dragons had likely already evacuated and were under the protection of the Marines. Although Akainu had been killed, the Marines still had three Admirals: Kizaru, Momousagi, and Chat Don. In such a situation, Doflamingo probably wouldn't gain much and would be captured quickly.
If they threw him down, he could at most kill some Marine soldiers and World Government officials. It really seemed meaningless.
Doflamingo himself was also nervous, because he had already seen Kizaru and the others commanding the situation below. If he was caught down there, the Celestial Dragons would probably really execute him.
He turned his head upside down, looking around, and suddenly spotted something. He quickly said to Ian, "Look up! Look above you!"
Ian and Ace looked up and saw that, even higher above them, countless pieces of rubble were floating, of various sizes. These stones were eerily suspended in the high sky, moved irregularly by the wind, occasionally colliding with each other, forming a huge belt of debris that stretched out toward the other end of the Grand Line.
"Is that... the power of the Float-Float Fruit?" Ian said in surprise. "So, Golden Lion Shiki brought more than one floating island?"
"It seems like Uranus returned and engaged Golden Lion in battle?" Ace also said in surprise. "Did Uranus release that kind of massive explosion here? Aren't the Celestial Dragons afraid of the radiation affecting them below?"
Ian flew higher to examine the debris belt closely, then shook his head. "It doesn't seem like it. If there had been a big explosion here, these stones would have been melted into glass by the high heat!"
Looking into the distance along the debris belt, Ian guessed, "This seems like... it was caused by Uranus crashing through things along the way!"
After making this guess, Ian, Ace, and even Doflamingo were stunned. Damn, how many islands had to be shattered along the way to create such a debris belt? The physical strength of Uranus was beyond imagination!
"This direction should be where Uranus flew off to, right?" Ace pointed ahead along the debris belt and asked. "Should we chase after it and take a look?"
Golden Lion Shiki definitely wasn't dead. If he were, the power of the Float-Float Fruit would disappear, and these floating stones would immediately collapse like a mudslide. But since these stones were still floating in the air, maintained by the Float-Float Fruit's power, Golden Lion hadn't been killed by Uranus yet.
Ian remembered that Golden Lion Shiki had a unique flying ship as his pirate vessel, a ship that was extremely fast even in the air. If Golden Lion Shiki had escaped on this flying pirate ship, he could indeed hold out against Uranus for a while.
He just didn't know if Golden Lion Shiki was with Blackbeard Teach and Kaido...
"Let's chase after them and take a look!" Ian said. "Since Uranus is still pursuing them, there's bound to be a battle. It's better to observe Uranus up close."
So, without alerting the Marines and World Government below, Ian and Ace quietly left.
As for Doflamingo, he was still held in Ian's hand. He said in confusion, "Hey! Ian! Why are you still dragging me along?! If you're not going to have me attack Mary Geoise, that's your business. I've already fulfilled my promise, haven't I?"
Then Doflamingo's face suddenly turned pale. "You... you don't want me to fight Uranus, do you?! I'm telling you, if that's the case, I'd rather die from radiation sickness than face Uranus again!"
However, Ian completely ignored him and continued flying forward. The more he acted like this, the more Doflamingo was convinced that Ian was thinking exactly that. Seeing Ian silent, Doflamingo found that talking was useless and started cursing loudly!
To be honest, Ian hadn't really figured out what to do with this guy. He just thought he'd bring him along for now.
If they really encountered Uranus, Ian couldn't say whether a fight would break out. If it did, Doflamingo would be a meat shield! At a critical moment, he could throw Doflamingo out to buy time for himself and Ace to escape.
This effect could be called: Ian expressed he didn't want to fight Uranus and threw a Doflamingo at Uranus!
No problem... Who told this guy to be picked up by Ian?
Since this guy was already on the verge of death, he might as well make the most of his remaining life and squeeze out a bit of his last value...
Doflamingo had also guessed some of Ian's terrifying thoughts and was both panicked and anxious. But now, he could only gain some advantage with his mouth. He was still seriously injured and couldn't possibly resist.
There's a saying: if you can't resist, enjoy it! But Doflamingo didn't enjoy this feeling at all...
Doflamingo's furious cursing was actively ignored by Ian and Ace. They flew forward along the debris belt, but gradually, they noticed something was off.
After crossing the high altitude of the Red Line, Ian and the others didn't enter the Grand Line. Instead, after flying for a while, they found that the sea area here had clear weather, with no clouds in the sky, and even the wind had stopped!
This... they had arrived at the Calm Belt!?
When they realized they had entered the Calm Belt, Ian temporarily stopped to identify the direction. After comparing, he suddenly discovered that going straight in this direction led to... the location of Amazon Lily!
In Ian's memory, Amazon Lily was located in the Calm Belt on this side of Impel Down. Ian had been to Amazon Lily and Impel Down twice, so he still remembered the terrain of this side of the Calm Belt.
Thinking of this, Ian's face suddenly changed. Could it be that Golden Lion Shiki and the others, while being chased by Uranus, had panicked and fled all the way to Amazon Lily!?
Damn it, Boa Hancock's country might be in danger...