Chapter 840: Surprise Gift Pack
In the sky, Ian and Ace flew side by side, trailing behind Uranus.
Looking ahead from this position, they could see Uranus’s drifting tail, and within that tail, occasionally visible… well, the back door!
There was no other way to put it; Ace could only use this term now. If he were to say it directly, he felt he wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Just thinking about how he would soon have to hug the nail-like cooling device in his hands and thrust it straight into Uranus’s back door made Ace feel utterly terrible!
“Damn it! How did I end up with this mission? I’m Fire Fist Ace, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates! If I actually do this, Marco and Vista will laugh at me for twenty years!”
So, Ace couldn’t help but swallow his saliva and asked Ian beside him, “Hey, Ian, can’t I insert it somewhere else?”
Although Ian was utterly exhausted at this point, for some reason, seeing Ace’s pitiful expression made him feel his strength return. But he couldn’t laugh, so he replied in a very serious tone, “If you want to blame someone, blame Vegapunk. But go ahead without worry, young man. The world will remember your great achievements!”
“Is there really no other way?” Ace said dejectedly.
Ian’s eyes darted around, and he said, “Actually, there might be another way…”
“Oh?” Ace perked up and quickly pressed, “Tell me!”
So, as they flew side by side, Ian told Ace how to use an ultimate technique…
……………………
Meanwhile, far away in the New World, on the sky island that served as the base of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, Waldo and Vegapunk were chatting while conducting experiments.
“Vegapunk, seriously, does that cooling device really have to be stuffed into Uranus’s body from… there?” Waldo asked. “Can’t it be inserted through another wound?”
Hearing this question, Vegapunk pondered for a moment, then shrugged and said, “Actually, it might work, as long as the cooling device doesn’t fall out!”
Hearing this answer, Waldo was stunned and speechless. He said, “Then why didn’t you explain that to them earlier? Do you know how troubled the captain was over this issue…?”
Vegapunk laughed heartily and said, “Why should I? Don’t you think it’s more interesting this way? Taking down the famous Uranus like this—doesn’t it feel awesome?”
“…” Waldo stared at him for a long time before finally blurting out, “Vegapunk, you’ve changed…”
……………………
“Are you ready?” Ian asked Ace.
Ace looked utterly pained and said, “Is what you said really going to work? It sounds so unreliable to me!”
“Don’t worry, didn’t I tell you? A chuunibyou mindset will reduce your inner sense of shame!” Ian explained. “Just shout that phrase when you charge in, and it’ll definitely work!”
“There’s no time!” Ian continued. “If we drag this out any longer, unexpected variables might arise…”
After struggling for a while, Ace gritted his teeth and said, “Alright… fine! I’m going!”
With that, under Ian’s gaze, Ace hugged the cooling device and began to accelerate his flight. He stared intently at Uranus’s back, his white flame wings leaving a sharp trail across the sky.
Rapidly closing in on Uranus, Ace suddenly roared, “Ultimate Technique! A Thousand Years of Death!!!!”
This roar was the ‘ultimate technique’ Ian had taught him—a secret move said to reduce feelings of shame!
Then, he thrust the cooling device fiercely into Uranus’s… back door!
Well, the back door was quite large, so Ace managed to get in without issue…
Ian didn’t know what Ace experienced inside, but he saw Uranus suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream and frantically twist its rear…
After a moment, Ace’s figure reappeared. As soon as he flew out, he didn’t say a word and sped off into the distance, presumably to take a thorough bath…
Ian made a solemn Patton-style salute toward Ace’s retreating figure and said, “Brave warrior… farewell…”
Then, he continued to follow leisurely behind Uranus, using this opportunity to recover his strength.
After Ace flew out, Uranus writhed uncomfortably for a long time before the pain subsided. It turned its head and glared fiercely at Ian behind it.
It knew full well that the sudden sharp pain in its back door and the foreign object now inside its body were the work of the little insect behind it!
Enraged, Uranus turned back and unleashed a nuclear blast attack at Ian and Ace!
This was almost its last nuclear blast. While Ian pulled Ace away from the explosion zone, Uranus lowered its head and dove toward the sea below.
Even in pain, it had to endure for now, as it was searching its memory for an island. It recalled seeing several small islands in this sea area earlier where it could land.
It was unbearably thirsty; if it didn’t drink water soon, it would die…
However, when it flew over the first island, it found the island already engulfed in raging flames, with large portions of land blasted apart and slowly sinking beneath the sea. Given its enormous weight, this island couldn’t support it, so Uranus had to change course.
But the second and third islands were the same. Realizing that there were no islands nearby where it could land, Uranus finally remembered the massive ship it had seen from afar before flying into the sky!
That’s it! That’s it! One of its former enemies!
Uranus wasn’t too stupid; it now understood that during its battle with the little insect, the nearby islands had likely been destroyed by Pluton!
Indeed, Buggy and his pirate crew, aboard the Pluton warship, had successfully completed their mission. Given Buggy’s cowardly nature, he had already steered clear of the nearby waters. Pluton was just a heavy surface ship; if it directly confronted Uranus, it wouldn’t be much use. He didn’t want his trump card as a Four Emperor—the Pluton warship—to be destroyed by Uranus for no reason.
Keeping Pluton would allow Buggy to realize his dream of becoming a Four Emperor…
After thinking it over, once on the sea surface, Uranus tried its best to control its massive body, attempting to hover close to the water. This was something it usually avoided, as memories from eight hundred years ago gave it a psychological fear of the sea…
With its wings severely damaged, this maneuver took a lot of effort. But just as it lowered its head to drink water, it suddenly noticed massive black shadows beneath the sea!
Instinctively, Uranus flapped its wings in terror and soared upward. Just as it broke free from the sea surface, a huge wave erupted, and a ferocious Sea King, its mouth full of sharp teeth, burst out of the water and lunged at Uranus!
Princess Shirahoshi and her Sea King friends had arrived…
This Sea King’s predatory move was incredibly sharp. Even as Uranus rose, it managed to bite down on most of Uranus’s tail. As the Sea King fell back, it dragged Uranus’s massive body toward the sea!
Again… these damn things! In its memories, during that great battle long ago, it had almost been dragged into the sea by these Sea Kings. Now they were appearing again!
Driven by survival instinct, Uranus flapped its wings desperately to fly upward. Its terrifying strength became evident as it actually lifted the Sea King beneath the sea, pulling it out of the water.
But at that moment, another massive wave erupted, and another Sea King burst forth. This time, however, it bit onto the Sea King being dragged by Uranus!
Not stopping there, one after another, Sea Kings emerged from the water, biting onto their companions. These Sea Kings were incredibly heavy, and as they piled on one by one, the cumulative drag became immense. Uranus’s flight grew slower and more labored until the lift from its wings could no longer counteract the weight, and it was dragged back toward the sea.
Ian watched this scene calmly from high above. The cooling device had already been inserted. If Princess Shirahoshi’s summoned Sea Kings could drag Uranus into the sea and kill it, that would be perfect. Even if Uranus drowned, the cooling device would prevent any major issues.
However, unfortunately, at the critical moment, Uranus’s tail was bitten off!
This was unavoidable. If the first Sea King that burst out had bitten Uranus’s neck, Uranus would have been done for! But it only bit the tail. Under the immense biting force of the Sea Kings, Uranus’s tail, already bloodied by Ian’s attacks, couldn’t withstand the tension and was torn off!
The moment the tail broke, the chain of Sea Kings fell back into the sea, sending up huge waves, while Uranus flapped its wings and flew up again at the last moment.
Even so, with its tail gone, Uranus had lost its dominance as the ruler of the skies. It hastily climbed higher and flew forward, like a cornered wild dog.
Beneath the sea, under Princess Shirahoshi’s command, the Sea Kings closely followed Uranus’s shadow in the sky, ensuring that wherever it flew, a large number of Sea Kings threatened it, preventing it from landing. All the islands in the nearby sea area had been destroyed by Pluton. Thus, under the combined pressure of Ian, Shirahoshi, and Buggy, Uranus was trapped!
And most importantly, this time, after losing control, Uranus had no Celestial Dragons left to help it…
Just as Uranus didn’t know what to do, it suddenly recalled something!
When the Celestial Dragons had awakened it, they had directed it to fly in a certain direction. From high above, it had seen islands below, connected by enormous bridges!
And that direction seemed to be… to the east!?
With no other choice, Uranus turned and flew toward the direction it remembered…
Ian, closely following behind, sneered as he watched its flight path.
“Just as I thought. It seems it really knows about those connecting bridges in the East Blue’s Labor Kingdom, built for it to rest on!”
“But unfortunately, you won’t make it back there! Because waiting for you there is a specially prepared surprise gift pack… This is fitting—starting in the East Blue and ending in the East Blue!”