Since getting the Dark-Dark Fruit, Teach has been wanting to take Ian’s Cryptocurrency fruit.
If it were any other time, he might have been overjoyed to run into him, but why now of all times!?
At this moment, Teach’s heart was sinking.
Teach was not a fool. When he laid eyes on Ian, and saw Ace standing sternly behind him, he immediately understood that the Whitebeard Pirates had dispatched someone to pursue him, and that pursuer was none other than Ace!
As for Ian, he must have come with Ace voluntarily. Teach understood very well that not only did he want to kill Ian, but Ian also wants him dead. There was no room for any turning point between the two. Ian would not miss this opportunity to finish what he started.
Even Lafitte and Van Augur were a little dumbfounded now.
The Blackbeard Pirates had just arrived at Arabasta, tired and hungry from their journey, and now they had run head-on into Ian, one of the Shichibukai. This was a big problem.
After a moment of silence, no one could answer Ian’s question.
However, Teach was a very ambitious and cunning man. After snapping out of his shock, he suddenly laughed wildly: “Zehahaha! Ian, Ace! I never expected to run into you guys here. What a pleasant surprise!”
Ian and Ace both looked at Teach with some confusion, wondering what he was up to and why he was suddenly laughing.
But then Teach opened his arms and said, “Ian, Ace, my pirate group has already been established. Do you guys want to join my crew? With such strong people like you joining, our pirate crew will surely become famous throughout the four seas! Let’s conquer the world together!”
Upon hearing this, Ian and Ace both frowned and exchanged a glance. They didn’t expect Teach to say such a thing as soon as they met him. Was he trying to play tricks on them or was he really so open-minded?
So, with this doubt in mind, Ian snorted coldly and said, “Join your crew? Teach, did you forget, I’ve tried to kill you once before. Do you really trust me to join your pirate crew?”
“Of course!” Teach laughed loudly and stared at Ian with widened eyes. But the way he looked made him seem more sinister than friendly. Teach said loudly, “Ian, the grudges between us were just a misunderstanding. Once you join my crew, we’ll be comrades, and the past will be water under the bridge!”
Lafitte and the others watched Teach intently, their nervous hearts were beating fast. The tension in the air was palpable…
Ian stared straight into Teach’s eyes and realized that he didn’t flinch at all. Teach stared back at him with the same intensity, and it was evident that what he was selling it with all his desire!
Indeed, the man who had managed to keep his true colors hidden for so many years on Whitebeard’s ship was not someone to be trifled with.
“Teach, don’t waste your breath!” Ian shook his head and said, “I know what you’re trying to do. Judging by your appearance, you must have been weakened by a storm or some other catastrophe at sea. That’s why you’re trying to deceive us with these words. So please don’t bother. You won’t escape this time!”
“Ain’t that right, Teach?” Ace stepped forward and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ian. He said, “Since you dared to kill Thatch, you should be prepared for the consequences! I must uphold the dignity of Whitebeard’s pirate group!”
“Tsk, tsk, Ace!” Tich smirked. “Are you really willing to call a person who has no blood relation with you, your son? or your father?”
Teach looked at Ace and said, “Is this ridiculous ‘family’ really worth so much to you?”
Ace’s expression turned deadly serious. “Shut your mouth! You have no right to speak ill of Oyaji! Don’t forget, he gave you shelter on this ship for all these years. He gave you a home, and you should at least be grateful… But now you have the audacity to mock his dreams?”
“Yeah, that’s right, his dreams!” Teach shouted, “But those dreams were his alone. Has he ever asked about my dreams or your dreams!? I refuse to spend my life tied down to Whitebeard’s pirate crew just for the sake of his own ambitions.”
“If that’s really how you feel, then leave on your own!”Ace snapped. “But why did you have to kill Thatch!? Was your friendship with him all a lie?”
The argument between the two meant that the two sides had completely fallen apart.
From the beginning, Van Augur and the others didn’t expect Teach to come to an agreement with Iain and the rest of the crew. When they saw the situation deteriorate, Van Augur acted first.
Several bullets were shot from his strange long rifle “Senriku”, heading towards Ace.
However, these bullets passed through Ace’s body and landed in the rear, only leaving a trail of flames on Ace’s body.
Van Augur’s action made Ace move too, he directly took action and grasped a burning flame in his right hand, rushing towards Teach.
As previously agreed with Ian, he would deal with Teach himself.
Ian also took action, directing his attack towards Van Augur who had just made a sneak attack.
However, Van Augur was also a nimble person, and when he fired just now, he saw Ian rushing towards him, so he quickly retreated.
Van Augur wanted to dodge, but Ian didn’t intend to give him a chance, firmly locking onto him, holding his sword, the Senbonzakura, rushing to his front, and preparing to strike with all his strength!
However, when faced with the strike from Ian, Van Augur showed no sign of panic.
Sure enough, when Ian was about to hit him, a slender long sword suddenly appeared beside him, directly blocking Ian’s strike, and protecting Van Augur.
Ian looked over and found that it was Lafitte who had made a move. He was holding a Western rapier, which was hidden in his civilized cane.
But Ian’s strike was not so easily deterred. His current strength was considerable, and when Lafitte’s slender sword blocked his attack, it was almost chopped off by Ian!
Even Van Augur had to quickly dodge and roll away to avoid the devastating strike, barely managing to get back on his feet.
Lafitte’s hand had gone numb from the impact, and he almost lost his grip on the sword. He realized just how difficult a foe Ian truly was, even after just one exchange.
“Get out of the way!” Ian shouted, and with a sideways swing of his sword, he slashed toward Lafitte.
Lafitte had originally intended to continue blocking with his sword, but upon seeing the tip of Ian’s sword, he suddenly realized it was a bad idea and quickly ducked down!
Ian’s sword grazed the top of Lafitte’s hat, cutting off half of it, and then a massive wave of sword energy flew out from Ian’s sword
Swish! A tall building behind Lafitte was cut in half by his Flying Slash!
The building crumbled and collapsed, causing chaos and panic among the people around. Lafitte turned to see the destruction and broke out in a cold sweat. If he had hesitated even a moment longer, it could have been his neck that was sliced in half!
Ian had intended to use his speed and kill Lafitte, one of Blackbeard’s crew members. However, Van Augur entered the fray, firing several bizarrely-curved bullets in his direction
Using his En Field to sense these bullets, Ian realized that he would be injured if he didn’t block them. He had no choice but to swing his sword and cut down each bullet aimed at him.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lafitte finally escaped from Ian’s range of attack. Ian realized that he had been too focused on his immediate targets…
Unfortunately, they didn’t realize that Ian was not just a simple swordsman, after all – his true range of attack was much wider than just the length of his blade.
Seeing Lafitte getting away, Ian didn’t hesitate. He swung his sword with his right hand to block the bullets, and with his free left hand, he suddenly struck out with a dark hook towards the direction in which Lafitte was retreating!
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