What Ian didn’t know was that at the moment he swung his blade to chop off Teach’s arm, a figure was watching the scene from the sky above the port.
This figure wore an open-necked floral shirt, a tall top hat, and held a cane in his hand. He had soft and feminine features, who else could it be but Lafitte of the Blackbeard Pirates?
Although he was flying in the sky with his arms that turned into wings, strangely, in the eyes of Ian and his companions, all five members of the Blackbeard Pirates were lying on the ground, injured and helpless.
What on earth was going on?
Upon seeing Ian ruthlessly swing his sword, Lafitte shuddered and whispered, “Captain was right…this Black Dragon Ian truly hates him to the bone! Luckily, I’ve already planted the seeds of our plan, they won’t suspect a thing. Now, it’s time for me to complete my mission.”
After speaking, Lafitte spread his wings without looking back and flew towards the distance.
As Ian and Ace tied up the members of the Blackbeard Pirates with ropes, Doc Q, despite his lifeless appearance, weakly lifted his head and muttered, “Fate is the measure of a person’s worth. For now, fate may be on your side, but it doesn’t mean we have lost our value…”
Ian didn’t quite understand what this guy was trying to say and just thought he was rambling, so he simply gave him a punch in the face and knocked him down, then tied up him, along with his sickly horse, upside down.
Burgess, too, attempted to “resist” when Doroni attempted to tie him up. However, the man’s defiance was cut short when Doroni swiftly slapped him down.
Both of them were strong monsters, but Burgess was severely injured now and clearly no match for Doroni…
As for Van Augur, he wanted to resist too, but Robin used her Hana Hana no Mi powers to lock his hands and feet and then he was tied up by Matthew.
When they were tying up “Lafitte,” they surprisingly didn’t encounter any resistance. Reiju thought he was too injured from Ian’s previous blow, so she didn’t think much of it. After tying him up, she brought him over. All five members of the Blackbeard Pirates were put together, and only then did Reiju say to Ian, “Aren’t you going to stop Teach’s bleeding? He might bleed to death if you leave him like this!”
Ian thought for a moment, drew out the Senbonzakura, and black flames surged onto the blade. He then pressed the blade against Teach’s broken arm, using fire to cauterize the wound and stop the bleeding.
It goes without saying that Teach let out another heart-wrenching scream…
After doing all of this, Ian still felt uneasy, so he said to Reiju, “You can use poison abilities, right? Give them some toxins, just don’t kill them!”
(T/N: the f*ck, I just thought of something… why didn’t he kill the other members of the Blackbeard crew and just leave Teach! Wtf! The whitebeard has no use for them, and their existence would only raise the chances of Teach escaping…!)
Reiju nodded, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and suddenly her butterfly-shaped cloak behind her expanded and fluttered. A pink mist immediately enveloped her entire body, and then she manipulated the pink mist, which floated towards the five members of the Blackbeard Pirates, shrouding them within it.
Soon, Teach and the others began to show symptoms of poisoning, just like Ace had before.
Seeing this, Ian was satisfied and asked Reiju curiously, “Is this a Devil Fruit ability?”
Reiju nodded and said, “Yes, I am a Devil Fruit user, the Bug-Bug Fruit Model: Butterfly!”
Ian suddenly understood. Although butterflies are not poisonous, such poison can be produced by consuming poisonous plants. In other words, Reiju does not produce poison on her own, but she can gain poison abilities by ingesting toxins. This could explain why she previously kissed him to extract the poison.
The port of Nanohana City had been virtually destroyed by the battle between Ian and the Blackbeard Pirates. Therefore, Ian and his group had to take Teach and the others into the city. Ace has already contacted Marco and the others through the Den Den Mushi, but they will need some time to arrive.
In the following week, Ian and his group stayed in this city. At this point, the Straw Hat Pirates had already arrived at the capital of Alabasta. However, the rebellion in this country has become increasingly serious, and Ian and his group could hear people discussing anxiously about the battles between the rebels and the royal army.
Ian and Ace both know that Luffy and Zoro have probably already fought against the people of Baroque Works by now, so they are worried about them. However, as older brothers, they know that they cannot always protect them. Regardless of whether it’s Luffy or Zoro, they both need to grow. Therefore, besides paying attention to the news from the Alubarna, they just waited for Marco to arrive, without taking any further action.
However, what made Ian more and more uneasy was that Teach had been behaving very obediently during this time and had not attempted to escape. This should be a good thing, but for Ian, who knew the real him, he felt that this guy was acting strangely and that something was off…
He had fought against him before, and the first time was on the Whitebeard Pirates’ ship. Although Teach’s possible reason for being cornered leading to desperation was a factor, he had to admit that he had extraordinary physical abilities. When Teach’s final punch landed on Ian’s body, he had felt the immense power behind it.
Especially considering that Ace, whom Ian knew well, was also extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat. It was well known that Ace had tried to apprehend Teach on his own before (in the original story), and had been defeated by him. Aside from Teach’s devil fruit ability to manipulate others’ physical bodies, this was likely due to Teach’s superior combat skills.
And yet, Ian couldn’t shake off the feeling that something wasn’t quite right…
Because of Teach’s unusual behavior, Ian became more and more wary of him, sometimes even thinking about killing him directly without considering Ace’s mission.
Teach obviously felt Ian’s killing intent towards him, so during this period of time, he didn’t dare to let Ian guard him alone. He kept on demanding that Ace must stay around.
With Ace present, Ian couldn’t rashly kill Teach, so he was forced to bide his time.
…………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, the real Lafitte had already flown to a location that Ian was quite familiar with.
This is the location of Marine Headquarters in the Red Line, the Marineford!
When Lafitte appeared, the marine guards immediately noticed him, so countless guns were aimed at him.
But Lafitte landed calmly and said to the colonel who approached him, “If possible, please grant me an audience with the Fleet Admiral, Sengoku!”
The Marine colonel stared at Lafitte warily and looked him over a few times before saying, “That’s impossible! How can a pirate of unknown origin meet the Fleet Admiral!… Soldiers, arrest him!”
Just as the soldiers were about to swarm him, Lafitte smiled and said, “Wouldn’t it matter even if it’s related to the Whitebeard Pirates?”
The Marine colonel was taken aback and stopped his men from arresting Lafitte. He couldn’t believe his ears and asked, “You…what did you just say!?”
Before Lafitte could respond, a voice suddenly came from above, saying, “Let him come over!”
Turning around, the colonel saw Sengoku overlooking them from the top of the tower, so he had to let him pass.
Lafitte finally got the opportunity to meet with Sengoku, of course, under the surveillance of the marine Admiral, Akainu…
“Well, tell me, who are you?” Sengoku asked Lafitte.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Lafitte, the navigator of the Blackbeard Pirates!” Lafitte lifted his top hat with his orchid finger and bowed to the Fleet Admiral. “I came here to recommend a candidate who can fill the vacant position of the Shichibukai for the marines.”
“You don’t need to recommend anyone!” Sengoku waved his hand impatiently. “The marines have its own considerations when it comes to filling the Shichibukai positions. You, a pirate, needn’t bother yourself with that.”
However, Lafitte calmly said, “Don’t be so hasty, sir. The candidate I want to recommend is my captain, Marshall D. Teach, also known as Blackbeard! I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”
At this moment, Sakazuki next to him spoke up. He sneered, “Ah, so it turns out to be the little punk pirate who defected from the Whitebeard Pirates. And you actually want to recommend him to be a Shichibukai? Are you out of your mind?”
Lafitte just laughed it off, twirling his cane. “Hahaha! Trust me, this candidate is a sure bet, because soon, our captain will make a name for himself throughout the world!”
Sengoku and Sakazuki looked at Lafitte’s confident expression and asked with a furrowed brow, “What do you mean?”
“Now, my captain, the Blackbeard has been captured!” Lafitte said calmly. “By none other than the infamous duo, the Black Dragon Ian and Portgas D. Ace!”
Sengoku and Sakazuki were stunned when they heard this, not understanding what Lafitte meant by saying this.
However, before they could ask, Lafitte continued, “Although he was captured, what I want to say is that my captain did it on purpose! Because next, he will be sent back to the Whitebeard Pirates by Ace, which is also a part of his plan…!”
“Damn it, what on earth are you trying to tell us!?” Sengoku’s patience was wearing thin by this point.
“Why you ask!? And why did my captain send me here?” Lafitte asked rhetorically. “To offer the marines a deal they couldn’t refuse! The Blackbeard Pirates will aid the marines in eliminating the Whitebeard Pirates. And in return, the marines promise to induct our captain into their prestigious ranks as one of the Seven Warlords.”
“Oh!? An opportunity to crush the Whitebeard Pirates?” Sengoku and Sakazuki looked at each other, finally showing some interest. They asked Lafitte, “What do you plan to do exactly?”
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