Gods Are Unaffected! Shimotsuki Yasuie's Decision

In the original work, the God Cards were unaffected by an opponent's effects. Once that ability was transferred to Ian, it allowed him to become immune to all manner of special abilities.

Simply put, anyone who wanted to defeat him had to rely on "attack power" and crush him head-on with "damage."

Whether it was the Time-Time Fruit, the Luck-Luck Fruit, or special Devil Fruit abilities such as the Hobby-Hobby Fruit and the Slow-Slow Fruit, none of them worked on him.

Gods are unaffected!

"You said, the Sun God?"

Toki was deeply shaken by Ian's words. Even in such a desperate moment, she could not help crying out, "Impossible! That is not at all the ability possessed by the legendary Sun God Nika!"

Although Nika was called the Sun God, that did not mean he truly was the sun. It was only because of Joy Boy's achievement in liberating slaves that people felt he brought hope to the world like the sun.

The essence of Nika's power should still have been rubber!

It was the freest and most imaginative power in the world!

It had nothing whatsoever to do with the power this man displayed.

And Nika was a warrior of liberation. How could he possibly stand with the Beasts Pirates!

Ian paused.

Damn it, now I look like a knockoff.

This world had Alabasta, which was modeled after Egypt, but Egyptian mythology had never spread here. As a result, his Winged Dragon Fruit carried no prestige at all in the eyes of the world.

Ian thought for a moment. "The one you mentioned is the old version. Mine is the new version."

"A new... Sun God?"

Toki's pupils trembled. "What exactly is Kaido planning!"

Ian's mouth twitched. You're really good at making things up.

"What Teacher Kai is planning, you can go back with me and ask him yourself," Ian said.

No.

She could not let this man capture her.

Toki gritted her teeth.

Oden's plan had already been exposed. If she were captured, he would be threatened.

What should she do?

Her ability did not work on this man. What should she do now?

Was there any way to save both Momonosuke and Hiyori?

No.

There was no way at all.

Toki sadly realized that, now, there was only one thing she could do.

She turned her head and looked at Momonosuke, whom Ian held in his other hand.

"Mother! Save me!"

The little boy was still wailing in collapse, completely unaware that his mother had also fallen into a desperate situation.

"I'm sorry, Momonosuke."

Toki's tears of anguish burst forth.

"Hm?"

Ian froze. "What are you trying to do?"

The next moment, before Ian could do anything, Toki, whom he had been holding, vanished. Hiyori, whom she held in her arms, vanished with her.

"Damn!"

Ian sucked in a breath. "This is bad!"

He could only ensure that he himself was unaffected by the Time-Time Fruit's ability; he could not stop Toki from activating it.

After all, his ability was the Winged Dragon Fruit, not Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon, so he could not grant Toki immunity.

Toki had activated her ability and traveled into the future with her daughter.

Let alone Ian—even Im would have had no way to cross the long river of time to pursue them.

And there was no telling just how far into the future Toki had gone. In the original work, that woman had even sent Momonosuke and the others twenty years into the future in one go.

However.

Ian raised his right hand and looked at Kozuki Momonosuke, who was still bawling. "Your mom seems to have abandoned you."

In the original work, Momonosuke was sent into the future while Hiyori remained behind. But this time, the situation had been reversed.

"Waaaaah!"

Already timid by nature, Kozuki Momonosuke instantly broke down.

By that logic, the mission counted as complete, right?

Ian thought for a moment, then grabbed Momonosuke and returned through the hole they had crashed through. He stepped out of the keep and looked down.

The battle was still ongoing.

After all, Ian had only spent a few minutes inside. Neither Yamato's group nor Yasuie's samurai were weak enough to be defeated in such a short time.

If anything, Yamato's side had already fallen into a disadvantage.

Yamato was doing a little better. Shimotsuki Yasuie's strength was indeed limited, and he had also taken one of Ian's fire attacks earlier. His body was covered in burns, yet he was still more or less evenly matched with Yamato.

Jack and Black Maria, on the other hand, were not doing so well.

Though they were the same age as Ian and Yamato, the gap in talent was simply too great. At first, they had been able to use their abilities to bully the samurai a little.

But once those elite samurai adapted to their powers, Jack and Black Maria could only take a beating. The difference in numbers was simply too great.

In just those few minutes, both Jack and Black Maria had gained several wounds.

Black Maria was quite clever. Seeing that things were going badly, she immediately used her ability to climb up the side of the keep. From there, she attacked with silk, and the samurai could not reach her.

Jack had it worse. He was the one being surrounded and attacked most fiercely.

Fortunately, a mammoth's hide was thick and tough, so they were only superficial wounds.

"That's enough."

Ian slowly descended, beating his wings. He raised Momonosuke in his hand. "If you don't want this brat to get hurt."

"Ian!"

Black Maria instantly let out a breath of relief.

It was finally over.

"Brother Ian!!"

Jack cheered even more excitedly. Brother Ian really never disappointed him.

"Momonosuke..."

Shimotsuki Yasuie, who had been fighting Yamato, was both anxious and furious.

He was anxious about Toki and Hiyori's whereabouts, and furious at his own failure to protect them.

The blades he had been swinging in an impenetrable flurry now froze completely. Could he really stand by and watch Momonosuke get hurt?

Looking at the child Ian held in his hand, still bawling his eyes out, Shimotsuki Yasuie gritted his teeth.

"Stop!"

At last, he shouted, "Everyone, stop!"

The samurai ceased their attacks as well, each of them wearing a grim expression.

"Huh? It's over already?"

Yamato, who had been having fun fighting, puffed out her cheeks and looked up indignantly. "Ian! I was just about to win!"

Still holding Momonosuke, Ian slowly landed on the ground. He looked at Yamato, then at the resentful Shimotsuki Yasuie. "Then... should you two keep going?"

He did not really care either way.

It would actually be better if they could stall for a while.

That way, they could avoid Teacher Kai's battle with Kozuki Oden.

"Mm!"

Yamato's two delicate eyebrows scrunched into caterpillars. Her not-so-bright little head plunged into a storm of thought, and then she resolutely shook her head. "No!"

She clenched her little fists and declared loudly, "Now that we've caught someone, we should go back! Besides, Dad's fight with Kozuki Oden is more interesting!"

Ian sighed inwardly.

But it did not matter.

Who knew where Teacher Kai and Kozuki Oden were fighting anyway?

They could just fly straight back to Onigashima.

"But, Brother Ian,"

Jack, now back in human form, walked over while wiping the blood from his body. "Why did you only catch one? Where are Kozuki Oden's wife and daughter?"

"They ran away."

"They ran away? Even you couldn't catch them, Brother Ian?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"No one could catch them."

Ian shook his head.

How could people who could only live their lives honestly, one second at a time, ever catch someone capable of crossing through time?

Once they returned, Teacher Kai could send people to guard this place. The only question was how many years they would have to wait before that mother and daughter appeared again.

Hearing Ian say this, Shimotsuki Yasuie relaxed slightly.

But when he looked at Momonosuke, his expression remained just as unpleasant—though with his face covered in burns, it was hard to make out much of an expression at all.

"Then, what do we do with these people?"

Black Maria watched the Samurai led by Shimotsuki Yasuie, all of them glaring at her group with furious expressions.

"Those guys?"

Ian looked at Shimotsuki Yasuie. "Taking this guy back should be enough, right?"

He wanted to say they should ignore the others, but this man was, after all, the Daimyo of Hakumai and an important figure in Wano Country. Letting him go when he was right in front of them would earn Ian a severe beating from Teacher Kai if he found out.

"What are you planning to do to Lord Yasuie?!"

Yasuie's Samurai were the first to object!

Even with Momonosuke being used as a threat, they would never allow their lord to be harmed!

"No!"

But at that moment, Shimotsuki Yasuie looked at Ian. "I'll go with you!"

"Lord Yasuie!!"

The Samurai were utterly shocked. "You don't need to go that far!"

He had already done more than enough for Kozuki Oden!

He had nearly been killed by these people!

Why did he still have to—

"You said just now,"

Shimotsuki Yasuie said, "that you're headed to the battlefield between Oden and Kaido next, right? Then take me with you!"

Perhaps he could still be of some use.