Those Stirring in the Shadows! Cross Guild's Move

Bullet stared blankly at the man in front of him.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't get distracted, Bullet, this is the crucial part."

Ian flicked his finger in displeasure, sending a burst of Haki that struck Bullet on the forehead. The intense pain instantly made Bullet wince.

"Is it Flowing Haki?"

He said.

He had never imagined that Armament Haki could have so many techniques.

"The key to any kind of Haki technique lies in control,"

Ian spoke eloquently, "Flowing Haki is the ability to concentrate and use Haki from all parts of the body, thereby greatly increasing the power of Haki."

"Don't you think it's a waste to use your whole body to turn completely black?"

Bullet remained silent.

"A level above Flowing Haki is Armament Haki, which possesses the ability to Internal Destruction."

Ian flicked his finger again, and a burst of Haki landed on Bullet once more.

Bullet's pupils dilated slightly this time.

It pierced through the surface of his body, its Haki penetrating deep into his body to cause destruction.

"The key to this technique lies in more precise control, allowing the Haki to seep into the enemy's weak points."

Ian said, "With this level of control, it will be much easier to practice Conqueror's Haki Infusion."

"The Conqueror's Haki Infusion"

Bullet spoke again, "So Conqueror's Haki can still be used for binding?"

I never even considered this.

"I'm really surprised. Back when you were in Roger Pirates, didn't Roger and Rayleigh teach you anything?"

Ian was somewhat curious.

That's why they say the title of "Devil's Heir" should belong to Shanks.

That guy even replicated Roger's moves one-to-one.

Bullet didn't even twitch his lips, showing no intention of answering.

Ian didn't bother to ask further; it was probably because this guy was extremely withdrawn even when he was on Roger Pirates ship, refusing to interact with others.

They were so focused on challenging Roger that they didn't have time to learn anything else.

Roger didn't need to use much domineering Haki when he was beating him.

That's about it.

Ian spent half a day explaining to Bullet the techniques of advanced Armament Haki, Observation Haki Future Sight, Conqueror's Haki Infusion, and even the technique of Observation Kill.

That's about it.

By the time he finished speaking, Ian felt a bit parched. "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Bullet looked at Ian with a complicated expression.

This guy really goes all out, holding nothing back.

Aren't you even a little bit afraid of surpassing him and then eliminating him?

What arrogance!!

They don't even respect me!

As he said, is he not at all worried that anyone could surpass him?

"Very good."

Seeing that Bullet didn't press the matter further, Ian nodded in satisfaction.

That seems to have been explained very thoroughly.

Could it be that I actually have a talent for being a teacher?

"Since that's the case,"

Ian casually replied, "You can leave now. I'll be waiting for your challenge anytime."

Bullet was taken aback again, staring at Ian in utter astonishment.

Did this guy really just let me leave like that?

Seeing that he hadn't taken any action yet, Ian knew what he was thinking, so he smiled slightly again.

"You wouldn't leave and never come back, forgetting our promise, would you?"

Bullet immediately snorted coldly, "What nonsense are you spouting? You just wait and see!"

"Wait until I get back and I'll crush you completely!!"

So Bullet left.

Ian gave him a boat, and the guy quickly got away from Hachinosu Island.

"But Lord Ian, is it really a good idea to just let that guy go like this?"

Tesoro was puzzled by Ian's actions. "That guy is extremely dangerous, isn't he? Even if he can't defeat you in the future, he can simply leave and never come back."

"No, it won't."

Ian simply said, "That guy probably wants to beat me more than anyone else right now."

After all, Bullet's lifelong dream was to surpass Roger.

Tesoro was still somewhat skeptical, but ultimately said nothing, since it was Ian's decision.

However, he soon came to wholeheartedly agree with Ian's assessment.

Because Bullet didn't go very far, he found a deserted island in the Hachinosu Island waters and settled down there, where he began training.

This was probably so that he could challenge Ian immediately after achieving another breakthrough.

"Go and deliver supplies to him regularly."

That's what Ian said.

It will probably take some time before we can subdue Bullet.

But it doesn't matter. As long as that guy keeps chasing power, he won't escape my grasp. Ian is very confident.

Since Bullet has been pursuing Roger's strength for decades, let him pursue me from now on.

It's that simple.

Next, all you need to do is crush him every time he thinks he's become stronger enough to defeat you.

While Ian was acting as a teacher, the world was in turmoil.

Somewhere in the New World.

A small town once frequented by pirates is now in ruins. All the houses seem to have been completely destroyed by a terrifying force, leaving only some rubble.

Amidst these ruins, corpses lay strewn everywhere, blood flowed like rivers, and the bodies of pirates were scattered all around.

Only two figures wandered through this hell on earth.

"Mom! I'm hungry!"

The speaker was a tall, muscular man, with an overly strong upper body and an overly slender lower body. He had long, flowing blond hair, and most notably, a crescent-shaped mustache below his nose.

He carried a naginata in one hand and a huge bundle, as large as a small mountain, on his shoulder in the other. Through the gaps in the bundle, one could vaguely see the golden light emanating from it.

"Hehe, Weevil, my good son!"

A short, elderly woman sat on the man's shoulders. Although she was thin, short, and ugly, she was dressed in a very lavish manner, adorned with jewels. She stroked the man's cheek soothingly and said with a smile, "You made a fortune today. When we get home, I'll cook you a big meal right away."

"Yay!"

The burly man cheered happily, "I love Mom's cooking the most!"

"Hehehe, you silly son."

The old woman immediately beamed with joy.

She then pulled out a newspaper from her bosom, unfolded it, and it contained news about the World Government recruiting the Shichibukai.

"Weevil, I think we should change our identity."

"Change your identity?"

The silly son had no idea what his mother was saying.

"Go become Shichibukai!"

The woman chuckled and said, "I never imagined I'd be able to cooperate with the World Government one day. But it's not bad, at least we don't have to worry about the Navy chasing us anymore."

"After all, your bastard dad isn't going to help us!"

"Dad?"

The burly man, as if triggered by some safe word, immediately asked expectantly, "Mom! When are we going to see Dad?!"

"Foolish son,"

The old woman hugged her son's neck, her eyes immediately welling up with tears. "Your bastard father only cares about his adopted children; he doesn't care at all whether we, mother and son, live or die!"

"Hateful!"

The burly man immediately retorted angrily, "I'll kill those despicable bastards sooner or later! How dare they try to steal my father's affection from me!"

"Alright, alright, silly son,"

The old woman quickly reassured him, "Now is not the time to deal with them. Your father's inheritance will be yours sooner or later. Now let's go to the entrance to the New World to find the Navy and become Shichibukai!"

"Oh!!"

The mother and son walked further and further away.

Somewhere in the New World, G-11 Base.

A piercing alarm blared throughout the massive base.

"Enemy attack! All personnel assemble at the port! Enemy attack!!"

Accompanied by the base commander's roar through the loudspeaker, the naval soldiers in the base hurriedly gathered towards the port area.

Soon, tens of thousands of naval soldiers from the entire base gathered at the port, but this size of force could not give the naval soldiers here any sense of security.

Because what appeared on the sea in front of this base was a ship, a multi-sea vessel even larger than this base!

"It's Thriller Bark!!"

The Marine Vice Admiral stationed at the base stood on the harbor, sweat beading on his forehead, desperately yelling through a Den Den Mushi), "The Cross Guild are here!!"

Thriller Bark was the ship of Gecko Moria, a former Shichibukai.

However, now that this Shichibukai has become a member of the Cross Guild, this ship naturally belongs to the Cross Guild.

This is one of the World's Strongest today. Not to mention the Whitebeard Pirates or even the Beasts Pirates, it should be no less powerful than the Charlotte Family.

The Marine Vice Admiral was practically cursing. G-11 base wasn't exactly a strategically important location, so why were they heading straight for it?

"Hold on!"

The voice on the other end of the Den Den Mushi said, "I'll get Borsalino to support you right away!"

Boom!

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted in the distance.

"Support--"

The Vice Admiral general base commander's eyes widened suddenly, and the Den Den Mushi in his hand fell to the ground.

"No way?"

A huge black shadow was reflected in his eyes.

That was a cannonball.

A colossal cannonball, hundreds of meters in size!

There simply isn't any artillery in the world capable of firing shells of such a massive size, is there?

The Vice Admiral thought this to himself.

The next instant, the shells slammed into the base building, and the tsunami-like winds sent the marines flying through the air.

They hadn't even landed yet.

Boom!!

Amidst a deafening roar that shook the heavens, a massive mushroom cloud erupted, its fiery plume shooting thousands of meters into the sky. The incredibly fierce flames spread, instantly engulfing the entire base.

"Hehehehehe! What an amazing ability!!"

On the front of the Thriller Bark, a high platform had been built at some point, and on the platform was an unusually large heavy cannon, the muzzle of which was several meters wide.

On the base of this heavy cannon, Moria, holding a telescope, gazed at the distant island that had been directly blown to smithereens and laughed heartily.

A man suddenly jumped off the heavy artillery and landed beside them.

He was a tall, stern-faced man wearing a horned helmet.

He patted the barrel of the giant cannon, saying, "With my abilities, plus this giant cannon, this is only natural!"

This is just the beginning.

Crocodile looked at the man and chuckled, "When we get the chance, we'll just go and blow Mary Geoise up!"

The man in the horned helmet, known as the World Destroyer, Bandi World, sneered, "Let's start with Marineford."

"Hahahaha! Good! Let me see how Marineford is blown to smithereens!"

Shiryu of the Rain, who was watching the spectacle from the sidelines, laughed heartily, wishing he could start a war with the Marine Headquarters right now.

This guy is also someone who thrives on chaos.

"Next, we'll take over this area of the sea."

Crocodile said, "This is our base."

"The navy will definitely not pretend they didn't see it."

Shiryu cautioned, "We're now a thorn in their side. To the Navy, even Ian isn't as hateful as us."

"It doesn't matter."

Crocodile, however, dismissed this with a sneer, "We're not going to stay on any island."

He stamped his foot. "Isn't this ship quite good?"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Shiryu immediately burst into laughter, "That's a beautifully said thing!"

Isn't the real reason they chose to avoid war simply because they feared the navy?

"World,"

Crocodile ignored Shiryu's sarcasm and looked at Bandi World, "Once we're settled, your former comrades will be able to gather here."

Bandi World, however, was not particularly pleased; he even clenched his fists.

It's rather baffling.

However, Crocodile knew that World was betrayed by some of his other comrades and was captured by the Navy, so he must be feeling conflicted at this moment.

"Now, another very important thing,"

Crocodile said, "It's about helping Ryde find what he wants."

"We've already got some leads."

Marine Headquarters.

"Damn the Cross Guild!!"

Sengoku, who had only recently become the Marine Fleet Admiral, already understood the feelings that Sora had had back then. He angrily slammed his fist on the desk in front of him.

"G-11 base has been completely destroyed! Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers have perished!!"

"They're still brazenly subjugating the countries in that sea area! They completely disregard us!"

"Garp! You lead the team yourself! Since they dared to show themselves, don't waste this opportunity! I'll have Zephyr assist you!!"

"Kuzan will also be temporarily stationed at G-5 base. Contact him directly if needed!"

The navy has begun operations.

Hachinosu Island.

"Oh?"

Ian immediately learned about the Cross Guild's actions from Stussy: "So, after destroying the G-11 base, they stayed in that area of the sea?"

"That's right,"

Stussy nodded slightly. "We've already subdued quite a few countries, including even several Affiliated Nation of the government."

"That sea area is even closer to the entrance to the New World than the Whole Cake Island; it's truly located at the forefront of the New World,"

Ian chuckled, "It's like snatching food directly from the World Government's jaws. So, what's the Navy saying?"

"Hero Garp has been urgently deployed, and former Admiral Zephyr, who was training students, has also been transferred there."

Stussy said, "Vice Admiral Garp also took Vice Admiral Momousagi and Chaton with him, and Admiral Aokiji is even on standby at G-5 base."

"Oh."

Ian sighed.

This combat power is a bit exaggerated; it's enough to give the Cross Guild a run for their money.

A major battle may be about to begin.

"By the way, Lord Ian,"

Stussy suddenly remembered something, "Besides reclaiming those countries, the Cross Guild seems to be searching for something else all this time."

"What are you looking for?"

Ian raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I don't know."

Stussy shook his head.

Then she thought for a moment and added, "I just know they seem to be investigating some vampire legend."

"Oh?"

Ian's eyes lit up instantly.

That's right.

Now that Ryde is out of prison, he'll naturally go looking for that Bat-Bat Fruit — Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit with Vampire Form.

Where did that fruit come from?

hiss.

I haven't played Endless World: Red, so I don't know.

Now I'm suffering the consequences of being poor in my past life.