Golden Flying Dragon! Set Sail! (Please Keep Reading!!)

"Brother Ian, Sister Yamato, did Boss Kaido let you go out to sea?"

Jack practically roared in surprise.

Ian picked at his ears; Jack's shout had nearly shaken his earwax loose.

The kid was not only huge—his voice was ridiculously loud too.

"Us!"

Yamato was no less excited than Jack. Clenching her little fists, she said repeatedly, "Dad said all four of us can go together!"

"The open sea?"

Black Maria's eyes were filled with anticipation as well.

She had never left Wano Country either.

"That's great!"

Jack shouted excitedly, "Boss Kaido recognizes us! He thinks we're already qualified to represent the Beasts Pirates and conquer the seas!"

What could be more exciting than receiving Boss Kaido's approval?

That was more or less what it meant.

Ian did not think Jack had said anything wrong.

Even Black Maria was roughly at the level of a Flying Six. She was hardly someone who could be called fodder.

Yamato excitedly waved a little fist. "Then let's go!"

She eagerly prepared to run toward the port.

"Don't rush."

Ian rolled his eyes and grabbed the girl by her ponytail.

Was she planning to head out to sea empty-handed?

"Ah!"

Yamato's scalp hurt from Ian's tug. She turned back with puffed cheeks. "Ian! What are you doing?!"

"Go back and pack first,"

Ian said earnestly. "Teacher Kai should prepare the other supplies for us, but at the very least, we need to bring a change of clothes."

"Oh, right!"

Only then did Yamato come to a realization.

"Go back and pack your things. We'll meet at the port later," Ian said.

"Okay!"

The three of them answered at the same time.

A short while later, at Onigashima's port.

Aboard a small sailing ship, Ian watched Jack huff and puff as he ran onto the deck.

"Brother Ian! We can set sail now!"

Jack shouted excitedly, a large pack slung over his back.

"Let's go!"

Yamato had already climbed up the mast and was happily waving her little fist.

She had been the first to arrive. After all, all her clothes were the same style, so she did not need to worry about matching them.

"Then let's set sail."

Ian nodded.

The ship gradually left Onigashima's dock and headed toward Jinbu Port.

Ian stood on the deck, gazing toward the distant end of the azure sea.

He had sailed from Onigashima many times before, but this time was different.

This time, he was truly leaving Wano Country, going to see this world for the first time.

How should he put it?

Even his heartbeat was quickening.

It was hard not to look forward to this world.

Onigashima, top floor of the main building.

"Worororororo!"

Kaido, who was drinking, seemed to sense something and suddenly laughed.

"Go on, brats."

He said, "You can start causing trouble now!"

Jinbu Port was located in the Hakumai region of Wano Country. Of course, this port only served ships sailing the inland sea.

Ian and the other three disembarked here.

Next, they would take a carriage to Port of Stealth.

"Lord Ian! Miss Yamato! I have been waiting for you for quite some time!"

A man greeted them at the port.

He was tall and powerfully built, with a thick beard covering his chin. Most striking of all were the two sharp fangs jutting upward from his mouth.

"Babanuki?"

Ian recognized the man. He was the future warden of Udon Prison and counted as someone fairly capable among the Beasts Pirates' Officers.

"Lord Kaido instructed me to accompany you all to sea."

Babanuki, more than half a head taller than Ian, bent forward in a bow before him. "The ship, supplies, navigator, ship's doctor, cook, and sailors are all ready. We can set sail at any time."

"Huh? Why's it like that?"

Yamato immediately looked deeply disappointed upon hearing this. "I thought it would just be the four of us."

"Idiot, what are you talking about?"

Ian could not help rapping her on the head.

None of the four had any experience at sea. Without seasoned sailors accompanying them, they would probably have to discuss turning back before they had gone very far—especially since this was the New World, where sailing conditions were at their harshest.

"Come on, Babanuki. Lead the way."

Ian said.

"Yes!"

Babanuki raised his head. "Please follow me."

He had already prepared a Dragon Carriage outside the port.

A Dragon Carriage was, as the name suggested, a carriage pulled by dragons.

The dragons here were a distinctive creature of Wano Country, something akin to raptors. Once tamed, they could be used as mounts, and some people in Wano Country even used them to plow fields.

The Dragon Carriage was not particularly slow as it huffed and puffed, pulling the five of them toward Port of Stealth.

Sitting inside the Dragon Carriage, Ian looked out at the scenery through the window.

What caught his eye most was, of course, the weapons factory not far outside the port.

Rows of towering structures, billowing smoke, and a scale as vast as a small town—it felt almost surreal to see something like that in such a backward country.

And there were many more factories like it throughout Wano Country.

The Dragon Carriage gradually moved farther away, leaving the factory far behind.

The distance had not been far to begin with, and soon the Dragon Carriage stopped outside the heavily guarded port.

There was nothing much to say about the surface port. Ian had come here many times before, but this was his first time taking the massive elevator down.

They descended all the way to the bottom of the enormous cavern, where the real port was located.

"Oh!!"

Yamato immediately cried out in surprise.

Before them was a waterway within the cavern, stretching all the way to the end of the mountain wall.

This waterway was Wano Country's passage to the outside sea.

Upon reaching the port at the bottom of the cavern, Ian saw the ship they would be taking to sea this time.

"Oh?"

He was somewhat surprised.

The ship was incredibly large. At over three hundred meters long, it would not be considered small even among the Pirate World's many colossal warships.

But its size was not the point. Ian did not particularly care about the densely packed gunports lining both sides of the hull or the enormous main cannon at the bow. What mattered was that the figurehead looked very familiar.

"Ian!"

Yamato nudged Ian with her elbow and pointed at the ship's bow. "It looks just like you!"

Simply put, the sculpture at the bow was obviously modeled after Ian's The Winged Dragon of Ra form. The ferocious head of a golden flying dragon was set into the prow.

Wing carvings adorned both sides of the hull, and even the ship's main color was an extravagantly luxurious gold.

"This ship is called the Golden Flying Dragon, Lord Ian. It was specially prepared for you."

Babanuki said respectfully, "It took two years to build. It was completed two years ago and has been docked here ever since."

No, Teacher Kai, you even prepared a surprise for me?

The corner of Ian's mouth curled upward.

In the original story, Jack had his own dedicated flagship. So it was not hard to understand why one had been built specifically for him as well.

"It was prepared for Ian?"

Yamato immediately looked at Babanuki. "What about me?" She pointed a slender finger at herself. "Where's my ship?"

Babanuki promptly replied, "Lord Yamato, your ship is also under construction."

So Yamato still wasn't qualified to have a ship of her own? Was that why her ship hadn't been built alongside his?

Ian guessed.

"Oh!"

Naturally, Yamato's mind didn't go that far. She merely said expectantly, "I wonder what my ship will look like!"

"I'm guessing it'll have a wolf's head?"

Ian said casually, "The color scheme should probably be white."

"Huh? How did you know, Ian?" Yamato was shocked.

Ian rolled his eyes. "Take a guess."

Black Maria covered her mouth and chuckled. Clueless Yamato was actually pretty cute.

Jack, meanwhile, merely stared at the ship with shining eyes.

Was this the treatment afforded to a senior officer?

One day, he too would have a ship like this! He would become a senior officer of the Beasts Pirates!

"Alright, board the ship."

Ian said, "Get ready to depart."

"Yeah!"

Amid Yamato's cheers, everyone boarded. The vast deck, wide enough for aircraft to take off and land on, gave Ian an idea.

Why not have Uncle Queen look into making airplanes?

A ship of this size could completely serve as a budget version of an aircraft carrier.

The sailors were already in position. At Babanuki's command, the anchor was raised, and the sailors inside the hull worked the long oars. The great ship slowly began to move, advancing down the waterway.

This waterway lay beneath Wano Country's inland sea, stretching from the southern interior of Wano Country all the way beyond its towering walls. Its length was naturally absurd.

Only after more than half a day did the long waterway finally come to an end, with light appearing ahead.

"Are we finally getting out?"

Yamato was so excited that she leaped straight off the deck. "Ian! I'll wait for you up ahead!"

She transformed into a white wolf and raced forward across the water, leaving behind nothing but a frozen trail of ice.

Wasn't this girl a little too impatient?

Ian shook his head.

The Golden Flying Dragon continued onward, soon sailing out through the mouth of the massive cavern. Before them stood an enormous waterfall.

They circled out through a gap beside the waterfall, and the deep blue sea finally spread out before Ian's eyes.

"Whoa."

Ian couldn't help but sigh softly as well.

This time, the sea before him finally had no end in sight.

Of course, anyone familiar with the waters near Wano Country knew they were filled with raging currents and enormous whirlpools.

Fortunately, the Golden Flying Dragon was large enough to avoid the worst of the undercurrents.

"Ian! Hahahaha!"

Laughter rang out from below. Ian lowered his head and saw Yamato, in her white wolf form, happily running back and forth across the sea ahead of the ship. "This is the real ocean! It's so beautiful!"

Ian said with a smile, "Don't get too excited. You might think it's beautiful now, but in a few days, you may find it boring."

"No way!"

Yamato retorted loudly, "I'll never get tired of looking at it for the rest of my life!"

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