Marine Conference

With the ice wings on his back shattered, Ian released his Bankai, returned to his original form, and landed on the ground. Looking at the devastation around him, he could not help shrugging.

In this world, battles between the strong were like bulldozers. Every fight altered the terrain.

Battles between ability users could even permanently change the climate...

Physical powerhouses could destroy a small island in a single battle.

With individual strength at this level, they were truly humanoid nuclear weapons.

Otherwise, the World Government would not be so wary of Four Emperor-level powerhouses!

[ Ding, mission complete. You have obtained one random draw! ]

Ian thought for a moment and decided not to draw at this time. Instead, he glanced in Onigumo's direction.

Earlier, he had seen Onigumo hunting down Fire Fist Ace, but he had not paid any attention to it.

Ian had no particular opinion of the Marines—neither goodwill nor hostility.

As long as they did not come looking for trouble with him, that was enough.

With his current strength, he had no reason to fear Onigumo. Unless an Admiral came, Onigumo posed no threat to him.

He had not even used his full strength in his battle against Donquixote Doflamingo.

After fighting Donquixote Doflamingo, he realized that while he might not yet have reached the very strongest tier, if he went all out, he should be able to contend with an Admiral!

Of course, that was only Ian's estimate. He would need to find an opportunity to test the limits of his strength.

Ian merely gave the Marines and Ace one glance before vanishing from the spot.

Onigumo's scalp tingled under Ian's gaze. Could this guy be planning to attack the Marines?

He did not believe he was a match for the man before him. Donquixote Doflamingo's fate was right there for all to see.

Ian had killed him without the slightest hesitation!

Donquixote Doflamingo was a Shichibukai. Both his reputation and strength were formidable; otherwise, he could never have become one.

Onigumo did not know the exact reason Donquixote Doflamingo had become a Shichibukai, but he knew one thing very clearly: every Shichibukai was someone he could not handle!

Fortunately, Ian only glanced at them and did not pay them any further attention, flashing away from the area.

Onigumo let out a breath, then thought it over and called Marine Headquarters to report what had happened.

Only after making the report did he seem to remember something. "Right, Fire Fist Ace? Damn it!"

He abruptly turned his head, but where was there any sign of Fire Fist Ace now?

Ace and his companions had all vanished.

Onigumo was somewhat frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. He could only report this matter as well!

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

At the meeting.

Sengoku pinned Ian's photograph to the wall behind him and said gravely, "Tell me, how should we handle this? The defeat of Heavenly Yaksha Donquixote Doflamingo, and how should we deal with the instigator behind this incident!"

Sengoku swept his gaze over everyone present.

The meeting room was nearly full, occupied by Marine higher-ups.

The three Admirals, Garp, Vice Admiral Tsuru, and the other elite Vice Admirals were all present.

One of the Admirals, Borsalino—also known as Yellow Monkey—looked at Ian's photograph. The photo showed Ian after activating Bankai, with short silver-white hair and tear tracks at the corners of his eyes. No one knew when it had been taken. Yellow Monkey pursed his lips and wore a lecherous expression. "Ooh, the rookies these days are really terrifying! He killed a Shichibukai the moment he appeared? And it was that Heavenly Yaksha, too..."

Another Admiral, Aokiji, also spoke. He pushed up the sleep mask covering his eyes, yawned, and said, "That state... was he an ability user? Ice..."

Sengoku nodded and spoke at length. "According to the intelligence sent by Vice Admiral Onigumo, this man possesses two elemental abilities: ice and lightning. He also has a transformation ability, suspected to be a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit power! There is no need to discuss his strength—defeating Donquixote Doflamingo is the best proof!"

Sengoku had also been deeply shocked when he received Onigumo's report.

He had never expected that Donquixote Doflamingo would be taken down in the first half of the Grand Line by some unknown nobody!

And he had been killed, not merely defeated!

The Marines knew all too well how troublesome Donquixote Doflamingo was.

Yet he had still lost. The fall of a Shichibukai warranted a meeting of the Marine higher-ups.

Admiral Akainu also stared at Ian's photograph and asked in a deep voice, "Is this man a pirate?"

Akainu represented the Marines' Hawk Faction. When it came to pirates, his attitude was to kill rather than let any potential threat slip away!

Sengoku shook his head. "We do not know yet. This man appeared as if from nowhere. The earliest record of him was when he killed Lao G, an officer of the Donquixote Family. Donquixote Doflamingo pursued him because of that, which led to the events afterward!"

Naturally, the cause of the incident had not escaped the Marines' investigation. They also had intelligence regarding Donquixote Doflamingo's pursuit of Ian.

From another seat, Garp ate rice crackers and drank tea. When he heard this, he could not help slapping the table and bursting into laughter. "Hahahaha! Well done! I hated that Heavenly Yaksha brat a long time ago!"

Sengoku's face darkened, and he could not help roaring at Garp, "Garp, where do you think this is? Be quiet!"

Garp curled his lip and muttered softly, "Can't I even talk now?"

Everyone pretended not to see Garp's behavior and chose to ignore it...

"If he becomes a pirate, then kill him!!" Akainu's expression was cold. As the spokesman for the Hawk Faction, he had always upheld his philosophy of Absolute Justice. To complete a mission, he could even abandon his comrades' lives, believing that anyone who violated Marine justice deserved death!!

"The problem is that we do not know whether he has actually become a pirate. If we rashly issue a bounty, we might give the Marines a powerful enemy!" Sengoku spoke in a grave tone as well.

They knew nothing of Ian's origins or identity. They did not even know his name.

The only thing they knew was that he had killed Donquixote Doflamingo...

On the surface, the Shichibukai stood on the same level as the Marines; both were departments under the World Government.

However, the Marines did not particularly like the Shichibukai system.

The Shichibukai system had been proposed by the World Government to deal with the emerging Four Emperors structure in the New World.

The Shichibukai, who possessed the legal right to plunder, were a slap in the Marines' face.

But bound by the World Government's orders, they could not say much...

"Do we know what his specific purpose is?" Vice Admiral Tsuru took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.

Everyone who ventured onto the seas had a purpose!

Pirates either sought fame, wealth, and power, or ultimately wanted to find the One Piece left behind by Pirate King Roger, stand at the pinnacle above all pirates, and dominate the New World!

After all, pirates were evil people. For the sake of their ambitions, there was nothing they would not do!