The rest of the voyage went smoothly. War Wolf had Ivankov and Inazuma tied to the Mast, but catching Ivankov apparently wasn't enough for him. He seemed to be using him as bait to draw out a bigger fish.
After playing dice with Fujitora for a while, Ye Chen wandered around the warship, then returned to Inazuma and Ivankov.
"Wow. You're both hurt pretty badly. Why bother fighting when you were so outmatched?" Ye Chen sneered.
"Hmph..."
Inazuma glared at Ye Chen and whipped his head around, splattering blood across him.
Simons glanced at Ye Chen and couldn't help laughing.
Then Ye Chen gently placed a hand on Inazuma's back. His voice sounded in Inazuma's ear. "I'm trying to help. I'm not the one who captured you two. Couldn't you be a little nicer to me?"
"Huh?"
As Inazuma hesitated, he felt a force flow through Ye Chen's palm and into his body. Soon, warmth spread through his organs. He couldn't describe the sensation, but he felt more energetic by the moment, as though his internal injuries were being healed one by one.
Inazuma turned to stare at Ye Chen in surprise. "Don't move," Ye Chen said. "Like I told you, I mean you no harm. You don't need to say anything. I met Mr. Dragon once at Koshiro's dojo, years ago. I even fought Kuma."
Inazuma was more astonished than ever. He hadn't accompanied Dragon to the Isshin Dojo back then, but Ivankov had.
A little later, Ye Chen placed his hand on Ivankov's back. Ivankov kept cursing him, but cooperated nonetheless. If anything, the cursing made Ye Chen's loyalties less suspect.
"I'm sure Mr. Dragon will come to save you."
As he finished, Ye Chen gave Ivankov a smiling look and said something startling.
"You..."
Ivankov stared at