"Ian! You're way too much! How could you go fight the Whitebeard Pirates without taking me along!!"

On Hive Island, outside the Skull Tower, a battle of revenge was unfolding.

A revenge war launched by the abandoned avenger Yamato against his cold and ruthless childhood friend Ian.

"Since you won't let me fight Whitebeard, then you'll be my opponent!!"

Yamato, furious at the situation with his childhood friend, had already transformed into a white werewolf and angrily lunged at Ian, who had just returned.

Ian sighed helplessly.

This was something he had expected long ago.

This girl was never one to listen to reason.

"Such nonsense!"

Nearby, Hancock spoke with a rather affected tone, "Ian already said he has something important to do, yet she's still making a fuss here."

She revealed a determined look and said to Ian with righteous seriousness, "Ian, you just got back, so go rest first. I'll deal with this stinky white-haired brat."

Ian twitched the corner of his mouth.

Hancock, you could tone it down a bit, it's too obvious.

Besides, you can't even beat Yamato.

"Shut up!"

Yamato snarled fiercely, pointing his wolf tooth club at Hancock, "This is between me and Ian! None of your business!"

A vein twitched on Hancock's forehead.

As expected, I really should turn this white-haired bastard into stone myself!

Ian sighed, "Come on, it's been a while—I'll play with you."

"This isn't just playing!"

Yamato charged fiercely, "It's a fight!"

Without mercy!

The crystal-clear iron rod, wrapped in thick mist, slammed down right on Ian's head.

"This is the punishment for Ian leaving without a word!"

Punishment?

Yamato, your words are still far from the level needed to punish me.

Ian raised his right hand.

Bang!!

The icy wolf-shaped club struck an invisible wall, the sparkling cold air crackled like lightning but couldn't move forward an inch.

Behind Ian, a spread of ice expanded.

"Too far off," Law, who was also watching, couldn't help but sigh.

Even though Yamato gave it her all, Ian only needed one arm to deal with her.

"Damn you, Ian! Leaving me behind!"

Yamato shouted loudly, "I won't let you off!"

Ian's childhood friend truly showed no mercy, relentlessly firing all kinds of attacks at him.

But of course, Ian blocked them all with just one arm.

None of the attacks even grazed him.

Even Hancock couldn't help but cross her arms, showing a cold smirk.

There was simply no chance of winning—now all they could do was watch this annoying whitehead make a fool of himself.

But at that moment, she was shocked to see Ian smile strangely.

Is this really the time to smile?

"Not enough yet?"

Ian chuckled lightly.

"I don't care!"

Yamato shouted loudly, "How could you go challenge the Whitebeard Pirates all by yourself! You could have taken me with you! That's the Whitebeard Pirates, you know!"

"How could I possibly lose?"

Ian smiled and said, "Isn't this proof that I came back safe and sound?"

Wait!

After hearing Ian's words, Law suddenly realized something and looked at Yamato in disbelief.

Could it be that this relentless storm of attacks was actually worry?

Most people couldn't handle this kind of concern!

"But—"

Yamato paused and shouted, "I want to fight alongside you too! I always have!"

"Alright, alright,"

Ian grabbed his childhood friend's spiked club and rubbed the top of his head.

It was cool to the touch, the fur soft, and it felt very comfortable.

"Next time we go to take down the Whitebeard Pirates, you'll be the vanguard."

Hancock's expression darkened completely.

You white-haired freak, you actually had this trick up your sleeve!

Once again, that bastard stole the initiative!

"Hmph! Don't forget!"

Yamato snorted, "Once I learn to use Conqueror's Haki's Infusion, I'll be the one to take on Whitebeard!"

"You'll have to work hard then," Ian laughed, "Whitebeard-san is super strong."

Even if Yamato mastered the Conqueror's Haki's Infusion, the gap between him and Whitebeard was still pretty big.

After calming Yamato down, Ian called Jinbe and Tiger over.

He told them everything had been settled.

Jinbe and Tiger were deeply moved.

Ian's actions this time truly touched their hearts.

Family—who could understand?

For the sake of his partners, he had gone alone to negotiate with their enemy, the Whitebeard Pirates, and had even succeeded in gaining Whitebeard's support.

What happened during that time, Jinbe and Tiger couldn't even begin to imagine.

This man was just too impressive!

Lord Ian!

We deeply respect you!

From then on, Ian kept a close eye on the World Assembly.

It turned out that after a certain amount of intimidation, the Five Elders did indeed behave obediently.

Of course, they wouldn't start a war with the Beast Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates just over Fishman Island.

Politicians are politicians because they know how to compromise.

The Five Elders were masters at weighing pros and cons.

But Ian also knew peaceful days wouldn't last long.

If the Revolutionary Army was wiped out, then the government's next target would be him.

Even though the Revolutionary Army had been lucky to survive so far, the government couldn't always focus all its power on them—there would always come a time when they turned their attention elsewhere.

He had to become even stronger to realize his dreams.

Ian began intense training of the "Kenbun Shoku Haki" (Observation Haki).

Though useless against weaklings, it was incredibly useful against real masters.

He only fought in high-level matches now, where true value counted.

But now, the only type of Haki Ian could still train was Observation Haki.

After all, he had already mastered the other Haki techniques.

What remained was just to steadily strengthen their power.

Just like with Haki, Ian still had no clue about awakening his Devil Fruit ability.

All he could do was work hard to train his body, letting it develop more fully, so that when he activated his power, the strength it enhanced would be greater.

Maybe... maybe he needed a serious injury?

Maybe he needed a powerful enemy strong enough to really challenge him?

But Kaido-sensei had said that ability awakening happens when both body and mind catch up to the power.

It didn't mean he had to be beaten to the brink of death like Luffy, right?

Could it be that he simply wasn't strong enough yet?

Thinking this, Ian trained even harder.

Training Observation Kill was going fairly smoothly—after all, it was basically just controlling the Conqueror's Haki.

And since Ian had already mastered the Conqueror's Haki Infusion technique, his control over Conqueror's Haki was not lacking.

The essence of this move was to use Conqueror's Haki to disrupt one's own aura.

This was Ian's first time using Conqueror's Haki on himself, and it felt quite strange.

A few days later, the World Summit ended, and Neptune and his wife were safely escorted back to Fish-Man Island by the Navy.

Ian breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Everything had gone smoothly.

He soon received a call from Neptune.

At first, Ian thought Neptune was calling just to thank him.

But it wasn't just a simple thank you.

**********

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