On one side of Onigashima, a shadow spread its wings and flew high.
After circling in the sky for half a round, it suddenly crashed to the ground in front of Ian.
"Ian," Amid the rising dust, Uncle King made a stylish entrance. The most reliable man of the Beasts Pirates spoke, though his tone wasn't friendly. "What are you trying to do?"
"I'm just testing something."
Ian chuckled lightly.
"Test?"
King didn't seem to buy it.
"Mu hahaha! Well said, kid!"
A familiar loud laugh came from the other side.
Queen seemed to have crawled up from somewhere, and now he was striding over with heavy steps, "I was just thinking about testing the brand new weapon system myself!"
Ian noticed that his left mechanical arm seemed to have been replaced, shining under the sunlight.
"Oh?"
Ian's eyes lit up, "Is it the weapon described in the blueprints I brought last time?"
"Mu hahaha!"
Queen proudly said, "You'll know in a bit, kid!"
Ian was looking forward to it.
At this moment, more pirates were rushing up from all directions to the top of Onigashima.
The pirates, of course, were chattering among themselves.
They were still confused about what was going on. Was Ian-sama really going to turn against Kaido-sama?
The confusion in their hearts made them, even when they saw the giants standing behind Ian, show no signs of shock.
But this was actually quite normal, since compared to the Brawn Dominators, the giants were indeed less visually striking.
"Ian-nii!"
A cheerful shout rang from one side.
Ulti and her younger brother, along with Sanji, were running over at full speed.
"Yo," Ian smiled and greeted them, "Long time no see, Ulti, Pay-tan, and Sanji."
"Ian-nii!"
Ulti cheered and leaped up, wanting to jump directly into Ian's arms.
But she was swiftly intercepted by Yamato, who grabbed the back of her neck.
"Hahaha! Long time no see, Ulti!"
Yamato laughed happily, hugging Ulti tightly and rubbing her around like a doll.
Ulti screamed angrily, "Let go of me! You jerk!!"
She struggled desperately, but her strength was no match for Yamato, and all her efforts were in vain.
"Ian-nii!"
Page One and Sanji ran to Ian's side. Page One excitedly said, "We're here to help you!"
Sanji, however, looked a bit concerned, "Ian-nii, won't this be a bit... inappropriate?"
"Don't worry."
Ian simply smiled and said, "It's just a drill."
"Drill?"
Sanji blinked.
"Who are they?"
Ace sized up the three little ones running over.
They seemed to be about the same age as them.
"Just like you, they were all picked up by Ian from outside."
Law casually said.
"Just like you guys," Black Maria said with a smile.
She reminded Law that she, too, was picked up by Ian.
At that moment, Ian turned around and waved at them, "Come on, everyone, come over. Enel too, come on over, it's a good chance to get to know each other. We'll all be on the same ship in the future."
"Ian-nii!"
Ulti noticed the key point in Ian's words, "Does this mean we can also go out to sea with you in the future?"
After all, Ian had just mentioned comrades on the same ship.
"Mm."
Ian nodded lightly.
They would likely be stationed on Hive Island for a long time.
So, of course, the kids would need to be brought along.
"Yay!!"
Ulti cheered with joy.
She was so happy that she didn't even mind being held in Yamato's arms at that moment.
"And then."
Ian pointed to the approaching Ace and his group. "Ace, Zoro, Kuina, the new comrades who just boarded the ship. They're around your age, so you can get to know each other."
He then pointed at Enel, who was standing off to the side with an indifferent expression. "That guy is Enel. Don't mind him; he's got a bad temper."
After finishing the introductions on this side, Ian moved to the other side.
Ian asked Yamato to set Ulti down and introduced the trio to Ace and the others. "Ulti and Page One are siblings. The other one is called Sanji."
Almost instinctively, Sanji's gaze turned to the guy with the moss-green hair.
Noticing his gaze, Zoro furrowed his brows.
This guy... a bit annoying X2.
"Since Ian-nii found new teammates, we can't embarrass him!"
Ulti stood with her hands on her hips, acting like a senior.
Just then, the ground suddenly shook.
"What was that?"
Standing behind Ian, not far away, Solem suddenly exclaimed.
Large monsters, each with a huge physique, began crawling up the edges of the skull.
Their steps alone caused the ground to tremble.
After seeing what these guys looked like, Solem was even more shocked. "Ancient Giant Clan?"
The shortest one was still much taller than them, and the tallest one was even two or three times their height!
"Boss!"
Solem quickly looked down and asked Ian, "You never told us the Beasts Pirates had so many from the Ancient Giant Clan!"
Ian smiled.
The Giant Kingdom couldn't say they weren't concerned about the overseas situation, but they couldn't say they were very focused on it either. Did they not even know about the Savage Tyrants?
"They were bought from the World Government a long time ago."
Ian answered seriously. "They say they are failures from the Giantization experiment."
"What? Giantization experiment?"
Solem froze for a moment, then angrily shouted, "Damn World Government! They're definitely trying to harness the power of our Giant Clan!"
"Let us deal with them, Boss Ian!"
Himir shouted loudly, "We'll show them what true giant power is like!"
"Then it's up to you."
Ian smiled lightly.
Which is stronger, an artificially created giant or a real one?
He'd let himself see for sure.
More and more pirates gathered at the top of this Onigashima, nearly all the pirates on the island had gathered here.
They were discussing, surprised, and excited, all of them directing their gazes at Kaido and Ian.
It should be almost time, right? Ian thought. The ones who should be here probably already are.
Then, he took a step forward and said in a loud voice, "This is just an exercise, so no targeting vital areas. No attacking those who have already fallen. Once you fall, you're not allowed to get back up."
"Exercise?"
The pirates immediately started discussing among themselves.
Is it really just an exercise?
Isn't Lord Ian planning to overthrow the throne?
"Ahahaha!"
Kaido put down his gourd and stood up, holding his spiked club. He laughed heartily, "Make your choice! Follow Ian, or stay behind me!"
The top of Onigashima fell into silence in an instant.
This means—
Is the Beasts Pirates really going to split up?
The pirates looked at each other in confusion.
Ian couldn't help but want to laugh.
Kaido is truly a genius at acting, though he probably didn't mean to put on an act with that line.
"Didn't you hear what I said?!"
The spiked club slammed heavily into the ground, and the deafening sound of it rang in the hearts of every pirate like thunder.
"Of course, we'll follow Captain Kaido!"
The pirates laughed and gathered behind Kaido.
However, not all of them.
"Lord Ian! Let us follow you!"
Almost half of the pirates were moving toward Ian.
If we include the pirates brought by the Golden Dragon ship, the numbers on both sides were nearly equal.
In the blink of an eye, the two sides were locked in a standoff.
On Kaido's side, there was Uncle King, Uncle Queen, the Shinuchi, and the fierce brutes.
On Ian's side, there were the crew from the Golden Dragon ship and the giant mercenaries.
The two armies stood facing each other at the top of Onigashima.
"Hey, hey, hey, did that kid really manage to pull this off?"
Queen couldn't help but shout, "He actually split the pirate crew apart!"
This kid's reputation among the pirates is so high?
It's almost comparable to Captain Kaido's!!
"Hehehehe!"
Kaido laughed heartily, "Well done, little brat!"
"It's all thanks to your teachings."
Ian smiled lightly.
It's not hard to understand, considering that for all these years, Ian had been the one actually running the Beasts Pirates.
And now, in terms of both fame and strength, he was on par with Kaido. It was only natural for the pirates' loyalty to waver.
The pirates following him likely felt that sooner or later, the Beasts Pirates would be under his command anyway; they were just getting a head start.
"Well then," Kaido's black lightning instantly surged upwards, "Let's begin!"
A violent aura surged toward them.
"Alright."
Ian's gaze sharpened.
A similarly fierce aura surged forward like a tsunami.
Boom!!!
Onigashima began to tremble.
**********
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