Chapter 100: The Surface

When ice-cold water touched him, Ian couldn’t help shivering.

There was nothing to do with the ship drowning. Although Hina is a Devil Fruit User, she can’t swim, but Ian could.

He held Hina tightly in one hand, entered the seawater slowly, and kept floating on the surface, waiting for the rescue of the upcoming marines.

However, what Ian didn’t think about was that the spade’s ship, which had a disintegrated hull at this time, was actually sinking!

Everyone knows that when the ship is sinking, the people nearby are in grave danger, because when the ship sinks into the water, it will bring out a vortex, and then the strong currents will pull them together into the sea.

This was the situation that Ian is facing now. Because of the attack on the hull of Ace’s pirate ship, the ship began entering the water. At this time, after its collapse, its speed of sinking began to accelerate. However, it will take a while for the marines’ warship to come over.

Ian has felt the suction at this time. People’s neutralization is totally different in the sea, and on the land, Ian can’t make it out even with his current strength. So, he held Hina and started comically swimming faster while screaming. When he found that he still can’t break free of this suction, he immediately knew that he was going to suffer.

“Hey, gorgeous! You have to hold your breath for a minute!” Ian said to Hina in his arms.

Hina’s expression was very complicated at this time. She knows that she became powerless in the sea, so if she wanted to survive, she had to rely on Ian.

When the waves rolled in, a burst of force immediately pulled Ian and Hina down to the bottom of the sea.

Thanks to Ian’s early warning, Hina also held her breath. Although she could not swim, she could only hold her breath for a while, and then when the ship completely sank, the suction power of the current would disappear, and then they could resurface.

Ian carried Hina in his left hand and tightly pressed his hat with his right hand. He didn’t know if the Den Den Mushi in his hat will be OK, but he can’t let go of it at this time, because once it’s released, the hat will drift away with the currents, and he may not be able to find it back. He can only maintain this posture, only relying on his legs to push upward and trying to keep the moving upward force, so that he and Hina don’t get dragged too far by the current.

However, the suction force brought by the sinking ship lasted longer than Ian imagined. As time went by, Hina couldn’t hold her breath anymore. She was in a weakened state by the seawater, plus her lung capacity was incomparable with Ian. When she was about to break, she couldn’t help struggling with her body.

When she moved like this, her body suddenly sank a little. When Ian responded and re-tightened her, he was no longer holding her waist, but immediately hugged her chest. His arms circled around her, and his palms rested on her plump chest.

Hina was shocked and opened her mouth to shout. But she forgot that they were in the water. Her last breath turned into bubbles and floated to the surface.

The seawater entered her lungs, which choked her and made her suffer.

If this continues, Hina will drown and die, but at this time, Ian’s mouth stretched out, kissed her lips, and gave her his last breath.

Ian was actually quite helpless. In fact, he has nothing to do with Hina because she was too old for him. If not miscalculated, Hina should be 29-years-old at this time. Ian only admired her for her Yujie’s style. (Yujie “御姐控” refers to girls or young women who are mature in appearance, body, personality, and temperament, and whose personalities are calm)

But falling into the water is such a hard thing to deal with, especially when saving a Devil Fruit User who’s basically insulated from swimming once he eats a Devil Fruit. Hina doesn’t remember the last time that she hadn’t fallen into the water like this. So, her panic was inevitable. In these circumstances, Ian can’t let her die, and he must protect her, so to provide her with some air to survive, that kiss was also inevitable. ^^

Fortunately, Hina finally calmed down after she was able to breathe. She did not dare to struggle anymore. Those who fell into the seawater always get in a panic state. Sometimes that kills the rescuer and the drowning person together, and she knew that.

Feeling that the suction of the water current was slowly decreasing, Ian swung his legs and pushed towards the surface. In fact, he couldn’t hold his breath anymore.

At this time, the third Battleship was approaching, searching for the drowning people. At that time, there were not only Ian and Hina on the spade’s ship, but also some marine soldiers who were fainted by Ace’s Haoshoku Haki. These marines were awoken by the icy seawater, desperately floating on the surface and shouting for help.

“Huu Haaa!” When they reached the surface, Ian and Hina both took a long breath.

Pulling out the Devil-Blade Yamato from his waist and lifting it up high, the next second, Ian unleashed a huge amount of Nen and ignited the whole blade. The blazing fire was so eye-catching in the dark night. When the soldiers on the warship saw it, they immediately put down the lifeboat and rowed towards Ian and Hina.

“Thank you…” Hina gasped and whispered to Ian, “But… When exactly will you move your hand?”

Ian froze for a second, and then found that his hand was still on Hina’s chest, so he quickly moved it down to her waist, said: “I’m sorry!! I’m sorry!!”

However, even though she said this, Ian recalled that feeling just now. Hina had been wearing a burgundy-purple marine uniform, so far, Ian found out that her uniform was hiding a lot! It felt bigger than he thought.

Hina didn’t say another word. She was a mature woman. She wouldn’t be blushed and red-faced for such a trivial matter. She could understand that he had no choice before.

After getting on the lifeboat and returning to the marine warship, Hina and Ian were relieved and relaxed…

Hina sat on the deck, and soon a soldier brought her a dry cloak and a glass of hot tea, while Ian was ignored.

Hina looked at the Kairoseki (Seastone) shackles on her ankle and her wet clothes, then she stood up and said, “I’m going to change my clothes!”

Then she glanced at Ian and said to a marine soldier, “Give him a glass of hot tea!”

“That’s alright!” Ian smiled at her.

Hina snorted coldly and went into the cabin without looking back. Only the Marines on the warship kept staring at Ian alertly.

Although they knew that Captain Hina was saved by this man, since Ian was on the Pirate Ship before, the soldiers could not figure out who was he, so they could only treat him with such a cold attitude.

Ian didn’t mind them at all, he just took off his hat to see if the Den Den Mushi was OK.

When he took it down, Ian was a little flustered because his Den Den Mushi had come out of its shell, and it looked sick.

“Ah… What’s going on?”

Ian hurriedly grabbed a marine and asked him.

“It should be the salt of the seawater that harmed it!” Marine soldiers had more opportunities to use a Den Den Mushi, they clearly understand a lot about them, so he explained to Ian: “Den Den Mushi is also a creature of water, but they love freshwater. The salt of the seawater will cause them to dehydrate. It doesn’t take long for it to soak in the sea. You just need to leave it in freshwater as soon as possible.”

So Ian quickly asked the soldier for some freshwater in a basin, and then he put Den Den Mushi in it.

The effect was quite good, after a while, the Den Den Mushi gradually regained some consciousness.

Just as Ian was relieved, Hina changed her clothes and came out of the cabin. The first thing she did was to ask about the casualties.

The marine soldiers who were fainted by Ace’s Haki were all basically saved. Now the only trouble was the soldiers on the warship who are kidnapped by Ace.

Hina thought about it and asked Ian to follow her into the cabin.

When they arrived at the room, she asked him coldly, “Your pirate friend, drove away with my Battleship, and my soldiers on board. How would you explain this?”

“Relax!” Ian nodded at her. “You just have to follow the route of that warship, and you will definitely find your soldiers!”

“Good enough!” Hina said, “I’ll believe your words. But from now on, you’re going to be my prisoner. If I don’t find my soldiers, then you will bear the responsibility.”

Although Hina was very grateful that Ian had saved her life, she went back to her normal state.

Ian shrugged. He didn’t care, because he knew that with Ace’s personality, those marine soldiers would not be harmed or in danger.

“So by that, are you going to make me wanted by the marines!?” Ian asked her.

“I checked your identity! You are indeed a Pirate hunter, and you’re also the famous Pirate hunter of East Blue!” Hina flicked her long wet pink hair, lit a cigarette, and held it in her mouth. Then, she asked Ian: “How is Smoker nowadays?”

Ian was not surprised that she would ask about Smoker. In Ian’s memory, Hina and Smoker were marine trainees of the same period, so he nodded and said: “Fortunately, I just had a spar with him before I went out to the sea, he looked very energetic.”

Hina laughed, and then asked curiously, “You are obviously a Pirate hunter, why becoming friends with pirates? Hina is very confused!”

“It is a long story!” Ian sighed and said, “You haven’t answered my question yet.”

“Don’t worry!” Hina said, “I won’t place a bounty on you, but your friend is hard to tell!”

Ian nodded, which was what he expected. In fact, from the beginning, when he saw that the commander of the upcoming marines was Hina, Ian knew that there was room for maneuver!

Among the marines, there are different thoughts and judgments, such as the Admiral Akainu, the red dog, or Vice Admiral Doberman, known as the hawk. They have a completely tough judgment towards the pirates. If they encounter such a person, there would be no acceptable reason for Ian’s affairs on a pirate ship.

However, Hina was different. Although she is one of the Marine Headquarters, she belongs to the gentler category. She will fight against all pirates, but in this special case of Ian, she will also have other considerations.

That’s why Ian chose not to stay on Ace’s ship and rescue Hina. With this sentiment, she might not ask in her report for an arrest warrant for Ian.

In fact, Ian also knows that it’s awkward for him to keep his identity as a pirate hunter. If he wants to stay pure, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to catch any pirate within his power. But it’s a bias that he has contact with some pirates. Ace is one, and in the future, Zoro will be the next. As a matter of fact, Zoro is his own younger brother, and this identity can’t be released. Once he and Luffy start their journey and go out to the sea as pirates, Ian won’t be able to catch them either.

At this point, Ian and Garp are in a similar situation. Garp is a Marine Vice Admiral, but his son is the leader of the Revolutionary Army, and his grandson will be Pirate later, which is very embarrassing…

Everyone has his own ideas and dreams, even if they are families, they can not interfere with the choices of others…

After thinking about it, Ian asked Hina, “Where are you going now? Back to the Marine Headquarters?”

Hina nodded her head and said, “This time, we had this accident in the encirclement of the Iron Bone Pirates. The operation can only come to an end. Your friend Ace caused some losses to my troops. And my ships must be repaired after the damage he made, so I had to go back to the Marine Headquarters first.”

“Then let me tag along!” Ian said with a smile, “I’ll stay in one of your ships until we get to the Sabaody Archipelago!”

Ian suddenly decided to go to Sabaody Island for no reason. After thinking about what happened during this period of time, he found that he fell into the wrong thinking.

The situation of the Grand Line is totally different from the East Blue. The navigation on the Grand Line requires a Log Pose, and he could only travel from an island to the next. In this case, even if Ian catches a pirate, It is quite troublesome to get him to a marine base and receive the bounty. He still hasn’t figured out yet the location of the G-3 branch on this route!

This point, after Ian entered the Grand Line, he couldn’t see it for a long time. When Pixar was killed on Cactus Island, he wasn’t able to get his bounty.

Moreover, even if he finds the base of the G-3 branch, if he goes on and catches pirates, can he turn back to the branch again?

He needs to have a lot of Eternal Poses, so he can travel freely on the Grand Line…

This kind of route, which is destined to go only in a straight line, was specially set for the adventurers. If Ian wants to be a pirate hunter, then there are so many islands in the Grand Line that could really help him, in fact, Sabaody Archipelago is only one of them!

Not only is it close to the Marine headquarters, but it’s also the convergence point of all the paths. All kinds of pirates will eventually gather there. Ian can wait for them to come there, then catches them like rabbits, and he won’t be thinking a way of getting his reward because the Marine Headquarters is close and convenient.

Only Sabaody Archipelago can be stated as Ian’s true paradise…

Therefore, it’s a good thing for him to meet Hina here. She must have the Eternal Pose of marine headquarters “The Marineford”. Ian can tag along in her boat directly to Sabaody Archipelago.

That’s why Ian stayed here with Hina and went on a separate path with Ace. One is to prove to Hina with practical actions, and making sure that she won’t file a report asking for a bounty on his head. The other is to go directly to Sabaody Island by staying at the marines’ ship.

It’s not just the difference in identities of him and Ace, even though he was a pirate. Ace can take risks and keep adventuring from island to island. If he has money, he could keep moving forward. However, Ian couldn’t do the same. The growth of his strength depends on a lot of money. So, unfortunately, he has to skip these, for sure, fun adventures.

Of course, there are many unknown factors in Sabaody Island. It’s under the sight of the headquarters. There are the heads of Marines, not only the Admirals, but also Celestial Dragon. If Ian doesn’t get careful enough and gets entangled in something he shouldn’t be involved with, will it lead him to any troubles? Etc… That’s why Ian needs to act swiftly.

In any case, going to Sabaody Island is the best option for Ian. (The perfect place to grind xD)

After listening to his words, Hina did not speak for a while. It seemed that she was weighing the gains and losses. After all, Ian was not a marine. She was asked to let a non-marine to board one of her own warships. Hina didn’t know if something would go wrong.

In the end, Hina said, “Well, it’s a reward for saving my life, but your range of activities must be limited! There are some confidential positions on the warship, and you can’t approach them! “

“That’s fine with me!” Ian smiled.

Although at the time, when he was in the East Blue, he took a marine ship in the name of swordsmanship instructor, but it was not the same as it is now. This is a standard warship of the Marine Headquarters. Such a Battleship even allowed him before to get aboard as an outsider.

It’s a great honor for Ian. It’s also a reason why he is determined to maintain his identity as a pirate hunter. He could have a little more or less relationship with the Marines. If he really became a pirate, he might stay on this ship, only as a prisoner…

This time, it was considered that he have reached an agreement with Hina, which made Ian very happy. It seems that he has constantly been tagging along with various ships, merchant ships, pirate ships, and now marine warships.

‘I don’t know when I’ll have a boat of my own…’

That night, Hina arranged a room for Ian. The room was very small. It should be a room for a soldier. Although the warships of the Marine headquarters are huge, it has a large number of people on board, so it’s natural that the rooms are so small. Ian could only take it for granted.

Both Hina and Ian tacitly didn’t mention the incident when they fell into the seawater. Similarly, the incident about the Kairoseki (Seastone) shackles was also not mentioned. Ian used the Kairoseki (Seastone) shackles to take advantage of Hina at that time, which led to the smooth escape of Ace. It was a very humiliating thing for her. She could not return the manacles to Ian.

Ian felt that it was not a big deal. When fighting with Ace, he discovered that his Nen and the Haki can be similarly effective for the Devil Fruit Users, Ian was not interested in using the Kairoseki again.

It’s not that efficient to keep using these handcuffs every time he encounters a Devil Fruit User. How could he gain experience or upgrade his proficiencies in that way?

In this way, the night passed. The next morning, when Ian got up, he heard the news that the marines had caught up with the warship Ace took last night.

For such a huge warship, Ace’s manpower could barely drive it away. So, halfway through, Ace and his crew changed ships, drove away in a small boat, damaged the mast of the warship, and left the warship in place. The marine soldiers were tied up by the pirates, but they were unharmed.

After hearing the news, Hina was relieved and relaxed, as well as Ian.

Of the three warships Hina brought out this time, only one was in good condition. The other two, one had a big hole made by Ace’s Fire Fist, and the mast of the other ship has also been destroyed. So they are obligated to go back and repair them…

Therefore, the marine force began to follow the guidance of the Eternal Pose, thinking about the return to the Marine headquarters.

Ian didn’t know how long it would take them to return, but he was not in a hurry. When he got free every day, he exercised swordsmanship and practiced his abilities on the deck of the marine.

Two days later, Hina found Ian on board and gave him a wanted poster.

On it, it was a picture of Ace, Ian didn’t know where or how the Marines took it. But at this time, they didn’t seem to know the full name of Ace, so it only said “Fire Fist Ace!”

And the amount written on his wanted poster was 90 million Berries!

Ian looked at Hina in surprise. He didn’t understand why Ace had such a high bounty as soon as he became wanted.

“He is a Logia Devil Fruit User!” Hina explained to Ian with a cigarette in her mouth. “So the department attached great importance, plus when I reported him, I also said that he had used the Haoshoku Haki. So when his bounty was finally decided, it turned out to be so high! Hina is shocked, too.”

“Ninety million! Hmm!” Ian looked at this bounty with excitement and said, “Damn it, I really want to catch him now!”

“In this case, Hina will be glad to see that!”

“That’s right!” Ian suddenly thought of a question and turned to Hina and asked, “If we say… I mean, if they Marines put a bounty on my head, how much would it be?”