Chapter 172: Shocked Cadres

Hancock was usually dismissive of all men. She has never paid attention to the men who showed their lust in front of her.

However now, for the first time, she has created a concept of “working with a man.”

And, it was a wonderful experience for Hancock…

It’s just because of this concept that she started noticing the existence of Ian. It’s not the feeling of love at first sight, but it means that a person, who used to be nothing but thin air, suddenly seemed to have a sense of existence!

Yes, it’s funny to say that he just started existing in her world! Ian was just a passerby in Hancock’s eyes, but now, he has finally taken the role of a supporter of her case, which gave him a whole figure…

Moreover, what surprised Hancock most was that she could feel that Ian was deliberately cooperating with her.

In other words, Ian has somehow figured out her intention.

Hancock suddenly realized that her thoughts were read by this man. She felt that he was different, and her intuition told her that the man in front of her seemed to know something.

Who exactly is he? How could he realize that I want to stop the Marines from catching the masked man? And why is he cooperating with me this much!?

Hancock was so curious about Ian for a while.

Originally, in her view, the so-called dragon hunter pirate group was just an ordinary pirate group, and she did only hear of them after eavesdropping the Marines’ call. She knew nothing about this pirate group, and the reason why she was looking for this Pirate group was to make a fuss and that was the only excuse she could find to intervene. At the time when she was fighting with Ian, in order to ensure that Ian would not be defeated at once, she was merciful.

But now it can be seen that the captain of this pirate group wasn’t weak at all! At least he didn’t take it seriously, and he didn’t fight back, or things would be worse!

But how could such a powerful person be the leader of an unknown pirate group?

At that moment, she wanted to stop fighting and ask him, “Who exactly are you?” However, at that time, she was not allowed to ask such a question. After all, Momonga and Doberman were on the side. So if she asked, then everything they were doing would be meaningless.

If she didn’t even know him, then why were they fighting!?

While fighting with Ian, Hancock looked at the masked man, and in that time, many projectiles of her fruit abilities were fired frequently, which made a lot of soldiers afraid even to move forward. This was the perfect time to escape for the masked man, but she found that he didn’t do a thing at all!

Hancock couldn’t help feeling anxious. Is he really thinking of fighting two Vice Admirals and this large number of soldiers?

Not only Hancock who was concerned, but even the Blackbeard was nervous. He punched Momonga violently, and forced him back, then he immediately shouted at the masked man: “Hey, brother! Hurry up! Kill them all, we have to leave this place now!”

Whether it was the Blackbeard or Boa Hancock, this masked man was considered as the real mastermind. In their view, this dangerous man, who was able to escape from Aokiji’s hands, if he wants to leave, no one can stop him. So they were eager to see him do something.

However, to everyone’s surprise, the masked man shivered and fell to the ground after been screamed at by the Blackbeard.

He was able to stand in place, not because he was courageous, but because he was dumb and scared of doing anything at all. When Doberman rushed twice to cut him with his sword, the masked man’s brain went blank. He thought he was going to die this moment. Even when the battle between Ian and Hancock solved that problem for him, he didn’t discover that.

Now that the Blackbeard roared at him, he finally came back to his senses. His knees got soft and he couldn’t hold on any longer. Then he fell to the ground.

After collapsing, he burst into tears and said, “It’s not me, it’s not me!”

Time has stopped! Everyone suddenly froze. The Blackbeard and Momonga stood in place. Ian and Hancock also stopped fighting. The crowd looked at the crying guy, then at the ground, and found that he has peed himself.

Doberman couldn’t help it anymore. He rushed over and removed the mask of this guy, revealing his true identity. (T/N: What do you think, is it Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne :o)

Under the piece of cloth, there was a guy who looked a little dirty and wretched. He didn’t look like a mastermind?

“Damn it! This guy is the swordsman, Frodes!” Doberman recognized him and exclaimed angrily: “This bastard is simply a liar with a bounty of 14 million Berries!”

Bang! Vice-Admiral Momonga and the surrounding soldiers, were slammed to the ground as if they were struck by lightning!

“Imp… impostor!?”

‘Are they really still asking such a question?’ If this guy, Frodes, was really brave enough to sneak into Marijoa and set fire to the Celestial Dragons’ mansions, would he be frightened by this siege of the marines and cry for mercy!?

After confirming the identity of this masked man, both Momonga and Doberman were confused and paralyzed.

They did not hesitate to attack the Whitebeard’s territory. They were just thinking of arresting the mastermind of Marijoa’s arson? If it’s was really him, then provoking the Whitebeard would be worth it.

But…

‘We didn’t F**king think that he could be an impostor because he was about to join the Whitebeard pirates!!!’

Both Momonga and Doberman have a very bad feeling about this. This attack was a very big move for them. That is to say, they were not only going to return without finishing their mission, but also they risked getting the whole marines department into a terrifying war with the Whitebeard pirates…

For a while, both of them had the idea of eating him alive.

However, there was another person even more annoyed than them, and that was Teach!

He rushed in exasperated, punched Frodes repeatedly in the face ferociously until his nose and mouth started bleeding.

Even so, the Blackbeard still didn’t want to give up and pressed Frodes to the ground, and kept on beating him.

In fact, no one knew that the one who planned and insisted on making this masked man join the Whitebeard Pirates was Teach. He advocated this matter all the time.

Although he has been in the Whitebeard Pirate Group for so long, to be honest, he has no feelings for them. He has always despised the way that the Whitebeard identifies his sons.

Teach has his own ambitions and ideals. He stayed in the Whitebeard Pirate Group, only because he thinks that the Whitebeard Pirates were powerful enough to have a greater chance to get the dark-dark fruit he wanted. He knew that, sooner or later, he will leave this group and establish his own crew.

He wanted to be a Shichibukai, a Yonko, and even sought to be the Pirate King. But to achieve these dreams, he has to defeat the Whitebeard Pirates.

The Whitebeard was too old, his time to die has to be so close due to his medical condition, but Teach doesn’t mind pushing it secretly and speeding up the process…

When he saw the fake guy, Frodes, he paid close attention to it. He didn’t doubt that this guy was a fake, but it didn’t matter much to him. He roughly knew the facts about the Marijoa’s incident. As long as the masked man pursued by the marines was going to join the Whitebeard Pirates, it was equivalent to start a war between the Marines and the Whitebeard pirates!

‘This move isn’t going to work anymore! That’s too bad! But one day, I will find another way to achieve my dreams!!’

That’s why the Blackbeard became angry. Maybe after asking this fake person to join them, he was so scared that he could be exposed so easily now!

‘Damn it! It didn’t matter if you were fake, if you kept pretending for a short time, you were going to be regarded as the real one?’

Teach was so violent to Frodes, which means that he as well was deceived by this man, but who knows what he was really thinking?

Ian was on the side, shaking his head and reading the scenes in front of him. He didn’t expect that the impostor would be so weak and scared. Ian had hoped that this guy would be able to put up a fight, or even escape them, which would attract the marines’ attention form him.

Uncle Kuma has taken away the identity chip of the Celestial Dragon. They needed to study it, and it will take some time to make a replica. So naturally, Ian can drag on for as long as possible. And for sure, he will not take the initiative to expose his identity in front of the Marines. As for when the marines would find it, it’s their own problem…

And this impostor was a feasible substitute. It’s just for this reason that Ian cooperated with Boa Hancock to block Doberman’s attacks. He didn’t want the fake mastermind to be caught by the Marines.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he wished. This guy, Frodes, was a true coward that he directly admitted that he was a fake arsonist.

The only person on the field who may have been relieved by this news was Boa Hancock.

Since this man was an impersonator, then her goal has been achieved. The marines haven’t found the real mastermind of the Marijoa’s incident.

“You… what should I do to you now!?” Momonga looked at Frodes, who was kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy.

In fact, even he didn’t expect that an impostor would appear within this time. ‘Only a week has passed since the incident, damn it! Do people begin going crazy for fame?’

Momonga realized that Frodes may not be the only one impersonating the arsonist’s identity. In the next period, it was likely to be more and more people posing as the masked men, which will undoubtedly hinder the investigation of the Marines.

“What should we do now?” Momonga asked Doberman.

“Catch him, we need to take him with us!” Doberman gritted his teeth and said, “We need to make an example of him to the others, we must severely punish such people! Otherwise, we will be overwhelmed.”

In a blink of an eye, the fate of Frodes was decided. It was the only way to inform others that such a lie won’t help them in any way…

A group of soldiers gathered around Frodes and arrested him, but at this time, no one stopped them.

However, as for the rest, such as the Blackbeard who was still standing in the field made Momonga and Doberman worry about their next move…