Chapter 293: It’s time to go back

After taking the people to the Sky Island and showing them the city above, they were so shocked.

In fact, for many of them, even if they have seen it from the screen and already knew what’s in it, they may not really get an opportunity to visit it in person. Only some lucky individuals had the chance to land on the Sky Island.

The Ballon terminal was above an altitude of 10,000 meters. The air was indeed very thin. After coming up, the weaklings not only felt that it was difficult to breathe, but also had to wear thick coats.

However, when Ian announced that he wanted to turn this Sky Island into the second territory of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, everyone was very excited.

Varua was the most excited one. After all, he was one of Vegapunk’s colleagues. He had seen many advanced technologies and naturally knew some Ancient mechanics, but when he saw the technology of this Sky city, he was overwhelmed.

When Ian took him there and he found that the windmills used to drive in the island, Varua studied them for a while and went to Ian: “I don’t think there is any problem with their mechanism, as long as there is enough energy, I can repair them and make them work efficiently!”

“All right, I’ll leave it to you!” Ian said. “You will stay on this Sky Island during this period.”

This time, a lot of people were brought up, so Ian assigned everyone a task and asked them to explore around the city. If they encountered anything strange, they had to report back before taking action.

Then, Ian took Fujitora and went to the underground ruins.

To be honest, this was Fujitora’s first time to visualize a Poneglyph. Although he can’t see with his eyes, his Observation Haki can perceive the outline of this stone.

Kenbunshoku Haki grants the user a sixth sense that allows them to sense the presence, strength, and emotions of others, so when he came to the underground basement, he was shocked to tell Ian that he could hear a low unclear voice coming from the Poneglyph.

“Who made them!” Fujitora reached out and touched the inscription while sighing: “What do they want to convey to future generations through these steles?”

“I don’t know!” Ian looked up at the stele and said, “Perhaps we will only know when all the secrets are revealed!”

After that, Ian said to Fujitora: “Uncle, you may have to stay on this Sky Island and look over the Varua guy, he needs to work hard and repair the entire city.”

Fujitora said strangely: “What about you? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to find someone!” Ian said. “I have a strong urge to figure out what’s the content of this stone. If it is important, then I will hide it, but if its content is irrelevant, then I intend to take advantage of this stone!”

“Its content? Do you know someone who can interpret the Ancient Text?” Fujitora was a little surprised.

(T/N: “Let’s just say that I know a guy who knows a guy! XD”)

He thought that Ian, this young man, was very hard to understand. He often pulls some astonishing moves.

“Of course, I’m afraid even you know her!” Ian smiled and said. “Her name is Nico Robin! You may have heard of her!”

Fujitora frowned, and said: “The Devil Child? I heard she destroyed six Battleships when she was a child!?”

With Fujitora’s age, he must have heard of Nico Robin’s story and bounty. The World Government has offered 79 million Berries for a child. This was a big deal at that time. Many people who were greedy and eager for her bounty thought that a child should be easy to catch, so the whole world was searching for her. Fujitora has always been wandering, certainly listening to people’s talk, so he naturally had a bad impression of that child.

The reason why Fujitora said this to Ian was that he didn’t seem to know much about the real story of O’Hara. After the World Government used Buster Call to erase O’Hara from the map, they suggested putting a bounty on her head, and sent Marines and agents to hunt her down, spreading the lie that she sank six ships to cover up the truth, so what the world knows was only this fake crime. Only those who have inside information know the real story of this child.

Seeing that Fujitora didn’t know her true past, Ian had no intention of explaining the situation to him for the time being. He just said: “Yes, that’s her, so during this time, I may have to leave this area. It may take several months, so Uncle Fujitora, you may find yourself dealing with much trouble! But still, I can count on you!”

“Since you have decided, go ahead and rest assured!” Fujitora said: “I’m the deputy captain of our Pirate Group, so by you leaving, it is naturally my responsibility to take care of the group and our affairs.”

Hearing Fujitora said this, Ian was very pleased. It was really wise to insist on pulling Fujitora to his group. With his wisdom and strength, even if the captain left for a while, the group won’t be in trouble.

So after a brief explanation, Ian took a large piece of paper and ink, then printed the inscription on the stele.

Of course, he can’t run around with such a huge stone, so printing its content was more suitable. Even so, he finally got a large piece of paper.

After folding the rubbing inscription, Ian took a balloon and returned to the ground.

Some people of his pirate group went down with him, but there were still some left behind in the sky island, like Nana and others… Ian told everyone that he’s going out for a few months, and if anything happens they should report back to Fujitora. If something very bad happens, then Fujitora would contact him. Ian was still carrying his Den Den Mushi.

After everything was explained, Ian set out on a small boat.

He didn’t take the Battleship of the dragon hunters. The warship was so big to be controlled by him alone, but he didn’t have to worry. Ian was so fond of Ace’s Striker that is powered by his Flame, so he asked Varua to build him a similar one!

The difference is that this boat is not powered by fire, but by electricity. Ian not only has Lightning manipulation ability, but also has thunderstones. Therefore, this kind of energy was most suitable.

Such a raft does not require any advanced technology. Varua did not make much effort to build it for him. Ian has prepared it from a long time. He originally wanted to take this boat and go back to the East Blue, but now, he has another station.

Yes, it’s been a long time since he thought of going back and visit his family, Ian still doesn’t know that Kuina has awakened, but he still remembers that Zoro’s eighteenth birthday is coming soon, and that guy would for sure leave the next morn. Perhaps this time when Ian went back, he could still meet him and see his recent developments.

When everything was set, Ian sat on the boat and put away his sails.

When he first entered the Grand Line, Ian had thought about how to get out, but later he found out that when he had enough strength, entering and exiting the Grand Line was simply child’s play!

There isn’t another way out, just take the Calm Belt!

Although the Calm Belt is full of nests of large sea kings, the climate there was quite stable because there is no wind and currents. A one person’s boat, under normal circumstances, has a weak ability to resist strong wind and huge waves. However, in the Calm Belt, there is no need to worry about these problems. What he has to deal with is only those sea kings who will for sure attack him!

But these Sea Kings are no longer a big problem for Ian. As long as he doesn’t encounter such a super-large beast and overturn his raft, Ian won’t be troubled.

So this time Ian went out to the sea, and he just brought a Den Den Mushi, An Eternal Pose pointing to Alabasta, the huge piece of paper, and nothing else… He doesn’t need another Log Pose, he could look at the Sun to distinguish his direction and sail all the way to the Calm Belt.

The electric-powered boat, just like a powerful motorboat, has left a white mark on the sea surface, rushing forward as fast as a racing car, blowing sea breeze and water on Ian’s face, but he felt relaxed and excited.

He suddenly thought of Ace’s yellow raft, and Mihawk’s small boat, and the bicycle that Admiral Aokiji rode. All of these people, without exception, could rely on their own strength to travel alone on the Grand Line, and now, Ian has become one of them.

It’s a qualitative leap from the time when he used to squat down in a ship, to single-handedly traveling on the dangerous Grand Line…

So for a moment, Ian couldn’t help but stand on the boat and roared in the sea breeze: “East Blue! I am coming!”