If someone thinks that the greatest threat to civilians are the infamous Great Pirates, then they couldn't be more wrong.
After all, how many pirates in the entire world can truly be called Great Pirates?
Not many. And those who do earn that title usually have their own territory, operating like kingdoms. They're established powers, often too busy managing their domains to go around mindlessly pillaging.
The real danger lies with the mid- and low-tier pirate crews.
Not because they're powerful—far from it—but because there are simply too many of them. They're like locusts.
Even if the Navy stationed hundreds of thousands of soldiers across the seas, they'd never be able to keep up with the sheer number of small-time pirates plaguing civilians.
That's why the Luo Lan's system is so valuable: it gives marine soldiers a decisive advantage over these bottom-feeder pirates, suppressing the ones who do the most harm to the people.
———
Luo Lan arrived at the site where Dory had fallen and picked up the Devil Fruit lying nearby.
"So this is the Flame-Flame Fruit… A Logia-type. It's quite the looker," he said, admiring the fruit's scale-like surface that shimmered like flames.
The only pity was—
He couldn't use it himself.
If he could, he'd absolutely eat it.
In the original timeline, the Flame-Flame Fruit came off as rather underwhelming, especially when compared to Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit, which completely overpowered it. But Luo Lan believed that was due to Ace's poor mastery of the fruit.
How hot is magma anyway? Around 700 to 1200 degrees Celsius?
And fire? Ordinary fire may only reach 300 to 500 degrees, sure—nothing compared to magma. But that's ordinary fire.
Clearly, Ace suffered from a lack of education. If he'd thought outside the box a little more, the Flame-Flame Fruit could've become much more powerful. After all...
Fire doesn't have a temperature limit.
Is the Magma-Magma Fruit truly an upgrade over the Flame-Flame Fruit, Akainu?
Luo Lan smirked and tossed the fruit to his deputy.
"Ian, it's yours now."
Ian fumbled in shock, barely catching it.
"S-Sir, are you serious? This… this Flame-Flame Fruit… for me?"
He could barely speak, overwhelmed by the gift.
This was a Logia-type Devil Fruit!
The Navy only had four known Logia users, three of whom were Admirals. The only exception was Smoker, whose... less-than-stellar performance kind of dragged the Logia prestige down a bit.
Still, everyone in the Grand Line knew one thing:
If you obtained a Logia Fruit, even if you didn't become the strongest, you'd definitely be top-tier.
Unless, of course, you got yourself killed before unlocking its full potential.
And now, his commanding officer had casually given him one?
"Of course I did. You know I can't use it. Who else would I give it to?"
Ian grinned sheepishly. "Hehe… So I got lucky, huh?"
"You think?" Luo Lan shot him an annoyed look.
Not long after, Ian pulled out a small knife and carefully peeled the Flame-Flame Fruit, slicing the flesh into neat chunks.
Then, out of nowhere, he took out a handkerchief and tucked it into his collar.
Luo Lan stared, dumbfounded.
If this guy pulls out a fork next, I swear—
And of course, Ian did pull out a fork and daintily popped a slice into his mouth.
Luo Lan was done.
He knew Ian liked his food a little too much, but this? It was just a Devil Fruit. Was the ceremony really necessary?
Also, didn't Ian know that you only needed a single bite to gain a Devil Fruit's power?
And yet, he was on his fourth bite now. Fourth!
Not to mention... Devil Fruits tasted horrible. Not quite like feces, but definitely disgusting.
So what was with that blissful expression?
(Ian's inner monologue: "This is a Logia fruit! You think I'd eat it without a little ceremony? Sure, it tastes like garbage—but come on, it's a Logia. Even if it tasted like poop, I'd still savor every bite!")
Five minutes later.
Ian finally finished the entire fruit, wiped his mouth, and stood up.
A moment later, flames erupted from his body, engulfing him in a towering inferno.
Luo Lan stepped closer, feeling the heat.
He frowned.
Still within the range of normal flames… Nothing special.
So it was true—to truly master a Devil Fruit, you needed math and science.
"Ian," he said dryly. "That was pathetic. Starting tomorrow, you're attending three hours of classes a day at the Science Division. I'll have Seras assign you a tutor."
Then, without giving Ian a chance to react, Luo Lan turned and walked off.
Ian stood there in stunned silence.
"...Classes? What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"
———
The next day.
Ian was reporting their haul from last night's raid.
"Sir, we've finished cataloging everything. From Dorry's ship, we confiscated 57.8 million Berries in cash and another 25 million worth of goods."
"Our only issue now is… what to do with Dory's body. He's a wanted man, after all."
Up until now, Ian had only targeted low-profile pirates without bounties, so turning in bodies for reward money was never a concern.
But Dory was different.
He wasn't all that strong, but he was the second division commander of the Krieg Pirates, with a bounty of 4.8 million Berries.
And hey—money's money. That kind of cash could cover a lot of meals at the Baratie.
"Yeah, it's a problem. Claiming that reward won't be simple."
"How about going through the Bounty Hunter Guild?" Ian suggested.
Luo Lan considered it.
He knew how it worked—if someone couldn't claim the bounty themselves, they could turn the body over to the Guild. The Guild would collect the reward and split it 50/50.
Not ideal, but safe.
Still… losing half the reward didn't sit well with him.
More importantly, Dory was special. Everyone knew he had a Logia fruit. The Navy's intelligence unit would definitely investigate if his body showed up.
And if they found out he no longer had the Flame-Flame Fruit…
Well, things could get complicated fast.
No matter how cautious he was, Luo Lan couldn't guarantee they wouldn't uncover the truth.
"Arlong's case, we'll handle with the Guild. But not Dory. It's only 4.8 million. Forget it."
"We'll go with the usual method. Dump him and the ship in the Calm Belt."
———
Dory's body, along with his crewmates, was placed aboard his own ship.
The rudder was locked, sails raised, and the vessel was sent drifting toward the Calm Belt.
Three hours later—
A Sea King, several hundred meters long, emerged from beneath the waves...
Racing toward the now-drifting pirate ship, doomed to go nowhere.