Chapter 50: Who Do You Think I Am?
Ian was never one to shy away from the impossible or the unthinkable. While others hesitated, he acted. This philosophy had carved out pockets of peace on the archipelago, and the residents of the newly revitalized Area 10 were living proof.
"It's the Marines! It's Major General Ian! Lord Marineking is here!"
"Lord Marineking, thank you for the cleanup operations! You gave me a chance to open this new shop! Please, come and try the food, it's on the house!"
"My place is free too! Sir Ian, come to my shop for some snacks!"
"Don't fight me for his patronage! Look, I even have a poster of him! I'll hang it in my shop! Today, everything is free for the Marineking!"
The business owners swarmed him, their cheers filled with genuine gratitude and relief. Ian felt a warm satisfaction bloom in his chest, but his face showed a different, more mischievous emotion—a wide, sly grin.
"You guys..." he said, his voice carrying over the crowd. "It's completely free, right? This is what you said!" He let out a booming laugh. "Hahahaha! I'll bankrupt you all! Free is the greatest justice!"
Peacock watched him, sweatdropping. "How is Little Ian even more excited about this than he is about fighting..."
Nami sighed, a small smile on her face. "...Such a strong villain aura."
Skylark wrung her hands slightly. "Major General Ian's appetite... I'm really worried for their profit margins!"
Their lighthearted moment was a brief island of calm in a sea of growing tension. That tension was about to break.
Area 47, The Coating Port.
Gudong... Gudong...
Dense streams of bubbles erupted on the water's surface of the busy port, a sign of a massive displacement from the depths.
"Hey! What's going on?"
"It feels like... something's coming up."
"A ship! Look at the shadow! It's huge!"
The experienced coating craftsmen abandoned their work, leaping from the hulls they were treating onto the docks, their eyes wide with a mixture of curiosity and dread.
BOOM!
A violent geyser of water shot into the air as a colossal, coated ship breached the surface. Its most distinctive feature was the giant, stylized mammoth head figurehead that adorned its bow. It was a vessel known and feared in the New World: one of the three major ships of the Beasts Pirates—the Mammoth.
On the deck of the Mammoth.
A burly man with distinctive cat-like whiskers marks looked down with disdain at the scattering craftsmen. The most grotesque feature was on his abdomen: a protruding, animate lion's head, its mouth moving independently. This was Holdem, a "Gifter" of the Beasts Pirates, an Artificial Devil Fruit user of the Lion SMILE model.
"Boss Jack," Holdem said, hefting a massive cleaver, a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "Governor Kaido told us to sneak in quietly, to make less noise. After all, this is the Sabaody Archipelago, perilously close to Marineford." He licked his lips. "So, before we find that guy Jock Ian, we should just kill all these witnesses, right?"
A woman on a strange, hoofed steed trotted to the railing. She wore purple goggles, and her bold tights accentuated her figure, while a pair of long, horse-like ears twitched atop her head. This was Speed, another Gifter, user of the Horse SMILE model.
"So, I suggest we take down the Jolly Roger before we land," she said, her voice laced with practicality. "It's too conspicuous. How can we carry out a secret operation like this?" She shrugged in resignation. "But Boss Jack is always so straightforward. He never listens to anyone's advice."
"Hahaha! Boss Jack always takes the most direct and domineering approach!" cheered a man with white hair and curling ram's horns on his head. This was Sheepshead, a "Gifter" of the Sheep SMILE model. "A mere Rear Admiral! If we kill him quickly, the Marines won't have time to react!"
A woman with short pink hair, Ginrummy, a Gifter of the Springbok SMILE model, nodded fervently beside him. "Lord Sheepshead is right! Once we find Jock Ian, we can finish this mission in a flash!"
Along with these four powerful Artificial Devil Fruit users, fifty seasoned pirate grunts stood ready.
And then came the main event.
BOOM! BOOM!
The very deck of the Mammoth groaned and shook with the approach of a colossal figure. He stood over eight meters tall, his body a mountain of pure muscle. Two large, curved tusks framed his face, and two thick braids hung over his chest. This was one of the Three Disasters of the Beasts Pirates, the man known as "The Drought," Jack.
A saddle-carapace grouper fishman and a user of the ancient Zoan-type, Elephant-Elephant Fruit, Model: Mammoth, Jack was a New World pirate with a bounty of One Billion Berries.
"Secret infiltration?" Jack's voice was a low, contemptuous rumble that vibrated through the air. "You bunch of idiots! Who do you think I am?" He glared at his subordinates, his plan already settled in his mind. "Why should I bother looking for him? We'll make enough noise to bring him running to us! A mere Navy brat isn't worthy of me searching for him!"
He was already furious about this assignment from Kaido. An eighteen-year-old commodore? It was an insult that a calamity like him had to be dispatched. If he didn't vent his anger by turning the Sabaody Archipelago upside down, he would explode.
As his gigantic form stepped fully onto the deck, his trunk—thick as a stone pillar—swung out over the water.
BOOM! BOOM!
Several of the coated ships docked at the port were smashed to splinters as if they were made of paper.
BOOM!
Another deafening crash echoed as a cloud of mist and wooden shrapnel erupted. When it cleared, a hill-sized mammoth stood where the ship had been, its prehistoric form radiating pure, untamed power. The sheer size, the wild aura, the effortless destruction—it was enough to shatter the sanity of the coating craftsmen, who screamed and fled in a blind panic towards the island's interior.
"What kind of monster is that?!"
"A mammoth! A legendary beast!"
"Run! Get to the island! Major General Ian will protect us!"
But the shadow that blotted out the sun moved faster than their desperate escape. A massive, tree-trunk-like leg rose and then descended.
BOOM!
The connecting bridge to the island shattered under the impossible weight. Craftsmen were sent flying, crushed, or plunged into the water, their cries of terror and pain swallowed by the chaos.
Drought Jack paid the carnage no mind. These were insects. With earth-shaking steps, he began his march onto the island itself, his mammoth form a walking cataclysm.
On the deck of the Mammoth, now beached, Speed let out a resigned sigh, adjusting her goggles. "A direct frontal assault? Ah, Boss Jack... you really didn't take Governor Kaido's words to heart at all, did you?"
The plan for a discreet elimination was dead on arrival. Jack's method was simple: burn it all down, and your target will have no choice but to come out and face the flames. The "Marineking's" reign was about to be tested by a calamity from the New World.