Ian lazily walked to the couch and lay down, sinking into the soft cushions, a picture of contentment.
"You still haven't answered me. Why did you send people to capture me and bring me to the Holy Land?" Uta quickly approached the couch, her beautiful large eyes burning with fire.
Ian was too lazy to even lift his eyelids; he just reached out and patted the empty space beside him.
Uta remained unmoved.
Ian opened his eyes, a playful curve to his lips: "Mind your attitude. The reason you can stand here and speak to me so brazenly is because This Young Master was away for the past few days, and the bodyguards and servants in the mansion were afraid of hurting you, worried about being punished by me later, so they let you do as you pleased."
"Now that This Young Master is back, if you dare to speak to me with such an attitude again, I don't mind teaching you right now how to be a real woman!"
Uta's delicate body trembled.
Although Ian had been absent for several days, she had already pieced together the image of this Crown Prince of the Holy Land from the servants' fragmented words.
Ian not only disregarded other Celestial Dragons, but even the Gorosei, the world's highest authorities, treated him with utmost respect.
Most importantly, Ian was temperamental and ruthless; no one who fell into Ian's hands ever came to a good end.
Rushing in earlier was due to days of accumulated resentment and fear that made her lose her reason.
Now, having calmed down, she felt a sudden wave of fear, a chill running down her spine.
The raging anger that had burned fiercely moments ago instantly extinguished, leaving only a tiny, stubborn spark.
Finally, Uta awkwardly and very reluctantly moved to the edge of the couch and carefully sat down.
Her previous furious demeanor was completely gone, replaced by a pitiful posture, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Ian, pleadingly saying: "Saint Ian, can you tell me what exactly is going on? I don't know you at all, why did you capture me and put this on me..."
As she spoke, she tugged at the collar around her neck: "I heard the bodyguards in the mansion say that this collar will explode if I leave the Holy Land. Saint Ian, could you... please take it off for me first?"
Ian blinked and asked: "Do you want to know why I captured you first, or do you want me to take off your collar first?"
Uta's eyes lit up, and she replied without hesitation: "Take off the collar first!"
Ian waved his hand, "Then let's talk first about why I 'captured' you and brought you to the Holy Land."
Uta: "???"
She felt like she had been played, her small face instantly flushed red, but she dared not act out.
Ian sat up, looking at her directly for the first time, his expression more serious than ever.
"Uta, you've misunderstood."
"This Young Master didn't 'capture' you; I 'brought' you home."
Uta was stunned: "Huh? Brought me home? What do you mean?"
Ian nodded solemnly: "Yes, brought you home. Because your father is Shanks!"
Suddenly hearing that name, Uta's eyes instantly darkened, then like a lit powder keg, she abruptly stood up.
"Don't mention that name to me! I hate that name!"
Ian looked bewildered: "What's wrong? Is it because he abandoned you in a foreign land to become a pirate, and went off to enjoy himself on the Grand Line?"
"No matter, This Young Master would never let you be stranded alone in a foreign land!"
With that, Ian grabbed Uta's soft, boneless small hand, pulling her back down to sit.
"This Young Master is basically aware of what happened to you. You are Shanks' daughter; although not biological, the nominal father-daughter relationship won't change, right? Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't acknowledge it; that doesn't hinder the bond between you."
"So, as soon as This Young Master learned of your situation, I immediately sent someone to bring you to the Holy Land!"
Uta was completely bewildered by his words, and she asked blankly: "Do any of these things you're saying... have a connection?"
"Of course they do." Ian rubbed Uta's slender, jade-like fingers, "Because Shanks has another identity; his father is the Supreme Commander of the God's Knights of the Holy Land. Not only that, he also has a twin brother who is also a member of the God's Knights."
"Do you know what this means?"
Ian suddenly leaned closer to Uta, "This means that Shanks' true identity is a Celestial Dragon who enjoys all privileges!"
!!!!
Uta's beautiful eyes instantly widened, and it felt as if something had exploded in her mind.
"What did you say? Shanks... he's a Celestial Dragon?"
"Absolutely." Ian leaned back on the couch and said leisurely, "The reason he went out to sea to become a pirate, and now even reigns as an Emperor of the Sea in the New World, is actually with the mission of the Celestial Dragons, to balance the situation in the New World and maintain order as much as possible."
Uta blinked, then blinked again; the sheer volume of information made her brain directly crash.
"Is that... really true?"
"None of that is important." Ian waved his hand, "What's important is that since you are Shanks' daughter, you are naturally also a Celestial Dragon. So, when This Young Master sent people to bring you back to the Holy Land, wouldn't that count as coming home for you?"
Uta shook her head vigorously, as if trying to dispel the absurd thoughts in her mind: "That's not true! How could I possibly be a Celestial Dragon?"
Ian sighed heavily, "Indeed, without me, the Holy Land would fall apart."
After a slight pause, Ian looked up at Uta and said directly: "Since you don't believe me, This Young Master will call your grandfather and your uncle over right now."
With that, he casually picked up the golden den den mushi by the couch and got straight to the point: "Gringo, no matter what you're doing, bring Shamrock to my mansion immediately."
Before Uta could recover from her complicated lineage, urgent footsteps were heard from outside the door.
Immediately after, two figures walked into the main hall side by side.
It was none other than the Supreme Commander of the God's Knights, Saint Gringo of the Figarland Family, and his son, Saint Shamrock.
The two quickly approached Ian, bowed in unison, and respectfully called out: "Young Master."
Ian pointed to Uta, who was still in a dazed state beside him, and introduced: "Her name is Uta; she is Shanks' daughter who was living abroad."
At these words, Gringo and Shamrock almost simultaneously turned their heads to look.
Gringo, who always valued bloodlines, appeared particularly excited, a barely concealed joy on his face.
"You... you're really Shanks' daughter? You're so grown up and so beautiful! Truly worthy of the Figarland Family's bloodline!"
Uta subconsciously wanted to nod, but her pupils constricted when her gaze swept over Shamrock, and then she stood up excitedly, her voice trembling as she cried out: "Shanks?!"
"He's not Shanks." Ian corrected: "He is your uncle, Shamrock, and he and your father, Shanks, are twin brothers."
Shamrock's expression also became somewhat excited after seeing Uta mistake him for Shanks. He then stepped forward, carefully examining Uta, "Are you really Shanks' daughter?"
Uta was completely unable to keep up with everything happening before her, she could only nod subconsciously, weakly saying: "Shanks is indeed my father."
"Excellent!" Gringo was overjoyed, "Thank you, Young Master, for helping my Figarland Family find our lost bloodline!"
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something important and asked tentatively: "Young Master, what about this child's mother?"
Ian glanced at him and casually said: "Killed her, just like you taught me, 'discard the mother, keep the child'."
Gringo's smile froze on his face, and he let out two awkward dry laughs.
Shamrock, standing nearby, looked confused and asked curiously: "What does 'discard the mother, keep the child' mean?"
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