However, in response to Ian’s caution, Dragon shook his head and said, “You might be right, but regardless, after losing the information provided by Kuma, we’ve been completely in the dark about Vegapunk’s situation. Even if it’s a risk, we have to proceed! Vegapunk is someone worth this level of commitment from the Revolutionary Army!”

Saying this, Dragon glanced at Ian and added, “You might not know this, but Kuma once mentioned that Dr. Vegapunk is also a Devil Fruit user! And the fruit he consumed is the most precious Devil Fruit in the world!”

“What!?” Ian felt that each revelation from Dragon today was more shocking than the last.

Vegapunk is also a Devil Fruit user!?

Seeing Ian’s disbelief, Dragon smiled slightly and asked, “What do you think is the most precious thing in the world?”

“Diamonds? Gold? No, it should be family or love, right?” Ian replied with a frown.

“For different people, there will be different answers,” Dragon said. “But for this world, there’s only one thing that’s truly the most precious, and that is wisdom!”

“Wisdom!? You mean…” Ian’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “Vegapunk ate the Wisdom Fruit??”

“Yes, the Wisdom Fruit!” Dragon nodded. “It’s the most unique and primordial Devil Fruit in existence, one that had never appeared in the world before. You won’t find it in any Devil Fruit encyclopedia. Only the person who consumes it will know its true nature.”

“Vegapunk is special—he’s the smartest person in the world,” Dragon explained. “Even though he doesn’t possess any combat abilities, his importance is beyond measure. It’s because of him that the World Government and the Navy have acquired various new weapons and technologies, steadily becoming more powerful. You can imagine, if the Navy becomes strong enough to wipe out all the pirates, the World Government’s control would become unshakably firm!”

“That’s why Vegapunk is also crucial to the Revolutionary Army. If we can bring him to our side, the revolutionary uprising would become unstoppable…”

Ian sighed, finally understanding Dragon’s point. Vegapunk was irreplaceable for the Revolutionary Army. Even if there was the slightest chance, Dragon would pursue it without hesitation. Although Ian’s suggestion to delay the operation was well-intentioned, Dragon couldn’t accept it. He had even prepared himself for the possible sacrifice of many Revolutionary Army members.

“Alright then, six months from now, I will be in Baldigo on time!” Ian nodded. “Whatever needs to be done, just give the order. Let’s just hope that our infiltration of the Navy’s science division will cost as few lives as possible…”

Hearing Ian’s words, Dragon smiled and said, “To be honest, Ian, when Kuma first recommended you to join the Revolutionary Army, I never imagined that your strength would grow to this extent. So, besides telling you about coming to Baldigo, I’m also here to inform you that from now on, you will be the Chief of Combat for the Revolutionary Army!”

“Me? Chief of Combat!?” Ian pointed at himself in surprise. “What kind of position is that?”

“As the name suggests, it means you’re responsible for leading and commanding battles for the Revolutionary Army!” Dragon explained. “From the moment you accept this position, the Revolutionary Army’s combat forces will be under your command. I’ll inform all the Revolutionary Army leaders about your role through our internal communications. If you need anything, you can reach out to any Revolutionary Army members wherever they are, and they’ll cooperate with you unconditionally!”

Ian scratched his head in slight frustration and said, “Why does this sound like the job of a boatswain in our crew…”

Dragon laughed out loud and said, “Isn’t it? The Revolutionary Army is, in a way, like a pirate crew. I’m the captain, and Sabo, as the Chief of Staff, is like the navigator, charting the course for our ship. And you, you’re the boatswain, the one who leads the crew in battle—you’re the symbol of our combat strength!”

“So basically, I’m just the muscles!” Ian shrugged.

“I was actually hoping you could become one of the Four Emperors!” Dragon said. “That way, when your true identity is revealed, the whole world will be shocked!”

Ian scratched his head as he listened. Another person trying to push him into a top position?

But Ian also understood that Dragon was speaking the truth. In the current power dynamics, Ian was an outlier among the original Four Emperors. He no longer held the title of a Shichibukai, yet he had the strength of a pseudo- Emperor, making his position somewhat awkward. Someone like him, in the New World, would naturally draw attention with every move he made, and any action could potentially challenge the existing power balance among the Four Emperors.

Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks were easier to deal with since they had good relations with Ian and could tolerate him. But the real threats were the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates. Any move Ian made that touched on their interests would be seen as a provocation.

There was absolutely no way that both the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates would jointly acknowledge Ian’s status as the “Fifth Emperor of the Sea.” The only path to such recognition would be for Ian to step over one of the Four Emperors to rise to the top.

However, for now, the Big Mom Pirates’ attitude towards Ian remained ambiguous. Perhaps due to Ian’s unique abilities, they had taken a temporary cooperative stance and had even invited him to their tea party.

The Beasts Pirates, on the other hand, were a different story. Ian had already clashed with their leader, Kaido, once before, and there was no possibility of cooperation.

This led to a possible scenario where the Big Mom Pirates might align themselves with Ian and support him in taking down Kaido, thus allowing him to ascend to the position of a Four Emperor.

This was also why Ian had accepted the latter to the tea party. It would be far better to have the Big Mom Pirates on his side, taking on Kaido together, rather than fighting both Kaido and Big Mom alone.

As Ian pondered this, Dragon stood up and said, “Alright, I’ve accomplished what I came here for, so it’s time for me to go.”

“Uncle Dragon!” Ian said, “I won’t stop you from leaving, but take some money with you when you go. Thanks to you, and the help of Kuzan and the others, we managed to raid Tesoro’s vault—there’s a lot of money there. You can take some for the Revolutionary Army’s funds.”

“That’s great!” Dragon replied, “To be honest, the Revolutionary Army has been struggling financially.”

“Take a hundred billion Berries with you,” Ian offered. “By the way, what happened to Tesoro? That tsunami that hit Golden City in the end, was that your doing?”

Speaking of Tesoro, Dragon’s expression grew serious. “Actually, the Revolutionary Army has been keeping an eye on Golden City since it was established. You might not know this, but both the Celestial Dragons and the World Government have been receiving large sums of money from Tesoro. So this time, I destroyed the ship completely. Golden City won’t be able to recover anytime soon. As for Tesoro, I didn’t kill him, but he nearly drowned in the floodwaters. Now he’s like a stray dog, and without any value left to offer, who knows how the World Government will deal with him.”

After briefly discussing Tesoro, the two didn’t dwell on the topic any further. Ian called Enel over, who brought a large golden chest, filled it with a hundred billion Berries, and handed it to Dragon.

A hundred billion Berries took up a lot of space, but it wasn’t a problem for Dragon. With a burst of strength, he lifted the golden chest from the bottom.

Ian didn’t know exactly how powerful Dragon was, but just seeing this display of strength gave him an idea.

With Fujitora’s help, Dragon carried the chest, jumped down from the clouds, and slowly made his way toward the Revolutionary Army’s ship on the sea below.

After some thought, Ian turned to the members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates and said, “Alright, let’s go. It’s time for us to leave too!”

“Hmm? Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your sister and Aokiji?” asked Uncle Fujitora.

“No,” Ian shook his head. “Dragon coming up here with us has already made Aokiji suspicious. If we say our goodbyes, they might start asking all sorts of questions. It’s too much of a hassle!”

Fujitora chuckled softly and didn’t say anything more.

With that, the crew of the Dragon Hunter Pirates began to activate the power systems within the sky island ruins. The windmills on the island slowly began to turn, and the sky island gradually started to move.

Meanwhile, below, after Dragon landed on his ship, he silently directed the Revolutionary Army members to set sail and leave the area without a word.

Aokiji and his group watched as the sky island above them moved away, realizing that no one was going to answer their questions. Aokiji sighed and instructed Smoker and the others to set sail and depart as well.

In the end, all that was left in that stretch of sea was the wreckage of the massive Golden City ship, surrounded by debris and ruins.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read