Chapter 647: All They Have Left Is Cunning

Burgess had a towering figure, so as soon as Ian stepped out of the store, he immediately spotted his silhouette in the crowd.

Without hesitation, Ian followed him, pulling the hood of his cloak lower to conceal his face.

He kept a fair distance, but activated his En field to sense Burgess’s every move.

Burgess was carrying a massive backpack, stuffed so full that it seemed to weigh several hundred kilograms, but he effortlessly slung it over one shoulder with one hand. In the other hand, he held a glass bottle of liquor, swaggering down the street as he tilted his head back, gulping down the alcohol.

After taking a big swig, he wiped his mouth with satisfaction, letting out a contented sound before continuing to drink.

Not only was this guy incredibly strong, but he also drank like a drunkard as he strolled through the streets. Everyone he bumped into glared at him angrily but didn’t dare to confront him, choosing instead to step aside and let him pass.

This made Burgess even more smug, and because of this, he had no idea that he has been tailed.

Ian kept following, refraining from directly confronting Burgess, as he wanted to see where Burgess was headed. If Burgess was returning to rendezvous with Teach and the rest of the crew, it would be ideal; Ian could then directly locate their hideout.

As Burgess continued walking, a small dog suddenly started barking at him, wagging its tail vigorously, its eyes fixated on the large backpack slung over Burgess’s shoulder.

This scene made Ian’s mind race, and he quickened his pace to get closer. He sniffed the air, and sure enough, he caught the scent of meat wafting from the backpack.

Is this guy out buying food? Ian speculated.

The little dog, still barking, was sent flying by a kick from Burgess, landing far away and whimpering in pain. Burgess didn’t even glance at it, continuing to drink as he walked.

Ian carefully observed Burgess’s behavior and noticed that his eagerness to drink seemed unusual, almost like he hadn’t had a drink in a long time and was ravenously gulping it down.

At the same time, Ian remained vigilant, keeping an eye on the surroundings. He wondered if any other members of the Blackbeard Pirates might appear to join up with Burgess.

However, what Ian didn’t expect was that Burgess headed straight towards the city’s harbor. Once he reached the harbor, Burgess tossed his backpack onto a small boat, causing it to sink slightly under the added weight. He then untied the rope securing the boat to the dock, took a leap onto the boat himself, and began rowing, intending to leave.

“This guy is alone!” Ian realized immediately.

What should he do? Should he reveal himself now, or try to keep following him?

Continuing to track him would be risky. On the vast open sea, if he stayed too far behind, he might lose Burgess, but if he got too close, Burgess would surely notice—he wasn’t an idiot.

It seemed like the only option was to follow him from the air!

Ian didn’t rush. He waited until Burgess had rowed his small boat a fair distance out to sea, then found a secluded spot, took off his cloak, and unfurled his flaming wings, taking to the sky.

Once airborne, Ian ascended straight up into the high altitude, positioning himself far above, just beneath the cloud layer, where he could see Burgess’s small boat below.

Using his flaming wings to fly didn’t consume much energy, so Ian could maintain his position at high altitude for an extended period. However, the problem was that, from his vantage point, Burgess’s small boat was moving painfully slow!

There was no helping it. Burgess’s little boat wasn’t a sailboat; it could only move forward by relying on Burgess’s extraordinary arm strength to row it. Naturally, its speed on the water was slow.

Ian knew that tracking someone required patience, so he held back his impatience and quietly hovered in the sky, his eyes fixed on Burgess’s small boat. Despite following for quite some time, Burgess had barely moved far from the harbor.

Though Burgess was rowing the boat, he hadn’t forgotten to keep drinking. He would row a few strokes, then reach for the bottle and take a swig. Because of this, he failed to notice Ian tracking him from the sky, as his attention seemed entirely focused on drinking.

Ian looked ahead in the direction Burgess was heading, but he couldn’t see any islands in his line of sight. This realization troubled Ian, as it dawned on him that the place where the Blackbeard Pirates were hiding might be far away.

This assumption was further supported by the fact that Burgess had bought such a large amount of supplies.

It seemed the Blackbeard Pirates were being very cautious, which made sense. Not only were they being hunted by the Whitebeard Pirates, but the World Government was also furious with them for attacking and killing a Celestial Dragon and stealing classified documents. Essentially, the Blackbeard Pirates had enemies everywhere, so they had no choice but to be careful.

At this rate, who knew how many days it would take Burgess to row his way to their hideout?

Just as Ian was hesitating, considering whether to use his high-speed flight to scout ahead and see if there were any islands in this direction, a sudden sense of alarm gripped him. He abruptly twisted his body mid-air!

A round object whizzed past him, barely missing him!

Was that… a bullet!? This was Ian’s first thought, and at the same time, he heard a gunshot echo in the air!

Even though he hadn’t expected anyone to attack him while he was in the air, Ian had instinctively kept his En field active. This was why he sensed the bullet’s approach just in time, allowing him to dodge the shot.

Ian turned his gaze towards the direction of the Glas Archipelago!

Judging from the bullet’s trajectory, the shot had come from the town behind him!

And considering the distance between the town and Ian’s current position, which was at least several kilometers, there was only one person Ian could think of capable of such a feat: Van Augur, the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates!

Damn it, I didn’t expect Burgess to actually have a partner here. These guys are too cunning, using Burgess to go ahead alone while Van Augur stayed behind to watch for anyone tailing him!

Ian immediately realized what was going on. The Blackbeard Pirates must be in a really bad situation; otherwise, they wouldn’t be this cautious. Even when coming out to purchase supplies, they had someone covering their tracks…

Glancing back towards the direction of the town, Ian knew that if he turned around now to go after Van Augur, it would be hard to find him. That guy could easily disappear into the town’s crowd, and with so many people around, Ian would have no chance of locating him.

So, it looks like I’ll have to capture Burgess instead!

With that thought, Ian shot straight down towards the sea.

Burgess, of course, heard the gunshot as well. Van Augur was his comrade, so he couldn’t possibly mistake Van Augur’s gunfire. As soon as he heard the shot, even though Burgess hadn’t yet seen who Van Augur was targeting, he understood that it was a warning. Panicked, he tossed the bottle in his hand and quickly turned the boat around to row back!

Realizing he’d been followed meant that his pursuers intended to use him to find the Blackbeard Pirates’ hideout. At this point, he couldn’t afford to continue forward, as that would expose the location of their hideout to the enemy.

Before they left, Teach had specifically warned them to be extremely cautious and not to lead anyone to the hideout. So now, all Burgess could think about was heading back and teaming up with Van Augur to eliminate the stalker.

However, just as he was desperately rowing the small boat, the bow suddenly dipped as a figure landed on the front of the boat.

Burgess had been somewhat tipsy, but the gunshot had snapped him out of it. When he saw who had landed on the bow of the boat, he was so frightened that his soul nearly left his body!

“D-damn it! How can it be you!?” Burgess’s voice trembled.

He had thought that the stalker might be some bounty hunter group or pirates greedy for the bounties offered by the Whitebeard Pirates or the World Government, but he never expected that the person following him would be the Blackbeard Pirates’ greatest enemy, the deadliest of all threats…

“Burgess!” Ian, with his hand resting on the hilt of Senbonzakura, coldly smirked as he looked at him. “Where’s your captain, Teach?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know!!” Burgess was in a complete panic, shouting repeatedly as he suddenly leaped off the side of the boat.

He remembered that Ian was a Devil Fruit user and thought he could escape Ian’s threat by diving into the water.

However, while this might work against other Devil Fruit users, trying to swim away from Ian was nothing short of foolish!

Ian didn’t even bother jumping in after him. He simply raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning instantly struck down from the sky, hitting the spot where Burgess had dived into the water.

With a crackling sound, the electricity spread through the water, and soon Burgess floated to the surface, his body twitching uncontrollably.

He looked no different from the fish around him, all of which had been electrocuted and were now floating belly-up…

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read