"Move quickly!"
Crocodile transformed into swirling yellow sand. "Moria! You and I will take care of those government agents on the island first!"
"Shiryu! You go after Redfield!"
"Valdo, I'm counting on you to handle the coating!"
With the tasks clearly divided, the Cross Guild arrived at the scene.
Ian propelled himself through the sky and soon reached the peak of the mountains.
After all, the island wasn't that large, and at his speed, it was nothing.
Before long, the highest mountain the bartender mentioned appeared right before Ian's eyes.
Ian descended, using his Observation Haki to scan. When searching for lifeless objects, it was somewhat less effective.
Luckily, the ruins were quite large, and Ian spotted them immediately.
He lightly landed on a tall pillar within the ruins and looked around. All that was visible were broken walls and rubble.
But one place was special.
There was a cave in the mountainside, also part of the ruins.
From the decorations outside, it didn't seem like an ordinary cave, but more like a temple.
This must be the place.
Ian made a light jump to the cave entrance and stepped inside.
The interior was a fairly spacious chamber. The floor and ceiling were paved with stone slabs, and the walls covered with bricks.
Directly opposite him was a stone platform, carved with many patterns, but the platform itself was empty.
The entire space was hollow.
The only things present were pillars supporting the ceiling and various patterns etched into the walls.
A smile crept onto Ian's lips.
No wonder the World Government people found nothing.
They hadn't even discovered the key spot.
Ian walked to the front of the stone platform and looked up at the patterns on the wall.
These were no ordinary designs.
Anyone familiar with ancient scripts could tell that among the patterns were ancient scripts.
The very same ancient characters carved into historical texts.
Because the symbols were not densely arranged together, to someone unfamiliar with ancient scripts, they just looked like some special patterns.
At a glance, there was nothing particularly noticeable.
But by chance, Ian was a cultured man who understood ancient script.
"Is that so?"
Ian stepped onto a certain floor tile and pressed down lightly.
The tile didn't react at all.
Without stopping, Ian jumped to another tile and pressed it.
Then to another one.
His movements were very fast, like a little cat jumping around the hall.
After stepping on dozens of tiles in a specific sequence, the vast hall suddenly began to shake.
The stone platform shook the hardest.
Just as Ian thought the stone platform would crack open and the Vampire Fruit would appear from inside, the ceiling suddenly cracked open, and a small box fell down.
"Ah?"
Luckily, Ian reacted quickly and caught the box; otherwise, it would have fallen to the ground.
Not following the usual rules, huh?
All the shaking stopped, and Ian casually opened the box.
Inside lay a Devil Fruit, quietly resting.
Purple in color, slightly larger than a fist, shaped somewhat like a tomato, covered with spiral patterns.
This must be it, right?
The Mythical Zoan-type Bat Fruit— Vampire form?
Hmm?
Ian looked up, then a smile slowly curved on his lips.
This aura feels very unfamiliar.
At this moment, no one else should be able to appear here.
Could they have come this fast?
Wasn't it just recently that the government leaked news about Sleeping Ancient Town to the Cross Guild in some kingdom?
How could they know so quickly?
Could it be that they had already received the information before then?
Maybe they wanted to use the enemy's plan against the World Government?
How interesting.
Perfect timing to pay the older generation a visit.
Ian leisurely stepped out of the cave, tilting his head up to look at the sky.
A shadow was rapidly approaching.
Ian raised his right hand and waved at the incoming figure.
Redfield sped toward the ruins located at the center of the island.
Crocodile's men had already discovered the location of the ruins well before their arrival.
Although they hadn't found anything, Redfield assumed their abilities were simply insufficient.
But now that he had arrived, what could possibly remain undiscovered?
However, when he reached the sky above the ruins, Redfield saw a boy stepping out of the cave, smiling and looking up at him, even waving in greeting.
"That guy!!"
Redfield's pupils constricted.
Although he had never met the kid, he had heard countless legends about him since his release from prison.
Redfield landed on a tall pillar in the ruins, his face serious as he stared at the boy standing at the cave entrance. "Ian the Skyfire!"
"You must be the legendary Red the Aloof, Patrick Redfield?"
Ian looked at the white-haired man and smiled. "The man said to be powerful enough to rival both Roger's and Whitebeard's crews single-handedly — I've heard much about you."
"Ian!"
Redfield stared fixedly at Ian, a sudden ominous feeling rising in his chest. "Why are you here?"
"You really ask why I'm here?"
Ian was a bit puzzled by the question and naturally replied, "Of course I'm here to visit and explore these ruins. Tell me, Redfield-san, aren't you here for the same reason?"
He said "you" because another presence was already very close.
Redfield didn't believe a word of Ian's lines.
His sharp eyes noticed the small box Ian held in his hand, and in the next moment, he pointed at the box. "What's that?"
Ian smiled, his eyes curved happily. "It's my lunchbox."
Redfield's forehead twitched with a vein popping out. "Give it to me."
"Oh?"
Ian laughed boldly. "Redfield-san, you don't mean you want to wash my lunchbox for me, do you? That wouldn't be very nice."
"I said, give it to me!"
A terrifying aura suddenly exploded from Redfield's body, pressing down on Ian with an overwhelming, unmatched power.
As a legend from the previous era, he naturally possessed Conqueror's Haki.
But—
In the next moment, an even more terrifying aura burst from Ian, not only resisting Redfield's Conqueror's Haki but pushing back against him.
"Ugh!"
At that moment, Shiryu, who was approaching through the sky using Moonwalk, suddenly stopped. "No way? Ian?"
Then a smile spread across his lips. "This is exciting! Are we about to see a battle between strong fighters?"
This kid's Conqueror's Haki is really strong!
Redfield gritted his teeth silently, but his voice was cold and harsh. "Kid, I told you to give me what's in your hand!"
Ian smiled again. "Maybe, Redfield-san, you can try and take it from me."
"You think I'm afraid?"
**********
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