Ian had previously saved seven Supernovas on Sabaody Archipelago, including Luffy and Zoro.

Law and Urouge joined his pirate crew, but Hawkins, Drake, and Scratchmen Apoo eventually left.

At that time, Ian didn’t think much of it. Although these Supernovas had potential, Ian never intended to recruit all of them, so he didn’t dwell on Drake and the others leaving.

But who could have known that Drake was hiding such a huge secret?

If not for the lucky encounter here and saving him again, coupled with the life force he extracted from Kaido during the war, which Drake now needed, Drake might have kept his secret forever and never mentioned it to Ian…

This group of Supernovas, known as the “Worst Generation,” were proving to be quite the troublemakers.

“So…” Ian exhaled and asked Drake, “You want to take back Kaido’s life force from me and then return it to him to gain his trust and join the Beasts Pirates?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it!” Drake nodded. “Because of Kaido, both my father and I went from being in the Navy to becoming pirates. Our lives changed completely. If I don’t find out what Kaido’s experiment was all about back then, I won’t be satisfied. Whether it’s him or the World Government, I must understand the truth of what happened! And to uncover the truth, I need to get close to Kaido.”

However, Ian shook his head and said, “I understand your intention, but have you thought about this: even if you bring back Kaido’s life essence, how will you explain it to him? Kaido may be a madman, but he’s not an idiot. How could you possibly take this thing from me? Plus, given that I’m currently his enemy, aren’t you afraid that the moment you return his life essence, he’ll just kill you?”

“Then… what should I do?” Drake frowned. When he first saw Ian, this plan to approach Kaido came to his mind. But now, hearing Ian’s words, he realized he might have been too naive. Kaido’s mindset was not like that of normal people.

“Kaido’s life essence is indeed with me,” Ian said as he took out the glowing orb.

Ian had originally intended to use it for Whitebeard, but Whitebeard refused. So, Ian stored it away. After the war, back at Whitebeard’s headquarters, Ian considered using it on someone else. However, when he experimented on Luffy, Ian discovered that he had overestimated himself; he couldn’t transfer the life force taken from one person to another.

This orb of light could only be touched by Ian and the original owner of the life force. Anyone else who reached out to touch it would pass right through it.

In other words, the life force extracted using Ian’s Soul Extraction had only two uses: destruction or returning it to its original owner. In the card’s description, this skill was defined as purely a damage skill, unlike Big Mom’s ability to extend life by bestowing it on others.

Although this result was somewhat disappointing, Ian understood. The Soul Extraction skill was already incredibly powerful, ignoring the opponent’s defenses and directly seizing their life force. Once destroyed, it would severely damage the enemy. Moreover, since the skill could be used multiple times on the same enemy, even someone as powerful as Kaido could have his life force continually drained if Ian got close enough.

Since he couldn’t use it to extend anyone’s life, Ian decided to preserve the life essence. The idea of returning it to Kaido was out of the question, but Ian didn’t destroy it outright either. He planned to crush it in front of Kaido the next time they fought, taking advantage of Kaido’s vulnerability to deal a decisive blow.

To quash Drake’s idea, Ian tossed the orb of life force towards him. Drake fumbled, trying to catch it, but the orb passed right through his hands, leaving him grasping at air.

“See?” Ian said, retrieving the orb. “Even if I gave it to you, you couldn’t carry it. How would you bring it back?”

Drake looked dejected, not expecting such a limitation.

“But don’t worry!” Ian continued. “There are plenty of ways to get close to Kaido. Your bounty is 220 million Berries, and you’re an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit user. Kaido loves collecting talents like you… However, if you go to him directly, he might be wary of you. The best approach would be to target his pirate crew. If you can provoke Kaido into dealing with you personally, then after your defeat, he might offer you a chance to join the Beasts Pirates…”

“Being subdued by him?” Drake smiled bitterly. “Looks like that’s my only option. To be honest, before meeting you, that was my plan…”

“Meeting me isn’t a bad thing!” Ian laughed. “If you ever need help in the future, you can always contact my Dragon Hunter Pirates. In fact, I’m quite curious about the so-called truth myself…”

There was one thing Ian didn’t mention. He remembered that Kaido had a red Poneglyph in his possession. Maybe he could use Drake’s infiltration of the Beasts Pirates to his advantage later on…

Now, Ian felt a bit relieved that he had taken out the pursuing Beasts Pirates with a thunderstorm from high above. Otherwise, if Ian had been seen rescuing Drake, it would have made things difficult for Drake later.

After leaving Drake with his personal Den Den Mushi number, Ian stood up and took his leave.

The pirates of Drake’s crew didn’t know what their captain and Ian had discussed, but since their fate was tied to Drake’s, He wasn’t worried about them revealing the meeting to Kaido. Ian gave them a casual glance, then spread his wings and flew up into the sky.

As they watched Ian’s figure disappear into the clouds, one pirate nervously said, “I’ve heard that the Dragon Hunter Pirates have a sky island as their base. It looks like it’s true… We’re really lucky to have encountered this great man here. If it weren’t for his appearance, we’d have been in a lot of trouble…”

Other pirates nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s a good thing our captain has connections with him!”

“But still, who knows if this great man’s appearance is a blessing or a curse…” one pirate remarked. “The strength of the Dragon Hunter Pirates is now nearing that of the Four Emperors. However, the territories in the New World have already been divided among the Four Emperors, and the concept of the Four Emperors has existed for so long that people are used to having four rulers of the sea. If a fifth one appears…”

“The interests of the other Four Emperors will definitely be affected…” another pirate interjected. “If Ian doesn’t expand his power, it might be fine, but if he does, he will immediately face hostility…”

“That’s not right!” one pirate countered. “He has a good relationship with the Whitebeard Pirates…”

“Sure, he’s close with the Whitebeard Pirates, but what about the other Emperors?” someone debated. “At least Big Mom and Kaido won’t just sit by and watch him rise up, right?”

At this moment, Drake suddenly spoke up. “Enough, stop talking. These matters are too far away from us. Set sail immediately!”

Although he said this, Drake knew his subordinates’ discussions were true.

Even though the Whitebeard Pirates had won the war with the Navy, maintaining the balance of the Four Emperors, Ian’s emergence had subtly planted a hidden threat in these seas.

Ian no longer held the title of Shichibukai; now, he was just a pirate. But this awkward, in-between status couldn’t last for long.

Maybe Ian hadn’t realized this yet, but as an onlooker, many people had already seen it clearly. Regardless of whether Ian and his Dragon Hunter Pirates choose to defeat one of the Four Emperors and take their place or become the fifth emperor, it will cause great upheaval in the New World…

This was beyond his control…

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