Super Card System - S.C.S Chapter 748: Ian's Old Profession

“Alright, alright, that’s enough kicking!”

Ian stepped in to stop Bonney, then walked over to Queen and looked down at her coldly. “Do you understand your situation?”

Queen the Plague lay on the ground, unable to move. She endured the pain and turned her eyes toward Ian, nodding with difficulty.

Ian noticed that even though she was lying face-up under the full moon, she avoided looking at it. He realized that his earlier *Metal Storm* must have left a deep “impression” on her. Satisfied, he said, “Very good. Now, I’ll ask you a question, and you’ll answer.”

“What do you want to ask?” Queen struggled to speak. Her voice was no longer as pleasant as before; it was hoarse due to her severe injuries.

“I recall that when Kaido left Wano Country, he left you behind. But instead of staying in Kuri, you came to Kyoto to assassinate the Shogun. Was this Kaido’s order, or did you act on your own?” Ian stared into her eyes, asking each word deliberately.

“A bit of both,” Queen replied.

Ian didn’t understand for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Coming to Kyoto was my idea, but I got Kaido’s permission, so you could say he ordered it,” Queen moved slightly, but the pain twisted her face. She gave up struggling and continued lying on the ground. “Also, I need to correct something. I didn’t assassinate the Shogun of Wano Country. I didn’t trigger the bomb in the Tenshukaku (castle tower)!”

“You didn’t set off the bomb? Are you saying the Shogun blew himself up?” Ian snorted, clearly not believing her.

However, Queen seemed puzzled. “He did set it off! The Shogun of Wano Country uses special shadow warriors as doubles. Don’t you know about this?”

“Really?” Ian was taken aback and turned to look at Izo.

Izo wasn’t too sure and vaguely said, “Maybe. Although I’m from Wano Country, I didn’t have a good upbringing. How could I know such things?”

“It is true!” Queen added. “In fact, I only realized this when that shadow warrior triggered the bomb…”

“So, the Shogun is unharmed?” Marco mused. “No wonder the reactions of those soldiers and samurai seemed off…”

Ian nodded, agreeing with Marco. Earlier, he had found it strange that although the soldiers and samurai of Wano Country had arrived, they took a long time to get there. It didn’t seem like the reaction one would expect if their ruler had been assassinated. He had thought perhaps the Shogun wasn’t killed, but now, hearing Queen’s explanation, he realized that the Shogun was never in danger; only a double had died.

“Since you weren’t there to assassinate the Shogun, what were you doing at the Tenshukaku?” Ian continued to ask.

“I was looking for something,” Queen replied.

“What were you looking for?” Ian immediately pursued. “Did you find it?”

“I was looking for the Poneglyphs!” Queen said. “but what I found was their rubbings. They’re hidden in the fur of my tail…”

Upon hearing this, Ian wanted to search her, but he hesitated. Although Queen was a Mink, she was still a woman, and even if she was an enemy, it didn’t seem appropriate. So he turned to Bonney and said, “You search her!”

He was quite glad to have brought Bonney along…

Bonney didn’t hesitate. She squatted down and flipped Queen over, reaching for her tail. Being a fox Mink, Queen had a long tail. Bonney searched beneath it and quickly found a folded scroll of paper. Queen had carefully wrapped it in her tail fur, so it hadn’t been damaged during Ian’s Metal Storm.

However, after retrieving the scroll, Bonney couldn’t resist giving Queen a hard slap on the butt. “Didn’t expect it—you traitor, you’ve got quite a big backside…”

Ian, Ace, and the others broke into a cold sweat at this scene, feeling that Bonney was evolving from a tomboy into a female rogue…

Queen gritted her teeth and glared back at Bonney. It was the first time she’d been humiliated like this, and by another woman no less, which made it even more infuriating…

Bonney wasn’t intimidated at all and glared right back. “What are you looking at!?”

Seeing this, Ace hurriedly pulled Bonney away, fearing she’d start kicking Queen again. Given his cousin’s personality, Ace felt that the days ahead might not be too peaceful…

Ian took the scroll, opened it, and found it hard to read under the moonlight. He asked Ace to provide some light with his flames and examined it in the firelight.

Having encountered several Poneglyphs before, Ian was familiar with the ancient script. Though he couldn’t read it, he could tell that the ancient characters on this rubbing were genuine.

There were three copies of the rubbing, likely taken from three stone tablets. Ian looked at Queen in disbelief. “What are you up to? This is a rubbing of the Poneglyphs, and you’re handing it over so easily!?”

Things were going so smoothly it was hard to believe. Ian knew that if Queen hadn’t mentioned it, no one would have known she had infiltrated the Tenshukaku to find the Poneglyphs. She had obtained the rubbings and hidden them carefully. Earlier, when she transformed into her Sulong form, her clothes had been torn apart. If she hadn’t said anything, Ian and the others wouldn’t have suspected she was carrying something so important.

But… she told them anyway!?

Because of this, Ian found it hard to trust her. He had been wary of Queen from the beginning, and now he was even more suspicious of her motives.

However, Queen sneered, “Hmph, do you really think something a shadow warrior was looking at would be the real Poneglyph?”

“Hmm? You’re saying this rubbing is fake?” Ian looked at it again in confusion. “But these are genuine ancient characters?”

“Can’t ancient characters be forged?” Queen scoffed. “Unless you can read them, how would you know?”

Ian fell silent. Hearing her words, he realized that unless one saw the actual Poneglyph stone, rubbings could indeed be forged.

“So, you believe this rubbing is fake, which is why you’re handing it over so readily?” Marco asked from the side.

“Obviously!” Queen glared at Marco. “Do you think I’d endure interrogation and torture for a fake document? I’m not a brainless fool like Jack the Drought!”

Her reasoning made sense. Queen likely realized the rubbing was fake after discovering that the Shogun in the Tenshukaku was a shadow warrior double. Now, in Ian’s hands, she had no reason to lie to protect a fake rubbing.

Ian chose to believe her for now but continued, “How did you know the Shogun of Wano Country had the Poneglyphs?”

Queen didn’t hide anything. “The Kozuki family is a clan of stone masons who carved the Poneglyphs. Anyone interested could find this out. Lord Kaido has been searching for the missing red Road Poneglyph. He believed it might be with the Kozuki family, but after taking over their castle, we didn’t find anything—not even a single Poneglyph stone!”

“Lord Kaido was furious. He spared Kozuki Oden’s life to interrogate him,” Queen sneered. “But Oden was stubborn and refused to reveal anything. In the end, Lord Kaido executed him in anger!”

Hearing this, Ian’s expression remained unchanged, but Fujitora sighed softly…

“After Oden’s death, Lord Kaido thought of the fleeing retainers, believing they might have taken the Kozuki family’s secrets,” Queen continued. “So he sent that idiot Jack to pursue them at sea. I, on the other hand, thought the Kozuki family might have given the Poneglyphs to the Shogun of Wano Country, Tokugawa. After all, he’s a daimyo of Wano Country and might present such valuable items to his lord…”

“Might have? So you’re not sure if the Shogun has the Poneglyphs?” Ian keenly caught her wording.

“Of course! If we were certain, it wouldn’t be me coming here but Lord Kaido himself…” Queen sneered. “Do you think someone like him would care about a mere king?”

After speaking, Queen seemed to have regained some mobility. She propped herself up slightly and stared at Ian. “Alright, I’ve told you everything you wanted to know. Isn’t it time to let me go? I’m one of the top officers of the Beasts Pirates. If you don’t want to anger Lord Kaido, you’d better release me!”

“Are you threatening me?” Ian raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a faint smile.

“No, not a threat—just stating facts,” Queen shook her head. “You must know that Kaido is called a madman for a reason. Like leader, like subordinates. Besides me, Jack the Drought and King the Wildfire are all war-crazed like Kaido. Without me, they might impulsively start a war at any time… Ian, you’re now an Emperor as well. Big Mom’s former territory is now yours, but your forces are definitely not as strong as the old Emperors. If you go to war with the Beasts Pirates, it’ll be hard to manage both fronts. I believe you wouldn’t want to see your territory destroyed by them, right?”

“Not bad! I admit you’ve convinced me!” Ian nodded.

“Then, please let me go!” Queen’s fox-like face showed a charming smile.

However, Ian shook his head. “Sorry, you’ve convinced me, but that doesn’t mean I plan to let you go. On the contrary, I must take you with me!”

Queen was stunned. “What… what do you mean!?”

“You’re not playing by the rules!”

Seeing her bewildered expression, Ian said with exasperation, “Are you stupid? I can hand you over to the Navy. If that madman Kaido wants to rescue you, he’ll have to clash with them. Such a great opportunity to weaken the Beasts Pirates—did you think I wouldn’t see it? I used to be a pirate hunter, you know!”

What’s wrong with returning to my old profession? Is that not allowed?

Otaku_Senpai

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