Super Card System

Chapter 578: Ian's Decision

Whitebeard’s words were resolute, and anyone could discern his determination from his tone.

For a moment, everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates fell silent. Several of the beautiful nurses even discreetly turned their faces away, wiping away tears.

Ace grew anxious and turned to look at Ian. He was about to ask Ian to check Whitebeard’s injuries and see if he could ensure their father’s recovery. However, he didn’t expect Whitebeard to suddenly let out a long sigh.

“Ian, you’re just like Ace, both of you are good kids!” Sitting on the edge of the bed, Whitebeard picked up his naginata leaning against the wall and gently stroked this old friend. “I’m grateful that you still thought of coming to save me at the last moment. I regretted hitting you back then because of what happened with Teach. I’ve always regretted not being able to apologize to you in person. You were right. Among the whole pirate crew, only you saw Teach’s ambition…”

“Why bring this up now?” Ian waved his hand.

Leaning on the naginata, Whitebeard stood up. His stature still appeared tall and awe-inspiring, draped in his captain’s coat. Whitebeard lowered his head to look at Ian and said, “Ian, promise me one thing!”

“What is it?” Ian was puzzled.

“If I die, then you must find a way to take Namur and Ace with you and leave!” Whitebeard said, “In the future, the Whitebeard Pirates will merge into your Dragon Hunter Pirates!”

“What!?” Ian was dumbfounded when he heard this.

“How… how could this be!?” Namur panicked, saying to the Whitebeard, “Oyaji, don’t say such things! Why would you have to die!?”

However, Whitebeard ignored him and shouted loudly, “Did you hear me, Ace! Namur! In the future, you and others will assist Ian, let him take over my position and become the new Yonko! This is your captain’s order!”

“Yes… yes, father!” Namur was shocked by Whitebeard’s roar, then burst into tears, overwhelmed with emotion.

He understood, this was his father’s final instructions…

However, Ace and Ian were still a little confused. This didn’t seem right!

Ace thought, Ian came specifically to treat Dad’s injuries, but before anything could be said, he heard Oyaji giving his final instructions!?

And Ian also felt puzzled. How could he not have anticipated that the Whitebeard would think of entrusting the Whitebeard Pirates to him? Did Oyaji, who wasn’t even his biological father, hold higher hopes for him in his heart than for his own sons?

Seemingly noticing Ian’s puzzled expression, Whitebeard suddenly burst into hearty laughter and said, “The Marines want to annihilate my pirate crew, don’t they? Then I’ll let them know that while the Whitebeard Pirates may fall, the Dragon Hunters Pirate Crew emerges. The structure of the Four Emperors remains unchanged!”

Hearing this, Ian finally understood Whitebeard’s true intentions. Suppressing his urge to retort mockingly, he raised his hand towards Whitebeard and said, “Um… Oyaji, could you let me finish speaking for once? Every time I try to speak, you interrupt me…”

Whitebeard paused, “What do you want to say?”

“I think it’s better for the Whitebeard Pirates to be led by you!” Ian said.

“You don’t want to accept them?” There was a hint of disappointment in the Whitebeard’s eyes.

“It’s not that I don’t want to accept them!” Ian shook his head. “If they really want to join my pirate crew, I’d be more than happy!”

“Then why…” Whitebeard was very puzzled.

Ian shrugged, somewhat helpless. “What I mean is, why are you so pessimistic!? Did you think that I sneaked over during the war just to see you one last time?”

Ace reacted quickly, his eyes instantly lighting up as he asked Ian, “Ian, are you saying… you’re confident!?”

Ace knew Ian had healing abilities, but he didn’t understand the principles and limits of Ian’s healing abilities, so he couldn’t be sure whether Ian could heal Whitebeard’s severe injuries. But now, after hearing Ian’s tone, he immediately caught on.

“Nonsense!” Ian glared at him. “As long as you’re still breathing, I’m confident!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Namur, feeling completely lost, finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

Ian looked up at the Whitebeard and said, “Dad, what if I could heal you, make you as good as new? Would you still want the Whitebeard Pirates to merge into the Dragon Hunters Pirate Crew?”

Upon hearing this, even Whitebeard was dumbfounded.

“I… Ian!? Are you serious!?” Namur and the other ship doctors were suddenly excited, rushing up to surround Ian.

“Hehe!” Ian smirked, looking mischievously at Whitebeard. “So, Oyaji, what do you say? Don’t you want to give the Marines a banging surprise?”

“…” Whitebeard lowered his head and looked at Ian, but he could tell that Ian was indeed confident.

However, as soon as he thought of his earlier words, Whitebeard suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. Damn it, that brat Ian, if he could heal me, why didn’t he say so earlier!?

Is it amusing to watch an old man pondering over his final days!?

So, the Whitebeard suddenly reached out and with a thud, punched Ian on the head!

“Ouch!” Ian, hit on the head, immediately held his head and crouched down, feeling a big bump forming. Unable to hold back, he shouted at the Whitebeard, “Why did you hit me!?”

However, seeing Ian’s expression, Whitebeard inexplicably felt in a great mood and burst into hearty laughter. He reached for the jug of wine on the bedside table, took a gulp.

This action naturally made the ship doctors and nurses extremely anxious.

“Uuhh, forget it, i won’t bother to argue with you… Ace! Namur!” Ian stood up and gestured to Ace and Thatch, “Hold him down!”

“Oh… okay!” The two of them reacted quickly, jumped up, snatched the jug of wine and the naginata from Whitebeard’s hands, and then pulled Whitebeard forcefully, pressing him down on the bed.

“What are you brats doing!?” Whitebeard frowned and shouted.

Ian stood in front of Whitebeard and said, “There’s no time, Oyaji, cooperate a bit! If you want to get better quickly, then stop moving around. Marco and the others are waiting for our support!”

Hearing Ian’s words, Whitebeard also understood. He then snorted coldly and said, “Fine, then let’s see if you brat can really heal me!”

Under the anxious and expectant gazes of everyone, Ian’s hand was placed on the broad chest of Whitebeard, and with a scissor, he cut open the bandages wrapped around him, revealing Whitebeard’s wound.

The wound was slightly to the right of the heart, horizontal, as if it had pierced through the gap in the ribs. Although the ship doctors had sutured it, perhaps because Whitebeard had struggled to get up before, the wound had burst open again.

The blood flowing from the burst wound was not bright red but rather had black granules, looking very eerie.

It was unknown what kind of toxin it was. If this continued, Whitebeard would collapse from it. After all, his wound was originally in the position of his heart, without even a buffer time, the toxin had invaded his whole body. He had managed to hold on until now, which could only be attributed to Whitebeard’s inhuman physical constitution. For an ordinary person, they might have died dozens of hours ago…

Taking a deep breath, Ian placed his hand on Whitebeard’s wound.

“Twin Sacred Return Shield!”

A faint light membrane extended from Ian’s palm, enveloping the entire wound, and then expanded again, covering his whole body.

In addition to healing, it was necessary to help Whitebeard expel the toxins from his body, so Ian could only expand it to his entire body for treatment.

Perhaps it was because the repelling force of the Twin Sacred Return Shield was gradually taking effect, the Whitebeard suddenly felt much more comfortable throughout his body, feeling extremely amazed.

He couldn’t figure out what kind of power Ian possessed, so for a while, he was very curious about Ian’s so-called crypto Fruit power…

As Ian concentrated and continued to output his Nen power to treat Whitebeard, he didn’t notice Whitebeard’s expression. Ace and Namur, on the other hand, nervously dared only to breathe quietly, afraid to disturb Ian.

In fact, Ian had hesitated before deciding whether to treat Whitebeard.

As a transmigrator, he naturally knew that in the original story, Whitebeard died, and his death symbolized the end of an era, which had a specific significance.

However, now that Ian possessed Orihime’s card, gaining extraordinary healing abilities, he had been thinking, did he really have to watch Whitebeard die like this?

Don’t doubt it, if it weren’t for Ian’s arrival, Ace and Namur would never have been able to stop the Whitebeard. His final words were an indication that he was determined to die and intended to join the battle…

If the Whitebeard was not treated and allowed to fight the Marines like this, then needless to say, Whitebeard was really doomed. This war would still end in the Marines’ victory, and the new era’s pattern would also form.

But the problem was, the original story had already changed due to Ian’s intervention. The Summit War did not happen, Ace was not captured, and the current War was displaced at the Edd War Sea. It could be said that everything was already different from his original course.

In this situation, the old era has ended. What significance does a new pattern hold for Ian? The future ahead is already unpredictable!

Leaving other matters aside, Ian doesn’t believe that Teach, that bastard, would dare to appear and try to snatch Whitebeard’s Gura Gura no Mi again! If he dares to show up, the Blackbeard Pirates will immediately be wiped out!

Indeed, if the Whitebeard were to die, Ian would indeed have the opportunity to take over the remaining forces of the Whitebeard Pirates and become a new Yonko. However, after taking over, problems would arise. He would have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of avenging the Whitebeard!

In other words, he would have to lead the Whitebeard Pirates and directly confront the entire Navy. Moreover, at that time, the other two Yonko, Big Mom and Kaido, might also come looking for trouble, testing whether Ian is qualified to stand alongside them as a Yonko…

These are all foreseeable developments in the aftermath.

However, if we reason the other way around, we’ll find that if Whitebeard didn’t die but instead won this war, it would also be hugely beneficial for Ian!

Firstly, Ian would win the friendship of the entire Whitebeard Pirates. This friendship includes tens of thousands of pirates from the 43 pirate crews under Whitebeard’s command.

The very alive Whitebeard, the number one of the Four Emperors, will become Ian’s greatest support. The Whitebeard Pirates and the Dragon Hunter Pirates will become the most steadfast allies! By then, the two pirate crews will support each other, even the Navy won’t dare to touch them! Compared to taking control over the Whitebeard Pirates and directly confronting the Navy’s hundreds of thousands of troops, it’s a completely different scenario.

And if the Whitebeard Pirates win the war, it means the Navy has failed, further damaging the credibility of the Navy and the World Government. Ian’s identity is already affiliated with the Revolutionary Army. Will this help the Revolutionary Army’s future actions?

Even if Ian doesn’t want to be part of the Revolutionary Army and aims for the position of Yonko, he doesn’t necessarily have to inherit it from Whitebeard. He could also set his sights on Big Mom or Kaido. Conversely, Whitebeard might even lend him a hand at that time…

These are all advantageous points Ian can think of.

Since history has already been changed, why stick to the original story to assess the situation? With such a deep connection between the Whitebeard Pirates and himself, would it be worth watching Whitebeard die for such a ridiculous reason?

Therefore, after careful consideration, Ian decided to heal the Whitebeard…