Ian took two steps forward, his foot landing on a rock at the edge of the towering cliff coastline, looking down at the Giant Footballfish below.
It was enormous. Only a small portion of its body floated above the surface, but even that exposed part was already far taller than the high walls at the edge of Wano Country.
His gaze was irresistibly drawn to the lantern on the Giant Footballfish's head. Inside that enormous lantern glowed a soft yet dazzling golden light.
Pure gold was inside.
If he could get his hands on that thing… well, he didn't dare think too far ahead, but living tens of thousands of years would probably be effortless.
After all, in the special arc, Olga had contracted a terminal illness and shouldn't have survived long, yet thanks to the pure gold, she had lived easily for two hundred years without issue.
The ability of pure gold to slow down time was indeed astonishing.
And such an exaggerated amount of pure gold had even been created by a scientist himself.
In this world, miracles of any kind could happen.
"Roar!"
Summoned by Poseidon, the enormous Giant Footballfish grew restless while waiting.
Poseidon had only told it to come and wait, giving no further commands, which left the creature uncertain.
It didn't like the surface; it spent most of its life lurking in the deep sea.
After all, only in the pitch-black depths did the glow of the pure gold it had painstakingly collected become truly visible.
This colossal beast was so massive that it dwarfed even the five-thousand-meter-class Sea Beasts summoned by Shirahoshi in the original story.
Even its roar alone stirred up a fierce wind, whipping Ian's clothes around.
"Quiet."
Ian's eyes narrowed, and in that instant, the Conqueror's Haki erupted.
Conqueror's Haki flared, transforming into tangible black-and-red lightning, crossing the distance in an instant and striking the Giant Footballfish directly.
The giant creature's body trembled violently, convulsing as if electrocuted.
And then, in the next moment, the incomprehensibly huge monster rolled its eyes and fainted, its enormous body floating quietly on the surface, gently swaying with the waves.
"Ohh, what an impressive Conqueror's Haki."
Law spoke with little enthusiasm. "Do you really need me to praise you for that?"
With this guy's strength, pulling off something like that was only natural.
Surely Ian didn't call him here just to show off his Conqueror's Haki, right?
"Follow me."
Ian kicked off the air, propelling himself forward.
Even while walking through the sky, his speed was terrifying—so fast that not even seasoned warriors of the sea could track him with the naked eye.
"Wait for me, Ian!"
Yamato shot up after him, her movements agile and fierce.
Law clicked his tongue, then quickly followed as well.
Before long, Ian landed lightly atop the head of the giant Giant Footballfish.
He looked up. Floating just above him was the creature's massive golden lantern, casting down a soft, shimmering light that bathed him in its glow.
It's inside here.
For countless years, the Giant Footballfish had swallowed pure gold, which was dissolved by its stomach acid and gathered inside this enormous lantern.
"So big!"
Yamato landed beside him, her eyes wide with amazement as she bounced on the fish's head. "It's like an island!"
"What's that?"
Law, ever observant, noticed something strange. He raised his head, staring in surprise at the huge lantern. "Are Giant Footballfish always like this?"
The light coming from it didn't seem ordinary.
More importantly—
"Inside that…"
Law narrowed his eyes. "There's something in there."
Through the golden glow, he could faintly see something massive shimmering within the semi-transparent lantern.
"That's it."
Ian smiled. "Use your Ope Ope no Mi, Law. Bring that thing out."
"You really love ordering people around, don't you?"
Law muttered under his breath.
But he didn't hesitate. Flipping his left hand, a faint, invisible vortex formed in his palm.
"Room."
The translucent sphere instantly expanded, spreading outward in a flash and enveloping the entire head of the Giant Footballfish, including the massive glowing lure atop it.
Considering the sheer size of this Giant Footballfish, to completely enclose its lantern meant that the sphere's diameter exceeded a full kilometer — yet Law's expression remained calm and unshaken, as if it were nothing.
It was clear now that over the past six years, he had grown immensely stronger.
"Well then," Law raised his right hand and snapped his fingers lightly. "Let's begin."
Snap.
A crisp sound echoed.
Boom!
In the very next instant, something enormous came crashing down upon the Giant Footballfish's head.
"Wha—!"
Yamato instinctively raised her arm to shield her eyes as a blinding golden radiance engulfed the three of them.
"What the heck is that!?"
Law's eyes widened. "A mountain of gold?"
What he had pulled from within the Giant Footballfish's massive lantern… was a colossal golden mountain, towering dozens of meters high!
And it wasn't just ordinary gold — this entire golden mass shimmered brilliantly, radiating a dazzling light like the newborn sun itself, illuminating the entire sea and sky.
"Gold! It's all gold!"
Yamato, her eyes finally adjusting to the glow, couldn't contain her excitement and threw her arms around Ian's. "Ian, we're rich!"
"Rich?"
Law snapped out of his daze and couldn't help but chuckle. "You think this is enough to make him rich?"
True, the golden mountain was an overwhelming sight to behold — but was that really enough to make Ian "rich"?
Even back when Ian was just a kid, the wealth he possessed had already surpassed this golden mountain.
And now, as the emperor who ruled over the entire New World, even with the World Government's trade restrictions, the Beasts Pirates' business still thrived across all four seas.
The fortune he commanded was already astronomical.
"Yes, this really is a treasure," Ian said with a smile as he gazed up at the golden mountain. "Law, you have no idea how valuable this actually is."
Fortunately, the Giant Footballfish was unconscious — otherwise, it would have gone mad.
This pure gold had taken it countless years to gather, accumulating little by little over an unimaginable span of time.
And now, Ian had taken all of it in one go.
Seizing its treasure while its owner lay unconscious… wasn't that, in a way, a form of NTR?
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