His gaze fell on Robin, intense and predatory.
Ivan had always been thick-skinned, and with Robin, he made no attempt to hide his intentions.
At his words, a faint blush instantly spread across Robin's cheeks.
She lowered her eyes slightly, her long, fair legs unconsciously rubbing together as she chided:
"Stop talking nonsense."
Seeing this, the smile on Ivan's lips deepened:
"I'm serious.
Lately, you seem to have grown a bit distant from Nami and Tashigi.
I hope you can be as close as sisters, with no barriers between you. That way, things can be more harmonious among us all."
His gaze was sincere, without a hint of mockery.
After all, Nami, Tashigi, and Robin were all dear to him, and he naturally wished for them to get along well.
Robin looked up, shooting him a glare before sighing helplessly:
"As if I don't know what you're thinking."
Even so, she didn't argue further.
After a few more moments of playful banter, the ambiguous atmosphere gradually faded, and the conversation slowly shifted to more serious matters.
Ivan set down his water glass, his tone low as he inquired:
"How has the situation on the seas been lately? Any unusual movements?"
Mentioning the situation, Robin shed her earlier languid expression and replied in a steady voice:
"The situation is more tense than before.
The Whitebeard Pirates have been increasingly active in the New World, making no attempt to conceal their intentions. They are gathering forces on a large scale and could attack Marineford at any moment.
It's not just the Whitebeard Pirates; the other three Four Emperors are also restless.
Kaido is also mobilizing his forces, gathering a large number of his subordinates. It seems he intends to take advantage of the situation and wage war against the Whitebeard Pirates at this time.
You know Kaido's dream—he has spent his entire life pursuing war, longing to ignite a great conflict that engulfs the entire sea. And now, this is the perfect opportunity he has always dreamed of.
Then there's Shanks—he has also made his move.
The Red Hair Pirates have anchored near Kaido's territory, adopting a defensive stance.
Clearly, he intends to help Whitebeard by intercepting Kaido and preventing him from stirring up trouble.
As for Big Mom, she has been relatively quiet.
There hasn't been much movement on her end, but Big Mom has always been unpredictable. No one knows what she might do next, so we can't let our guard down."
After listening, Ivan slowly nodded, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest of the sofa as he fell into thought.
A moment later, Ivan looked up and asked again:
"By the way, has anything happened recently at Sabaody Archipelago?"
At the mention of Sabaody Archipelago, Robin's expression suddenly turned peculiar.
She raised an eyebrow, a playful tone in her voice:
"There was one major incident.
That kid Straw Hat Luffy seems to have inherited a bit of your boldness. He actually publicly injured a Celestial Dragon who was out shopping on Sabaody Archipelago."
"Oh?" Ivan chuckled upon hearing this. "And what happened after that? Did the Marines take any action?"
"Of course they did," Robin nodded.
"After the Celestial Dragon was injured, Marine Headquarters immediately dispatched Admiral Kizaru to suppress the situation."
After Kizaru arrived, he did indeed capture a large number of pirates active on Sabaody Archipelago, intimidating many people.
However, interestingly, whether by coincidence or due to other hidden circumstances, none of those Supernovas were caught—they all managed to escape smoothly."
After listening, the smile on Ivan's face grew even broader.
He gently shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of understanding:
"That's exactly Kizaru's style.
He's an old hand at slacking off, always adhering to the principle of 'less trouble is better than more.'
To put it bluntly, if the pay is right, he can take down even a Four Emperor.
If the pay isn't enough, even a pirate with a bounty of 500 million berries can 'accidentally' slip away.
Those Supernovas managing to escape smoothly were most likely due to Kizaru intentionally going easy on them."
After a pause, Ivan's expression turned serious again as he asked in a low voice:
"By the way, how are things over at Impel Down?"
Robin smiled, her tone relaxed:
"Impel Down has been quite quiet, with no unusual movements.
But I'm quite curious—why are you so focused on Impel Down?
Do you think the Whitebeard Pirates would recklessly attempt a prison break?"
In her view, the Whitebeard Pirates' target should be Marineford.
After all, Ace might not necessarily be imprisoned in Impel Down.
Moreover, attacking Impel Down is no less difficult than attacking Marineford, so Whitebeard likely wouldn't take such a risk lightly.
If she were Whitebeard, she would openly launch an assault during the execution to save Ace.
"Who knows?" Ivan shrugged lightly.
Ivan truly didn't know.
After all, due to his influence, the Seven Warlords of the Sea had arrived at Marineford ahead of schedule.
Straw Hat Luffy would definitely miss his encounter with Hancock.
Without the help of Boa Hancock, it probably wouldn't be easy for him to enter Impel Down.
However, even if Luffy couldn't enter Impel Down, Ivan absolutely had to get in.
This wasn't just because he needed to purge the evil imprisoned within Impel Down—more importantly, Impel Down held a large number of Devil Fruit users.
Those users could provide him with numerous lottery opportunities.
This was key to enhancing his strength and the foundation for securing his footing in the future.
But before that, he had something even more important to do.
Adapt to his current power.
After all, not long ago, after his intense battle with Mihawk, he had gained significant recognition, and his strength had improved considerably.
[You perfectly displayed the demeanor of a powerhouse, [Uchiha Madara] recognition +20%]
[Template: Uchiha Madara (Recognition: 40%)]
[Congratulations, you have successfully unlocked the skill: Tengai Shinsei!]
[Tengai Shinsei: Consumes a large amount of stamina to forcibly lock onto a giant meteor in outer space, applying ultra-long-range gravitational force to alter its trajectory and cause it to crash toward the ground at high speed.]
After obtaining Tengai Shinsei, Ivan's understanding of gravity grew even stronger. From now on, when he met Fujitora, he could confidently say, "In terms of gravity, you are the challenger!"
The Gravity Fruit is merely an inferior version of the Gravitational Fruit!
Aside from the Uchiha Madara template, the Ryomen Sukuna template also saw improvements.
[As a powerhouse, you fought Mihawk and successfully defeated him, becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman, [Ryomen Sukuna] recognition +54%]
[Template: Ryomen Sukuna (Recognition: 80%)]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the skill: Reverse Cursed Technique!]
[Congratulations, you have acquired the skill: Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine!]
[Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine: After expanding the domain, by using the binding of allowing people to freely enter and exit the domain, a larger guaranteed-hit attack range effect is obtained. All living and non-living things within the domain will be slashed to pieces.]
The increase in Ryomen Sukuna's approval rating was beyond Ivan's expectations—it had actually risen by 54%!
What delighted him even more was that he had activated Domain Expansion!
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