A call for help

I will be releasing all chapters left shortly after.

In total there are 22 chapters but don't fret, one of those chapters is actually 12 thousand words long, so basically, almost twelve chapters on its own.

I would like to apologize in advance if it seems rushed, but I have been quite busy, quite stressed, and I just couldn't let the story without finishing it, so I did the next best thing and did it somehow. enjoy reading, and thank you for your support until now.

**********

It has been a few days since Ian and co had started to sail towards the island of the giants.

Their journey was smooth and efficient. Since Libell was a capable little girl, she could speed up their journey, making them cut on the time needed to reach it.

And just when they were close to reaching the island of Elbaf, something unexpected happened.

Ian's den-den mushi started to ring all of a sudden.

This was not a usual thing. After all, no one calls just for a chat except maybe the old man, but he only does that once in a while, and he had called just the day before. So this meant some new trouble for Ian…

Somehow Ian didn't want to reply… as if something bothersome was coming his way.

Ian right now was sitting cross-legged on the ship's figurehead with Libell sitting on his lap and eating some sweets.

Ian answered the call after a while of just letting it ring.

"Old man Garp. It's been a while." He said.

He recognized the shape the snail took in a second.

"You brat, why didn't you visit us all this while, huh? And why the hell didn't you reply faster? You must have thought about not answering right? Right?" Garp started on one of his usual tantrums.

Ian smiled.

"You know I'm busy, but you are right, I should take some time to visit later. Maybe we can spar a bit too…" Ian said. He ignored the rest easily.

Garp's eyes on the other side lit up. He forgot about the rest himself.

"You said it. You can't back out of this later!" He hurriedly said lest Ian changes his words. A fight with Ian was something to look out for. Even for someone like him.

Ian laughed.

"Haha, don't worry, I can keep my promises just fine."

"Now tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Ian then got serious and asked.

Garp sighed.

"You know that thing I told you about Kizaru?" Garp started.

"Hm." Ian gave a reply.

Garp had once called Ian in the past after Kizaru had gotten his consciousness back…

The reason why Garp called him was due to what Kizaru had told him. He had apologized stating that he would normally not do anything like that. Meaning he wouldn't be hasty and attack Ian on his own.

He expressed his doubts that the illusion elder was responsible for that, as he somewhat must have awoken during the fight and manipulated him.

As much as Ian was angry at him, he was a rational person. So this possibility couldn't be just dismissed like that.

Garp told him to meet the man, and judge for himself.

And Ian agreed. If he was lying then it would show. Ian left it at that.

If he wasn't lying though, then Ian would let the bygones be bygones, and welcome a new ally to their side.

After all, he was a formidable person to join their side…

But the opportunity didn't present itself for them to meet just yet.

"Well, the idiot had agreed to a plan made by Akainu to fight against Im. They want to make the marines independent…" Garp said heavily.

"Sigh. Even though I warned him, he must have thought that she can't fight all admirals and fleet admiral at the same time…" Garp added. The idiots didn't take his word for her being able to beat them with a single word uttered…

It was Ian's turn to sigh this time.

'Why must people act stupid all the time?' To be honest he knew where this was going.

Garp definitely wanted him to rescue them.

After all, he is still attached to the marines. And the only reason he left is due to Im.

However, he was not willing to test Im once again and hope to go by unnoticed once more.

"When did this happen?" Ian asked.

Garp was quick to answer.

"Issho called me. He told me about this stupid plan, but he was forced to do this, as such he could only ask for some help. I just finished the call, so the idiots must be doing this right now as we speak." Garp said.

"So what do you want me to do? You know the difficulties of going there…" Ian muttered tiredly.

He can't be expected to do this every time someone was in danger.

He already did this once for Dragon. And now it was Garp.

"I'm sorry to ask this young Ian…" Garp said weakly. He knew he was asking too much from Ian…

But he also thought about those idiots. Except of course, Akainu…

He had taught them from a young age, and while his favourite one was already in Ian's crew, it didn't mean he wanted the rest to die.

Plus they were great allies to have.

"If we save them, we would have great allies on our side." That was all Garp added. And the reason he said we, is that he was willing to join Ian on this task.

A short nod from Sengoku who was nearby reading a book, let him know that he was also joining.

But Ian understood.

Once they fight her, they would naturally understand things. As such, they would have no choice but to join Ian and co to fight against Im and her armies.

Ian sighed. Although that was good, Ian didn't think it was enough for him to risk everything like that…

But…

Garp was someone he liked. He will do this favour for him this time. This was the most important reason why he would do that.

"Alright. I understand. But I'm doing this on my own. Don't bother arguing, it would be easier on my own." Ian said as a finality.

Garp was a smart man so once he thought about it for a bit, he ended up agreeing.

"My apologies, young Ian…" He muttered with a tone of sadness. He knew this was too much to ask…

"It's fine, it's fine… now let me see about this bunch of idiots. I'll call once I'm done…" Ian then cut the call.

"Sigh." He had to get ready now.

He put Libell on the side.

"I'll be back in a while." He patted her head. And she gave a nod while eating her sweets.

He then telepathically told Elene and Robin what he was doing, so as to not leave them in the dark before he vanished from the ship.

Otherwise, they would try to stop him at all costs.

He knew that by doing this, he won't be getting 'Any of that' for a while but he had made his mind…

'The things I do for my friends…'

****

On an island in the new world, Ian's form appeared.

As soon as he did so, his aura intensified all of a sudden and he entered into his Raijin form.

If he was going to do this, he was not going to play around. Especially with his life.

He was going in strong, as strong as possible. And he won't stay and fight. This was a rescue operation.

Get in, get out.

He kept chanting that line in his head.

For some reason, he just had a bad feeling about this. Like something bad was about to happen.

But he did need their help, after all, they would be bringing a lot of manpower with them. Essentially they were the whole commanding body behind the marines.

And Ian would never say no to getting more allies.

Taking a deep breath, Ian once again vanished.

The destination being Marijois.