On the way to the next Island

"Just as soon as it came, it went away… That young man never ceases to impress" Garp looked in the direction from where Ian had just disposed of the huge meteor.

The sky was clear now, and even the dust had settled back. There was no sign of the massive disaster that was about to hit them remaining.

Such a massive attack capable of destroying the whole new world and maybe even deal more damage than that, was destroyed just like that. And even the broken parts of the meteor were not spared as they could see Ian's attack follow after them.

From their point of view, they just saw the meteor reach down in an instant, and just when they held their breaths down, a huge lighting golden dragon sprung into existence and clashed with the meteor destroying it, and then splitting into thousands of small dragons that followed after the broken parts, turning the huge meteor into dust.

Garp's gaze was full of admiration and amazement.

'Young Ian is in another league of his own…' Garp thought to himself.

After all, if it was him, he was sure he can't do anything… Perhaps only the old man Whitebeard can do any sort of damage against that, but he was sure he wouldn't be able to shield the world against it as Ian had done.

By his side, Sengoku also gave a nod.

"Indeed" He replied while stroking his beard. His gaze also observed the sky where that massive flaming form was just a minute ago.

His words that he said to Garp earlier might have sounded confident, but no matter how much he trusted young Ian, there would always be that small doubt remaining.

'What if… what if the attack this time was just too much?' Something like this was inevitably going to creep up on their minds. But the large part of their thoughts still went into trusting Ian, after all, he showed them time and time again that he can do the impossible.

Even more so at this time.

After all, this was such a new level of threat, they weren't even sure if someone was capable of stopping that. And they were on the point since even Ian was completely spent this time after stopping it.

Most likely, Im, Who they presumed was responsible for the attack, must have given her all this time to obliterate Ian, and the whole new world with him.

Sengoku released a sigh he was holding due to tension.

"This time, I suddenly find myself thankful that we trusted in Ian at that time and joined on his side…" After all, if someone mike that was against them… he didn't want to finish that thought.

Garp gave him a sidelong look.

But he understood what he was saying. Somehow, he was also thankful indeed…

****

All across the new world, there was not one person who didn't see the happenings of this time.

And each reacted in their own way. Some had panicked at first but then relaxed after the huge dragon saved them.

Some became curious who was responsible for helping them… but those strong ones, all without a doubt knew it was Ian.

But among all the various reactions… Only one crew deserved to take the crown, and that was the red-head pirates.

Those guys, at the behest of their captain, had started to party while the meteor was still coming down.

Their captain trusted Ian and they trusted their captain, and since he said to party and wait for the fireworks, they did as he said, and what a firework play had come.

They were glad they listened to their captain, Shanks.

****

Back with Ian and co.

Ian stirred awake.

'Where am I?'

His eyes opened to find that he was in someplace dark. Taking a few seconds to look around, it turned out this was his room on the ship. Turning to the small window on the side, he noticed that the sky had begun to set.

'It's already evening…'

He blinked his eyes before he picked his body to sit upright.

By his side, there was a glass of water, to which he helped himself to since he was feeling a bit thirsty.

He didn't know how he ended up here on the ship, but it was easy to guess.

Once he had fallen asleep, the crew must have decided to wrap things up and got back to the ship.

Considering he could feel the ship was moving, they must have decided on a destination.

He also knew that they wouldn't just do that on their own normaly, so he must have slept for a while. Also evidenced by the fact the sun was setting, when previously it was still morning.

He got up from the bed before he started to move his body around.

Sounds of bones cracking could be heard as Ian released a satisfied sigh.

"That was good… Well, let's go see what the rest are up to…" Ian muttered before he started to head outside the room.

****

Just like Ian had thought, the crew had waited for a while after he had fallen unconscious before Elene suggested they take him back to the ship. They couldn't take the risks with him unconscious. After all, if another similar attack came, they were done for, so they couldn't stay in the same place, thus they decided to do as Elene said.

Once on the ship, they decided to wait for Ian to wake up, which due to Ian's regeneration they thought was going to be pretty soon.

Meanwhile, they ate their food, and waited, each doing their own thing. Until three hours had passed, and Elene assembled them again.

They discussed if they should set sail or spend the night there.

Then it was decided to set sail as discussed with Ian before. Towards the closest of the four islands.

His was what had happened in the meantime while Ian was unconscious.

And now when the day was almost over, Ian finally woke up.

****

When Ian reached the deck, he found only a few were there.

First was Aokijie and Don, and then there was Bert.

All of the guys were gathered there. In their hands, they were holding bottles of drinks and enjoying their time.

Bert seeing Ian, threw something at him.

"Cap, you're up. Here drink something." Bert said with a smile.

Ian grabbed the beer bottle. He gave a nod before he proceeded to empty the bottle.

"Sigh. That was good." He muttered before he moved closer to the rest.

"Anything happen while I was out?" He asked them.

Don shook his head.

"Nothing much, we had already decided which island to go to before, so once we saw you would take a while to wake up we decided to set sail." He reported to Ian.

Ian gave a nod.

"That was a good decision. No need to waste time." Ian praised them. In fact, he encouraged such thoughts, and even if he didn't discuss with them where to go, he wouldn't mind if they did something like this on their own.

Aokijie passed Ian another beer before he spoke.

"Captain… That attack… do you know what/who was responsible for it? Could it be that Im?" He hesitantly asked him.

The rest perked their ears to listen well.

They were having some trouble believing an attack of that magnitude was possible at all. Alas, they had seen it with their own eyes.

But their guess that it was Im was not shared by Ian.

"I don't believe that it was Im. I don't have any proof of this, but I have this hunch that she isn't capable of that… My guess is that this is someone who is behind her in the shadows… Someone much stronger…" Ian's words brought silence into the area. He didn't have any concrete proof of this, except the tentacles back in Im's throne room, and now the meteor who he knew Im can't do on her own since he had felt her strength before.

Ian continued, however.

"But it doesn't matter… they will fail all the same!!" Ian said with resolution.

His words managed to bring smiles to their faces.

This was their caption. Someone who wouldn't cower even in the face of such an attack. And since they were his crewmates, they too should man up.

"For now, let's visit the first island and focus on what's important," Ian said as he looked into the setting sun in the distance that had almost completely vanished.

While the odyssey continued on sailing.