After securing the promise for the giants to join their side, Ian and co had participated in a party made by Prince Loki in their honor.
Bert, since he was the cook, was interested in how the giants cook their food. As contrary to what one might think, they didn't just roast their meat and eat it. No, they also had their own cooking ways.
The food presented for them was huge in proportions, but most importantly was delicious.
The prince proudly announced that his cooks were the best. Meanwhile, Ian knew two very good chefs who could cook better than this. So he also proudly announced that he had one of the two best cooks in the world on his ship.
This led to Loki wanting Ian to prove it, and Ian not backing down, requested Bert to show his true prowess.
Suffice to say, the chefs lost badly. And the rest enjoyed what was already good food, cooked masterfully.
Even Loki had to admit his loss.
It lasted a whole three days before finally, the crew started moving on their ways.
****
And now Ian and co were sailing on the sea once again.
This time Ian had nothing left to do before he ventures into the last island Laughtale.
He gathered all the allies he could, all the strong powerhouses of the world were mostly on his side now. Shanks, Garp, Sengoku, Kaido…. And it went on and on…
He became as strong as possible in the time he had, and he prepared everything for after he finds the truth. Depending on what it was, he had various scenarios paly in his mind, and he made plans with Dragon and Sengoku. Unarguably the best strategists in the world.
All that was left for him, was to move on and reach this truth. To meet the existence that talked with him way back then, and to figure out the mysterious happenings of this world…
Today, they were one step closer.
****
"Let's go you guys. Today, we will finally achieve what the late pirate king had done. We are the first to do this since his death. Be honored you guys!" Ian loudly announced as he was standing on the deck of the ship.
"Ohhh!" Similarly to him, they were also excited.
"But, big bro, are you sure this is the correct way?" Stella asked for the eleventh time…
Ian gave her a small glare before he sighed.
"I already explained this to you… sigh… alright listen well this time. We already passed Lodestar Island, which is the last known island for the general public. So right now we could only rely on Robin's directions." Ian explained once again as he pointed at Robin who was concentrating with papers surrounding her laid on the ground.
Those papers were prepared by her after she had studied the road Poneglyphs.
She kept double-checking and nodding to herself, while Libell by her side, took her words and steered the ship.
Ian only knew what happened in One-piece until the arc of big mom… As such he had no knowledge about the road Poneglyphs except that when brought together, the location for Laughtale would appear.
And this was what Robin was telling Libell right now.
"Bert, Akemi, Reiju, you take that side. Aokiji, Stella, Don, you take the other side. Elene take the front, and I'll take the back."
"Sure." Aokiji, Stella, and Don replied and hurried along.
"We're on it," Bert replied too and started running to his position along with Akemi, and Reiju.
And Elene gave a nod.
As for why Ian was alert and had the rest preparing too, was… Because, on the route there, various stuff was happening.
Earlier a cyclone had appeared out of nowhere and almost destroyed them apart.
If not for Ian who had made the invisible shield layer surrounding the ship gain a pointed end like a cone, and had it speed up and penetrate right through it, they would have been smashed.
Now the rest were all helping since that cyclone was just the first thing. Now, on one side it was snowing, on one side it was raining hails, on one side storms were raining lightning, and it went like that.
Ian of course could just do everything himself, but then, what was the purpose of getting a crew and friends?
He gave everyone something to do, and they all worked together this time.
****
A few hours later, they had passed all the crazed sea phenomenon to reach a rather calm sea.
This was their destination, as the ship stopped in place.
There was no waves, no storms, and no crazy weather for them to be alert.
The sun shone, giving a warm feeling, while the wind gently blew, carrying with it the scent of the sea…
But there was a problem…
"Where is the island?" Stella was the first to voice out her confusion.
It was clear from everyone's looks, that they had the same question and confusion on their minds.
Ian turned to look at Robin.
She understood his gaze, and once again looked at all the papers she had written with the exact coordinates.
She gave a nod to herself once she was done checking them.
"There's no doubt about it. This is the place." She gave a firm nod.
Ian didn't question her anymore. He trusted her. All the crew trusted her.
So they started to look for any clue around.
****
An hour later.
"Sigh, there's nothing, we already double checked everything. If something is here, then I'm sure we can't find it with how we are now…" Ian sighed as he said.
Stella pouted.
"After all this time, there's actually nothing…" She muttered angrily.
Elene by her side chuckled and consoled her.
"Relax, it's not that there's nothing… it's just maybe it's not time for it… I'm pretty sure that there is something strange about this place..." she said.
Ian nodded too. He also felt something weird about this place, but he couldn't pinpoint it.
Don and Bert by the side also talked.
"Who would have known that someday I'll reach this far. Having started as a lowly pirate. Haha," He chuckled.
Bert nodded his head.
"Well, in my case it's a bounty hunter haha but I understand." Bert laughed too.
Akemi didn't mind this as much, but she was also a bit intrigued. She listened with attention to the others.
Reiju was also similar to her, as she looked around.
Aokiji, the moment he heard Ian say something was wrong along with Elene, started to concentrate hard on the surroundings.
Sadly he couldn't pick up anything.
At this moment, Elene all of a sudden spoke up.
"Did you use your ability on this place?" She was talking about the voice of all things.
Ian gave her a nod.
"Yes, that is why I'm sure this is the correct space. I heard it. It appears there is a requirement to reach Laughtale still." Ian sighed.
Robin at this time raised her head and looked at Ian.
"Maybe it has something to do with the four locations on the road Poneglyphs… I mean they also can't be reached by a log pose, and their location is marked on one of the stones… there must be a reason why…" She said her thoughts.
The rest pondered on this and found it was correct.
Why mark four locations, just to have the cross between the four be Laughtale… indeed, there must be a reason. Otherwise, they would have just directly put the location of Laughtale.
Ian gave a nod.
"Well, then what is the nearest location of the four to us? Let's head out there, and see. There's no use just waiting here." Ian told them.
And they agreed.
"We have to get back to Lodestar Island, that's the only way to be able to go to one of the four islands." Robin from the side mentioned.
Ian gave a nod.
And thus the odyssey continued on sailing, and the search for Laughtale was still on.