"Yes! Master!"
The golden giant of flames, Surtur, let out a thunderous roar.
In an instant, his body expanded once more. Already a colossal giant standing twenty to thirty meters tall, he swelled further in a single breath, reaching a terrifying height of several hundred meters.
His legs sank deep into the magma, and his massive head was now not far from the ceiling of this space.
Surtur was, in essence, Ian's flame avatar. As Ian grew stronger, Surtur's power rose in tandem.
He could contain greater amounts of energy, and he could produce flames on the same level as Ian himself.
Even so, for the current Surtur, maintaining such an enormous form placed a tremendous burden on his strength, and he could not sustain it for long.
To maintain this form over an extended period, Ian would need to continuously supply him with flames.
Or else—
"Ahahahaha! Master! The power is surging up!"
Surtur laughed loudly.
The magma surrounding his body rapidly grew dimmer as its heat was drawn out and absorbed by him.
There was no battlefield more suitable for Surtur than this.
The towering flame giant then bent his body forward, plunging both hands deep into the magma.
The scorching, boiling magma could not hinder him in the slightest; instead, it became his aid.
Boom!
The magma sea, already restless from the giant's movements, suddenly erupted into violent waves.
Beneath the magma, Surtur grasped hold of something enormous and exerted his strength, hauling it upward toward the surface.
"Oh!"
At that moment, Shanks forgot even to blink, staring unmovingly at what lay below.
Was the legendary Ancient Weapon finally about to reveal its true form before his eyes?
The thought alone was thrilling.
"What will it look like?"
Yamato was just as filled with anticipation.
An Ancient Weapon said to possess the power to destroy the world, that had played a decisive role in the battle between Joy Boy and Imu eight hundred years ago—what form would it truly take?
Splash!!
The surface of the magma sea exploded apart as a pitch-black behemoth was forcibly dragged out from the molten depths by Surtur.
Dark-red, scorching magma streamed down its surface, scattering like sparks of starlight across the sky.
Boom!
Surtur carefully placed the black object atop the magma sea.
Moments ago, it had been submerged deep below, yet now it floated upon the surface.
Because it was a ship—a ship even larger than Surtur in his current form.
It was slightly longer than Ian's flagship, the Winged Dragon, with a total length exceeding seven hundred meters.
Its overall design was somewhat similar as well: a massive metal vessel with no masts.
Even the rows of heavy cannons lined across its deck bore an uncanny resemblance.
No wonder.
It was hard to say that the Winged Dragon Ship hadn't drawn inspiration from the ancient kingdom records obtained from the Land of Giants. Having similar design concepts was only natural and hardly something worth making a fuss over.
"So this is… Pluton?"
Shanks stared unblinkingly at the enormous ship below.
Now that Pluton was already in their hands, only Poseidon remained.
Once both ancient weapons were fully under their control, there would be no doubt about it—the time for the final battle against the World Government would arrive.
"This is Pluton."
A faint curve appeared at Ian's lips.
"Want to go down and take a look?"
Shanks tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Spare me. I'm not like you guys—I can't just ignore the heat of magma."
Even with Armament Haki, maintaining it nonstop would be far too uncomfortable.
"Then we'll go down and take a look."
Ian jumped straight off Surtur's shoulder.
Just like how Teacher Kaido possessed dragon-scale defenses even in his humanoid form, Ian, even without using any abilities, had excellent resistance to extreme heat.
So when he landed on Pluton's deck, the scorching temperature failed to affect him in the slightest.
"What a huge ship!"
Yamato, still maintaining her Human-Beast Form, followed closely behind Ian and landed on the deck as well. She looked around in amazement, touching this and that.
For someone who could manipulate ice, this level of heat was nothing to worry about.
"It doesn't look any different from the Winged Dragon Ship."
That was Yamato's final assessment.
"From the outside, that's true."
Ian replied calmly.
The real key lay in the energy system and firepower.
The main cannon of the Winged Dragon Ship was already far from weak. A single shot could wipe out a small city.
Even a full-power strike from a warrior at the level of the Seven Warlords might not reach that level of destruction.
But compared to Pluton's rumored firepower—said to be capable of sinking an entire island with a single shot—the gap was like sky and earth.
However—
Ian's hand slowly traced along one of the massive gun barrels.
This ship must have been built from extraordinary materials. Even after being buried in magma for eight hundred years, it showed almost no signs of damage. Just from that alone, one could imagine how terrifying its durability was.
However, after being left unused for eight centuries, the cannon barrels were now completely clogged with solidified magma. Every crack and seam across the hull was the same. As for whether the interior of the ship had suffered any damage, that was still unknown.
With that thought in mind, Ian walked over to the massive door on the deck that led into the ship's interior. He raised his hand and pushed it open, forcing apart the door that had been wrapped in gradually solidifying magma.
At last, the scene inside Pluton was revealed before his eyes.
The moment he stepped inside, the interior space, which had been pitch-black, suddenly lit up.
Mm.
There was a familiar feeling to it.
"Welcome, successor."
A man's voice suddenly echoed from the depths of the ship.
"I am Joy Boy, the one who left this ship behind. Next, allow me to introduce everything about this ship to you."
"So that you may better control it."
Oh wow, how thoughtful.
And so, the tour of Pluton's interior began.
Shanks waited obediently on Surtur's shoulder for quite some time.
Even though Surtur's body wasn't especially scorching when he wasn't deliberately generating flames, Shanks was still drenched in sweat from head to toe, his breathing growing heavy.
After all, this was a sea of magma.
Fortunately, Ian didn't make him wait for too long. Soon enough, Ian emerged from Pluton's interior together with Yamato. After firmly closing the massive door, the two of them kicked off the air at the same time and leapt back onto Surtur's shoulder.
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