As he spoke, he led the others toward the outside. But after only walking a few steps, he seemed to think of something, stopped, and turned around.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot."
Looking once again at Ian and others in front of him, Chief Martin revealed a happy smile.
"Welcome home!"
As these words fell, Ian and the others were stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting Chief Martin to suddenly say this.
But soon, everyone came back to their senses. After exchanging glances, they all looked at Chief Martin together and said with smiles.
"We're back!"
…
The evening banquet was extremely lively. All the local residents of the island came, and even the winery stopped production to welcome everyone back together.
Barbecue, seafood, fine wine... All kinds of food and drinks were available. Everyone was cheering and enjoying this rare banquet.
According to Chief Martin, ever since they left, the Sibia River Archipelago had not held a banquet again. Everyone always felt that something was missing.
Therefore, this banquet was also the first one in the past two years.
Unfortunately, Zephyr and Garp were not here. Otherwise, it would definitely have been even more lively.
Because of this, Chief Martin also said that when Zephyr and Garp returned next time, they must hold an even grander welcome banquet.
During the banquet, everyone gathered around and toasted Ian and the others, cup after cup, making it impossible for Ian to muddle through like he had done the previous few times.
Everyone seemed to know Ian's little tricks, staring at him closely and not letting him leave. With no other choice, Ian could only drink obediently.
And while drinking, everyone asked Ian about the stories of their journey.
Although everyone already knew that Ian was very powerful now and that no one in the West Blue dared to provoke him, they were still extremely curious about Ian's experiences.
Ian did not dampen the mood and simply talked about a few insignificant things, such as rescuing Instructor Zephyr, splitting an emperor of the sea with an axe, rescuing companions at the Sabaody Archipelago... as for stories related to Marine Headquarters, worried that these people might overthink things, Ian skipped whatever he could.
Even so, these exciting and thrilling adventure stories still made everyone let out gasps of amazement, shouting that Ian was definitely the number one warrior of the sea.
Hearing this, Ian felt helpless. The number one warrior of the sea?
Right now, he was probably already ranked as the number one criminal on the World Government's wanted list.
Of course, Ian did not mention any of those worrying matters. Since he had already decided to enjoy the banquet, he let go completely and immersed himself in it.
In the end, this lively and jubilant banquet lasted until dawn, only ending after everyone had drunk themselves unconscious.
And Ian finally managed to take his wife... home.
As for the children, the two sleeping children were handed over to Kuma to take care of. As a divine doctor daddy, Kuma... Surely taking care of three children would be effortless for him.
Just like that, the day passed.
It was not until noon the next day, when bathed in sunlight, that Ian withdrew his right hand that had been holding his waist and regained his vigor.
However… Ian looked at Chief Martin, who had arrived at some point, and greeted him: "Good morning, Chief Martin!"
"Is this still morning? Your two kids woke up earlier than you, a grown man."
Chief Martin glanced at Ian helplessly, then seemed to recall something.
A smile immediately appeared at the corner of his mouth as he shook his head. "After so many years, you're still the same. You always get up at about this time."
As he spoke, he looked at Ian with a strange expression. "Looks like you're still full of energy! Why do you only have two kids?"
Ian: "..."
Unexpectedly, after coming back, he was still being urged by Chief Martin to have more children.
Ian smiled helplessly, but did not say much. He directly sat down on the stone bench that had always been placed in the courtyard. "What about you? Don't you need to be busy at this time?"
"I've already stepped down."
Chief Martin sighed with emotion. "After you left, although there were fewer matters, with that girl, Robin, gone, everyone didn't know what to do. Everything was handled in a mess. Later, after everything stabilized, I was already quite old, so I stepped down from the position."
As he spoke, he winked mischievously and said with a grin: "I only kept the position of one of the five permanent village chiefs!"
"The five permanent village chiefs..."
Hearing this familiar title, Ian did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Back then, this was set up to make it convenient for Chief Martin to manage the other villages and to ensure Sibia Village's right to speak.
Later, it went unexpectedly smoothly, and everyone was very willing to accept the arrangements from Sibia Village, so this thing became rather useless.
He did not expect that it still existed even now!
Seeing Ian's expression, Chief Martin laughed heartily. At his age, he could not help but always recall the past events. The familiar feeling and pleasant mood made him laugh until tears almost fell.
"This is really nice. I never expected to see you return again."
Chief Martin wiped the corners of his eyes and said with emotion as he looked at Ian. "I thought that I might not be able to see you come back until the day I die. Looks like my luck as a permanent village chief is pretty good!"
As he spoke, seemingly noticing that Ian wanted to say something, he raised his hand and waved it. "No need to say it. I know. You're very busy, and not coming back was also for the good of the Sibia River Archipelago."
Chief Martin smiled and shook his head, then paused for a moment. His gaze once again fell on Ian. "Are you leaving?"
Ian: "...?!"
Ian was momentarily surprised, but still nodded.
"Yes."
"Not staying a few more days?"
"There are still important matters to deal with next. Also, the sea may become very chaotic soon, so you should be careful as well."
"Is that so? I'll have everyone pay attention."