One Piece: Impel Down's Guard - Chapter 1
A pure white shirt, a beige coat.
A wide-brimmed hat on his head, a crescent blade at his waist.
The young man in the mirror wore a uniform, appearing around 20 years old. He was tall, strong, and vigorous, full of youthful energy, though his eyes showed a hint of emptiness and confusion.
He bent his arm slightly, clenched his fist, and his biceps swelled to almost burst his shirt. The overwhelming sense of strength, never felt before, made Figo even more at a loss for words.
He had become younger and stronger, and even his hairline seemed healthier than before.
Because he had traveled through time.
Figo grew up reading web novels and often fantasized about such things. But when it actually happened, he couldn’t accept it immediately. In the half-hour after crossing over, Figo first thought he was dreaming, then nervously familiarized himself with his new environment once he confirmed it was real. It was only now that he thought to look in the mirror.
“This body is a real bargain…”
He smiled in self-consolation at the mirror, then stepped back and sat on the wooden bed, continuing to sort through his predecessor’s memories.
His full name was Gaston Figo.
Yesterday, he was a lieutenant in the Marine Headquarters. Now, he had become a jailor in the underwater great prison Impel Down, specifically in his jailor’s dormitory.
Impel Down, Marine Headquarters—these iconic names made it clear he was in the world of One Piece!
“Isn’t it supposed to be Gast D. Figo?”
This didn’t quite fit the usual rules of time travel.
Figo had watched the anime but stopped around the Doflamingo arc due to the dragging plot. However, he had a general understanding of the later storylines through fan content. He had the advantage of a time traveler familiar with the plot.
But the memories told him it wasn’t that simple.
In his memories, the current Marine Admiral was not Sengoku, he had never heard of the three Admirals, and even Marine Hero Garp was nowhere to be found. The world was in chaos, with no kings and no legends of great treasures!
What year was the Sea Circle Calendar 1414?
Who remembers the years if they are serious about watching anime?
Figo couldn’t confirm it, but he knew it was probably a long time before the story began, far enough that he might not live to see Luffy’s birth—time travel was fine, but why did he end up as an ancestor?
What kind of situation is this?
“Chief! Chief Figo! Why haven’t you gone to breakfast? Are you awake? The first batch of prisoners for Level 1 is coming, we need to go to the Baptism Room!”
Just as his thoughts started to drift, a shout from outside the dormitory brought Figo back to reality. He paused for two seconds, then replied in a deep voice, “I’ll be there soon.”
“Yes, Chief!”
More recent memories resurfaced. Figo realized he was not just a jailor but also not a simple one. This prison, known in later times as the impregnable Impel Down, had only been completed half a month ago. Figo was one of the first jailors to respond to the recruitment for Impel Down!
With his previous rank of lieutenant, Figo had received a minor official position—chief, managing a small squad of twenty, responsible for most of the work on the first level of Impel Down.
The term was one year, after which he could choose to transfer. This made Figo even more troubled.
Jailor… it’s not much different from being in jail, is it?
What a lousy place this is!
Overthinking was useless. Figo straightened his clothes, left the dormitory, and followed his memories to the entrance of Impel Down, recalling what the Baptism Room was.
His expression turned somewhat heavy.
The so-called baptism involved stripping the new pirate prisoners naked and dunking them into a pot of boiling water to kill all the bacteria and toxins on their bodies!
In the world of pirates, water boils at 100 degrees too! It’s called baptism, but it might as well be written as torture!
He quickly witnessed this torture.
When a pirate was stripped naked and suspended above boiling water, realizing what was about to happen, he let out a terrified scream,
which turned into a very brief scream as he plunged into the water with a splash. “Ah—”
Followed by the sounds of struggling and gulping water.
The struggling sounds gradually weakened.
When they completely stopped, the pirate was pulled out of the water.
The previously ferocious-looking pirate now resembled a cooked shrimp, with blisters of varying sizes all over his skin, large patches of hair falling off, and his esophagus severely burned from drinking boiling water. His mouth hung open, saliva dribbling uncontrollably, his eyes rolled back, and his limbs twitched—a terrifying sight!
Two jailors then found a set of fitting prison clothes for the unconscious pirate, dressing him roughly. Any slight movement of his scalded skin would peel it back, exposing raw flesh, mixed with the smell of cooked meat and rot, making one’s stomach churn!
The intense pain caused the unconscious pirate’s body to convulse continuously. The gruesome torture also made the other pirates awaiting baptism tremble in fear.
However, the chains binding their limbs, days of starvation, and the jailors’ long knives only elicited meaningless curses and pleas for mercy from them.
This resulted in beatings.
As a chief, Figo signaled two jailors to act with his eyes to cover up his heart racing at nearly 200 beats per minute.
He was neither a medical student nor a special forces soldier—he had never seen such a scene before!
Fortunately, the peculiar art style of the One Piece world helped Figo overcome some of his psychological discomfort.
Look at the second guy being hoisted up.
He must be over three meters tall, with a waist thicker than a water barrel, weighing at least 300 kilograms. His facial features were extremely disproportionate, with a mouth almost reaching his ears, occupying half his face, and two sharp fangs sticking out from his upper lip.
Can you call this a human?
The jailors looked normal enough, but the pirates seemed to be of rare species, each more bizarre than the last, not resembling humans at all?
‘This isn’t a human, this isn’t a human…’
‘Wild boar spirit, wild boar spirit…’
Figo kept telling himself this, feeling much better. When the wild boar spirit was pulled out after a while of boiling, the smell of meat made Figo feel a bit hungry.
Probably because he hadn’t had breakfast…
Ugh!
Figo’s face turned slightly green, and he quickly said, “Those who aren’t operating the winch, don’t just stand here. Send the baptized pirates away immediately.” After saying this, Figo picked up the first pirate who had cooled down and left the Baptism Room, quickly heading to the prison area.
The jailors were stunned for two seconds before responding, “Yes, Chief!”
They were a bit puzzled—why did the chief go himself after giving the orders?
Figo, of course, feared losing control in public.
Leaving the Baptism Room, he took several deep breaths to suppress his nausea. Fortunately, his current body was very strong.
In his memories, baptism was just the welcome gift for the prisoners. There would be even more bloody punishments for them periodically afterward. Impel Down truly was a hellish place! He had to leave, had to find a way to transfer!
But… where could he go?
He silently glanced at the pirate whose face was scalded out of shape. This was also a sturdy guy weighing over 200 pounds, but Figo, now, lifted him with one hand without much effort.
Now, he was definitely as strong as Hercules. In ancient times, he would be like Xiang Yu, but he was just a small fry in the world of pirates. Moreover, the unreasonable weather changes, frequent sea disasters, brutal and murderous pirates, and strange diseases…
Where is the safe zone in this world?
The residential area of Marine Headquarters?
Figo arrived at Cell No. 1, opened the door, threw the pirate inside, and locked it.
Turning back, two jailors were carrying the wild boar spirit dressed in prison clothes towards him.
“Chief!” they greeted from a distance.
Figo, distracted by future plans, absentmindedly nodded to them as a greeting. Suddenly, a strange dizziness hit him.
A green-skinned, nameless book seemed to emerge from the depths of his mind, pages flipping, opening a blank page, and imprinting the image of the prisoner he had just locked up, followed by text.
[Prisoner: Bud]
[Level: N7]
[Status: Imprisoned]
[Crime Index: 12]
[Capture Participation: 5%]
[Gain: Physique +4?98 (Level 1 Ordinary)]
Thump thump thump—
This time, Figo’s heart rate instantly exceeded 200 beats per minute!
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