One Piece: Impel Down's Guard - Chapter 25
The Navy headquarters is surrounded by the sea, making it easy for Figo to find a place to enter the water without attracting attention. Having guarded Impel Down for eight years, he was familiar with the characteristics of surveillance Den Den Mushi.
Once in the water, he followed the directional arrow.
Over the past eight years, Impel Down had intermittently imprisoned around a dozen Fish-Men since the initial four. None were particularly strong, but they had helped increase Figo’s Fish-Man strength to 655 points. Still, he was only at the level of a second-grade Fish-Man child, far from becoming a Fish-Man youth. However, his swimming speed far surpassed that of Fish-Man children.
His robust physique allowed his arms to move like propellers, turning him into a speedboat. In less than five minutes, he left the lights of the Navy headquarters behind, getting closer and closer to his destination.
…
On the other side, on the windless route from the Sabaody Archipelago to Mary Geoise, a luxuriously decorated ship was brightly lit. Onboard, the Celestial Dragon Cassiria Saint was in a foul mood.
In his nearly sixty years of life, he had never been as humiliated or offended as today. Those filthy pirates had dared to attack him, nearly injuring his noble body. Even the bubble hood he wore on his head had been damaged, forcing him to breathe the same dirty air as commoners, making him feel nauseous ever since, unable to eat dinner.
Moreover, half of his beloved slaves, whom he had accumulated over decades, had been killed or injured. Even the slaves he used to rest his feet and backside were dead. The one currently under him kept trembling, making him uncomfortable.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Cassiria drew his ornate sword and slashed at the slave. A bloody wound appeared, and the slave trembled even more but dared not scream, nor did he dare to let Cassiria Saint fall.
That would mean certain death.
Unlike him, a muffled scream of pain came from the other side of the cabin.
Cassiria’s eyes narrowed. He threw away the bloody sword and picked up a nearby firearm, striding over.
In a private cell on the ship, used to punish disobedient slaves, a muscular Fish-Man slave was hanging by chains, being whipped by another slave, covered in wounds.
“You filthy Fish-Man! How dare you make a sound?!” Cassiria shouted as he approached. The slave whipping the Fish-Man stepped back, and Cassiria aimed the firearm at the Fish-Man’s body.
The Fish-Man, extremely weak, mumbled, “Cassiria Saint, my brother…”
Bang!
The firearm roared, and a bloody hole appeared in the Fish-Man’s arm.
Losing his breath, the Fish-Man fainted, only to be painfully awakened by subsequent shots.
“Useless! You were knocked out by those filthy pirates in an instant, and you dare to ask the great Creator for anything?!”
“I… blocked… saved…”
Indeed, if not for the Fish-Man, today’s attack might have done more than just break his bubble hood. This only made Cassiria Saint angrier. With a twisted expression, he aimed the firearm at the Fish-Man’s head.
At that moment, a dull thud sounded behind him.
“Hmm?” Cassiria turned to see a strong, wet figure, shirt clinging to his body. He looked up in confusion.
“Who are you?” Despite looking up, his face was full of arrogance. Cassiria snorted, pointing the gun at Figo, “I don’t remember having a slave like you! Get lost!”
Bang!
The firearm spat fire!
The bullet struck Figo but was deflected with a snap.
“Hmm?!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Snap!
Amidst four deflected bullets, Figo’s large hand swung, shattering the glass hood on Cassiria’s head and striking his face! The pig-like fat face twisted, teeth and blood flying, his clumsy body flipping through the air, crashing down in a high-difficulty rotation!
Cassiria Saint writhed on the deck with a miserable scream, trembling as he pointed at Figo, “You lowly mortal…”
Crack—Figo broke his hand!
“Ah!!”
His agonizing scream echoed through the ship, but no one came to check. All the slaves onboard had silently fallen into unconsciousness!
Cassiria’s body twitched, finally fainting, leaving only the chained Fish-Man awake. Initially dazed, the Fish-Man’s awareness sharpened as he watched Figo, “You… you are… from Impel Down…”
“Fish-Man Agar.” Figo hadn’t expected the defenses on the Celestial Dragon’s ship to be so weak or to encounter him here.
The first Fish-Man captured and taken to Impel Down, the one who had helped activate his Fish-Man strength! Taken from Impel Down, he hadn’t been executed but made into a Celestial Dragon’s slave?
‘Damn Celestial Dragons, damn Celestial Dragons took my brother as a slave for no reason!’ Figo remembered Agar’s angry shouts, looked at the slave mark on him, and went outside to find a key on a nearby slave, releasing Agar from the chains.
The four-limbed Fish-Man slumped to the ground, still shocked as he looked at Figo, “Why… how did you…”
Figo didn’t explain, instead lifting Cassiria Saint and chaining him up.
The prison archives appeared in his mind.
Prisoner: Abdul Cassiria
Level: N2
Status: Captured
Crime Index: 2699
Capture Participation: 100%
Reward: Swordsmanship +5398 ? 15284 (Level 4 Sword Master)
At first glance, Figo thought he had misread.
After double-checking, he confirmed it.
What could he have done to have a crime index more than twenty times higher than that of the Heart-Controlling Demon, a pure evil doer?!
He slowly turned, looking toward Mary Geoise.
So, that’s the greatest treasure for me? A treasure bigger than Impel Down, home to a bunch of ‘Emperors of the Sea’ who are powerless to resist!
Unfortunately, this treasure is extremely difficult to obtain…
Lying on the ground, the Fish-Man finally confirmed this wasn’t a dream. With a pleading look, he said, “My brothers… my brothers…”
“You became his slave for the sake of your brothers, wanting me to help you find out their situation?” Figo asked.
The Fish-Man nodded with difficulty.
“Don’t ask. They’re all dead.”
From the moment he saw Agar, Figo had quickly searched the prison archives, finding the Fish-Men Papas and the three Fish-Men captured during the Impel Down raid.
All were marked ‘Deceased’!
Agar’s fish eyes lost their light instantly. He had long suspected this outcome but had refused to believe it.
Figo picked up a nearby whip.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
“Ah!”
Cassiria Saint woke with a scream, then fainted again from the pain. Figo didn’t bother with him, giving no chance for pleas or threats, knowing the arrogant Celestial Dragon would only issue threats.
Having spent eight years in Impel Down, Figo was adept with a whip. He knew the precise force and angle needed for each physique, injury, and tolerance.
It was like interrogating the villains of Impel Down.
Five minutes, ten minutes.
The Celestial Dragon repeatedly woke and fainted from the pain, his body gradually covered in welts, snot, tears, and other filth flowing freely!
Until he was whipped to death!
This might have been too lenient, but Figo didn’t want to engage in more brutal torture or linger too long, risking complications.
Gerald’s character event was completed.
Figo threw the whip aside, hesitating as he looked at Agar.
During the ten minutes of rest, Agar seemed to regain some strength. Though his face was ashen, his speech became coherent, perhaps a sign of a final surge of energy.
“Don’t pity me, human. I don’t know why you’re here or why you killed a Celestial Dragon, but silencing is necessary.”
“I’ve lost everything and have nothing left to fear. To regain my freedom in my last moments, thank you.”
He looked at the unconscious slaves outside the cell.
“I suppose… they feel the same.”
“No, I was just thinking about how to frame the Celestial Dragon’s death on you,” Figo said. “Can you help me with that?”
“…” Agar froze, then laughed bitterly, “You…”
A minute later, with trembling arms, he broke the slave collar around his neck, laughing as he removed it!
With a massive explosion, the collar detonated, engulfing the entire ship in flames. Soon, the other slaves’ collars followed, one after another!
In the nearby sea, Figo watched quietly until the ship disintegrated, the Sea Stone sections sinking into the depths, Sea Kings devouring all traces. Then he turned and swam back to the Navy headquarters.
Agar’s level was only R9, and Figo could have easily killed him with two punches. But tonight, he felt a different kind of power in Agar.
“Spirit, loyalty, freedom…”
An indescribable emotion and understanding churned within him. Before he chose Gerald’s character event reward, a new ability had already appeared in his list!
Conqueror’s Haki: 27
Level 1, Conqueror’s Haki Budding!
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