One Piece: Impel Down's Guard - Chapter 31
Impel Down, Level 1 Monitoring Room.
Four guards responsible for monitoring today were playing cards, bored out of their minds.
“How unlucky, of all days it’s us stuck in the monitoring room, missing the feast Director Figo threw for everyone,” a newly recruited guard complained, looking dejected.
An experienced guard laughed at him, “Don’t worry. You don’t know the Director well. He’s an incredibly thoughtful man and won’t forget about us. Trust me, later on, people will envy us because the Director will definitely give us an exclusive feast later!”
“Really?”
“The Director is great.”
“By the way, is this monitoring room really necessary? All the prisoners are locked up. It’s been eight years, and the surveillance Den Den Mushi has never caught any incident.”
“No incidents are a good thing, right?” The experienced guard discarded two cards and glanced at the surveillance screens, his face suddenly pale.
“This… how is this possible?”
“Something big has happened!”
He lunged for the Den Den Mushi, “Director! Warden Kimchi! There’s an unknown breakout in Level 5, with four prisoners escaping towards Level 4! Oh no, Director Figo is stopping them. He needs backup! He needs backup!”
As the message spread through the Den Den Mushi, all guards within communication range turned pale. Kimchi, pushing a stone block in the training area after the feast, dropped it and rushed towards the guards’ passageway.
…
At the stairs between Level 5 and Level 4 of Impel Down.
Four prisoners who had broken their chains were half-surrounding Figo, murderous intent in their eyes.
Without any words or threats, fearing more guards might encircle them, the four pirates exchanged a glance and simultaneously lunged at Figo, eyeing the key ring at his waist.
Having been imprisoned together for a long time, seven years of confinement hadn’t dulled their ferocity. Although they often looked sickly due to hunger, they could still unleash their power when needed, especially after having some meat.
“Die!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Clang!
Three fists and an arm shaped like a drill all struck Figo. The fierce expressions on the pirates’ faces vanished instantly, replaced by shock and horror.
His entire body covered in a dark, metallic sheen, exuding a powerful, intimidating aura, Figo, enveloped in Armament Haki, glanced down at the drill-shaped arm, a smile playing on his lips. He reached out with both arms, grabbing the four escaping prisoners.
Accompanied by the sickening sound of bones grinding and screams, the stairwell returned to silence.
…
“Alert canceled! Alert canceled!”
“The four prisoners were taken down by Director Figo in one move! No backup needed!”
Kimchi, who had just reached the stairwell, skidded to a halt upon hearing the message from the Den Den Mushi. He stood there speechless momentarily, then shook his head and returned to the training area, feeling like he had been played.
The brief chaos in Impel Down was quickly quelled. One guard even pointed at the surveillance Den Den Mushi, laughing, “Idiot! You made us all panic for nothing. Just four prisoners, how could Director Figo need backup for that?!”
Behind the surveillance Den Den Mushi, the experienced guard looked ashamed and shouted at the device.
“Director Figo is the strongest!”
“Of course he is!” someone responded.
“Director Figo is the strongest!”
Soon, the shouts merged into a chorus.
…
Compared to the excited guards, the prisoners in Level 5 felt as if they had lost a family member as they watched Figo drag two limp prisoners back to their cells. Only Sister Carmel seemed indifferent.
Having had hope only to be plunged into despair, they felt it would have been better if they had never had hope in the first place.
“Damn it!”
“Useless trash!”
They could only curse and berate the four failed escapees.
Such a rare chance after so many years. If it were me, I would have reached the Impel Down gate by now.
Useless! All of them!
Figo ignored them, locking up the four escaped prisoners and feeling joy at the notifications in his mind.
[Prisoner: Duhanam]
[Level: SR3]
[Status: Incarcerated]
[Crime Index: 55]
[Capture Participation: 3% + 35%]
[Reward: Observation Haki +63+735?3955 (3rd Level Mid-Observation Haki)]
[Event Reward: Physique +63+735?13107 (4th Level Monster)]
As expected, even deliberately letting prisoners escape to recapture them could supplement capture participation and event rewards!
However, why was the supplement only 35% and not 50% like with the seven giants?
To make the escape more realistic, he had even provided a piece of Sea King meat.
What was missing?
Figo thought about Gerard. Dragging him from the sea had also given 35%.
Comparing the two cases with the giants, Figo started to have some guesses. The giants had completely escaped. They could have gone anywhere if he hadn’t recaptured them, so the supplement was 50%.
Though Gerard had jumped into the sea and could commit suicide, he was relatively free but still chained and imprisoned.
The same went for the prisoners in Impel Down. Though they had escaped their chains, they were still within the underwater prison.
Escaped, but not fully escaped?
This way, it would only be 35%. Figo couldn’t let them completely escape Impel Down.
But it didn’t matter.
‘If I let them escape a second time and recapture them, can I get a second supplement? If so, it might be 17.5% participation next time? Third time 8.75%? This way, I can eventually get everyone’s capture participation to over 70%!’
Calculating in his mind, Figo looked at the heavily injured prisoners back in their cells and temporarily dismissed the idea of letting them out again to test.
They couldn’t even run now.
So…
He turned and looked at the cursing prisoners, smirking, “You think you could escape if it were you? Fools, would you even dare attempt to escape with just a key?!”
Clang!
He tossed a key onto the ground.
“A key for cells 17 to 20. Come on, let’s play a game. I’ll wait for you idiots at the stairwell! Kill me, and you regain your freedom! Dare to try?!” Figo taunted.
The noise from the prisoners stopped instantly, staring at Figo. Was this bastard serious?!
“Oh, and by the way.” Figo remembered, looking at the hopeful Sister Carmel, “You did well earlier, so I’ll reward you with a week of no meals.”
The nun froze, “…?”
“Hahahaha…” The prisoners burst into laughter.
“Idiot! Did you think this demon would appreciate your ‘good behavior’ and take care of you?!”
“Serves you right!”
The nun had thoroughly angered them.
The laughter continued until Figo disappeared from their sight. Staring at the key on the ground, the fifth level fell silent again.
“Hey, you four, why were you defeated so quickly?” a prisoner asked.
Despite the mockery, they were all big-name pirates. Seeing four of their own fail so fast, they couldn’t believe it was easy to take down Figo.
Lying on the ground, Duhanam opened his mouth.
In that moment, his feelings were complicated.
Should he tell the truth? Monsters capable of covering their entire body in Armament Haki are rare even in the New World. Without weapons, no four-man team could defeat Figo.
Figo guarding the only stairwell cut off any chance of detour. They would have to run towards the sixth-level passage, but without keys to free those prisoners, what was the point?
Let the sixth-level inmates see how badly Figo beat them? To mock them?
“We… were just careless…”
No way, tired of trying. Let it all end.
If I die, we all die…
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