Impel Down

Heat, hunger.

A quiet cell, a half-dead prisoner, the prolonged hunger and high-temperature dehydration left the prisoner struggling to even breathe.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the cell. Amidst the powerful strides, there was a faint, grating clinking sound.

Four jailers with blank expressions dragged two bloodied prisoners along. The grating clinking was the sound of shackles and chains scraping against the floor.

Inside the cells, the half-dead prisoners watched the group pass by with indifference, as if accustomed to such sights.

The iron door creaked open, and the jailers threw the two unconscious, heavily wounded prisoners into their respective cells as if they were garbage.

Meanwhile.

In the interrogation room on the fourth floor, the atmosphere was also somewhat unusual.

Two exceptionally tall men stood in a silent standoff. Suddenly, one of them, a man with horns resembling a demon's, spoke with a grim expression:

"Shiryu, this is the last time. If you can't control your hands again, I'll have to report it truthfully to the warden."

"Tch, they're just scum of the sea." With a look of disdain, the swordsman turned, picked up his military hat from the side, put it on, and casually pushed open the interrogation room door, walking away.

Damn it! The demon-horned man clenched his fist in anger, and a few drops of purple liquid dripped from his hand, causing a purple mist to rise from the ground.

The jailers standing guard outside caught a glimpse of this and broke out in a cold sweat, appearing terrified of the demon-horned man.

Magellan realized his loss of composure and reabsorbed the spreading purple gas into his body. He then felt a churning in his stomach.

He hurried outside, but before leaving, he sternly instructed the other tall man, who looked like a pharaoh:

"Hannibal, keep an eye on that bastard Shiryu, or you'll be dead when the warden gets angry."

Hannibal, resembling a pharaoh, nodded and replied, "I don't want to, Shiryu will cut me... Ah! I accidentally spoke my mind again. Okay, Deputy Warden Magellan."

Magellan had already run off, clutching his stomach.

The two heavily wounded prisoners, thrown back into their cells, lay motionless like corpses. Only the slight rise and fall of their chests proved they were still stubbornly alive.

One of the prisoners, who looked like a young man, had a large diagonal cut across his chest, and a lot of blood was seeping from the wound.

The dry, high-temperature environment made the cell feel like an oven, which would cause severe dehydration in a human body.

However, for a wound, it would accelerate the scabbing process.

A pair of eyes filled with confusion and surprise slowly opened in the darkness. Suddenly, his brow furrowed, as if feeling a stinging pain from the wounds on his body.

He didn't get up, just lay there on the scorching floor, his eyes soon adjusting to the dimness around him.

So this is it! This is Hunger Hell in the underwater prison. This body's name is "Pirate King Gao."

Not Pirate King - Gao, but Pirate - Wang Gao.

Wang Gao was born in the Flower Country of the West Blue, the same country where Chinjao and the Happō Navy resided. He was also a distant relative of the great pirate Ochoku.

In the Grand Line Era 1484, the Rocks Pirates disbanded directly after the God Valley Incident.

Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Kaido, Big Mom, Captain John, and Ochoku, after this battle, each went their separate ways with their subordinates.

Around Grand Line Era 1489, Ochoku returned to his homeland, the Flower Country, and recruited a group of young men, preparing to conquer the New World.

Wang Gao, then only 13 years old, joined Ochoku's pirate crew under these circumstances, starting as a menial laborer and fighting his way up to become a responsible leader on one of the ships.

Then, in Grand Line Era 1495, he encountered Garp, who was pursuing Roger. He was smashed into the sea with one punch and became a prisoner in Impel Down, where he has been imprisoned until now.

Long-term confinement in Hunger Hell had erased most of his sense of time. However, a piece of news he overheard in the interrogation room today confirmed the current time for him – Grand Line Era 1498, on the eve of Roger's execution.

This was because Golden Lion had just been imprisoned today.

Feeling the weakness in his body, Wang Gao knew it was the effect of the Seastone shackles. This body had eaten a Devil Fruit, and because of the Devil Fruit, it had saved him three times.

The first time was when he was defeated by Garp, the second time was when he was interrogated by Shiryu of the Rain today, and the third time was at this very moment.

If this body were not a Devil Fruit user, he would have died in the interrogation room today. It wasn't the ability that saved him, but the identity of a Devil Fruit user.

Shiryu of the Rain's interrogation was pure torture and murder.

Coincidentally, Golden Lion was brought to Impel Down today, and Magellan came to notify Shiryu of the Rain, only to find him torturing prisoners. If they were ordinary prisoners, Magellan wouldn't have been too concerned.

The problem was that among the ten prisoners, Wang Gao and two others were Devil Fruit users.

Impel Down had two major principles: First, Devil Fruit users could not be executed arbitrarily; Second, relatives of great pirates could not be executed arbitrarily.

The reason for these two major principles was:

The first major principle was to prevent Devil Fruits from regenerating after the death of their users. Before Vegapunk, Caesar, and Blackbeard, there was no technology in the world to ensure the accurate regeneration of Devil Fruits.

Once a Devil Fruit user died, the Devil Fruit would randomly respawn on a fruit somewhere in the world.

Compared to Haki, swordsmanship, and other skills, Devil Fruits could directly create a strong individual, and many Devil Fruit abilities were extraordinarily terrifying.

For example, if the Marines directly killed Golden Lion, who had just been imprisoned, the next person to obtain the Float-Float Fruit could follow Golden Lion's usage method and become a strong individual on the sea again within a few years.

Therefore, Devil Fruit users imprisoned in Impel Down were not allowed to be executed casually. Execution required a writ from the World Government.

Every captured Devil Fruit user was meticulously recorded, and their names and information were sent to the CP Agency directly under the World Government for filing.

Every time a Devil Fruit user died in Impel Down, a detailed report of the situation had to be submitted.

As for concealing things within Impel Down, don't think the CP Agency is just for show. After Devil Fruit users die, their Devil Fruits respawn, making it impossible to hide from the World Government.

Killing one or two trashy Devil Fruit users can be covered up as accidental deaths, but once the number of deaths exceeds a certain amount, the World Government will definitely intervene.

He estimated that Shiryu of the Rain was later imprisoned in Infinite Hell by Magellan precisely because he murdered too many Devil Fruit users, leading to direct punishment by order of the World Government.

The second major principle is actually a very simple reason.

There are many reasons why the relatives of Great Pirates are not killed directly after being captured, such as making the Great Pirates hesitate to act, interrogating them for information, recruiting or exchanging them, or for human experimentation.

It was precisely because of Wang Gao's identity as a Devil Fruit user, coupled with his affiliation with the Wang Zhi Pirate Crew, that Magellan intervened to stop Shiryu of the Rain.

However, by the time Magellan rescued him, he had already been slashed six or seven times. Although the wounds were simply treated, he was in a near-death state.

If it weren't for his drifting soul merging with the soul of this original body, creating a special reaction, Wang Gao would likely have truly died here.

The new book sets sail, (ω｀) Thank you all for your support.