Participation Supplement

On the other side, the two CP9 agents, still unaware of what had happened on the warship, were leading seven giants in a grand escape. They could already see the coastline and the warship in the distance.

The giants were tall enough to see farther, and suddenly one of them stopped to catch his breath, shouting, "What is that!"

The other six giants then noticed a small black dot rapidly approaching them from afar.

"A person?"

The two CP9 exchanged glances. The man with slicked-back hair said, "It must be our companion who has seized the warship and come to pick us up."

"No, that's not it..."

"What is that?!"

Before the giants could explain, the two CP9 also saw the rapidly approaching figure.

Or rather, a walking chain.

The figure was draped in a dozen or so heavy chains, crisscrossing his body and obscuring his face, making it hard for them to see clearly at first.

But the size of those chains was clearly meant for giants. Peslo wasn't that tall either, so the newcomer could only be... Figo!

Why is he here? Both CP9 were startled, utterly baffled.

"Impel Down's Warden, Figo!" The giants recognized him first. One of them, his face paling, said hoarsely, "You two, it seems we won't escape smoothly today. We don't know why you saved us, but the Giant race will forever remember your kindness! Run! The seven of us will hold him off here!"

The giants' attitude surprised the two as well.

They didn't even have the courage to fight?

But running wasn't an option. The giants didn't know the full story, but they did. So they remained silent for a moment.

Another giant quickly added, "That's Impel Down's Warden, Figo! He's guarded Impel Down for years with zero incidents!"

"They say he jumps into the sea every day to fight Sea Kings, hunting them down, and eats an entire Sea King in one meal!"

"He's also a tyrannical despot. Every so often, he'll arbitrarily order the jailers to starve a certain prisoner for days, savoring the pleasure of watching them die of hunger! Or he'll randomly pick a Great Pirate to beat and humiliate for his own amusement!"

"Great Pirates from the fifth and sixth floors have tried every way to kill him, but none have succeeded!"

"We've never seen him fight, but in our weakened state, we have no chance of defeating him. We're sorry—your companion is likely doomed. Flee now!"

The giants spoke one after another.

The two CP9 felt a strange unease.

This... is Figo? The guy who spent the last two days sunbathing on the ship, agreeing to everything we said, with no temper at all?

His reputation is ruined. I beat them because their Crime Index was high and to finish the job. As for starving some pirate for days, that must have been because their Character Event footage disgusted me... From afar, Figo heard the giants' shouts and tossed the chains draped over him to the ground.

With a thunderous crash, the hundreds of pounds of iron chains made the earth tremble, cutting off the giants' words: "Since you understand, come over and put the chains on yourselves. Don't waste time!"

"And you two!" Figo said to the CP9 agents. "How dare you sabotage the Navy's execution? Your companion has already been captured by me. Surrender now!"

Oh?

This warning actually calmed the two CP9. Unlike others, Figo knew their identities.

Capture Brother Peslo? Impossible! We're World Government agents. How dare he?

And he didn't expose our identities, which means he must have communicated with Brother Peslo, or even... reached some kind of agreement?

Could it be that we're supposed to put on a show where we and the giants defeat him together, to make this escape seem more real?

That's it, most likely!

The two CP9 exchanged a quick glance, making a 'reasonable deduction.'

Then... "Take him down!"

With a shout, the two CP9 charged at Figo, leading the way. The seven giants were startled, some yelling 'No!' while others hurriedly followed, unwilling to let their benefactors face Figo alone.

At that moment, the slicked-back-haired male CP9, charging ahead, was already close to Figo.

'I can't use the Six Powers. But since this is a performance, it needs to look real—at least on the surface, I have to go all out. The giants' descriptions are definitely exaggerated. After days on the same ship, Warden Figo is indeed a big eater, but can he really eat an entire Sea King in one meal? We don't know.

But regardless, this warden shouldn't be so easily injured by me...' He thought, his body beginning to transform rapidly.

His black hair turned into pale yellow fur, a 'king' character pattern emerged on his exposed forehead, and his arms and legs grew yellowish-brown fur, gradually shifting to all fours as he became a massive tiger!

Animal-Type Devil Fruit: Cat-Cat Fruit: Tiger Form!

"Roar~!"

Letting out a terrifying roar, the enormous tiger accelerated sharply, leaping at Figo from the perfect distance!

Animal-Type Devil Fruits generally enhance strength and speed. In his tiger form, he gained a full boost!

The pounce was swift and powerful, but just as he neared Figo, the warden vanished from sight. Then he felt a sharp pain on the side of his face, and the world spun. The massive tiger was sent flying high, like a ragdoll, crashing into the distance. After hitting the ground, he finally let out a pained hiss.

Wha—what happened?

He didn't see it.

Shaking his head repeatedly, he struggled to clear his vision, only to find a massive shadow looming over him. His expression gradually froze.

A... a monster?!

How is he this strong?

And why wouldn't he hold back?!

Boom! Figo grabbed the 12-meter giant by the wrist and swung him whole, slamming him down with a thunderous crash, sending the bewildered CP9 into complete unconsciousness!

A few minutes later, Figo carried one unconscious CP9 over each shoulder, escorting the disheveled giants—now re-shackled with chains—back onto the warship.

The giants were utterly dejected.

Life really was a series of ups and downs, downs, downs, downs...

They thought they could escape, but instead they'd turned themselves back in, dragging two benefactors down with them.

No, three benefactors.

They'd said they couldn't win, but the benefactors wouldn't listen!

The Marine soldiers on the ship had already heard the commotion, feeling like one wave hadn't even settled before another rose. Someone actually dared to hijack an execution ground—and succeeded?

Was Lieutenant Colonel Xiao alright?

Of course he was. If CP9 actually dared to kill a Marine soldier, their Crime Index would skyrocket. Figo wasn't worried at all; in fact, he was pretty pleased.

This voyage had been a perfect haul.

Originally, he'd only get one Nun.

Now he had three CP9 added on top.

No prisoners? Create prisoners and arrest them anyway!

Ignoring Peslo's dark expression, Figo tossed his two CP9 companions into the same cell, then escorted the giants back into their cells one by one, waiting for the Prison Archives to pop up.

The moment he locked in the first giant, the Prison Archives arrived right on schedule—so fast that Figo felt a twinge of disappointment. After all, the quicker the Archives recorded, the weaker the prisoner.

Were these two CP9 really just R-class?

He glanced up and froze.

This time, the Prison Archives hadn't opened a blank page.

Instead, it had opened the page corresponding to the giant he'd just locked in!

And the information had changed!

code
[Prisoner: Pete]
[Level: R8]
[Status: Incarcerated]
[Crime Index: 17]
[Capture Participation: 3%+50%]
[Reward: Giant Power +14+267→405 (2nd-level Giant Young Children)]

A light, buoyant feeling spread through his body.

His strength had increased slightly too!

Capture Participation 3%+50%?

Reward +14 and then +267?!

Compared to before, recapturing this giant who'd been thrown back into the cell had given him an extra 50% Capture Participation reward and 267 points of Giant Power!

A surge of information dawned on him: recapturing a prisoner with an 'Escape' status back into the cell grants a Capture Participation supplement! And that supplement is half of the normal capture rate!

At most, it was 50%.

A thousand joys, ten thousand thoughts flooded his mind.

Figo looked at the other six giants like they were buried treasure. A faint thought flickered in his mind—back in Impel Down, his vision... had been too small!