Doug and Kong

"Figo? Figo?"

"Ah, sorry." Figo came back to himself and explained, "I was thinking about Impel Down. They've never held a pirate this powerful before, and on top of that, he has Conqueror's Haki. It'll probably put some pressure on the prison."

Kinch was far inferior to both him and Seazer to begin with. Figo had stayed at Impel Down two extra years for Kinch's sake, but even so, Kinch was still finding it difficult to serve as Warden.

"Admiral Moka's orders were to lock him up in the prison at Marine Headquarters for now and wait for the Fleet Admiral to make arrangements," Miya said. "A Great Pirate like him might be executed outright. Or there could be a plan to use him to capture the other pirates in the Laughing Pirates."

As she spoke, she looked up at Figo, who was two heads taller than her, and said with some feeling, "Speaking of which, these past eight years... Figo, what exactly did you go through at Impel Down?"

The old Figo had been shorter than her.

Before Figo could answer, she smiled and continued, "Teacher Doug has mentioned you quite a bit over the past few years. Whenever you got promoted at Impel Down, he'd say how glad he was that he'd seen your potential all those years ago."

Her smile was a little odd, even mischievous. Figo could sense a hint of playful teasing.

Figo had heard the name Vice Admiral Doug often enough. Iron Body, Kami-e, and Finger Gun were all techniques he had created. He had also organized the other three techniques, which Marines of earlier generations had developed on their own without any coherent system, and founded the Six Powers. His fame was thunderous.

He was also the chief instructor at the Marine recruit camp and one of the teachers at the Elite Training Camp, so Figo could call him teacher, too. Miya's smile brought back his last memory of seeing Doug... and Miya had been there, too.

Eight years earlier, young Figo stood quietly outside Vice Admiral Doug's office, waiting. From inside, he heard the vice admiral's impassioned voice.

"What? Xiaoya, you want to apply for a transfer to the newly built Impel Down? No, absolutely not!"

"You're only twenty-two, and already a Marine Colonel. You have a limitless future ahead of you! Your future belongs on the vast ocean, fighting powerful pirates—not in some newly built underwater prison, working as a Jailer Chief!"

"You'll become a powerful Marine officer! You'll become a Vice Admiral, maybe even an Admiral, and have your name engraved in Marine history!"

"I, Doug, have no doubt about it!"

Soon, young Miya left Vice Admiral Doug's office, looking incredibly moved. She clenched her little fists in front of her chest and gave them a few tiny pumps, as if cheering herself on.

Then Figo went in.

"You want a transfer to Impel Down, too? Hmm, a Lieutenant... I remember you're... Figo?"

"Hahaha, well done! You really are my student! A real man doesn't have to set his sights on the sea. If everyone wanted to sail the vast ocean, who would do a job like guarding the prison? You're not afraid of loneliness or solitude, and you have the courage to go down into the deep sea. I'm so proud to have a student like you!"

"You'll become a great jailer, and your name will go down in Impel Down's history!"

"I, Doug, have no doubt about it!"

Well, this was awkward.

Figo couldn't help laughing helplessly.

He shook his head, clenched his fists in front of his chest, and gave them a few tiny pumps, mimicking her cheering pose. Cute as could be.

Copying me... Miya's smile faded. She wasn't embarrassed, just surprised. "You've become a lot more cheerful in the past eight years, Figo. You never used to joke around like this.

"I was only like that because I was affected by the fruit's power. Teacher Doug is always using his Inspire-Inspire Fruit at the wrong time. He really didn't mean anything by it."

"I know."

Transferring a twenty-two-year-old Marine Colonel to Impel Down really would have been a waste of talent, while a promising twenty-year-old Lieutenant could still grow steadily there for a few years.

Thinking about it that way, Vice Admiral Doug had been right to refuse her and right to accept him.

It was just that he had the Inspire-Inspire Fruit and had encouraged both of them with his rousing speeches, making the whole thing look a little strange.

Figo turned to her. "Sister Miya, let's catch up some other time. People have noticed something unusual about our two warships."

At Marine Headquarters, an officer stationed at the docks had spotted what was happening. He was heading over with a small warship and dozens of Marines.

They docked both warships.

They took care of the Marines who had been knocked unconscious by Conqueror's Haki and wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Then, together with Miya, Figo escorted the seven Giants, the Worry Demon, Nun, and Jeral to the prison at Marine Headquarters. It took nearly an hour.

Afterward, Figo and Miya went up to the Marine Headquarters tower to see Marshal O. Along the way, he got a real sense of just how popular Miya was.

Fortunately, at least at Marine Headquarters in the world of pirates, there was no petty jealousy over romantic rivals.

The Marines could only clasp their hands to their chests like lovestruck maidens, master Kami-e in an instant, wiggle around like Sanji, and gaze at her with heart-shaped eyes as they called out from afar, "Rear Admiral Miya!"

At most, they'd add, "Who's that man beside Rear Admiral Miya who isn't wearing a uniform? I'm so jealous!"

When they reached the top floor, they were told at the Fleet Admiral's Office, "The Fleet Admiral has gone to Mary Geoise in the Holy Land. He won't be back for two days."

They'd come up empty.

Wasn't he supposed to celebrate my victory in person after I brought back the Worry Demon? Figo grumbled inwardly, though he knew the Fleet Admiral's trip to the Holy Land was likely related to his visit to Huoyu Island.

He wondered what the final outcome would be, and what would happen to the seven Giants.

"Figo, want to visit Teacher Doug with me?" Miya suggested as they left the Marine Headquarters building. "What I said earlier was true. Teacher Doug really has mentioned you often these past few years. And now that he's getting older, he rarely leads a fleet out to sea. He really likes having us students visit and tell him about our experiences.

"He'll be thrilled to hear that you captured a villain like the Worry Demon!"

Vice Admiral Doug was already seventy-one years old.

Figo didn't hesitate for long. "Sure."

As a transmigrator, he'd had the usual orphan start and had no family left. He hadn't lived in his home at Marine Headquarters for eight years, and who knew how run-down it had gotten? It wouldn't hurt to go back later.

The residential area for families lay behind Marine Headquarters, and Doug's home was close by, since he was one of the highest-ranking vice admirals.

Miya seemed to visit often. She quickly led Figo there and knocked on the door.

The person who opened it was a little boy, probably three or four years old, with a pointy head and a sharp-looking face. His eyes lit up when he saw Miya. He turned and ran inside. "Grandpa! Sister Xiaoya's here! She brought a man I've never seen before!"

Miya smiled and said to Figo, "This is Teacher Doug's little grandson, Kong."

Figo froze for a moment.

Soon, the tall, broad-shouldered old man with white hair emerged from the inner room, laughing heartily. "You're back, Xiaoya? Has the pirate who attacked the Celestial Dragons been captured?"

When he saw Figo, he paused, too, and pushed up his glasses. "Hmm, you're... Fickle from Impel Down? Right, you transferred away from Impel Down. What brings you here with Xiaoya? Hahaha, welcome, welcome!"

Miya's expression turned strange for a moment.

Figo glanced at her and said helplessly, "Teacher Doug, I'm Figo."

"Oh, right, right, Figo. Figo."

Vice Admiral Doug looked like he was made of muscle and strength, but he had a very gentle personality. When he got Figo's name wrong, he apologized, too. "Sorry, sorry. Honestly, my memory gets worse every year. Your name was right on the tip of my tongue, but I still got it wrong."

"It's all right." Figo smiled. He glanced at the little boy peeking at him from behind Doug, then looked at Doug, whose appearance did indeed share some resemblance with Steel Bone Kong, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as he remembered him...

"Is this your grandson? This is the first time I've met him. He's a fine-looking boy. You can tell he'll inherit your strength and spirit and become a remarkable Marine—maybe even surpass you and become an Admiral, or Fleet Admiral, and have his name engraved in Marine history!" Figo's voice rang with conviction.

"I, Figo, have no doubt about it!"

Miya let out a laugh.

Doug was delighted. "Hahahaha! Is that so? I have no doubt about it, either! Come, come in and sit down, Xiaoya, Fickle!"

P.S. There's no official information about Steel Bone Kong's age. One theory is that Sengoku called Kong his big brother, so Kong was probably about ten years older than Sengoku, putting him in his eighties. If that were true, then his son might not even have been grown up yet at this point in the timeline.

But I don't think that theory holds up. I found a setting in a One Piece game Oda had a hand in, which says that Kong, as Fleet Admiral, faced the legendary pirate Count Red at the age of eighty. That means he was already eighty when he was Fleet Admiral.

He stepped down after the Great Pirate Era began and handed the position to Sengoku. Add another twenty years or so, and he should be just over a hundred during the main story. He's probably another formidable old man who, like Garp, doesn't lose strength with age.

As for Sengoku calling him big brother... Would a man in his seventies call a man over a hundred his uncle if they weren't related? I don't think calling him big brother proves anything. Baidu Baike says they were from the same era, which can only mean they were active at the same time. And Baidu Baike has made mistakes more than once or twice. He should've been from the same era as Rocks, anyway, right?

This book uses that interpretation.