Capture the Celestial Dragons!

The Marine Headquarters was surrounded by sea on all sides, making it effortless for Figo to find a spot to slip into the water.

Like a single drop merging into the ocean, Figo disturbed no one. After eight years stationed at Impel Down, he knew the quirks of the surveillance Den Den Mushi well.

Next, just follow the arrow and swim.

Over those eight years, aside from the first four Fish-Men, Impel Down had gradually taken in a dozen or so more of their kind—none of them particularly strong, only helping Figo push his Fish-Man Power to 655 points.

He was still a Level 2 Fish-Man Child, not even halfway to becoming a Fish-Man youth, but his swimming speed was nothing a Fish-Man child could match.

His robust physique drove his arms like propellers, his body cutting through the water like a speedboat. In less than five minutes, the lights of Marine Headquarters were left behind!

He pressed on, drawing closer to his destination.

On the other side, along the Calm Belt shipping route from Sabaody Archipelago to Holy Land Mary Geoise, a lavishly decorated great ship blazed with lights. Aboard it, the Celestial Dragon Saint Cassilia was in an extremely foul mood.

In nearly sixty years of life, he had never been so humiliated, so thoroughly offended.

Those filthy Pirates had dared to attack him, even coming close to wounding his noble body. The bubble headpiece he always wore had cracked in one spot, forcing him to breathe the dirty air that ordinary people inhaled, sickening him ever since—he hadn't even been able to eat dinner.

Worse still, the beloved slaves he had accumulated over decades were more than half dead, including the ones he used to cushion his feet and seat. Now, the wretch beneath him kept trembling faintly, offering no comfort at all!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he grew. Cassilia unsheathed the ornate saber at his waist and slashed viciously at the slave.

A streak of blood burst forth. The slave trembled harder but dared not scream, let alone let Saint Cassilia, seated atop him, fall.

That would mean certain death.

Unlike him, from another part of the cabin came a stifled cry of pain.

Saint Cassilia's gaze snapped toward it. With a snort, he tossed aside the bloodied saber, picked up a flintlock rifle resting nearby, and strode over.

There lay his private prison for disciplining disobedient slaves. A burly Fish-Man slave was suspended by chains from all four limbs, being whipped by another slave, his body covered in wounds.

"You base Fish-Man! Still daring to make a sound?!" As he arrived, the slave wielding the whip stepped back, and Saint Cassilia aimed the rifle at the Fish-Man's body.

The Fish-Man was utterly weak. Seeing him, his lips moved, and he murmured, "S-Saint Cassilia, my... my brother..."

Bang!

The rifle roared. A bloody hole appeared in the Fish-Man's arm.

He choked, lost consciousness, then was jolted awake by several more shots.

"Worthless! Knocked out in an instant by those filthy Pirates, and you still dare to make demands of the great Creator?!"

"I... blocked... saved..."

It was true. If not for the Fish-Man, that sudden attack today might have done more than just crack his bubble hood—which only infuriated Saint Cassilia further. His face twisted, and he aimed the rifle directly at the Fish-Man's head.

Just then, a dull thud sounded behind him as something hit the floor.

"Hm?" Saint Cassilia turned and saw a muscular upper body, clothes soaked and clinging tightly to the skin. He looked up, puzzled.

"Who are you?" Even looking up, his face was full of arrogance. He snorted through his nose and pointed the rifle at Figo. "I don't remember having a slave like you. Who told you to stand behind me?! Get lost!"

Bang!

The rifle spat fire!

The bullet struck Figo squarely, then thwacked—it bounced off.

"Hm?!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thwack!

Amid the four ricocheting bullets, Figo's large hand swung out, shattering the glass hood on Saint Cassilia's head and slapping him across the face!

The pig-like fat face twisted grotesquely, teeth and blood spray flying. The clumsy body flipped into the air, spinning a thousand degrees before crashing down!

With a wretched cry, the fallen Saint Cassilia writhed on the deck, trembling as he pointed at Figo. "Base commoner..."

Crack—Figo snapped his hand.

"Ah!!"

A piercing scream rang through the great ship, but no one came to check. All the slaves aboard had fallen unconscious without a sound!

Saint Cassilia's body convulsed, then his eyes rolled back as he passed out. Only the suspended Fish-Man remained awake, his hazy mind jolted clear by the scene. He stared wide-eyed at Figo. "You... you're... how... from Impel Down..."

"Fish-Man Agai." Figo hadn't expected the Celestial Dragon's ship to be so lightly guarded, nor had he expected to find him here.

The first Fish-Man captured and sent to Impel Down, the one who had helped activate Figo's Fish-Man Power! Taken out of Impel Down, he hadn't been executed—instead, he'd become a Celestial Dragon's slave?

'Damn Celestial Dragons, damn Celestial Dragons—they took my brother as a slave for no reason!' Figo still remembered Agai's roar. He glanced at the slave brand on his body, then walked out, found a keyring on a slave lying by the prison door, and freed Agai from the chains.

The Fish-Man, his limbs crippled, collapsed limply to the floor, still staring at Figo in shock. "You... why are you..." Was this a dream?

Figo didn't explain. Instead, he went over, picked up the Celestial Dragon Saint Cassilia, and hung his limbs from the chains.

The Prison Archives surfaced in his mind.

[Prisoner: Van Bichi Cassilia]

[Level: N2]

[Status: Incarcerated]

[Crime Index: 2699]

[Capture Participation: 100%]

[Reward: Swordsmanship +5398 → 15284 (Level 4 Swordsman)]

Figo thought he had misread it at first.

Only after checking several times did he confirm it.

What exactly had he done to have a Crime Index over twenty times higher than a pure villain like the Worry Demon, who delighted in manipulating hearts?!

He slowly turned around, looking toward the Holy Land.

So that was the greatest treasure for me all along? A treasure bigger than Impel Down, housing a bunch of 'Pirate Emperors' who couldn't even put up a fight!

Pity, that treasure was extremely difficult to claim...

The Fish-Man sprawled on the floor finally confirmed this wasn't a dream, forcing a pleading expression onto his face. "My, my brothers... brothers..."

"You willingly became his slave for the sake of your brothers, and you want me to help you check on their situation?" Figo asked him.

The Fish-Man nodded with difficulty.

"Don't bother asking. They're all dead."

The moment Figo had laid eyes on the Fish-Man Agai, he had quickly searched through the Prison Archives, found the Fish-Man Pappas, and found the three Fish-Men who had attacked Impel Down and been captured by him.

Their statuses were all 'Deceased'!

The light in Agai's fish eyes instantly died out. He had actually thought of this outcome long ago, he just hadn't been willing to believe it.

Figo, meanwhile, picked up the whip beside him.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

"Ah!"

Saint Cassilia screamed awake, then screamed into unconsciousness. Figo didn't waste words with him, didn't give him a chance to beg for mercy—though, of course, an arrogant and ignorant Celestial Dragon was more likely to make threats.

Having spent eight years in Impel Down, Figo knew exactly how to use a whip. He knew what strength and angle to apply based on the time, the physique, the injury, and the tolerance level.

Just like interrogating the villains of Impel Down.

Five minutes. Ten minutes.

The Celestial Dragon woke in agony and passed out in agony, until not a single patch of intact skin remained on his body, snot, tears, and filthier things streaming everywhere!

Until he was whipped to death!

It was still letting him off easy, but Figo had no desire to inflict more brutal torture, nor did he want to linger here too long and invite complications.

Jellal's Character Event was complete.

Figo tossed the whip aside, his gaze hesitating as it fell on the Fish-Man Agai.

In those ten minutes of rest, Agai seemed to have recovered some strength. His face was ashen, but his speech came more smoothly, as if it were a final rally.

"Don't pity me, human. I don't know why you showed up here or why you killed a Celestial Dragon, but silencing witnesses is necessary."

"I've already lost everything. There's nothing left that can frighten me. To regain my freedom in the last moments of my life—thank you for that."

He turned toward the unconscious slaves outside the cell.

"I imagine... they feel the same."

"No, I was just thinking about how to pin the Celestial Dragon's death on you." Figo said. "Help me think of a way?"

"..." The Fish-Man Agai paused, then gave a bitter laugh. "You bastard..."

A minute later, he trembled as he raised both arms, placed his hands on the slave collar around his neck, laughed loudly, and wrenched the collar apart, snapping it off!

A massive explosion erupted from the slave collar, flames shooting skyward, fully igniting the entire ship. Soon, the other slaves' collars detonated in a chain reaction, one after another!

Nearby, in the sea, Figo watched it all unfold in silence. Only when the flames had completely torn the ship apart, when the Seastone parts sank into the deep sea, and when the Sea Kings swam over to devour every trace, did he turn and head back toward Marine Headquarters.

The Fish-Man Agai was only Rank R9. Figo could have killed him with two punches. But tonight, Figo felt a different kind of power emanating from him!

"Spirit, bonds, freedom..."

An indescribable emotion and realization stirred within him. Before Figo even chose to claim the reward from Jellal's Character Event, a new ability had silently appeared on his list!

Conqueror's Haki: 27

Level 1, Conqueror's Haki Sprout!