Marine Headquarters was surrounded by sea on all sides, so finding a place to enter the water was easy for Figo.
Like a drop of water sinking into the sea, Figo slipped in without alerting anyone. After eight years guarding Impel Down, he was also familiar with the quirks of the surveillance Den Den Mushi.
All that remained was to follow the arrow and swim.
Over the past eight years, in addition to the first four members of the Fish-Man Race, Impel Down had taken in another dozen or so Fish-Men. None of them were particularly strong, and they had only helped Figo raise 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 far beyond that of any Fish-Man child.
His powerful physique sent his arms churning like propellers. He sped through the water like a motorboat, leaving Marine Headquarters' lights behind in less than five minutes!
He continued closing in on his destination.
Meanwhile, along the Calm Belt route from the Sabaody Archipelago to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, a lavishly decorated ship blazed with lights. On board, the Celestial Dragon Saint Cassilia was in a foul mood.
In nearly sixty years of life, he had never been so humiliated or insulted as he had been today.
Those filthy pirates had dared to attack him—and had almost injured his noble body. The bubble helmet he usually wore had even been damaged, forcing him to breathe the filthy air of ordinary people. The disgust had lingered ever since, so much so that he hadn't been able to eat dinner.
Worse still, more than half of the beloved slaves he had collected over the decades were dead or injured. Even the slaves who usually served as footrests and cushions for his backside had died. The one he was sitting on now was trembling slightly the whole time. It was terribly uncomfortable!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Cassilia unsheathed the ornate sword at his waist and slashed the slave beneath him.
A streak of blood appeared. The slave trembled even harder, but didn't dare scream—or risk making Saint Cassilia fall off.
That would mean certain death.
Unlike the slave beneath him, a stifled scream came from the other side of the cabin.
Saint Cassilia's gaze snapped toward the sound. He snorted, tossed aside his bloodstained sword, picked up the Fire Pistol resting nearby, and headed over.
It was his private cell, where he punished disobedient slaves. At that moment, a burly Fish-Man slave was suspended by chains from all four limbs, his body covered in wounds as another slave whipped him.
"You lowly Fish-Man! How dare you make a sound?!" At his arrival, the slave who had been whipping the Fish-Man stepped back. Saint Cassilia aimed the Fire Pistol at the Fish-Man.
The Fish-Man was terribly weak. He saw Cassilia's lips moving and murmured, "S-Saint Cassilia, my... my brothers..."
Bang!
The Fire Pistol roared. A bloody hole appeared in the Fish-Man's arm.
He couldn't draw another breath and passed out, only to be jolted awake by the next few shots.
"Useless! Those filthy pirates knocked you out in an instant, and now you dare make demands of the great Creator?!"
"I... blocked... saved..."
It was true. If not for the Fish-Man, today's surprise attack might have done more than crack his bubble helmet. That only made Saint Cassilia angrier. His face twisted as he pointed the Fire Pistol straight at the Fish-Man's head.
Just then, a heavy thud sounded behind him.
"Hm?" Saint Cassilia turned around and saw a muscular upper body, its clothes soaked and clinging tightly to it. He looked up in surprise.
"Who are you?" Even as he looked up, Saint Cassilia's face remained haughty. He snorted and pointed his gun at Figo. "I don't remember having a slave like you. Who told you to suddenly appear behind me? Get lost!"
Bang!
Flames burst from the Fire Pistol!
The bullet struck Figo squarely in the body and bounced off with a sharp crack.
"What?!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Smack!
As the four bullets bounced away, Figo swung his hand and shattered the glass helmet on Saint Cassilia's head, then struck him in the face!
The fat, piglike face contorted. Broken teeth and bloody spittle flew as his clumsy body shot into the air, spinning through more than a thousand degrees before crashing down!
With a pained groan, Saint Cassilia writhed across the deck. Trembling, he pointed at Figo. "You lowly commoner..."
Crack—Figo snapped his finger.
"Ah!!"
A piercing scream rang across the ship, but nobody came to investigate. Every slave aboard had already fallen unconscious without a sound!
Saint Cassilia's body twitched. At last, his eyes rolled back and he passed out. Only the Fish-Man hanging in chains remained conscious. The sight before him jolted his hazy mind into clarity. He stared wide-eyed at Figo. "You... you're... how could you be... from Impel Down..."
"Agai." Figo hadn't expected the Celestial Dragon's ship to have such weak defenses—or to find him here.
The first Fish-Man captured and sent to Impel Down, the one who had helped awaken Figo's Fish-Man Power! After being taken away from Impel Down, he hadn't been executed. He had become a Celestial Dragon's slave instead?
'Damn Celestial Dragons! Those damn Celestial Dragons took my brothers and made them slaves for no reason!' Figo remembered Agai's roar. He glanced at the slave mark on Agai's body, went outside, found a set of keys on a slave by the cell door, and freed Agai from his chains.
The Fish-Man's four limbs were useless, and he slumped to the ground, still staring at Figo in shock. "Why... how could you..." Was this a dream?
Figo didn't explain. Instead, he went over, picked up Saint Cassilia, and hung his limbs from the chains.
The Prison Archives appeared in his mind.
[Prisoner: Van Bichi Cassilia] [Level: N2] [Status: Incarcerated] [Crime Index: 2699] [Capture Participation: 100%] [Reward: Swordsmanship +5398 → 15284 (Level 4 Swordsman)]
At first, Figo thought he must have misread it.
He checked again several times before he was sure.
What in the world had Saint Cassilia done to have a Crime Index more than twenty times higher than the Worry Demon, that pure villain who loved manipulating people?!
Figo slowly turned to look toward the Holy Land.
So that was the greatest treasure of all? A treasure even greater than Impel Down, where a whole group of 'Pirate Emperors' lived, each one utterly defenseless!
Unfortunately, this treasure was extremely hard to claim...
The Fish-Man, sprawled on the ground, finally realized this wasn't a dream. He mustered a pleading look. "My... my brothers..."
"You became his slave willingly for your brothers' sake. Do you want me to look into what happened to them?" Figo asked.
The Fish-Man nodded with difficulty.
"Don't bother. They're all dead."
The moment he saw Agai, Figo had hurriedly searched the Prison Archives. He had found the Fish-Man Pappas, as well as the three Fish-Men he had captured after their attack on Impel Down.
Every one of them had the status: "Deceased"!
The light instantly faded from Agai's fish eyes. He had long suspected this was what had happened. He just hadn't been willing to believe it.
Figo picked up the whip beside him.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"Ah!"
Saint Cassilia screamed awake, then screamed himself unconscious again. Figo didn't waste time talking to him or give him a chance to beg for mercy. Of course, an arrogant, ignorant Celestial Dragon was more likely to threaten him instead.
After eight years in Impel Down, Figo knew how to use a whip. He knew exactly how much force and what angle to use for each moment, each physique, each wound, each level of endurance.
Just like when he tortured the villains of Impel Down.
Five minutes. Ten minutes.
The Celestial Dragon woke in agony, then passed out from the pain again. Gradually, not a single patch of uninjured skin remained. Snot, tears, and even filthier substances streamed down his body!
At last, he was whipped to death!
That was still letting him off easy, but Figo didn't want to subject him to even more brutal torture, nor did he want to linger here and risk complications.
Jellal's Character Event was complete.
Figo tossed aside the whip and looked at Agai, uncertain.
During those ten minutes of rest, Agai seemed to have regained a little strength. His face was ashen, but his words were coherent again. It was as if he were rallying for one last moment.
"Don't pity me, human. I don't know why you're here or why you killed a Celestial Dragon, but you have to eliminate every witness."
"I've lost everything. There's nothing left to fear. I'm grateful that I could regain my freedom in the last moments of my life."
He turned toward the unconscious slaves outside the cell.
"I'm sure... they feel the same."
"No. I'm thinking about how to frame you all for the Celestial Dragon's death," Figo said. "Help me figure out how?"
"..." Agai froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. "You..."
A minute later, he raised his trembling arms and placed his hands on the slave collar around his neck. Laughing, he strained until the collar broke and came free!
With a rumble, a huge explosion erupted from the slave collar. Flames shot into the sky, setting the entire ship ablaze. Soon, the collars on the other slaves detonated in a chain of explosions, one after another!
Out at sea, Figo watched it all in silence. He waited until the flames had completely broken the ship apart, the Seastone sections had sunk into the depths, and Sea Kings had swum over to devour every trace. Only then did he turn and head back to Marine Headquarters.
The Fish-Man Agai was only Level R9. Figo could kill him with two punches. But tonight, Figo had felt a different kind of strength in him!
"Courage, loyalty, freedom..."
An indescribable feeling stirred within Figo. Before he had even chosen the reward for completing Jellal's Character Event, another ability had appeared on the list without him realizing it!
Conqueror's Haki: 27
Level 1, Conqueror's Haki Sprout!
That's another 5,000 words. Since new books need to be placed in recommendation slots, I can only manage two updates. I'll do my best to make each chapter longer and pack in more substance. Thanks for your understanding and support. Please keep reading, vote, and give Figo's character card some likes. If you're able to tip, please send it to the character too, and help boost the character's star rating!
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