Back Like He'd Never Left

Impel Down, Level 0 platform.

"He's here! I can see the ship!"

"Is Warden Figo on board?"

"I can't see clearly..."

"No, we can't call him Warden anymore. We have to call him Director!"

"That's right. Speaking of which, what rank is a Director? If Impel Down becomes independent of Marine Headquarters and comes directly under the World Government, does that make the Director equivalent to the Fleet Admiral?"

"Huh, can it work like that?"

"Director Figo is amazing!"

The jailers waiting to welcome Figo chattered excitedly among themselves. But people's joys and sorrows were not shared. Kinch stood in a corner with a slight scowl, finding them nothing but noisy.

Figo had kept him under his thumb for a full seven years before leaving. Kinch had only been in charge for a month!

What happened to transferring him out of Impel Down?

So that was it—Figo had played him, letting him enjoy becoming Warden, only to come back from a month of vacation with a brand-new Director position.

He was still one rank above Kinch. So wasn't Kinch's promotion just as good as no promotion at all?!

As Kinch fumed silently, the jailers erupted into even louder cheers. The warship was drawing near, and they could clearly see Figo on deck.

The jailers who had cried as they saw Figo off a month ago were once again shedding exaggerated tears.

Seeing them, Figo didn't wait for the ship to reach the Level 0 dock. He sprang high into the air, then lightly tapped his feet against empty space as he descended. A sharp crack rang out, and he shot back upward against gravity. After repeating the move several times, he used Geppo, one of the Six Powers, to "fly" onto the platform.

"Everyone, long time no see!"

"Waaah, Lord Figo!"

"So cool!"

"We've missed you so much... We thought we wouldn't see you for years..."

"You must have missed us too..."

"I did miss you all, so I came back." Figo laughed, then waved to Kinch. "Old Jin, have the ones on Levels 5 and 6 been behaving while I was gone?"

O-Old Jin?

After a month apart, why had this guy started calling him such a lousy nickname?

Kinch froze. A jailer with no tact promptly answered for him. "Lord Kinch definitely can't handle them. We haven't seen exactly what's going on, but lately he's been taking out his frustration on the stone weights in the Training Area!"

"He can't even catch a Sea King..."

"Yeah, he's no good at all..."

You're the ones who can't handle anything, you bunch of idiots! Your whole families are useless! Kinch's face darkened further. It was true he hadn't been as effective as Figo at keeping the Level 5 and 6 criminals in line, but that was only because he'd been in charge for such a short time! How could a short stint mean he was no good?

As for catching a Sea King...

He just didn't like eating them!

"Don't worry, boys. The water's heated, right? Tell the kitchen to get ready too. We'll give our new prisoner the usual baptism in a moment. Then I'll take Old Jin down to the lower levels for a round, and we'll go catch a big one for everyone to eat. We're having a banquet!"

"Oh!" The cheers rang out.

When they had quieted down, Figo gestured toward the approaching warship. "The fellow we're bringing in this time is no ordinary prisoner. He's a pirate with a bounty of 640 million Berry: Laughing Jellal, one of the greatest pirates on the seas, and the possessor of the legendary Conqueror's Haki. Don't let him scare you!"

"He won't!"

"With Lord Figo here, even a pirate with a billion Berry bounty is no problem!"

He was really laying it on thick, Kinch thought. Figo was certainly stronger than him, but Laughing Jellal had been famous across the seas even before Kinch came to Impel Down. Kinch didn't believe Figo could intimidate him.

A billion?

A pirate with a billion Berry bounty could wipe out all of Impel Down!

Before long, Jellal was brought down from the ship, and the jailers crowded around to inspect him.

"So this is the Great Pirate with a bounty of 640 million Berry? He doesn't look any different from anyone else."

"What a letdown..."

Hmph. Just wait until they remove one layer of his restraints and give him the baptism. Then they'd see what made him different. Unlike the jailers, Kinch tensed up the moment he laid eyes on Jellal, like a bristling cat.

Then he watched as Jellal obediently—almost meekly—let Figo strip him, hang him from a pole, and toss him into the boiling water.

"Eh, he's a Great Pirate? He's not even as fierce as the guys on Level 1..."

"He doesn't even have anything extra..."

"What do you know? None of you know anything! He's obviously been cowed by Lord Figo's presence!"

"Oh, I see!"

"Lord Figo is the strongest!"

"?" A question mark slowly appeared above Kinch's head. Was that really Jellal?

Only when Jellal was hauled out of the water, completely free of burns after being bathed in water at 100 degrees Celsius—having really just taken a bath, and even looking a little cleaner and more handsome—did Kinch have to accept it.

How was that possible? What was he missing?

Lost in self-doubt, Kinch tuned out the jailers' chatter until Figo stood in front of him with Jellal, now dressed in prison clothes, in tow.

"Let's go, Old Jin. What are you thinking about?"

Kinch came to his senses and gave an awkward laugh before following Figo into Impel Down. They opened the special passage for transporting prisoners and headed down. Only after the jailers' noise faded did Kinch regain his ability to think clearly.

"Figo, what's this about Impel Down being placed directly under the World Government? The Fleet Admiral told me over the Den Den Mushi to follow your instructions. So now we..." he asked, getting down to business.

"One reason is him." Figo gestured toward Jellal. "He attacked a Celestial Dragon, which made the Five Elders worry that the slaves around the Celestial Dragons weren't strong enough. So they put Impel Down directly under the World Government, to make it easier to pick suitable, obedient slaves from here."

Jellal stiffened. Fury flared in his eyes, and his chains clinked as he finally showed a trace of the fearsome presence of a Great Pirate.

Kinch glanced at him, a little wary. "Attacked a Celestial Dragon? Did an Admiral go after him personally? No wonder he got caught. So they're choosing slaves for the Celestial Dragons... I knew not everyone taken from Impel Down in the past had been executed. What did the Fleet Admiral say?"

"In a few days, someone will bring me a Den Den Mushi that can connect directly to the Five Elders. From now on, I'll have to take orders directly from them," Figo said. "So the question isn't what the Fleet Admiral says. It's what we do."

Kinch studied Figo's expression.

"I'll always be a Marine."

"Funny, so will I."

The two reached an understanding. Then Figo added, "Oh, right. Someone from the World Government will probably arrive with the Den Den Mushi in a few days. They'll be a Deputy Director. I wonder who it'll be."

Kinch's face darkened again.

So it wasn't just Figo coming back to lord it over him—there'd be a Deputy Director too?!

"Old Jin, if I were you, I wouldn't accept it either. We've both spent eight years in Impel Down. Why should he get to be Deputy Director instead of you?" Figo said with a grin.

Kinch clenched his fist and snorted. "If he's stronger than me, then fine. Otherwise..."

As they spoke, they reached Level 6.

This place, buried in the deepest part of the sea, held only a dozen or so vicious Great Pirates. It was terrifyingly quiet. As Jellal's chains scraped and clinked, pairs of deep-set eyes lit up inside the cells. When they saw Figo, they all shuddered. That bastard... Why was he back?

And that was...

"Mad Dog Jellal?"

"You got caught too?"

Jellal ignored his old acquaintances.

Figo looked them over one by one. "How'd you all get so gaunt in just a month? Old Jin, have you been starving them?"

"Only for five days," Kinch said. "Apparently that wasn't enough. They still have the strength to talk, so we could starve them for another five."

In an instant, vicious, murderous glares converged on Kinch. Figo waved a hand. "We'll starve them next time. I've been promoted to Director, so we should all celebrate. After the banquet, we'll send down the leftover Sea King meat and let everyone have a proper meal!"

Kinch froze. Was that really a good idea?

To his surprise, the vicious criminals in the cells all looked both furious and alarmed. Someone yanked on his chains and shouted, "You bastard, what are you planning now?!"

Starving them hadn't broken them, but the offer of meat terrified them. Kinch was utterly confused.

These Great Pirates were all nuts.

Figo shook his head helplessly. Then he felt a gaze full of deep malice and turned toward it. He smiled. "Worry Demon, how'd you turn into a spider? Haven't your bones healed yet? Don't let them grow crooked. I'll set them straight for you in a couple of days."

Worry Demon, who had arrived at Impel Down ahead of him, lay sprawled limply on the ground and shut his eyes in bitter resentment.

With the criminals' stares on them, they reached the depths of Level 6 and put Jellal in an empty cell, binding him with the chains inside.

"Let's go, Old Jin. Good to see everyone's doing well. We'll take a look around Level 5 too."

"Wait, Marine." Jellal finally couldn't hold back. "I... I'm asking you..."

"Relax. I'm a Marine, not one of you pirates and criminals." Without turning around, Figo waved a hand. "Make yourself at home in Impel Down. I'll get you special meals—rice and meat every time. You'll fall in love with this place before long."

Jellal let out a breath of relief.

The criminals on Level 6 grew even more wary. Even Mad Dog Jellal... Damn it! That lunatic had only been gone a month. How was he back already?!

Level 5 held far more prisoners than Level 6, nearly a hundred. When they discovered that Figo had returned to Impel Down after a month away, they reacted in all sorts of ways.

Some went pale and cowered in the corner, afraid Figo would notice them.

Some stared at him, filled with rage.

Others weren't afraid to die and refused to back down, hurling insult after insult.

"The guys on Level 6 are all too good at reading the room. Level 5 has more life in it—some of these idiots have no sense at all," Figo remarked to Kinch, then found an acquaintance in one of the cells.

The Nun had changed into prison clothes. Even after her baptism, her fair, smooth face was unmarked, and she was still beautiful. But her future was bleak, and she looked at Figo by turns with hatred and confusion.

Figo asked her, "Want a cigarette?"

The Nun moved slightly. "I do."

"Hah, I told you smoking was forbidden in Impel Down, and you still want one?" Figo's brows drew together sharply. "Old Jin, starve her for a week!"

The Nun: "...?"

The noise on Level 5 stopped in an instant.

Here it comes! That lunatic is back!

Human traffickers deserved to die. Having found an excuse to punish the Nun, Figo felt better. Wearing a smile, he continued down the long corridors with Kinch, under the watchful eyes of the criminals.

At ease, as if he were home.

Or like a King inspecting his domain.

Kinch watched the criminals' reactions and thought back to how they'd acted when he'd walked past them over the last month. He sighed inwardly... It really was different.