Like Going Home

Impel Down, Level 0 platform.

"They're here, they're here, I see the ship!"

"Is Warden Figo on board?"

"Can't tell..."

"No, we can't call him Warden anymore, it's Director now!"

"Right, right. Speaking of which, what rank is Director? If Impel Down splits from Marine Headquarters and goes directly under the World Government, does that make the Director equivalent to the Fleet Admiral?"

"Ah, can it be like that?"

"Director Figo is amazing!"

The jailers waiting to welcome Figo chattered away, lively and loud, but the joys and sorrows of men do not connect. Kinch stood slightly dark-faced in the corner, finding only their noise.

Figo had weighed on him for seven full years before leaving, and he'd only been in charge for a single month!

Wasn't he supposed to be transferred away from Impel Down?

Oh, playing me—letting me happily take the post of Warden, then you go on a month-long vacation and come back with a newly added Director position.

Still one rank above me, so what was the point of my promotion?!

As he fumed inwardly, a bigger cheer erupted among the jailers, clearly because the warship had drawn close enough to make out Figo on the deck.

The jailers who had tearfully sent Figo off a month ago once again shed exaggerated tears.

Seeing this from the warship, Figo didn't wait for it to dock at the Level 0 pier. He leaped high from the ship, lightly stepped on empty air mid-fall with a sharp crack, then defied gravity to rise again. Repeating this a few times, he "flew" onto the platform using Geppo from the Six Powers.

"Everyone, long time no see."

"Wahhh, Lord Figo!"

"So cool!"

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

"You must have missed us too..."

"I really did miss you all, so I came back." Figo laughed heartily, then waved at Kinch. "Old Jin, in the month I was gone, have those bastards on Levels Five and Six been behaving?"

Old... Old Jin?

A month apart, and this guy gives me such a crappy nickname.

Kinch froze, and a blunt jailer immediately answered, "Lord Kinch definitely can't handle it! We didn't see the details, but he's always taking his anger out on the training area stone pillars!"

"Can't even catch a single Sea King..."

"Yeah, totally useless..."

You bastards are the useless ones, your whole families are useless! Kinch's face darkened further. His intimidation effect on the scum of Levels Five and Six was indeed weaker than Figo's, but that was because his tenure was too short! How can you call it useless just because the time was short?

As for catching Sea Kings...

That's because I don't like eating them!

"No worries, little ones. Is the water boiled? Notify the kitchen too. In a bit, we'll baptize the new prisoner, then I'll take Old Jin down to the bottom for a round. After that, I'll go catch something big for everyone to feast on—banquet time!"

"Whoo!" Cheers erupted.

When the noise died down, Figo gestured toward the approaching warship. "This guy they've brought this time is no joke—a pirate with a bounty of 640 million Berry, Laughing Jellal, one of the big names on the seas. He's got the legendary Conqueror's Haki, so don't get scared."

"We won't!"

"With Lord Figo here, even a ten-billion Berry pirate is no problem!"

Bluff, just keep bluffing, Kinch muttered silently. Figo was stronger than him, sure, but he didn't believe Figo could intimidate Laughing Jellal, who had been famous on the seas before Figo even entered Impel Down.

Ten billion?

Ten billion could wipe out Impel Down!

Soon, Jellal was escorted down. The jailers crowded around curiously, sizing him up.

"This is the 640-million Berry great pirate? Doesn't look any different."

"So disappointing..."

Hmph, you'll know the difference when they remove a layer of his shackles and baptize him. Unlike the jailers, the moment Kinch saw Jellal, his muscles tensed slightly, like a big cat bristling its fur.

Then he watched Jellal—obediently, even meekly—let Figo strip him, hang him on a hoist, and drop him into boiling water.

"Eh, this is a great pirate? Not even as fierce as the guys on Level One..."

"Doesn't have anything extra..."

"What do you know? He's obviously crushed by Lord Figo's presence!"

"That's it!"

"Lord Figo is the strongest!"

"?" A slow question mark rose above Kinch's head. This is really Jellal?

When Jellal was pulled out of the water, having undergone a 100-degree boiling baptism without a single burn—truly just a bath, even making him look cleaner and a bit sharper—Kinch had no choice but to confirm it.

"Why the hell not? What am I missing?"

The jailers' chatter was ignored by a self-doubting Kinch, until Figo dragged Jellal, now in prison uniform, to stand before him.

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

Kinch snapped back, gave a dry laugh, and followed Figo into Impel Down. They opened the special transport passage and descended. Only when the jailers' noise faded did he regain his calm reasoning.

"Figo, what's the deal with Impel Down being reassigned to the World Government's direct control? The Fleet Admiral told me on the Den Den Mushi to follow your orders. Now..." he asked about the matter.

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

Jellal froze, fury flaring in his eyes. The chains on his wrists clinked, and he finally let out a hint of the aura befitting a Great Pirate.

Kinch glanced up, slightly wary. "Attacked a Celestial Dragon? Did an Admiral personally deploy? No wonder this guy got caught. Choosing slaves for the Celestial Dragons... So, not all the prisoners taken from Impel Down were executed after all. What did the Fleet Admiral say?"

"In a few days, someone will send me a Den Den Mushi that can contact the Five Elders directly. From then on, I'll have to take orders straight from them." Figo said. "So the point now isn't what the Fleet Admiral says, but what we do."

Kinch studied Figo's expression.

"I'm always a Marine."

"Funny, so am I."

With that understanding reached, Figo suddenly added, "Oh, and along with the Den Den Mushi in a few days, there'll probably be a Deputy Director under the World Government coming too. No idea who."

Kinch's face darkened again.

So not only was Figo back over him, but there'd be a Deputy Director too?!

"Old Jin, if I were you, I wouldn't take that lying down. We've both been in Impel Down for eight years. Why should he get to be Deputy Director instead of you getting promoted?" Figo grinned.

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

As they spoke, they reached Level 6 of Impel Down.

Located at the deepest part of the ocean, it held only a dozen or so vicious Great Pirates, eerily silent. As Jellal's chains scraped, pairs of deep, watchful eyes lit up from the depths of each cell. They all flinched at the sight of Figo. That bastard... why was he back?

And that was...

"Mad Dog Jellal?"

"You actually got caught too?"

Jellal ignored his old acquaintances.

Figo, meanwhile, looked them over one by one. "What's this? Only a month since I saw you, and you're all skin and bones. Old Jin, how many days have you starved them?"

Kinch said, "Just five. Looks like it's not enough—they've still got the strength to talk. Another five days of hunger wouldn't hurt."

Instantly, a barrage of murderous glares converged on Kinch. Figo waved a hand. "Skip the hunger for now. I've been promoted to Warden, so we should all celebrate. After the banquet, I'll have the leftover Sea King meat sent down. Everyone gets a full meal!"

Kinch froze. Was that a good idea?

To his surprise, the vicious inmates in their cells all looked shocked and furious. One yanked at his chains and roared, "You bastard, what are you up to now?!"

Starvation hadn't broken them, but the offer of meat terrified them. Kinch was baffled.

These Great Pirates were all crazy.

Figo shook his head helplessly, then felt a deeply hostile gaze. He turned and laughed. "Worry Demon, what are you, a spider? Bones still not healed? Grow them back straight—don't let them warp. I'll fix you up in a couple of days."

The Worry Demon, who had arrived at Impel Down earlier, lay limp on the ground, closing his eyes in hatred.

Under the watchful eyes of the assembled villains, they reached the deepest part of Level 6, shoved Jellal into an empty cell, and bound him with the chains inside.

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

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

"Relax. I'm a Marine, not some pirate or scumbag like you." Figo waved without looking back. "Make yourself at home in Impel Down. I'll give you special treatment—rice and meat every meal. You'll love it here soon."

Jellal let out a relieved sigh.

The inmates of Level 6 grew even more wary. Even Mad Dog Jellal was... Damn it! That madman had only been gone a month, and now he was back!

Level 5 of Impel Down held far more prisoners than Level 6—nearly a hundred. When they realized Figo had returned after a month's absence, their reactions varied.

Some paled and shrank into corners, hoping not to catch his eye.

Others glared with burning rage.

And there were those who refused to yield, no matter the cost, hurling curses one after another.

"The guys on Level 6 know how to read the room. Level 5's got more spirit, even if some are thick-headed." Figo said to Kinch, then spotted an acquaintance in one of the cells.

The Nun had changed into prison clothes. After her baptism, her fair, smooth face was still unblemished, still beautiful. But her future was bleak, and her gaze at Figo alternated between hatred and confusion.

Figo asked her, "Want a smoke?"

The Nun stirred. "Yes."

"Heh, I told you Impel Down's a smoke-free zone, and you still want one?" Figo's brow furrowed sharply. "Old Jin, starve her for a week!"

The Nun: "...?"

The commotion on Level 5 came to an abrupt halt.

Here it comes! That madman's at it again!

All human traffickers deserve to die. Having found a convenient excuse to punish the Nun, Figo felt a wave of satisfaction. A smile lingering on his lips, he walked on through the long corridor with Kinch, basking in the hostile stares of the thugs.

Relaxed and at ease, as if returning home.

Or like a King surveying his domain.

Kinch watched the thugs' reactions, then thought back to his own experience walking this same path over the past month. He sighed inwardly... It really was different.