Fish-Man Power

There were many strange and unusual races among pirates.

The Fish-Man Race was one of the more numerous and common races. Fish-Men were born with physiques humans lacked, and they could swim freely through the sea.

This was also the first time Impel Down had accepted a prisoner from a race other than humans.

But it made little difference.

Under the baptism of boiling water, the Fish-Man Race couldn't withstand it any better. They obediently turned into boiled fish.

This unknown Fish-Man already had numerous crisscrossing wounds on his body. He must have fought fiercely when he was captured. During the baptism, all his wounds had split open, nearly turning the entire pot of water red. Even with his sturdy body, he was just as unconscious, head lolling, when they fished him out.

Figo found an oversized prison uniform and put it on the Fish-Man. After completing the handover with the transport ship, he casually carried him away from the offshore platform.

He felt a little excited. A Fish-Man, huh? I wonder if Fish-Man Karate will appear in my Prison Archives—and whether I'll be able to master it.

Speak of the devil. Just as he was bouncing down the stairs, the Fish-Man he carried quietly cracked open his eyes. His blue hand, pressed close to Figo's body, clenched into a fist!

Fish-Man Karate—Strike Water!

The droplets left over from the baptism turned into powerful water bullets as he swung his hand!

But before he could strike, Figo's hand suddenly loosened its grip on the Fish-Man's collar. The Fish-Man instantly lost his balance, and his charged attack hit the ceiling.

A look of alarm appeared on his fishy face. The next instant, the hilt of a blade struck him, distorting his features!

His mouth twisted sideways, and saliva and blood sprayed everywhere!

The Fish-Man tumbled rapidly down the stairs from the first floor, falling dozens of steps. All his wounds split open again. He twitched and struggled at the bottom of the stairs, too weak to get back up.

Figo hung his blade back at his waist and looked up at the damage the water bullets had done to the ceiling.

Prisoners on the Third Level and Level 4 generally had strong enough bodies that boiling water couldn't seriously injure them.

Things like this had happened to Figo more than a dozen times in the past year, so he was used to them. This attack had just been a little more powerful than usual.

"Didn't he choke on water because he's a Fish-Man?"

Having figured out the reason, he walked down and picked the Fish-Man up again. As he did, he nodded at the Den Den Mushi monitoring the corner to show that everything was fine.

"Don't ask for trouble, Fathead."

What Fathead...? The Fish-Man's rapidly swelling half-face wore a fish-eyed glare full of viciousness, but the blood loss was already making him weak.

All he could do was stare at Figo's handsome face and curse bitterly. "Damn Marines!"

"Celestial Dragons' lapdog!"

That was standard procedure. Figo had heard every kind of vulgar abuse from prisoners, and it was all water off a duck's back. After spending some time in Impel Down, prisoners learned to keep their heads down and behave.

But this time, Fathead's insults were a little different. It was the first time since Figo had crossed over that he'd heard the term Celestial Dragons. He looked down and asked:

"What did the Celestial Dragons do to you?"

Perhaps sensing that Figo wasn't showing enough respect in his tone, Fathead actually answered. "Those bastards took my brother... They took my brother and made him a slave for no reason!"

That's all? Nothing new.

Figo felt disappointed and paid him no more attention.

But Fathead was enraged by his indifference and began to struggle. "Damn it! Lapdog!"

"Let me go!"

"I'm going to kill you!!"

He was so noisy that Figo had no choice but to keep him away from his ears and drag him along the ground instead.

As they went downstairs, the clanking of chains and the thuds of the Fish-Man's head against the steps drowned out his cursing.

By the time they reached Level 4, Figo looked down to find that Fathead had truly passed out.

He found an empty cell and tossed him inside.

All done.

Figo began looking forward to the reward for locking him up.

The stronger the pirate, the slower the Prison Archives recorded their information after they were imprisoned. Figo waited nearly half a minute before the nameless blue book unfolded in his mind again.

[Prisoner: Agai]

[Level: R9]

[Status: Incarcerated]

[Crime Index: 27]

[Capture Participation: 5%]

[Available Rewards: Shipwright, Brewing, Fish-Man Power (Rare)]

"Crime Index: 27." Figo had been prepared for this. He'd seen plenty of cases like it.

Prisoners who were brought in would sob about how wronged and miserable they were, moving anyone who heard them to tears. At first, Figo had even sympathized with one or two, thinking they'd been falsely accused.

But when he later checked their files, he learned his lesson. Now he didn't believe anything except the Crime Index in his Prison Archives. That was the one thing that had never been wrong!

"But Fish-Man Power... Rare?"

This was his first time imprisoning a Fish-Man, so it wasn't surprising that he'd never seen an ability clearly exclusive to the Fish-Man Race. But in the past year, he'd never seen the word "Rare" appended to an ability.

Unlike with N-class prisoners, the rewards for imprisoning an R-class prisoner offered a random choice of three.

The other two abilities Agai the Fish-Man had brought with him, Shipwright and Brewing, only made Figo marvel at how versatile he was. Given the choice, Figo naturally picked the Fish-Man Power marked "Rare"!

Even though Figo didn't yet know what it did.

[Reward: Fish-Man Power (Rare) +35 → 35 (Level 1 Fish-Man Cub)]

As soon as he received the reward, Figo immediately felt as if something had changed in him. He clenched his fist, then loosened it again in confusion. "I don't think my strength increased?"

"The level name is Fish-Man Cub..."

He thought it over quietly. "An ability related to Fish-Men... When the supply ship arrives in a few days, should I jump into the sea and try swimming around?"

Meanwhile, on the Sabaody Archipelago.

In District 17, a Fish-Man who was wrapped up from head to toe suddenly shoved open the door of an abandoned house.

Two other Fish-Men were inside. Both had bandages wrapped around them, and the sound of the door opening startled them.

"Pappas? How did it go?"

"Any news? Where did those damn Marines take Boss Agai?"

"Is Boss Agai all right?"

The hooded Fish-Man, Pappas, took off his cloak and nodded. "He's safe for now. The Marines didn't execute Boss Agai on the spot. They'll probably send him to Impel Down!"

"Impel Down?"

"What kind of place is that?"

"An underwater prison," Pappas replied. "It was probably established about a year ago. It isn't well known, but several Great Pirates with bounties over a hundred million have been captured and escorted there by the Marines over the past year. Boss Agai will definitely be sent there too!"

"An underwater prison?"

"Underwater?"

The two Fish-Men exchanged a glance, itching to act.

"Do you know exactly where it is?"

Pappas said, "In the Calm Belt, not far from Marine Headquarters. It'll be dangerous."

The Calm Belt... Though Fish-Men could swim freely through the sea, an underwater prison was actually an advantageous place for them. But the giant Sea Kings in the Calm Belt didn't recognize them as kin.

"Boss Agai was captured by the Marines because of us. We have to save him!" one Fish-Man said through gritted teeth. "If you're afraid to die, I'm not!"

"Of course we have to save him!" Pappas said. "But you're injured. We should wait a couple of days for you to recover, then go once we've thought of a plan! The Marines are searching for us all over the island right now, too. Do you want Boss Agai's sacrifice to have been for nothing?!"

"...A plan?"

"The Calm Belt... Damn the Marines for relying on their technology to sail safely through it..."

One Fish-Man suddenly exclaimed, "What if we follow behind a Marine ship...?"

The eyes of all three Fish-Men lit up.

That plan was at least a hundred times more feasible than recklessly swimming straight there!