Five Years and Giant Power!

Marineford Calendar 1420, Summer.

The skies above Impel Down were clear and cloudless.

Sunlight spilled across the calm waters of the Calm Belt beyond the sea-level platform, refracting into a dazzling brilliance.

Suddenly, a massive shadow rose from the seabed, drawing closer to the surface, blotting out a hundred-meter radius. With a thunderous roar, an octopus-like Sea Monster burst through the waves and crashed onto Level 0 of Impel Down!

The monster lay limp on the platform after its fall, its height exceeding thirty meters. Its tentacles stretched outward, spanning over a hundred meters!

Yet the dozen or so jailers waiting at the platform's edge showed no panic. Once the spray from the monster's impact had fully settled, they moved closer.

"So big!"

"Is this today's lunch and dinner?"

"Looks delicious..."

"Vice Warden, good work!"

At the platform's edge, Figo—who had leaped up right after the octopus—stood bare-chested, wiping off water with a towel handed to him by a jailer. Hearing the comments, he flashed the jailers an OK sign.

Time flowed like water, years passed like a shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, nearly five more years had gone by.

Figo had been promoted again three years ago, securing the position of Vice Warden, and had held it ever since.

The marks five years left on him were not heavy—his face had only matured slightly, and his physique showed little change.

What had changed most was his height!

When he first crossed over, he was fine—1.8 meters was decent by modern standards, but in the world of pirates, it was a bit on the short side.

Not anymore. As his physical strength grew, between ages 21 and 26, Figo seemed to undergo a second growth spurt, his height shooting up rapidly.

Now he stood a towering 2.5 meters tall!

Handing the wet towel to a jailer who looked up at him, and taking a bladed weapon from another, Figo said, "Everyone, stand back!"

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Several silver flashes cut through the air.

The massive Sea Monster was brutally dismembered!

The jailers, well-practiced, hoisted the chunks of monster to drain the blood and perform simple processing.

"Figo, you're a bit late this time," a voice came from the side. Seazer, now promoted to Warden, stepped onto the sea-level platform.

"Can't help it. Sea Kings of the right size are getting harder to find. I swam pretty far this time before I ran into this one," Figo explained helplessly.

Seazer sighed even more helplessly. "Regardless, Sea Kings are part of Impel Down's defenses. If you keep adding them to everyone's meals every day, that defense line will collapse completely!"

For nearly two years, one Sea King a day.

The Sea Kings within fifty li of Impel Down were practically extinct, and no new ones were willing to move in.

This was indeed Figo's fault.

He gave an embarrassed smile. "Anyway, there's only one month left. Once I leave, the Sea Kings nearby will slowly come back."

Seazer: "You're really set on leaving?"

Figo nodded. "Yeah. Almost six years at Impel Down in the blink of an eye. I want to go out and see the world."

"Sigh..." Seazer let out a light sigh. "Who hasn't been here six years? I'm thinking of transferring out too, but Kinch is still a bit short. He can handle Vice Warden, but Warden might be too much. Ideally, we'd get another Vice Admiral from Marine Headquarters, but they all have their own assignments..."

Figo said, "We'll just submit our transfer requests. The Fleet Admiral and the World Government should be able to make suitable arrangements for Impel Down."

"Hope so." Seazer nodded, then changed the subject. "But at least we've got one month left on our terms. Let's finish the last job well."

Figo: "Oh? A new mission?"

Seazer nodded. "I just got a call from the Fleet Admiral. There's been some turbulence on the seas lately. One of the major pirate powers, the Giant Warrior Pirates, is showing signs of breaking apart. The reason is that their two leaders, Red Ogre Brogy and Blue Ogre Dorry, have suddenly disappeared."

Red Ogre Brogy? Blue Ogre Dorry?

Those vaguely familiar names made Figo's mind wander—weren't these the two legendary giants Luffy encountered on Little Garden in the East Sea not long after setting sail? The strongest giants?

Six years since his transmigration, Figo had finally heard something related to the anime plot!

Those two giants had fought on Little Garden for a full hundred years... In other words, it was a full century before the Pirate King's story began?

'So when Luffy sets sail, I'll be about 126? That's far off...'

Seazer continued explaining. "With the two leaders gone, several Great Pirates have set their sights on the Giant Warrior Pirates' territory. The Fleet Admiral plans to get involved, take the chance to dismantle the Giant Warrior Pirates, or at least capture some giants!

So next, we need to organize the jailers to widen and modify certain passages in Impel Down, and add a few cells on Levels 4, 5, and 6 capable of holding giants."

"Is that so? Got it."

Widening passages, modifying cells.

Over twenty days passed, and all the modifications for holding giants were completed. Marine Headquarters didn't let Impel Down's efforts go to waste—a giant pirate was delivered by transport ship.

This giant wasn't strong, only worthy of being locked up on Level 4, but Impel Down showed respect. Figo and Seazer, both Wardens, went to receive the ship together.

Not only that, Kinch, who had finally been promoted to Jailer Chief, was present, along with an unnamed Vice Jailer Chief and even three Captains, and about half of the jailers had come as well.

The main reason was that there were no Giant Marines in this era yet, so the Giant race was quite a novelty for everyone.

Soon, the Giant was delivered, and the first impression it gave everyone was naturally: so big!

Its body structure and appearance were similar to ordinary humans, but it was a super-sized version!

Among pirates, there were plenty of 'freaks' standing three or even four meters tall, but compared to a Giant, they were just children! Generally speaking, the bigger a Giant's body, the stronger they were, but this Giant, a mere grunt, still stood over twelve meters tall!

Figo, who had grown to a height of 2.5 meters, felt small for the first time in a long while.

He would have to jump just to kick the Giant's knee.

However, despite its size, it wasn't strong.

The strength of a Giant grunt couldn't surpass that of Seazer or Figo, who were strong among humans, so it was relatively easy to handle.

As for a bath, that was out of the question—there was no pot big enough.

The prison uniform had been prepared in advance.

They hosed it down with boiling water and slipped it on.

The first Giant prisoner in Impel Down was relatively smoothly locked into Level 4.

About half a minute later, the Prison Archives in Figo's mind automatically unfolded again, flipping to a blank page, branding an image of the Giant, followed by text.

code
[Prisoner: Pete]
[Level: R8]
[Status: Incarcerated]
[Crime Index: 17]
[Capture Participation: 3%]
[Optional Rewards: Giant Power (Rare), Giant Axe, Shipwright]

Figo inwardly exclaimed, just as he expected.

Capturing a Fish-Man gave Fish-Man Power.

Capturing a Giant naturally gave Giant Power!

Fish-Man Power allowed him to swim through the sea like a Fish-Man—what effect would Giant Power have?

Would it make Figo bigger?

Would it increase Figo's strength?

Figo selected: Giant Power!

code
[Reward: Giant Power (Rare) +14 → 14 (Level 1 Giant Cub)]

Just like with Fish-Man Power back then, as soon as he selected Giant Power, Figo immediately felt as if something had been added to him...

No, wait—was it something removed?

It felt like some kind of restriction had been lifted, and Figo sensed his body becoming a bit lighter.

With his keen control over every muscle in his body, Figo could detect a slight increase in his strength, but compared to his current physique, it was just an imperceptible trace.

The change probably wasn't about that.

Where did that lightness come from?

Was it breaking free from the constraints of an ordinary person's height?

Figo certainly didn't want to grow into a Giant.

"Giant... the Giant race..."

Figo's expression turned thoughtful. Besides size, what other differences were there between Giants and ordinary humans?

As he pondered, his thoughts drifted to the Red and Blue Oni, who should have already started their battle on Little Garden, and then to the plot where Luffy would encounter two legendary Giants after setting sail...

Huh?

At that time, the two Giants who had been fighting for a full century were still in their prime, weren't they?

Figo's mind suddenly jolted!

The lifespan of the Giant race was 350 years!