The skies outside Impel Down were clear.
Sunlight spilled across the Calm Belt beyond the offshore platform, refracting into dazzling light.
Suddenly, a massive shadow rose from the seabed, drawing closer to the surface and spreading over a hundred-meter radius. With a thunderous crash, an octopus-like Sea Monster burst through the water and slammed onto the Level 0 platform of Impel Down!
The Sea Monster lay sprawled limply across the platform, standing over thirty meters tall. Its tentacles stretched out more than a hundred meters!
Yet the dozen or so jailers waiting at the platform's edge weren't the least bit alarmed. Once the spray from the Sea Monster had settled, they even moved closer.
"So big!"
"Is this lunch and dinner?"
"Looks delicious..."
"Vice Warden, thanks for the effort!"
At the platform's edge, Figo had leaped onto the platform after the octopus. Bare-chested, he was wiping away the water with a towel a jailer had handed him. Hearing their words, he gave them an OK sign.
Time flew by, and the years slipped away.
In the blink of an eye, nearly five more years had passed.
Figo had been promoted again three years ago, earning the position of Vice Warden, which he still held.
The past five years hadn't changed him much. His face had only grown slightly more mature, and his build was much the same.
The biggest change was his height!
When he'd first crossed over, he'd been 1.8 meters tall—not bad by modern standards, but a little short in the world of pirates.
That was no longer a problem. As his physical strength grew, Figo seemed to go through a second growth spurt between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-six, shooting up rapidly.
Now he stood an impressive 2.5 meters tall!
He handed the damp towel to a jailer who had to look up at him, then took a cutlass from another jailer. "Everyone, stand back!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
A few flashes of silver streaked through the air.
The massive Sea Monster was cut to pieces!
The jailers moved with practiced ease, hauling over the chunks of Sea Monster, draining their blood, and preparing them for cooking.
"Figo, you took a little longer to get back this time." Seizer's voice came from the side as he stepped onto the platform. He had been promoted to Warden.
"Can't help it. Sea Kings of a suitable size are getting harder and harder to find. I had to swim a long way before I ran into this one," Figo explained helplessly.
Seizer was even more helpless. "Sea Kings are one of Impel Down's lines of defense, after all. If you keep giving everyone a feast every day, that defense is going to collapse completely!"
For nearly two years now, Figo had brought back a Sea King every day.
The Sea Kings within fifty miles of Impel Down were nearly extinct, and no new ones were willing to settle in the area.
That was definitely Figo's fault.
He gave an embarrassed smile. "There's only a month left, anyway. Once I leave, the Sea Kings around here will slowly come back."
"Are you sure you're leaving?" Seizer asked.
Figo nodded. "Yeah. I've been in Impel Down for almost six years now. I want to get out and see the world."
"Ah..." Seizer sighed. "Who hasn't been here six years? I'm thinking of transferring out too, but Kinch is still one point short. He can be a Vice Warden, but he probably isn't ready to take over as Warden. Ideally, they'd transfer another Vice Admiral from Marine Headquarters, but the Vice Admirals there all have their own assignments..."
"We just need to submit our transfer requests," Figo said. "The Fleet Admiral and the World Government should be able to make suitable arrangements for Impel Down."
"I hope so." Seizer nodded, then changed the subject. "But we still have a month left in our terms. Let's finish our work properly."
"Hmm? Is there a new assignment?"
Seizer nodded. "I just got a call from the Fleet Admiral. There's been some unrest on the seas in recent days. One of the dominant pirate forces, the Giant Warrior Pirates, is on the verge of breaking apart. Their two leaders, Red Ogre Brogy and Blue Ogre Dorry, have suddenly disappeared."
Red Ogre Brogy? Blue Ogre Dorry?
The two somewhat familiar names made Figo's mind reel. Weren't they the two legendary Giant warriors—the strongest Giants—whom Luffy would encounter in Little Garden in the East Blue, not long after setting sail?
Six years after crossing over, Figo had finally heard something related to the events of the anime!
Those two Giants had fought in Little Garden for a full hundred years... In other words, the story of the Pirate King was set to begin exactly a hundred years from now?
So I'll be about 126 when Luffy sets sail? That's a long way off...
Seizer continued his explanation. "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 and find a way to dismantle the Giant Warrior Pirates while he's at it—or at least capture a few Giants!
"So next, we'll need to organize the jailers to widen some of Impel Down's passages and make a few more cells on Levels 4, 5, and 6 that can hold Giants."
"I see. Understood."
The passages were widened, and the cells renovated.
More than twenty days passed in the blink of an eye. The renovations for holding Giants were complete, and Marine Headquarters hadn't let Impel Down go to all that trouble for nothing: an imprisoned Giant pirate was delivered by transport ship.
The Giant wasn't strong and was only fit for Level 4, but Impel Down gave him a proper welcome. Figo and Seizer, both Wardens, came to meet the ship together.
That wasn't all. Kinch, who had finally been promoted to Jailer Chief, an unnamed Vice Jailer Chief, and even three Captains were there, along with half the jailers.
There were no Giant Marines yet in this era, so Giants were something of a novelty to everyone.
Before long, the Giant was brought in, and naturally, everyone's first impression was: He was huge!
His body and features were much like an ordinary human's, but he was an enormous version of one!
There were plenty of pirates who stood three or even four meters tall—"freaks" by human standards—but compared to a Giant, they were just children! Generally speaking, the larger a Giant was, the stronger he was. Even this nobody among the Giants stood over twelve meters tall!
After growing to 2.5 meters, Figo was reminded for the first time in ages just how small he was.
He had to jump just to kick the Giant in the knee.
Still, despite his size, the Giant wasn't strong.
A nobody among the Giants couldn't possibly be stronger than Seizer or Figo, powerful humans by any measure, so he was fairly easy to handle.
They could skip the ceremonial wash. There wasn't a pot big enough.
They had prepared a prison uniform in advance, though.
They rinsed him with hot water and helped him put it on.
The first Giant prisoner in Impel Down was successfully locked up in the Level 4 cells.
About half a minute later, the Prison Archives in Figo's mind automatically opened again. A blank page turned, the Giant's image was imprinted on it, and text appeared below.
[Prisoner: Pete] [Level: R8] [Status: Imprisoned] [Crime Index: 17] [Capture Participation: 3%] [Available Rewards: Giant Power (Rare), Giant Axe, Shipwright]
Figo silently thought, just as he'd expected.
Capturing a Fish-Man had earned him Fish-Man Power.
Naturally, capturing a Giant earned him Giant Power!
Fish-Man Power let him swim through the sea like a Fish-Man. What would Giant Power do?
Make Figo bigger?
Increase his strength?
Figo selected Giant Power!
[Reward: Giant Power (Rare) +14 → 14 (Level 1 Giant Infant)]
Just like when he'd selected Fish-Man Power, Figo immediately felt as if something had been added to him...
No, more like something had been taken away?
It was as if some kind of constraint had dissolved. Figo felt a little lighter.
With his keen awareness of every muscle in his body, Figo could tell that his strength had increased a little. Compared to his current physique, though, it was an almost imperceptible amount.
That probably wasn't the real change.
Where was that feeling of lightness coming from?
Had he escaped the limitations of an ordinary person's height?
Figo wasn't particularly eager to grow into a Giant.
"Giants, the Giant race..."
Figo pondered. Apart from their size, what else was different about Giants and ordinary humans?
As he thought, his mind drifted to Red Ogre and Blue Ogre, who should already be fighting in Little Garden, and the story of the Pirate King, when Luffy would set sail and encounter the two legendary Giants...
Huh?
Those two Giants had been fighting for a full hundred years, but they still seemed to be in their prime!
Figo's heart suddenly jolted!
The Giant race lived for 350 years!
Before you continue