Just as Patrick Redfield had said, Garp was a simple-minded man. People like him tended to be stubborn and single-minded: they did whatever they felt like doing.
Garp was furious. Patrick Redfield had attacked a promising junior right in front of him, and all Garp wanted was to beat the man up.
But when Garp reached the cell and saw Patrick Redfield inside, unable to move and looking utterly dejected, his clenched fist slowly relaxed.
Garp's thoughts were written all over his face. He felt sorry for Patrick Redfield.
But that sympathy cut Patrick Redfield to the quick.
Unlike Shiki, Patrick Redfield wouldn't let his helpless rage show. He simply glared at Garp.
After they stared at each other for a long while, Garp turned and left without saying a word.
After Patrick Redfield's interruption, Garp no longer felt like catching up with the prisoners. He left Infinite Hell with Mosen and Tokikake.
"Mr. Garp, did I just awaken Conqueror's Haki?" Mosen asked, taking the opportunity.
"What do you mean, awaken? You're overthinking it, kid. All that proved was that you have the qualities of a king. You're not powerful enough to awaken Conqueror's Haki yet!"
"Then what does it take to awaken it?"
"Probably beating a pirate with a bounty over 500 million Beli in a head-on fight," Garp replied after a moment's thought.
Mosen's expression stiffened. A pirate with a 500-million-Beli bounty would be worth as much as an Emperor's top officer, even twenty-two years from now.
Inflation hadn't gotten that bad yet, so wouldn't someone with a bounty that high be on par with an Emperor's strongest officers?
Mosen had a pretty good idea of his own strength. At his current level, he couldn't take on the All-Stars or Sweet Commanders, let alone the Flying Six!
"Kid, don't dwell on Conqueror's Haki. Awakening it takes the right opportunity. For now, you'd be better off focusing on improving your strength."
"Mr. Garp's right. Mosen, when you have time, you could ask Michael for advice. He's highly skilled in Finger Pistol and is a swordsman himself. Having him teach you would definitely help you grow," Tokikake said.
"Understood. Thank you both for the advice."
"Right, that's enough for today! I should be heading back. Kid, I'm leaving Michael in your hands."
"Don't worry, Mr. Garp. I promise nothing will happen to Michael."
Garp nodded, then left with Tokikake.
After Garp and Tokikake were gone, Mosen returned to Extreme Cold Hell.
This trip to Infinite Hell had given Mosen a general understanding of its layout, as well as the approximate locations of the surveillance Den Den Mushi.
Once Golden Lion escaped, the entire Impel Down would inevitably fall into chaos. Mosen planned to use that opportunity to accomplish three things: first, obtain Golden Lion's Lineage Factor.
Second, use the chaos to get Mia and the other three out of Impel Down.
Third, lay the groundwork for leaving Impel Down and heading to Marine Headquarters.
But he still needed to think carefully about how to pull it off.
Besides that, Mosen had another concern: he didn't know whether he should tell the group about the Revolutionary Army.
If Garp hadn't come by, Mosen would have planned to come clean with them.
Before Garp showed up, Mosen had thought the Marines had abandoned Michael. Surely Michael couldn't have any good feelings toward them.
But Garp's arrival made Mosen realize that something wasn't right. The Marines hadn't completely abandoned Michael. The faction led by Kong wanted him dead, while Garp and the others wanted to protect him.
The fact that Michael had managed to stay alive and be sent to Impel Down was the result of a power struggle between the two sides.
Strictly speaking, though, Garp's side had still lost. Michael had once been a Marine, and the pirates' little group wouldn't accept him. Without Paddy protecting him, Michael wouldn't have lasted long on his own in the harsh conditions of Extreme Cold Hell.
Sending Michael to Extreme Cold Hell was no different from leaving him there to die.
So Mosen concluded that the person who had mediated between the two sides was on Kong's side. Garp trusted that person, which was why he had been fooled.
Thinking it over, Mosen was fairly sure that Sengoku had been the mediator.
Mosen didn't have much of an opinion of Sengoku, since Sengoku had been the one to suggest the Lineage Factor experiment to him in the first place.
Then, as soon as Mosen had recovered somewhat, he had been assigned to Extreme Cold Hell.
Those two things made it clear that Sengoku didn't want him in the Marines.
And based on Garp's attitude toward him, Mosen suspected that Sengoku's side had reservations about his background.
After all, Mosen's parents had been killed by Celestial Dragons. Anyone could figure out that he must have hated them.
And Celestial Dragons were the World Nobles, whom the Marines were duty-bound to protect.
A Marine clashing with a Celestial Dragon would be a difficult problem for Sengoku to handle.
So Sengoku had simply decided to eliminate Mosen as a potential source of trouble by keeping him away from the Marines.
"Ha! I haven't even made it to Marine Headquarters, and I'm already on my future boss's blacklist. This undercover work is tough," Mosen said with a sigh.
Still, sighing wouldn't change anything. Over the next few days, Mosen subtly probed Michael about how he felt toward the Marines.
Michael's answer was simple: there was no way he would return to the Marines.
Michael knew perfectly well that returning to the Marines would drag Garp down with him. It would also make Garp fall out with Marshal Kong, and might even create divisions within the Marines. It simply wasn't the right thing to do.
So the best choice was not to go back.
From Michael's answer, Mosen understood that Michael still had feelings for the Marines. But he also realized that Michael couldn't return to their ranks.
Now that he had confirmed Michael's stance, Mosen decided to tell them about the Revolutionary Army.
That evening, Mosen didn't train his Observation Haki as usual. Instead, he called the other four over.
Mosen looked extremely serious, and the four of them realized he had something important to tell them. Their expressions grew solemn as well.
"Mia, Paddy, Michael, Ian, we've known each other for a long time. I'm sure you're all good people. You only became pirates because you had no choice, and in the end, you were sent to Impel Down.
"Now I want to give you an opportunity. A chance to leave Impel Down."
As soon as Mosen finished speaking, the four people sitting across from him began breathing faster.
Mia in particular rushed over, grabbing Mosen by the collar in her excitement. "Officer, what do you want me to do? If it means getting out of this hellhole, I'll do anything!"
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