Testing Each Other

Early the next morning, after getting up and eating breakfast, Mosen deliberately walked out of his room carrying a large piece of meat.

The prisoners gathered around his room stared at the meat in Mosen's hands.

"Ugh! The cooks in Impel Down are getting worse and worse! This meat tastes awful!" Mosen said, then tossed the meat away with a disgusted look.

Seeing this, the prisoners rushed toward the meat as one. Mosen stepped back a few paces and secretly summoned a wave of cold, gathering the snow and ice into a barrier. Then he stood to one side, silently observing the prisoners scrambling for the meat.

Roughly half of all the prisoners in Extreme Cold Hell were gathered around his room. About 80% of them were men, 10% were women, and Mosen couldn't easily tell the sex of the remaining 10%.

One-fifth of the male prisoners wore Seastone Handcuffs. Among the women, only two wore them.

Mosen figured that the prisoners wearing Seastone Handcuffs were most likely Devil Fruit users. This was Impel Down's 5th Layer, not its 6th, so it probably wouldn't hold pure Body Technique experts who needed Seastone Handcuffs to restrict their movements.

Mosen then noticed that most of the pirates wearing Seastone Handcuffs weren't left weak and helpless by them.

That meant those prisoners had learned to overcome some of Seastone's effects. It was a little like Luffy after he'd spent some time locked up in Udon Prison.

One female prisoner in particular stood out. She was as round as a ball, yet surprisingly agile. Even with Seastone Handcuffs on, she could easily drive back the male pirates who rushed over to fight her for the meat. Mosen reckoned she was among the strongest pirates there.

"Tsk, tsk~ Officer, are you secretly watching us?" a woman's voice suddenly came from Mosen's right.

Mosen had noticed the woman's arrival long before. He still couldn't use Observation Haki, but he'd just gathered the surrounding snow and ice into a barrier with his cold. He could sense whenever anyone stepped inside it.

He'd been ready to strike back. After all, it was dangerous to let a prisoner get so close. But then the woman suddenly spoke.

Mosen turned and glanced at her. She had long blond hair, a generous bust, and large eyes—a textbook anime big-sister type.

"Officer, you're much smarter than I imagined! I thought you were just a clueless little kid who'd be easy to fool, but it seems I underestimated you.

"You used a piece of meat to make the prisoners fight over it, so you could figure out which of us were stronger and weaker. Are you planning to take out the weaker ones first?"

"You're overthinking it. I just thought the meat tasted bad," Mosen replied expressionlessly.

"I see! I thought you were planning to wipe us all out!"

"I'm not crazy. I don't kill people on a whim."

"Then what happened to the Bette brothers?"

"The Bette brothers? You mean those two prisoners, one tall and one short?" Mosen asked, taken aback.

"That's right, them! I guess you don't even know our names, Officer. Let me introduce myself, then. I'm Mia, the first mate and ship's doctor of a small pirate crew that was wiped out. My bounty was 110 million Beli," the blond woman said.

"A small pirate crew? You've got to be kidding me! A ship's doctor from a small crew had a bounty of 110 million Beli?"

"Officer, you might not know this, but a few months ago, when I was brought here, Marco the Phoenix, the Whitebeard Pirates' ship's doctor, already had a bounty of over 200 million Beli."

"Could your pirate crew really compare with the Whitebeard Pirates?" Mosen asked tentatively.

"Of course not, but I was still the first mate. It makes sense that my bounty would be a little higher, right?

"Anyway, Officer, I've been chatting with you for ages, and now I'm cold and hungry. Could you give me something to eat?" Mia asked, putting on a pitiful expression.

"You want food? Fine. Answer my questions. If I'm satisfied with your answers, I'll give you something to eat."

"Sure! Ask away, Officer." Mia glanced out of the corner of her eye at the roast meat the prisoners were fighting over, swallowed, and agreed without hesitation.

"Let's start with the first question. Tell me about you and your pirate crew," Mosen said.

"Seems like you're curious about my past, Officer! There's nothing I need to hide. The crew I used to sail with was called the Whale Pirates. Our captain was a legendary member of the Mink Tribe.

"Our crew usually operated in the first half of the Grand Line, mainly robbing the kings and nobles of small countries. That day, we'd just pulled off a job and were making our escape when we ran straight into a World Government ship.

"Normally, the World Government's ships don't attack pirates without provocation, but that day, they attacked us as soon as they saw us.

"Our captain figured there had to be something valuable aboard that ship to make the World Government so nervous. After thinking it over, he decided to go for broke and ordered us to fight back.

"We captured the ship in no time. Once we boarded, we found out it was carrying Celestial Gold for the Celestial Dragons.

"Our captain immediately realized we were in serious trouble. He told us each to take some treasure and scatter, so at least one of us might get away.

"But there was just so much Celestial Gold. We'd never seen so much money before, and we were dazzled by the choices. By the time we came to our senses, the Marines had surrounded us, led by a Marine Admiral.

"Then we were captured. Because our captain was a member of the Mink Tribe, the Celestial Dragons claimed him as a slave. The surviving crew members were sent to Impel Down."

Mosen's mouth twitched when he heard the story. "You actually dared to rob Celestial Gold!"

"We weren't trying to rob Celestial Gold. We just thought something was fishy about that World Government ship and figured it probably had something valuable aboard. We never imagined it was carrying Celestial Gold," Mia protested.

Mosen didn't respond. He was considering how much of what Mia had just said was true. If her story was accurate, she was probably someone he could win over.

But after chatting with Mia, Mosen had a feeling she was no simple woman, so he didn't rush to any conclusions.

Mosen then asked a few more questions indirectly, and Mia answered some truthfully and some falsely.

After the two had tested each other, Mosen gave Mia a piece of roast meat and turned to go back to his room.

Once Mosen was inside, Mia walked over to the pirates who were fighting over the meat and said, "That's enough acting. I've already talked to him."

The pirates who'd chatted with Mia the day before immediately stopped what they were doing, but everyone else continued scrambling for the meat.

Those who'd stopped gathered around Mia and asked her what had happened.