Mutual Probing

The next morning, Mosen got up, ate breakfast, and then deliberately walked out of his room holding a large piece of meat.

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

"Sigh! The chefs in Impel Down are getting worse and worse! This meat is so awful!" Mosen said, putting on a disgusted expression and throwing the meat away.

Seeing this, the prisoners rushed towards the meat in unison. Mosen took a few steps back, secretly channeling his cold energy to gather ice and snow into a barrier, then stood aside to silently observe the prisoners scrambling for the meat.

These prisoners, who spent all day gathered in front of his room, likely made up half the total prisoner population in Extreme Cold Hell. 80% of them were men, 10% were women, and Mosen wasn't sure about the gender of the remaining 10%.

One-fifth of the male prisoners wore Seastone handcuffs, while only two female prisoners wore them.

Mosen figured that the prisoners wearing Seastone handcuffs were likely Devil Fruit users. Since this was the fifth level of Impel Down and not the sixth, pure physical powerhouses who needed Seastone handcuffs to restrict their movements shouldn't be imprisoned here.

Mosen then noticed that a large portion of these pirates wearing Seastone handcuffs didn't appear weakened by them.

This indicated that these prisoners could already overcome some of Seastone's effects, similar to how Luffy was after being imprisoned in Udon for a while.

One female prisoner was particularly special. She was as round as a ball but surprisingly agile. Even with Seastone handcuffs, she could easily fend off the male pirates trying to snatch the meat from her. Mosen guessed she was among the strongest pirates here.

"Tsk tsk~ Mr. Jailer, are you observing us from the shadows?" a woman's voice suddenly spoke from Mosen's right.

Mosen had already noticed the woman's arrival. Although he couldn't use Observation Haki yet, he could sense anyone stepping into the area when he channeled his cold energy to gather the surrounding ice and snow into a barrier.

Mosen was ready to counterattack, as a prisoner getting this close was dangerous. He didn't expect the woman to speak suddenly.

Mosen turned his head and glanced over. The speaker had blonde hair, a generous bosom, large eyes, and was a standard "two-dimensional older sister" type.

"Lord Jailer, you're much smarter than I imagined! I thought you were just some ignorant child who would be easy to fool, but it seems I underestimated you. By using a piece of meat to incite a fight among the prisoners, you're trying to determine who's stronger and who's weaker. Are you planning to eliminate the weaker ones first, Lord Jailer?"

"You're overthinking it. I just thought the meat was unappetizing!" Mosen replied expressionlessly.

"Is that so! I thought you were planning to capture us all in one go, Lord Jailer!"

"I'm not a lunatic who kills people at the slightest disagreement."

"What about the Bette brothers then?"

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

"Yes, them! It seems Lord Jailer doesn't even know our names! Let me introduce myself first. My name is Mia. I was the Vice Captain and ship doctor of a certain annihilated small pirate crew, with a bounty of 110 million Beli." the blonde woman said.

"A small pirate crew? What a joke! A ship doctor from a small pirate crew with a bounty of 110 million Beli?"

"Lord Jailer, you might not know this, but a few months before I was captured, the ship doctor of the Whitebeard Pirates, Marco the Phoenix, already had a bounty of over 200 million Beli."

"Can your pirate crew compare to the Whitebeard Pirates?" Mosen asked tentatively.

"Of course not. But I was still a Vice Captain, so a slightly higher bounty is understandable, right? Speaking of which, Lord Jailer, I've been chatting with you for so long, and I'm cold and hungry now. Can you give me something to eat?" Mia said, putting on a pitiful act.

"You want food? Alright! Answer my questions, and if your answers satisfy me, I'll give you some food."

"Okay! Ask away, Lord Jailer." Mia glanced out of the corner of her eye at the pirates scrambling for the roasted meat, swallowed, and agreed without hesitation.

"For the first question, tell me about you and your pirate crew!" Mosen said.

"It seems Lord Jailer is very curious about my past! Actually, there's nothing I can't tell you. The pirate crew I was with was called the Whale Pirates, and our captain was a legendary Mink. Our crew usually operated in the first half of the Grand Line, mainly robbing kings and nobles of small countries. The day we were captured, we had just finished a job and were preparing to escape when we ran into a World Government ship head-on. Normally, World Government ships wouldn't attack pirates, but they attacked us the moment they saw us. The captain thought there must be something valuable on that ship to make the World Government so nervous. After some thought, the captain decided to go for a big score and ordered us to fight back. We quickly captured the ship, and upon boarding, we discovered it was carrying Treasure Riches for the Celestial Dragons. The captain immediately realized we had gotten into big trouble. He told us to each grab some treasure and scatter, to save whoever we could. But there was too much Treasure Riches; we had never seen so much money before and were mesmerized. By the time we reacted, the Navy had surrounded us, led by an Admiral. Then we were captured. The captain, being a Mink, was taken by the Celestial Dragons as a slave. The surviving crew members were sent to Impel Down."

Mosen's mouth twitched after hearing this: "You actually dared to steal Treasure Riches!"

"We didn't intend to steal Treasure Riches; we just thought that World Government ship was suspicious and likely had something valuable on it. We didn't expect it to be Treasure Riches," Mia argued.

Mosen remained silent, contemplating the credibility of Mia's story. If what Mia said was true, she was someone Mosen could potentially recruit. However, based on their conversation, Mosen felt this woman was not simple, so he didn't rush to a conclusion.

Mosen then asked a few more probing questions, to which Mia responded with a mix of truth and lies. After they had each tested the waters, Mosen gave Mia a piece of roasted meat and returned to his room.

After Mosen went inside, Mia walked up to the pirates scrambling for the meat and said, "The act is over! I've already spoken with him."

The pirates who had spoken with Mia the previous day immediately stopped their actions, but the others continued to scramble. The ones who stopped gathered around Mia and asked about the situation.

New book seeking collection and recommendations. Thank you all for your support.