Prison: Iron Fortress

Sig's "Prison: Iron Fortress" transformation was as enormous as the Castle-Castle Fruit's "Castle-Big Boss."

But instead of being made of bricks and stone, it was covered in thick iron plates. And aside from looking like a prison forged from steel, its humanoid form also resembled a gorilla. Its two front arms bore enormous black iron gates, which came together in front of it like an iron portcullis!

It was called a fortress, but at a glance it gave the impression of a prison cell—something that instinctively seemed designed to defend both its interior and exterior.

It couldn't be breached from the inside, and it could also withstand attacks from outside.

Its defenses seemed far more reliable than Capone Bege's "Castle-Big Boss," but it couldn't coordinate with its companions, who couldn't take shelter inside.

Capone Bege had spent a long time developing his Devil Fruit ability before he could use "Castle-Big Boss." Sig was clearly more unusual: despite having used his Devil Fruit ability only a handful of times, he could already use many of its powers.

Once Sig transformed to his full size, he towered over the two rows of ordinary houses around him. He was even so wide that he pushed the street aside!

But the towering wave sweeping toward them was twice as tall as Sig...

At this point, it was impossible to stop the waterline. At most, he could slow the wave rushing down this road, giving the people on the main street behind him a better chance of survival.

With the rain pouring down and seawater rushing around his feet, Sig could barely do anything after transforming. If he reverted and stopped using the Prison-Prison Fruit's ability, he would be able to move freely.

Naturally, they weren't about to stand by and watch Sig get crushed. Fisher Tiger and Jinbe attacked at the same time...

"Fish-Man Karate Secret Technique: Buraikan!"

A ball of water appeared in Jinbe's palm. Then he threw a seemingly ordinary punch at the giant wave. The water ball was tiny, but the moment it struck the wave, a huge gap blasted through what had been a wall of water...

But when Jinbe saw the thickness of the wave revealed through the gap, his expression froze!

"Fish-Man Karate Secret Technique: Giant Vortex!"

The muscles all over Fisher Tiger's body bulged. If he was at 100 percent muscle now, he'd probably been at only 30 percent before. He'd gone from looking somewhat agile to seeming rather bulky.

At the same time, Fisher Tiger slammed a fist down toward the water. The surrounding floodwater instantly dropped, rushing toward the spot where his fist had struck!

A massive whirlpool surged up from the ground, like a waterspout, and swept toward the even larger wave rushing at them.

The two collided. Sig felt the "sheen" on the surface of the wave rushing toward him grow uneven. Clearly, the "Giant Vortex" had disturbed it...

Fortunately, the wave broke apart into scattered "floodwater." It still crashed down hard on the "Prison: Iron Fortress," but Sig only felt a wave of weakness.

The enormous force shoved Sig backward, but he managed to keep his footing.

Now, water still surged in from both sides of the main street, but there was no longer a giant wave crashing straight into them.

But before Sig could breathe a sigh of relief, he sensed that something was wrong. Then he saw it... Another wave, twice as tall as the first, was surging toward them, blotting out the sky.

Was that... taller than the highest refuge in all of Water Seven?

"Sig! Stop using your Devil Fruit ability and change back!" Jinbe shouted urgently.

If that wave hit him, Sig probably wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Of course, Fisher Tiger and Jinbe hadn't given up either. They were still trying to weaken it as much as possible...

But just then, a wave of cold swept over them. The giant wave before them began to freeze, solidifying into an enormous wall of ice.

"W-What?" Jinbe's eyes narrowed.

Even the cold air drifting toward them froze patches of Sig's body. He hurriedly changed back into a human—no, a Fish-Man.

Fisher Tiger and Jinbe also went on full alert.

The sea, which had been roaring moments ago, suddenly fell silent. In that quiet, the repeated creaking sounds became especially noticeable.

A bicycle rolled up over the crest of the wave. Pedaling it was a long-faced man with shoulder-length wavy hair, a round hat, and small sunglasses perched on his nose.

"I'd heard that this generation of Marine Vice Admirals was called the strongest yet, and that those with codenames were no weaker than Admirals... It seems the rumors were true." Fisher Tiger said gravely.

From that display of "Ice Age," he could already guess who had arrived.

Sig now understood as well. The Prison Demon had sensed... Aokiji, right?

Though he was still only a Vice Admiral, he was already famous across the seas—not someone an ordinary Vice Admiral could compare to.

"Is that what they say? How embarrassing. Professor Zephyr must spoil us students too much," Aokiji said, his voice cold and languid.

After his initial surprise, Sig gradually calmed down.

Judging by the original story's timeline more than a decade later, Jinbe's strength was already close to an Admiral's, even if he couldn't quite match one. Though Jinbe now was certainly weaker than he'd be a decade later, Aokiji wasn't yet the Admiral he'd become either!

And the Sun Pirates had Fisher Tiger as well. Against Aokiji... they shouldn't be at a disadvantage, should they? That was what Sig thought.

This was far more exciting than arguing about strength on a forum...

It was just that Aokiji's ability was troublesome. The Fish-Man Race usually had an advantage against Devil Fruit users. Even if they didn't, they could always escape into the sea.

But Aokiji could freeze seawater. Judging by what they'd just seen, Fish-Man Karate might actually be at a disadvantage against him. Even escaping into the sea wouldn't be safe!

"I didn't expect you to get here so quickly... This is more attention than 160 million berries should buy." Fisher Tiger sneered.

That was right. Fisher Tiger's bounty was only 160 million berries. The World Government didn't want to make what had happened at Mary Geoise public. According to the official reports, Fisher Tiger had merely hijacked a slave ship belonging to the Celestial Dragons.

"No. I just happened to be passing by." Aokiji sounded tired too. If he took off his sunglasses, would he look half-asleep?

Of course, it could also be that his latest technique had already cost him too much stamina. An "Ice Age" on this scale... Aokiji wasn't yet as strong as he'd be more than a decade later, during the Marineford War!

Sig watched Aokiji carefully, trying to read his thoughts and judge how strong he really was.

Instead, he made Aokiji furrow his brow. Aokiji was looking down from above, so Sig couldn't see him turn his head, and he was wearing sunglasses, but Sig could still sense that the man was watching him.

"Is that some kind of strange Observation Haki?" Aokiji murmured, seemingly to himself.

Ever since he'd been a "Spectator," Sig's Observation Haki had had an elusive quality. But the concealment of a Sequence 8 "Telepathist" wasn't enough to keep Aokiji from detecting him.

"According to the old men's orders, arresting you should be the top priority. But... you're making this very difficult for me." Aokiji lifted his head, seemingly looking toward the Sun Pirates crew members as they rushed around the city, rescuing people.