Impel Down, the World's Greatest Prison
The prison held all manner of serious criminals. It was a gloomy, terrifying place, guarded by monstrous jailers and monitored by visual Den Den Mushi. Beneath the sea outside the prison lurked countless enormous Sea Kings, earning Impel Down its reputation as an impregnable fortress.
Marine Headquarters, Judicial Island, and Impel Down were the World Government's three great strongholds on the seas, and could be called pirate-free zones.
Unlike Judicial Island and Marine Headquarters, Impel Down had its own internal management system, and its positions had little to do with the Navy.
In fact, ordinary Navy personnel couldn't even enter Impel Down unless the circumstances were exceptional. Their only duty was to protect the prison from the outside.
But there were exceptions to every rule. In the years since Pirate King Roger's execution, the number of pirates on the seas had skyrocketed.
Impel Down, which once held criminals of all kinds from around the world, had practically become what people called a "pirate prison" over the past two years.
Every day, vicious pirates were thrown into Impel Down. And since the trip from Marine Headquarters required passing through the Calm Belt, transporting prisoners there or bringing them in after capture involved a whole series of procedures.
After dealing with this back and forth, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who had only just taken office, decided it was far too much trouble. So he discussed the matter with Impel Down's warden.
They would establish a small Navy detachment on the outskirts of Impel Down. Its main purpose would be to make it easier to handle matters involving pirates brought to the prison, and to help patrol the surrounding area.
Sengoku's proposal would benefit Impel Down without causing any harm. He also promised the warden that the Navy personnel sent there wouldn't be too powerful or numerous.
Once Impel Down's warden saw that Sengoku's proposal really would simplify many procedures without affecting his own authority, he gladly accepted it.
This so-called Navy liaison post on the outskirts of Impel Down was the position Wood was heading to now.
After saying goodbye to Smoker and the wild boars on the mountain behind the base, Wood spent half a day aboard a ship from Marine Headquarters. After passing through checkpoint after checkpoint, he finally got a look at the so-called World Prison.
Don't get the wrong idea. With Wood's current standing, the Navy wasn't about to send a warship especially to take him to Impel Down.
He was merely along for the ride. Besides him, the ship carried a Navy Rear Admiral and a boatload of pirates who were to be thrown into Impel Down.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku had only just taken office, and was now frantically racking up achievements every day to secure his position.
Besides, pirates really had been rampant and numerous over the past two years. Every time Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals like Garp went out to sea, they came back with plenty of wanted pirates.
Impel Down was a massive, tower-shaped structure that sank into the sea. Its foundations lay on the seabed, and the higher the criminals' security level, the deeper beneath the sea they were imprisoned.
Even the shackles used to restrain prisoners and the cells themselves were built from Sea Prism Stone. The place was truly built on a lavish scale.
This was because many of the prisoners held here were Devil Fruit Users.
Sea Prism Stone was a mineral that gave off the same energy as seawater, rendering Devil Fruit abilities useless.
As soon as the Navy warship docked, Impel Down's Chief Jailer approached with several creatures carrying axes, their bodies resembling blue gorillas.
"I heard the Navy was bringing in quite a few prisoners again, but I never imagined there'd be this many.
Can't you Navy lot ever give us a break? Impel Down is a prison for criminals from around the world, not the Navy's private jail.
If you keep bringing in this many prisoners every time, we'll run out of cells—and you're piling more work on us, too!"
Impel Down's Chief Jailer was a short fellow who carried a demonic trident and had a pair of devil wings on his back. From the looks of him, he didn't seem like an ordinary human.
Wood wasn't particularly surprised, though. There were far too many races in the Pirate World. The jailers and other staff in Impel Down didn't look human either.
Strictly speaking, the Chief Jailer's rank was below that of a Rear Admiral from Marine Headquarters. But right now, he wasn't showing the Rear Admiral in front of him much respect.
They might both work for the World Government, but they were in different departments. Besides, the Navy really had been making a racket lately, stuffing pirates into Impel Down day and night. The staff had to work overtime every day, and even their holidays had been canceled.
"The Navy's duty is to uphold justice. We can't just turn a blind eye while pirates run amok.
Pirates are criminals, too. We're only following the rules. What's wrong with that?
The turmoil caused by Pirate King Roger is almost over. Things should get better before long.
And Fleet Admiral Sengoku was worried you'd all be swamped with work, so he sent extra personnel this time."
As the Rear Admiral spoke, he stepped aside to let the Chief Jailer see Wood and the other unlucky newcomers.
That was right. They were the extra personnel sent from Marine Headquarters this time.
Before coming here, Wood had heard people say over and over that this was a cushy job. But after seeing how the people at Impel Down acted, he felt that the Navy and the prison staff didn't get along all that well.
Taking criminals into custody from the Navy involved a whole series of procedures. And later, when a pirate was due for execution, bringing him out of Impel Down required another round of complicated paperwork.
As for Wood and the others, they'd been assigned to Impel Down to "help with supervising prisoners." In reality, they'd be doing clerical work outside the prison, stamping papers and the like.
Once all the captured pirates had been handed over to the Impel Down staff, the Rear Admiral seemed just as unwilling to deal with them. After a few pleasantries, he sailed away on the warship.
The pirates who'd been captured weren't the only ones left behind. Wood and the other clueless rookies were left there, too.
At the Chief Jailer's signal, several Blugori known as Sea Fighters brought over a set of chains each. Then the demonic Chief Jailer turned to Wood and the others and said, "All right, let's follow procedure from here. You know what to do, don't you?"
Seeing the other man's impatient expression, Wood was completely baffled. He knew what to do? How the hell was he supposed to know? This was his first day on the job!
"Sorry for the trouble, Chief Jailer. They're all new, so they don't know the procedures yet. We'll get to work right away."
Wood and the other rookies who'd been left behind were all dumbfounded. Just as the Chief Jailer began to look impatient, several Navy personnel stationed at Impel Down finally arrived, and signaled with their eyes for Wood and the others to take out the documents they'd brought.
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