"Quick! Clear the passage!"
"If you have to, smash your way through!"
"Don't let a single prisoner escape! Impel Down is where they belong!"
The Marines' shouts grew clearer, and Buggy even heard the rumble of cannon wheels.
Clearly, the unexplained gunshots and the blocked passage had made the Marines extremely wary, especially the escort ship's crew, who were already on edge.
"This is getting more exciting, isn't it?"
Buggy grinned viciously. For the first time in ages, he felt a little thrill. The last time he'd felt this way was when he blew up a hospital.
Sitting on the slippery floor, he casually rummaged through the sack Little Left had brought back, searching for anything that might come in handy.
Like a peeling knife, a fruit knife...
Why was there a cleaver in here, too?
Buggy paused, then fitted the cleaver against his chest.
Using the power of the Four-Way Split-Split Fruit to hide things was just too convenient.
He could even... turn himself into a bomb.
Hmm, one he could reuse, at that.
Gulp...
In the darkness, someone swallowed first.
Just as Buggy had said,
this was nothing more than a very simple game of chicken.
Think of a form of address the other side would like.
A nice way to put it.
All they wanted was for the prisoners to submit.
And what if they didn't?
They could crouch in their cages like target dummies, praying the scorching muzzles wouldn't point at them. If they were lucky enough to survive, they'd be locked away in Impel Down, known as Pirate Hell, and tortured for the rest of their lives.
That was the best-case scenario.
And the worst...
Joseph glanced around at his fellow prisoners, wondering how many weaklings would be the first to cave.
If even a few of them gave in, the pressure on everyone else would double in an instant.
No one wanted to be the last one left, waiting to be slaughtered.
Judging by how that madman killed without batting an eye, things would end badly for whoever was left at the end.
"That kid's in a bigger hurry than we are."
Joseph sneered at the prisoner beside him. "I refuse to believe that kid's really got guts!"
If he could get even one person to hold out, that was something.
His fellow prisoner in the cage glanced at him. His rough, rocklike face was crisscrossed with scars.
Suddenly, he stood up. The chains wrapped around his hands and feet clattered, and his towering frame nearly touched the top of the cage.
He looked like a cross between a Giant and a human.
Little Giant Habler had a bounty of 110 million Beli. Despite his honest-looking face, he was an exceptionally cruel and despicable man.
Joseph vaguely remembered him.
They said his brutal, oppressive rule had turned his crew against him. During a break after a raid, one of his own men had betrayed his whereabouts to the Marines.
With his despicable nature, he'd surely mock that ridiculous kid to his face, wouldn't he?
Everyone here was a great pirate the Marines feared, with blood on their hands—men so notorious that children on the first half of the Grand Line stopped crying at the mention of them!
And this kid wanted to play a game of chicken with them?
What was that called again...
Showing off Kami-bashi in front of Roger, or playing with a pocketknife in front of Hawk Eyes!
What a joke!
Joseph's confidence returned. He stared fixedly at the figure busily stuffing things into his own body, eager to see panic spread across the other man's face.
Still, a little unease lingered in his gut.
That thick-browed guy wouldn't be a coward too, would he?
Doubt was the biggest trap in this game.
Little Giant Habler lowered his head and glanced at his fellow prisoners.
"On a train bound for hell, having a choice at all is already lucky."
He spoke in a low voice.
Then he raised his hand and grabbed the thick iron bars.
He called out loudly, "Captain!"
It was like a signal.
At Habler's rallying cry, the prisoners all made their choices in a flash.
Damn it, I knew that thick-browed bastard was up to no good!
Joseph reacted quickly, shouting right after Habler.
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, not caring in the least that he'd just been sneering at them.
Little Giant was right. They were prisoners headed for eternal damnation, and having a choice at all was a stroke of incredible luck.
"He means Captain Buggy!"
Arne suddenly grew excited. His eyes burned with fervor as he hurriedly corrected him.
"Captain Buggy!"
"Captain Buggy!"
In response to their cries came a steady burst of gunfire from the passage leading to the upper decks.
It seemed they still didn't dare use cannons in the hold beneath the warship's main deck...
If they blasted a hole in the ship, they'd be the ones in trouble.
Buggy's lips curled slightly. He was quite pleased with the pressure game he'd devised, though the time crunch was a shame.
Otherwise, he would've preferred to come up with a game that put human nature to an even greater test...
Like the literary classics in the eyes of certain critics: unless you discussed human nature, the critics would toss the book out of the canon before you knew it.
But for him, the best part was watching the torment on their faces as they faced a choice.
What fun.
He hadn't forgotten the information he'd heard through the ear he'd sent wandering outside, either.
Once they passed through the Gate of Justice, getting back out would be a lot harder.
Buggy chuckled darkly. "All right, all right, my dear candidate for navigator."
"Hurry up and let my beloved crew out."
"They must be itching to go take back our pirate ship."
"Right!"
Arne nodded quickly. The word "candidate," which the captain so often used for him, didn't sound quite as grating anymore.
This wasn't difficult.
When it came to cunning, despicable pirates like these, all they needed was a small knife or a wrench... and they could pick their own cell doors.
One hulking figure after another gathered behind Buggy. In the dim, shadowy light of the night, it looked as if a pair of black wings had unfurled behind him.
"Then, Captain, what are your orders for the next step...?"
Habler shook off his heavy chains. His gaze flickered as he looked at Buggy, as though he had something else in mind.
He hesitated for a moment, then asked in his honest-sounding voice.
Buggy wasn't surprised by that look.
How much of a hot-blooded pirate's rose-colored lens would he need to think this bunch of raiders cared about loyalty or keeping their word?
They were only acting this way because of the pressure he'd deliberately created.
But he was only using them as tools, too...
"Defeat the enemy in front of you, and you'll have earned the right to keep living."
Buggy chuckled. He didn't speak with much fervor, but his words still struck a chord with the prisoners.
"And if you take this warship, you'll have the power to sail these seas again—and return in a way that makes those who hate you tremble in fear."
"Power."
Survival and revenge.
For these prisoners, they were the most basic and direct motivations.
Those who hated him...
Habler thought of the crew members who had betrayed him...
His fists clenched.
At that moment, a muffled sound came from the passage between the hold and the upper deck.
Rumble—
The last obstacle blocking the passage below was cleaved apart by a Moon Blade.
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