Big Fish

The jailer said.

Then, after cautiously leading him down the corridor for a while, the jailer shoved him into a cell, locked the door, and ran off.

"A newcomer?"

"A Fish-Man?"

The prisoners in the cell glanced at him and promptly lost interest.

Fisher Tiger sat down cross-legged in silence, his thoughts adrift.

But he had no regrets. By holding off Aokiji, he had secured Jinbe's freedom and everyone else's.

As long as they were still out in the world, the Sun Pirates would live on, and their belief in equality and freedom would never die.

"I wonder if I'll ever see Vice Admiral Xia Le again."

Fisher Tiger murmured the words and sighed.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed.

The World Government invited Sea Knight Jinbe, captain of the Sun Pirates, to join the Shichibukai. Jinbe agreed on the condition that Fisher Tiger and Arlong be released in exchange.

But the World Government released only Arlong, ignoring the request to free Fisher Tiger.

Time kept passing.

Fisher Tiger remained in Impel Down, where life was dull and monotonous.

Over that year, he gradually grew accustomed to life in the lightless prison. He also saw the Jailer Beasts roaming the corridors of Beast Hell.

His fellow inmates told him tales of a monster in Beast Hell, too.

He asked them about Xia Le, but only those who had been imprisoned earlier had even heard of him.

"Xia Le?"

"That young Marine who rose to prominence a while back? I heard he was Vice Admiral Garp's disciple."

Their answers left Fisher Tiger speechless.

He realized that the people in prison had no sense of time that matched the outside world's.

Another year passed in a flash, bringing them to the year 1514 of the Sea Circle Calendar.

Donquixote