"Huh?"
Barn froze at the Golden Lion's sudden question. He remembered that the Golden Lion had spent quite a while in Impel Down before leaving, so why was he planning to escape as soon as he arrived? And take Barn along?
Could it be because of me?
"You use a sword, don't you?"
The Golden Lion suddenly asked another question.
"Yeah."
Barn still hadn't figured out what was happening and answered instinctively.
"Then this'll be easy."
The Golden Lion said no more. Armament Haki gathered around his left hand, and a faint cutting edge seemed to form along its side!
"Shiki, don't waste your strength. Those Seastone chains are harder than diamond. If Armament Haki could cut through them, I'd have escaped ages ago."
Seeing the Armament Haki gathering around the Golden Lion's left hand, Leonard offered him a kindly warning.
The Golden Lion ignored him and gave a meaningful smile.
"Is that so?"
The Golden Lion brought his Haki-coated left hand slashing down, but he wasn't aiming at the Seastone chain!
Squelch!
It wasn't the clang of metal against metal, but the sound of a blade slicing through flesh!
The Golden Lion hadn't aimed at the Seastone chain at all! He had aimed at his own legs!
Squelch!
The Golden Lion did the same to his other leg!
"Shiki! Have you lost your mind?!"
That roar came from Leonard! He had never imagined that the Golden Lion would sever his own feet so decisively just to escape!
Barn smelled the blood spreading through the air, and his brow furrowed. Knowing the story, he naturally understood what the Golden Lion had just done, but actually confronting it was still hard to stomach. A measure of admiration for the Golden Lion even rose in his heart.
The Golden Lion's face was pale, but his voice remained unyielding.
"Heh heh heh. Leonard, I just figured a few things out. I want to taste that 'freedom' Roger talked about. How could I let these feet hold me back right from the start?"
Leonard didn't respond. Perhaps he was reflecting on why he lacked the courage to cut off his own feet.
Barn was stunned for a moment, then smiled.
This Golden Lion is a little different from the one I imagined.
Though the Golden Lion had lost his feet, he had also freed himself from the Seastone and could use his power freely again.
The Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit allowed him to make himself, or people and objects he touched, fly. Enduring the pain, he floated to the front of the cell. The bars weren't made of Seastone, after all. He bent them apart with both hands and flew out.
After all that commotion, the vast prison fell silent again.
The prisoners seemed to be wondering whether the Golden Lion's arrival had been real or a dream, still unable to grasp how he had left. Leonard continued his soul-searching, while Oniwood remained motionless against the wall.
After a while, footsteps sounded once more through the briefly quiet sixth level, Infinite Hell. This time, however, they sounded different.
"Clink, clink..."
Barn's hearing was sharp. He recognized the sound of sword tips touching the floor and knew the Golden Lion had replaced his feet with his swords, Sakuragi and Kujū. It might have sounded incredible, but he was the Golden Lion. At that moment, that explanation was more convincing than any other!
"Sh... Shiki!"
That was Leonard's voice. He had already lost count of how many times the Golden Lion had shocked him since arriving.
The Golden Lion emerged carrying two swords, both long katanas roughly a meter in length.
He slowly entered Barn's cell, then used his power to rise off the ground. He kicked with each leg in turn, sending out two powerful slashes that severed Barn's chains!
Barn slowly rose from the floor and reached behind himself with both hands, grasping the two Seastone hooks piercing his shoulder blades. With a fierce tug, he ripped them free, and blood gushed out! But a shimmering green light quickly enveloped the wounds. They healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and soon his back was smooth and unmarked. Only the two large holes and bloodstains on his prison uniform proved the wounds had ever existed.
The Golden Lion gave him a surprised look, raised his eyebrows, and spoke.
"That's a handy ability. Which one's yours?"
The Golden Lion gestured with his chin at the two swords still in his arms.
"Thanks, Shiki. This one!"
Barn reached out, took the Nidai Kitetsu, and drew it from its sheath. The eerie red, flame-shaped markings appeared once more, even lighting up the dark cell for an instant.
The Golden Lion's growing surprise eased when he saw the Nidai Kitetsu leave its sheath.
"A cursed sword?"
Muttering to himself, the Golden Lion flew out of the cell and over to Oniwood's. Barn followed silently, his Nidai Kitetsu still unsheathed.
With a sweep of his arm, the Golden Lion tossed the other sword into Oniwood's cell. Though his eyes had been closed, Oniwood suddenly raised a hand and caught it.
Gripping the sword tightly, he slowly drew it from its sheath. As the blade emerged inch by inch, his eyes opened little by little. In the light reflected off the blade, a sharp gleam flashed through Oniwood's eyes.
Oniwood looked very old. His hair was graying, and his face bore plenty of wrinkles, yet his eyes shone with a vigor equal to that of a man in his prime.
"Bizen Osafune Nagamitsu, it's been a long time."
His gaze softened in that instant, as though he were speaking to an old friend he hadn't seen in years.
"My thanks, Golden Lion!"
Oniwood stood and bowed to the Golden Lion, then placed his hand on the sword's hilt. Silver flashed! The chains around him and the bars of his cell snapped apart!
But Oniwood's blade didn't stop! With Long Light in hand, he slashed straight at Barn!
Clang!
With the Danger Sense granted by his Mind's Eye, Barn reacted swiftly. In an instant, he brought the Nidai Kitetsu across his body and blocked Oniwood's Long Light!
Feeling the force transmitted through his hand, Oniwood nodded inwardly. He sheathed his sword, returned to the Golden Lion's side, and spoke.
"You're quite impressive, Barn."
Barn also returned the Nidai Kitetsu to its sheath and gave Oniwood a faint smile.
"You're not bad yourself, Oniwood."
Oniwood nodded and said nothing more. Barn likewise fell silent.
Meanwhile, seeing that the Golden Lion and Barn had freed Oniwood, the brothers Bankross and Harrenz shouted loudly to get their attention.
"Hey! Hey! Golden Lion! Boss Golden Lion! Let us out too! We'll do anything!"
"Yeah, yeah! Boss Golden Lion! Let us out too!"
Seeing the Bankross brothers' efforts, prisoners in the other cells also began shouting to the Golden Lion for help.
But the Golden Lion didn't move. Oniwood did!
Holding Long Light, Oniwood took a few steps forward. The sword left its sheath, and silver flashed once again!
Bankross and Harrenz collapsed, clutching their throats. The bars of their cell fell with them. Before dying, Bankross reached beyond the bars, but it was useless. Both he and Harrenz still died beneath Oniwood's blade.
Oniwood flicked the lingering blood off his long sword, then stared coldly at Bankross and Harrenz's bodies.
"Scum like you belong here!"
Seeing Oniwood kill the Bankross brothers, the prisoners in the other cells immediately stopped shouting and vanished into the darkness of their cells.
Barn observed everything through his Mind's Eye and made no move to stop it. To him, the Bankross brothers had gotten what they deserved. Holding the Nidai Kitetsu's hilt, he walked up to Leonard's cell.
The Nidai Kitetsu left its sheath. Its red markings flashed, and Barn cut through the bars before Leonard.
Yet Leonard showed no reaction. His eyes were dull and gray with despair.
"Get up, Leonard."
Barn spoke coldly as he looked at Leonard.
But Leonard still didn't respond.
"Get up! Leonard!"
Leonard remained seated in a daze, utterly motionless.
"Leonard, do you still think you're a Marine?"
Barn spoke coldly again.
Leonard shuddered, but still didn't move.
"The Marines abandoned you long ago. You're nothing but a discarded pawn. Compared to those noble maggots, what are you worth in their eyes? Just a sacrifice. Are you really going to keep obediently playing their loyal dog? Have you never thought about any of this in all your time here?"
Barn's voice grew colder as he delivered those words one by one.
Leonard trembled without stopping, then slowly raised his hand.
Smack!
Leonard slapped himself across the face. Then, with his cheek red and swollen, he stood and spoke.
"You're right, Barn. I don't intend to keep silent any longer!"
"Either perish in silence or erupt from it. Leonard, if you don't want to be a pirate, come with me. I have a mercenary guild in the East Blue. I think you'd fit in well there."
"Either perish in silence or... erupt from it? Heh... hahahaha!"
Leonard laughed wildly for a long time before quieting down. He placed his right fist over the left side of his chest and spoke to Barn.
"I would be willing to join, Guildmaster!"
Barn smiled...
The Golden Lion watched it all-Oniwood, Leonard, and Barn.
Then he spoke.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
Barn gave a calm nod. Leonard stood behind him, while Oniwood still wore that same withered, lifeless expression.
"Haha, then let's go!"
The Golden Lion's laughter echoed throughout Infinite Hell.