[Edward Jack: Don't, man!]
[Edward Jack: Whatever you do, don't make a post. If you do, too many people will find out you're locked up, and there's a greater chance word will reach the Octopus King. Wouldn't that make rescuing you even harder?]
[Lamp Lighter: Then what do you suggest?]
[Edward Jack: Leave it to me. I promise I'll find a way to get you out!]
[Lamp Lighter: Then... I'll leave it to you.]
[Lamp Lighter: Also, to prevent nobody coming to rescue me, or you all leaving once the fragments are gathered, I won't be taking my fragment out lightly from now on. I'll only take it out once I see the people coming to rescue me.]
Mu You added another condition.
[Edward Jack: No problem. Wait for my good news!]
The other party agreed readily enough.
[Lamp Lighter: Great! Once I'm out of prison, I'll definitely treat you to a meal when I have time!]
[Edward Jack: Haha, sure, sure. That's settled, then. See you.]
[Lamp Lighter: See you.]
"Fuck..."
Meanwhile, on a southern island, Jack ended the private chat in the game, cursing nonstop.
He hadn't expected this small fry, whom he had once treated as a backup option, to be so shrewd. Whether he was really locked up in prison wasn't important. What mattered was the condition he had added afterward: unless someone went to the prison to rescue him, he wouldn't take out his fragment!
That way, even if all the other fragment holders gathered in one place outside, without his piece, they couldn't assemble all nine fragments or open the entrance to Dawn City. He was blatantly forcing the others to rescue him.
As for how he could hide his fragment, that was simple enough. He only needed to extract it into reality,