Sengoku's attitude made the prisoners on Level Six turn their attention toward Cyrus.
Although his physique made it hard to judge his age, Cyrus's face still carried a hint of youth.
The old monsters imprisoned here naturally had sharp eyes.
"Don't be nervous. I was joking! After all, you joked with me just now too."
Seeing Sengoku's reaction, Cyrus smiled.
Sengoku's face immediately darkened.
His whole expression stretched long as he looked at Cyrus, clearly speechless.
"Every person imprisoned here is extremely dangerous. As for what you mentioned earlier, that was not something the Marines wanted to see. The Marines were only acting under orders."
Cyrus froze.
Sengoku had actually explained that matter to him.
It seemed Sengoku truly wanted to avoid direct conflict with him as much as possible.
However, what Cyrus had said earlier was not entirely wrong. He really had started considering that possibility.
The number of prisoners locked up on Level Six had exceeded his previous expectations.
Even if only ten percent of these people were Devil Fruit users, that would still mean thousands of Devil Fruits.
If those people died and their Devil Fruits were reborn elsewhere, the Hunter Guild's chances of finding Devil Fruits would naturally increase greatly.
Of course, the best result would still be obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit. When that time came, harvesting the abilities of these Devil Fruit users one by one would be the best method.
Unfortunately, there were still several years before the Dark-Dark Fruit was supposed to appear.
However, Blackbeard was on his ship.
If Devil Fruits truly had wills of their own, if they really chose their owners—or if there was such a thing as fate—then there was a very high chance that the Dark-Dark Fruit would appear before Blackbeard again.
"Sengoku, who is this brat?"
Suddenly, a hoarse, heavy voice rang out, accompanied by the dense rattling of chains.
The voice drew everyone's attention, and they turned toward the direction it had come from.
It was an enormous cell, its iron bars over half a meter thick.
Behind those thick bars, a huge bloodshot eye peered out through the gaps.
The light on Level Six was dim, but it could not hide what was there.
The speaker inside the cell was twenty meters tall, with two sharp horns growing from his head.
A giant.
This guy was absurdly muscular.
Even Kaido, with his powerful build, would look thin and weak in front of him.
Cyrus recalled something, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.
"Ogre King, this isn't something you should concern yourself with."
Sengoku stared at the giant inside the cell, then turned and continued walking forward.
He needed to finish this matter quickly.
Right now, Sengoku did not want Cyrus staying here a moment longer than necessary.
Although, for now, Cyrus did not seem to have any intention of making a move, if he truly acted on impulse and did something here, the consequences would be something Impel Down, the Marines, and even the World Government could not bear.
Sengoku still remembered seeing that flaming slash near the Sabaody Archipelago, the one that had pierced through the Red Line.
The Ogre King inside the cell watched Cyrus and the others continue toward the depths of Level Six, but he did not ask another question.
"Interesting. It seems many amusing things have happened on the sea over these past few decades."
After saying that, the giant sat back down.
Huge Seastone chains were wrapped around his thick arms.
A giant who had eaten a Devil Fruit, and one treated with such caution.
Perhaps it was a Zoan, or even a Mythical Zoan user.
The inside of Impel Down became slightly quieter.
For the moment, neither side intended to do anything, so there was not much movement.
However, the people who wanted to stir things up in the shadows would not remain quiet.
...
Outside Impel Down, on the Rose Hunter.
Beyond the great prison, large numbers of Marines and officers from Headquarters were watching the ship with vigilance.
Although the most terrifying person, Cyrus, was not on board, according to their information, the blind swordsman who could summon meteors was still there.
That man was also a powerhouse capable of easily unleashing terrifying natural disasters.
On the ship, Blackbeard, who had been hiding in a cabin behind the ship from the beginning, had now released his Observation Haki and was quietly observing the situation around him.
'Was there a chance to escape now?'
Blackbeard was tempted.
Previously, he could clearly feel Cyrus paying attention to him.
But now, Cyrus was not here.
That Issho had to deal with these Marines.
If he wanted to escape, now was the best opportunity.
As long as he secretly provoked something and made Issho unable to pay attention elsewhere, he could dive directly into the sea and flee.
After all, because he was waiting for that Devil Fruit, he was still not an ability user.
No matter how strong Issho was, as long as Blackbeard seized the chance to dive into the deep sea, even Issho would find it difficult to bring him back.
'There seems to be a real chance.'
Blackbeard narrowed his eyes at the narrow cabin door, then stood up.
Just as he was about to open the cabin door, a strand of green vine suddenly grew from the edge of the door handle.
Then the vine wrapped around Blackbeard's wrist.
Before he could move, it had already coiled around his neck.
The tip of the vine transformed into a yellow, hardened wooden spike, which had now slightly pierced into Blackbeard's throat.
"Don't make a sound, Blackbeard Teach."
The vine wrapped around Blackbeard's neck continued growing, sprouting a branch.
On that branch, a mouth appeared.
"Who are you?"
Blackbeard widened his eyes and lowered his voice.
"You don't need to be so careful. I've already covered this place with my ability. As long as you don't make any large movements, even Observation Haki won't see inside."
The voice sounded again.
"As for who I am, that isn't important. I know you are Whitebeard's son. You shouldn't want to watch your old man be imprisoned in Impel Down, right? As long as you help me do a few things this time, Whitebeard will naturally be released from Impel Down afterward."
Blackbeard froze.
"You can do that? Pops can just be released that easily?"
The doubt in Blackbeard's words was extremely strong.
Of course, that was reasonable.
Or rather, this was the suitable response Blackbeard chose after weighing the situation before him.
Whitebeard was one of the greatest pirates at the very top of the New World. The Marines must have wanted to capture him so badly they could hardly sleep.
Now that he had entered Impel Down, Blackbeard could not think of any reason they would release him.
Unless…
"Unless it has something to do with Cyrus."
Before the mouth on the vine could speak, Blackbeard continued.
"Correct. Our target is that man, everything else is irrelevant. Whether it is Whitebeard, Big Mom, the entirety of Impel Down, or all the Marines and jailers here, all of them can be abandoned as long as there is a proper reason."
Blackbeard's heart shook, and his eyes stared at the vine-mouth beside his face.
"So you're someone from the World Government?"
If he still could not guess that much, he would look stupid.
As a patient and ambitious schemer, Blackbeard was anything but stupid.
"Since you've guessed it, what is your answer?"
The mouth on the vine spoke.
"Zehahaha! To tell the truth, I really do want to agree!"
Blackbeard suddenly laughed loudly, and the laughter was somewhat unrestrained.
"Don't waste your effort. I already said everything here is temporarily blocked from outside perception."
The vine-mouth assumed Blackbeard was trying to use this method to notify the people outside.
"Zehahaha! I never planned to notify anyone outside like that. But with you appearing here, there's no way you can hide from the man outside."
Blackbeard stared at the vine and spoke.
"Mr. Issho, you've been watching for this long. Still not making a move?"
Blackbeard suddenly spoke, raising his hand and grabbing the vine in front of him.
Armament Haki wrapped around his palm.
"This old man thought he might hear more. I never expected a simple outing to stir up this many incidents."
Outside, Issho's voice rang out, followed by the flash of a blade.
"Mr. Issho, the captain is Cyrus. If you destroy the cabin door like this, Cyrus will be unhappy."
Robin's voice sounded as well.
After the vine was seized by Blackbeard, it quickly twisted, only for the owner to discover that it could not break free.
Blackbeard's strength exceeded his expectations.
"This old man has already locked onto that fellow."
Issho walked in holding his sword, speaking calmly.
"Ah?"
Blackbeard froze, and a bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
"But this old man has a task given by Cyrus and cannot leave this ship. I also cannot directly summon a meteor to attack Impel Down. Therefore, you will make the move this time."
Issho faced Blackbeard as he spoke.
There was no trace of coercion in his voice.
Even so, Blackbeard had no way to refuse!