"Listen up, your chance has come! For people like you, there used to be only one path, digging in the mines until you die!"
"But now, Lord Jack is giving you a new opportunity: join his team, and as long as you survive ten battles, you can shed your identity as prisoners and earn the right to join us!"
"Of course, I know many of you don't like us. You can also choose freedom. If you survive, you can go wherever you want!"
The members of the Udon Quarry were mainly divided into two groups: native prisoners from Wano Country and prisoners of war from the outside world.
Those caught for petty theft and reformed through labor were not a problem, but in earlier years, many resistance forces who refused to accept the rule of the Beasts Pirates were also imprisoned.
The samurai groups imprisoned here possessed considerable combat skills, and simply forcing them to mine would have been a waste. So, Kaido generously recruited some of them. As for the stubborn hardliners who remained, they were gradually expended in external wars through this method.
After all, these people were quite hard-headed, unwilling to integrate into the new Wano Country, unwilling to hide themselves, and instead chose to resist the firmly rooted Beasts Pirates with their insignificant strength.
"Lord Jack, everything is ready. Do you have any other requests?"
"No. Let me see how many courageous people are left among those unwilling-to-surrender."
This wasn't the first time Babanuki had said such words to the prisoners here, but not many people ever stepped forward.
Staying here to mine was a slow death, but going out to fight might mean dying even faster.
Especially for the pirates from the outside world; many had already been scared witless by the cruelty of the New World. They preferred to wait for death here rather than risk their lives outside.
They could still live for a few more years here, but if they went out, they might not even survive a week.
Only Drake felt a headache. If it weren't so inappropriate, he really wanted to step forward and question Babanuki, what do you mean by "unwilling to surrender"?
He had originally intended to join them, but didn't want to curry favor like Apoo, hoping to retain some dignity.
His plan was to hold out for a while, and then join the Beasts Pirates when they started recruiting prisoners; his reason being the future of his subordinates. But while the plan sounded good, the outcome deviated significantly from his expectations.
Over the past year, no one had actively recruited.
Kaido was busy training, Queen was thoroughly enjoying himself with his two lackey entertainers, and Arceus didn't care about the prisoners' futures at all.
As a result, Drake, who didn't want to bring up surrender himself, was forgotten, and only today did he finally receive this so-called opportunity.
If the Beasts Pirates had started recruiting earlier, he would have compromised long ago. Things wouldn't have dragged on this long. If they delayed any further, he might've ended up becoming the king of miners.
Some chose to stay where they were, while others chose to take a gamble. In the end, Jack recruited a number of people, including Drake.
"Not bad, you guys have some guts. Lord Jack is now promoted to one of the new Calamities. Don't be so stubborn. Who knows, maybe we'll be comrades in the future, if you survive, that is."
Most people didn't pay much attention to that comment. Jack's status had nothing to do with them, but Drake was different.
Before starting his undercover mission, he had read up on the Beasts Pirates' intel. Although the personality descriptions were often inaccurate, their strength assessments were still useful.
The Beasts Pirates had a very strict hierarchy. To be promoted to Calamity-level officer meant possessing the kind of power that could bring massive destruction on the battlefield.
For the Marines, that was undoubtedly bad news.
Before he could think further, Babanuki led these people to another room, where they processed their release paperwork and were also given a meal.
As the warden, Babanuki provided them with their final meal; not just plain rice balls, but a proper meal with alcohol and meat.
In Babanuki's view, this kind of mission was simply a death sentence, meant to squeeze out the prisoners' last bit of value; this meal was essentially their last supper.
And dying in battle was better than cowardly waiting to die, so he made an exception and allowed them to eat something decent.
Jack acted quickly, and within a few days, he set off on a new journey with his fleet. During this time, Drake was unable to send out any intelligence, as his current identity gave him no access to a Den Den Mushi.
Aside from fighting, their group was confined to specially prepared ship cabins, and Jack only let them participate in boarding battles, completely eliminating the chance of escape on the vast sea.
Even if someone tried to jump overboard and escape, they were no match for Fish-Men at sea. Although Jack himself wasn't particularly fast, there was a special supervisor aboard his ship, Kawamatsu.
After Kozuki Hiyori completely defected, the three who continued to follow her also experienced major changes in their outlook.
The one who changed the most was Kikunojo. Due to growing closer with Delia, he had come to accept the situation, as long as there were no special circumstances.
Kawamatsu had always felt guilty over Kozuki Hiyori's past sufferings. After witnessing Wano Country's current state, he too underwent a shift in his mindset. Only Denjiro was still reluctant to accept the reality, but he didn't act on it, he was simply a bit passive.
Thanks to Kozuki Hiyori's high level of cooperation now, the three of them had long since escaped the role of being forced into dangerous tasks. Kawamatsu and Kikunojo even participated in some special operations.
For example, at this moment, Kawamatsu was serving as the army supervisor.
His mission performance was directly tied to Kozuki Hiyori's monthly living rations, so under such conditions, Kawamatsu worked extremely diligently. Anyone attempting to jump ship and escape could not evade his pursuit.
Under the high-intensity battles, this group suffered continuous casualties. Drake also sustained several injuries during a few battles, but he managed to hold on. Though a year of mining wasn't a fast-track boot camp, it did bring some gains.
In order to earn more food, he had to mine diligently. Through the repetitive mechanical work, his body remained under constant strenuous exercise and did not deteriorate.
Boom!
Drake kicked a Marine into the sea. Jack's targets had always been random; whether it was a pirate ship trespassing in their territory or the Marines, they were all fair game for battle.
When fighting pirates, Drake struck decisively, but when facing former comrades, he inevitably hesitated. However, for the sake of maintaining his undercover identity, he couldn't avoid fighting. He could only try to reduce Marine casualties in this way.
Relying on his knowledge of warship's architecture, Drake was the first to charge into the ship's interior during the battle. He located the ship's storage room and found a Den Den Mushi hidden in a secret compartment in the cabin. After confirming there was no one around, he finally dialed the number he should have called long ago.
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