After spending a full day and night of debauchery inside the villa, Lakeman finally decided to settle the remaining matters in Impel Down.
The tension left by the black Haki had faded. His mind was calm, his body had recovered, and the women around him had eased their longing after a whole day and night of plowing and filling their holes.
Now it was time to finish what he had started.
While he was lost in the pleasures of flesh, the bindings he had set in motion across Impel Down continued silently.
The moment he opened his eyes at noon, system notifications appeared one after another.
[Binding complete: Byrnndi World.]
[Genius Byrnndi World has been successfully bound.]
[Feedback channel established.]
[Binding complete: Avalo Pizarro.]
[Genius Avalo Pizarro has been successfully bound.]
[Feedback channel established.]
[Binding complete: Sanjuan Wolf.]
[Genius Sanjuan Wolf has been successfully bound.]
[Feedback channel established.]
[Binding complete: Vasco Shot.]
[Genius Vasco Shot has been successfully bound.]
[Feedback channel established.]
[Binding complete: Catarina Devon.]
[Genius Catarina Devon has been successfully bound.]
[Feedback channel established.]
[.................]
Lakeman read through them calmly.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
'Good. All geniuses in Impel Down have finished binding.'
'The harvest is ready.'
He left the villa soon after.
Redfield followed him half a step behind, silent and respectful.
The former Lonely Red had already adapted much better to his restored body. His posture was straight, his movements smooth, and after eating the Vampire Fruit, his aura carried a colder edge.
He no longer looked like a dying legend dragged back from the grave.
He looked reforged.
Lakeman entered the elevator without speaking.
Redfield followed.
The heavy doors closed, and the elevator descended toward Eternal Hell.
When the elevator reached the sixth floor, the doors opened with a deep metallic sound.
The prisoners had barely recovered from Lakeman's previous visits.
The moment he stepped out, their bodies stiffened. Some shrank into the shadows. Others lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.
Lakeman did not waste time.
A controlled wave of golden Conqueror's Haki spread from him.
Quiet.
Precise.
Like an invisible command from a throne.
One prisoner after another collapsed in their cells. Chains rattled. Bodies struck the floor. Soon, the entire level sank into silence.
This time, Lakeman spared only Shiki and Bullet.
Redfield stood behind him, feeling the golden will sweep across the prison. Even though it did not target him, his heart still trembled.
'So pure.'
His eyes sharpened with admiration.
'Every strand carries domination and authority. It is not just pressure. It is a command to submit.'
Then his respect deepened further.
'And this is still far weaker than what Saint Lakeman used the other day.'
Lakeman sensed his thoughts through Observation Haki and curled his lips faintly.
'Idiot.'
'Even that day, I did not use my full strength.'
If he fully released his Demigod-ranked Conqueror's Haki here, Impel Down and the surrounding sea might turn into a dead zone.
For a brief moment, pride rose in him.
Then he remembered Imu's warning.
The Calm Belt was not simple. In its depths, there were Sea Kings that had reached terrifying levels.
The monster beneath the Florian Triangle had also proved that ancient dangers still slept in the world.
Even Redfield's Conqueror's Haki had disturbed that creature years ago.
If Lakeman carelessly released his full Haki in the wrong place, he might awaken something he was not yet ready to face.
His expression calmed.
'Power should be used with purpose.'
'Until I stand above every hidden monster in this world, I cannot act recklessly.'
Soon, Lakeman and Redfield arrived before the cells of Golden Lion Shiki and Douglas Bullet.
Both prisoners were awake.
They had sensed Lakeman's golden Haki the moment it swept across Eternal Hell.
Shiki's gaze landed first on Lakeman, then on Redfield.
His expression became twisted.
Redfield looked young now.
Strong.
Alive.
That sight wounded Shiki's pride more than any chain.
The rudder remained lodged in his head. His body, once powerful enough to shake the sea, had declined under years of imprisonment and old injuries.
He wanted healing, too. He wanted his peak back.
He wanted to return to the sky as the Golden Lion.
But lowering his head to a brat was humiliating. Lowering his head to a Celestial Dragon was worse.
Bullet's reaction was quieter.
He looked at Redfield with a solemn gaze.
The aura around the former Lonely Red was sharper than before, perhaps even stronger than the Redfield he remembered from the old era.
That meant Lakeman had not lied. He could restore them. He could make them stronger.
Lakeman stopped before their cells.
His blood-red eyes moved from Bullet to Shiki.
Then he smiled faintly.
"Have you decided?"
Neither answered immediately.
Lakeman's tone remained casual.
"Offer your loyalty and follow me, and I will heal your bodies, restore your youth, and give you a chance to chase a higher realm. Refuse, and you can rot here until your names disappear from history."
Shiki gritted his teeth.
Bullet spoke first.
"I am willing to follow Saint Lakeman."
His voice was steady.
"I offer my loyalty."
Shiki turned toward him in disbelief.
Douglas Bullet. The Demon Heir.
A battle maniac who trusted only strength.
He had actually surrendered.
Lakeman looked at Bullet with interest.
"Why?"
Bullet met his gaze directly.
"Because I want to become stronger than Roger."
His fists tightened.
"You promised me that path. If you can truly give it to me, then I have no reason to refuse."
Lakeman's Observation Haki brushed across Bullet's thoughts.
There was ambition. Pride. Hunger.
But no immediate betrayal.
Bullet's thinking was simple. He wanted strength above all else. Since Lakeman could offer a realm beyond Roger, following him was not humiliation.
It was a path. For someone like Bullet, that was enough.
Lakeman nodded.
"Accepted."
He raised his hand.
A dense ball of life essence appeared in his palm. Green light pulsed inside it, carrying enough vitality to rebuild damaged flesh and cleanse hidden injuries.
Lakeman tossed it forward.
The life essence passed through the bars and merged into Bullet's chest.
Bullet's body stiffened.
A moment later, a green light burst outward and wrapped around him, forming a cocoon.
Inside it, old wounds closed. Hidden damage from years of battle and imprisonment disappeared. His muscles, bones, organs, and spirit were repaired under the flood of life force.
His aura rose steadily.
Like a sleeping beast remembering its strength.
Lakeman glanced at Redfield.
"Open his cell."
"Yes, Saint Lakeman."
Redfield stepped forward.
He did not use a key.
Haki condensed around his hand, and with one sharp movement, the lock shattered. The heavy cell door swung open.
Bullet remained inside the cocoon, but the path was clear.
Lakeman then turned to Shiki.
"What about you, old lion?"
Shiki's face twitched.
The title cut deeply.
Once, he had stood among the monsters of the old era. He had fought Roger, crossed paths with Whitebeard, and carried ambitions large enough to swallow the world.
Now he was being mocked in a cage.
After a long silence, Shiki lowered his head.
"I am also willing."
The words came through gritted teeth.
"I will follow Saint Lakeman."
A fierce glint flashed deep in his eyes.
It vanished quickly. Too quickly.
Lakeman's Observation Haki slipped into Shiki's thoughts.
For a moment, amusement flickered in his eyes.
'This old lion agreed so quickly?'
'I thought I would need to grind down his pride first.'
Then he saw the truth.
Shiki had no intention of truly surrendering.
He planned to endure. To be healed. To regain his youth. To obtain more power.
Then, when the chance came, he would flee, rebuild his forces, and take revenge.
His pride would not allow him to serve.
His ambition would not allow him to bow.
He only wanted the cage opened.
Lakeman's smile disappeared.
"But I am not willing."
Shiki lifted his head.
Panic flashed in his eyes before anger covered it.
"What do you mean?"
Lakeman looked at him calmly.
"I do not need traitors."
Redfield's eyes sharpened.
Inside the green cocoon, Bullet also sensed the change.
Lakeman continued, his voice quiet.
"I do not need scheming dogs who plan to run after being healed."
Shiki's pupils contracted.
Lakeman smiled coldly.
"Is that not right, Shiki?"
The Golden Lion's expression changed.
Those were his innermost thoughts.
He had not spoken them.
Yet Lakeman exposed them directly.
Shiki forced out a sneer.
"Hmph. If you do not want this old man, then say so. There is no need to invent accusations."
Lakeman watched him without emotion.
"If you had rejected me honestly, I would have left you here to rot."
His voice remained calm.
"But you tried to deceive me."
His eyes grew colder.
"That is worse."
Shiki's heart sank.
He finally understood.
Lakeman had not guessed.
He had seen.
"No."
His voice became hoarse.
"You cannot kill me."
Lakeman said nothing.
Shiki's breathing grew heavier.
"My Devil Fruit will reincarnate somewhere in the world after I die. If you kill me, you may never find it again."
His face twisted.
"I will still create trouble for you after death. The World Government will lose the Float-Float Fruit forever."
At that moment, Bullet's cocoon cracked.
Green light spilled out.
The cocoon shattered into motes, and Bullet stepped out of the cell.
His body looked younger, stronger, and steadier than before. His aura remained wild, but the foundation beneath it had become much cleaner.
He came to Lakeman's side and stood behind him, just like Redfield.
Then he looked at Shiki and sneered.
"Tsk. Looks like the old lion is about to be put down."
Bullet had no pity for Shiki.
During the Battle of Edd War, Shiki had nearly destroyed Roger's fleet. Bullet still remembered that storm of floating ships, broken waves, and desperate battle.
Seeing the same Golden Lion trapped and panicking now gave him a strange satisfaction.
Shiki glared at him.
"Bullet, you little brat."
Bullet's eyes turned cold.
"You are in no position to speak like that anymore."
Lakeman ignored them.
With a thought, an ordinary fruit appeared in his hand.
Fresh.
Simple.
Unremarkable.
But its purpose was special.
It was a prepared vessel for Shiki's Devil Fruit.
Redfield saw the fruit appear from nowhere and felt his heart tighten.
'He can control Devil Fruit reincarnation?'
That thought made his obedience deepen.
Strength was frightening.
Hidden methods were worse.
Shiki also understood something from Lakeman's action.
His face lost color.
"No."
His voice trembled with rage and fear.
"No, you cannot."
Lakeman looked at him indifferently.
"Say goodbye to the world, Shiki."
Golden lightning flickered around him.
The next instant, his Conqueror's Haki condensed into a focused strike.
It did not spread across Eternal Hell.
It did not touch Redfield.
It did not touch Bullet.
It pierced directly into Shiki.
The Golden Lion's roar died before it fully formed.
His eyes widened.
His body stiffened.
For one brief moment, the ambition that had once tried to conquer the sea still burned in his gaze.
Then it vanished.
Shiki collapsed.
The Golden Lion was dead.
Eternal Hell fell silent.
Bullet inhaled sharply.
A legend from the same era as Roger and Whitebeard had been killed by pressure alone.
No sword.
No fist.
No battle.
Only Conqueror's Haki.
Bullet's expression became solemn.
'Never betray him.'
The thought rooted itself in his heart.
'No matter what happens, never betray Saint Lakeman.'
Redfield lowered his head slightly.
He had already chosen loyalty, but this scene made that choice feel wiser.
Lakeman's attention was on the fruit in his hand.
The moment Shiki died, the Steal-Steal Fruit's power moved.
An invisible force wrapped around Shiki's corpse.
Something unseen was pulled out.
A strange fluctuation passed through the air.
The ordinary fruit trembled.
Its skin twisted. Spiral patterns appeared across its surface, curling like clouds caught in a storm. Its color deepened into the unnatural shade of a Devil Fruit.
A few seconds later, the transformation ended.
The Fuwa Fuwa no Mi. The Float-Float Fruit.
It had been captured.
Lakeman smiled faintly.
"Useful."
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