At this moment, Katie had no intention of standing idly by. It was time to leave this cramped, wretched prison cell.
The moment she stepped out, two figures came into view—Buggy, clad in prisoner stripes, and Luffy, wearing his signature straw hat.
"Hey, Straw Hat! I know about your brother's situation. Mind unlocking these cuffs for me?"
Those words instantly halted Luffy in his tracks.
"You know about Ace?! Tell me!"
Even though he had no idea who Katie was, Luffy couldn't afford to ignore even the slightest clue about Ace.
"Wrong. I'm not talking about your older brother, Ace—I mean your second brother, Sabo. He's alive. He's with the Revolutionary Army… and he's their Chief of Staff."
"Y-You're serious?! You're not lying to me, are you?!"
Luffy's body trembled uncontrollably, his mind blank. Sabo and Ace were the two most important people in his life—irreplaceable. As a child, Sabo had vanished during the chaos in the Kingdom of Goa, and Luffy had long believed him dead. But now, Katie's words reignited a sliver of hope.
"It's true. But… he suffered a severe head injury. His memories are damaged—he doesn't remember the past."
Thanks to her knowledge as a transmigrator, Katie easily gained Luffy's trust. Sabo was alive—saved by none other than Luffy's own father.
"Sabo's alive… Sabo's alive! I—I have to save Ace! I need to tell him!"
"Buggy! Unlock her cuffs! We're saving Ace together!"
"Hey, hey, hey! How do we know she's telling the truth? The Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff is their second-in-command! You're saying your brother is that strong?!"
"My dad's the leader of the Revolutionary Army. You think my brother wouldn't be strong?"
Silence.
The moment Luffy revealed his father's identity, the entire corridor fell deathly quiet. Everyone's eyes widened, jaws practically hitting the floor.
"Alright, as shocking as that is… can someone please unlock my cuffs?"
"R-Right! On it!"
Buggy's mind was still reeling from Luffy's revelation, but his body moved on autopilot, unlocking Katie's restraints.
As she watched Buggy's dazed expression, a strange glint flashed in Katie's eyes.
Because from him… she had obtained an incredible skill—
[Tearing (Proficient Lv.7)]
From Luffy, she had only gotten [Soru (Master Lv.5)], which, despite being a higher level, paled in comparison in terms of potential.
In the system shop, a Soru of the same level cost less than half the points of Tearing—the difference was staggering.
Buggy was a Bara Bara no Mi (Chop-Chop Fruit) user, allowing him to split his body into pieces. Currently, it seemed to grant him immunity to all slashing attacks—after all, he had even tanked Mihawk's sword strikes without a scratch.
But Tearing was… odd.
The Chop-Chop Fruit's direct effect only applied to the user's body—it shouldn't affect the outside world. Yet Tearing allowed direct external destruction.
After some thought, Katie could only think of one explanation—
Buggy's Devil Fruit had awakened.
For Paramecia-type fruits, awakening was the stage where their abilities began affecting the environment. If Buggy had truly awakened his fruit, then Tearing made perfect sense.
Even though, up until Katie's transmigration, Buggy had been portrayed as nothing more than a comic relief character in Oda's story, two facts alone proved he was far from ordinary:
He and Shanks had both been cabin boys on Gol D. Roger's ship.
He was one of the earliest and most recurring side characters—appearing even before Mihawk and with far more screen time.
Katie was certain—Buggy was hiding his true strength.
But why?
Maybe he didn't want attention. Maybe it was a mission from Roger. Or maybe… something else entirely.
"I'm Luffy! The man who's gonna be King of the Pirates! And this is Buggy!"
Hearing Luffy's introduction in person made Katie realize just how bold it was. After all, most pirates set sail specifically for the One Piece—declaring himself the future Pirate King was practically a challenge to the entire world.
"I'm Katie."
"Yosh! Let's go save Ace together!"
Naturally, Luffy was thrilled to have another ally and immediately started rallying them to action.
"Wait—I'm not going with you."
"Eh?! Why not? It's safer if we stick together!"
Luffy was baffled by Katie's refusal.
Watching his confusion, Katie couldn't help but sigh. Back when she was just watching the anime, she'd felt bad for Buggy—dragged around by Luffy's reckless enthusiasm from Level 1 all the way down to Level 5. But experiencing it firsthand made her pity him even more.
"Sticking together does mean backup, but it also makes us a bigger target. We'd attract too much attention."
"Splitting up reduces the risk and increases our chances of saving Ace. Besides, I know the way down—I'll be fine on my own."
"Wow, Katie, you're so smart! Alright, let's do it your way! Me and Buggy'll go first!"
Without giving Buggy a chance to protest, Luffy grabbed him and charged ahead.
"WAIT A MINUTE! Why don't you go with Katie?! I can handle myself—"
Buggy's screams faded into the distance as Katie prepared to execute her own plan.
The risk of exposure was a reason she didn't join Luffy—but not the main one.
What she needed most right now was power.
Compared to when she first arrived, her strength had grown—but against the enemies she'd soon face, she was still hopelessly outmatched. A mere cannon fodder.
But thanks to the system, Impel Down was nothing less than a goldmine waiting to be exploited.
With the system's help, she could steal abilities from others—meaning every prisoner in Impel Down was a potential skill source. Even with duplicates, the sheer volume made up for it.
Not to mention, as she descended, she could complete system missions.
The moment she chose her main quest, the system had already issued her next sub-mission:
[Reach Level 6: Infinite Hell]
Reward: 50,000 Exchange Points, 7 Skill Points
Instantly, Katie was stunned by the insane reward. Compared to this, the payout from her first mission was peanuts.
But this task… was anything but easy.