"As a member of CP0, you enjoy the privilege to kill freely. But at the same time, you bear the responsibility to protect the Celestial Dragons, carry out secret missions, and obey the Five Elders' orders without question."
"Even if CP0 is commanded to commit suicide, they must obey without resistance."
"But he... failed to uphold his duty."
Zephyr looked toward a cell not far away, his gaze cold and filled with disdain as it landed on the bearded man inside.
"Did he disobey the Celestial Dragons?"
Hearing this, Rosen had already begun to consider whether he should kill this man or merely cripple him.
Even if this man was the former chief of CP0, even if he was a prisoner of the sixth floor, Rosen could have chosen to spare his life... if only because he dared to defy the Celestial Dragons.
"Eighteen years ago, several Celestial Dragons visited a nation in the East Blue that was not yet a member of the World Government. Some fell for the queen, some for the princess, some for the wives of nobles, and of course, countless civilian women were not spared either."
"The Celestial Dragons decided to have CP0 abduct all the young women of that nation so they could select them at will. However, during the operation, they accidentally ran into Garp, who happened to be vacationing in the East Blue."
"In the end, no women were abducted. CP0 was beaten black and blue, while the Celestial Dragons themselves were knocked out by Garp's Conqueror's Haki and carried back to Mary Geoise unconscious."
"The one who led that mission... was this former CP0 chief."
"Geber."
Hearing Zephyr recount Geber's "legendary feat," Rosen fell silent.
The fleeting kindness he had felt toward Geber vanished without a trace.
Indeed.
Almost every prisoner locked in the depths of Infinite Hell, whether pirate, marine, or CP0 operative, deserved to die.
"Whether that counts as defiance of the Celestial Dragons, I do not know."
"But after those Celestial Dragons woke up, they claimed Geber had failed in his duty to protect them and declared the mission a failure. They ordered him to commit suicide on the spot."
"Of course, he refused... and chose to escape instead."
Zephyr's tone was indifferent.
"Who captured him?"
Rosen paused for a few seconds.
Defying the Celestial Dragons?
It was indeed disobedience, but not in the way he had imagined.
"I did."
Zephyr tapped his own chest, and a rare hint of pride flickered across his face.
After all, very few marines held a favorable opinion of the CP organizations.
Especially CP9 and CP0.
To capture the former CP0 chief with his own hands and throw him into Impel Down—this was indeed something worth boasting about.
"Thank you, Teacher Zephyr, for preparing such an excellent whetstone for me."
Rosen nodded, then slowly opened his mouth and exhaled a gentle breath.
From his breath, a short sword—half the length of a standard navy saber—condensed and fell neatly into his hand.
The Arms-Arms Fruit allowed its user to transform any part of the body into a weapon.
Hair could become a Zanpakutō.
A single breath could also form a blade.
"Breathing a sword...?"
Borsalino's eyes lit up beneath his sunglasses as he watched this scene unfold.
Truthfully, he was so impressed that he secretly resolved: next time he went out on a mission, he would also try spitting out a sword to mess with some pirates.
Though, what he would spit out wouldn't be a Zanpakutō, but his own Kusanagi sword.
"Bring him out."
Zephyr did not share Geber's past story to show off old achievements. Rather, he wanted Rosen to understand Geber's capabilities through his former identity as CP0's chief.
Every CP0 member was an expert in the Rokushiki and highly skilled in Haki.
Even those who had consumed Zoan or Logia-type Devil Fruits relied primarily on physical prowess as their foundation.
Clang.
Shiryu walked over to the cell where Geber was locked. He used a key labeled with the number "2" to unlock the door, then reached inside, gripping Geber's neck like a dead dog, dragging him out to Rosen and the others.
"Unlock it yourself."
After speaking, Shiryu casually tossed a key in front of Geber.
Geber said nothing.
However, when he glanced sideways at Zephyr, a flash of hatred deeper than bone marrow glimmered in his eyes—then vanished instantly.
He slowly picked up the key from the ground, then carefully unlocked the seastone cuffs and shackles binding his wrists and ankles.
"A Devil Fruit user, huh..."
Rosen's eyes swept over the seastone restraints.
Although it was only his first time in Impel Down, he had noticed the differences in how prisoners were confined.
Some had only their hands and feet bound by seastone cuffs and shackles.
Some were not only restrained, but their entire cells were constructed of seastone.
Geber belonged to the first category.
For Devil Fruit users, as long as their hands and feet were shackled in seastone, that was enough. Only non-Devil Fruit prisoners were completely sealed within seastone cells.
"Zephyr... it's been a long time."
The moment Geber shed the seastone shackles, his body—which had been hunched from years of imprisonment and suppression—slowly straightened.
A cold, murderous aura suddenly burst forth.
He was like a feral beast awakening from a long slumber. Simply standing beside him would make one's scalp tingle.
"If you want to reminisce, there's no need."
"I couldn't get along with the CP organization in the past, and I can't now."
"Today, there is only one path before you: die at the hands of me and Borsalino... or die under my student's sword."
Zephyr's voice was cold as winter steel. He had no intention of exchanging old pleasantries.
"I see."
Geber turned and stared deeply at Rosen, as if carving the young man's features into the depths of his soul, never to forget.
Then, he suddenly raised a foot and kicked—
Bang!
The seastone shackles on the ground flew like cannonballs toward Rosen and Borsalino.
Almost simultaneously—
Geber's body shot forward like an arrow, instantly passing by Zephyr.
Shave—one of the Rokushiki—had already become ingrained into his very flesh and bones, a pure bodily instinct. Every move he made carried the essence of Shave.
His speed was so great that he flew past Zephyr in a blur, shooting over a hundred meters away in a single instant.
Then—
His entire form began to morph. His body rapidly expanded, his skin turning a tough blue-gray like an elephant's hide, while his arms extended outward, transforming into a pair of massive wings.
Once fully spread, his wingspan exceeded fifteen meters.
Like most members of CP9 and CP0, Geber had eaten a Zoan-type Devil Fruit—yet not just any Zoan-type, but an ancient variant.
Bird-Bird Fruit, Model · Quetzalcoatlus.
At that moment.
Geber flapped his wings violently, whipping up a fierce gale that tore up the ground below as his figure soared upward, heading straight for the exit of Infinite Hell like a stormy hurricane.
"Farewell, Zephyr..."
"And your dear student."
"If I meet him again out there someday... I promise to 'take good care' of him for you."
Geber's resentful voice, like a demon's roar, echoed through Infinite Hell.
...
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