"Shiryu of the Rain...?"
Hawke glanced to the side.
A tall figure was leaning against the corner of the cell.
Even locked in a prison, the murderous aura that clung to him hadn't diminished in the slightest.
"Hey, Navy boy, you know me?"
The man lifted his head, revealing a face twisted by a wicked grin.
"Then that makes things easy. Count me in for that slaughter party upstairs, how about it?"
"..."
Shiryu of the Rain.
The name flashed through Hawke's mind in an instant.
The former Head Jailer of Impel Down — a pure killing fiend.
If he only loved killing, only enjoyed torturing and executing criminals, Hawke would welcome him.
G-3 needed executioners like that.
But Shiryu couldn't tell friend from foe; he ignored his duties and had no moral burden about falling from enforcer to pirate.
Hawke didn't want undisciplined subordinates like that.
"Heh—"
Hawke withdrew his gaze and walked deeper into the hell.
Impel Down held, besides the future members of Blackbeard's crew from the original story, a host of legendary pirates who existed only in rumor.
"Red the Aloof" — Patrick Redfield.
"Demon's Heir" — Douglas Bullet.
"World-Destroyer" — Byrnndi World, and others...
Hawke's target this time was crystal clear.
"Demon's Heir," Bullet.
This man had been one of Roger's old crew — a monster who had honed martial arts and Haki to the extreme.
In the prime of life, his power stood at an absolute peak.
He was the best whetstone Hawke could find at this stage.
Hawke needed a fierce, draining fight to fuse the power he had just gained and prepare himself for the arrival of Conqueror's Haki.
By Hawke's estimate, when he left Impel Down his accumulated Justice Points would be enough to raise his Conqueror's Haki to Top-Tier.
That would be his first million Justice Points!
After that...
He'd take part in the Summit War, claim the second million Justice Points from the Whitebeard Pirates, and then push his physique up to the world's ceiling!
Just then, "click—"
A crisp key-turn echoed.
"Clack—"
Shiryu slowly stepped out from an opened cell and looked at Hawke.
A playful smile hung on his face; cruelty shone in his eyes.
"As a Head Jailer, having an escape plan isn't odd, is it?"
"I didn't mean to come out so early, but the voices above were... just too pleasant!"
He licked
his lips, greedily scenting the blood that hung in the air.
"Let me join. I promise — I'll slaughter faster and more brutally than your Navy underlings."
"No."
Hawke's voice was calm, without ripple.
"Oh... couldn't reach an agreement? What a pity!"
Shiryu's smile grew more bestial.
"You Navy Rear Admiral, you don't seem to understand the current situation!"
He pointed at himself and then at Hawke.
"Listen, I've never heard a Navy Rear Admiral scream!"
Shiryu raised the universal key in his hand, mania plastered across his face.
"How about this! I open every cell here — everyone out! Let's play! Let's battle to the death! How about it?!"
"Who agrees?"
"..."
No one answered.
Because...
A mountain-like figure had, without anyone noticing, appeared behind Hawke.
Thick purple poisonous fog flowed slowly around him; the air itself sizzled as though being corroded.
"Whose screams do you want to hear, Shiryu?"
"!!!!"
Shiryu's manic grin froze.
He turned stiffly; his pupils pinched tight.
"Magellan?!"
"Rear Admiral Hawke, how shall I deal with him?"
Magellan ignored Shiryu's shock and looked to Hawke for orders.
That scene froze every prying gaze inside Impel Down.
The ruler of Impel Down, Magellan the poison man, showing such deference to a Navy Rear Admiral?
"Render him severely wounded."
"His swordsmanship is decent — it could be used to sharpen Zoro."
"Hmm."
Magellan nodded slowly.
"Poison dragons!"
He let out a low roar, and three massive purple dragons of virulent poison erupted from his body.
Their heads snarled, poison steaming and rolling — in an instant they swallowed Shiryu whole.
"Ahhhh—!"
Shiryu's screams rang through Impel Down.
Magellan controlled the poison's concentration and flow with precision.
He wanted this arrogant man to feel hellish pain, but without destroying his tendons and bones — to leave him with the power to swing a blade.
After all, Hawke had said this man was a whetstone for his subordinate.
A ruined whetstone had no value.
"Clack—"
Hawke ignored the carnage behind him. He walked straight to one cell and called out an invitation to the figure within.
"Douglas Bullet, interested in a fight?"
Inside the cell, a man whose muscles stood out and whose body was covered in scars was engaged in ultra-high-intensity training, sweat soaking the floor.
Bullet
"...."
Bullet didn't respond to Hawke; he continued his training as if the world outside meant nothing to him.
"Beat me, and I'll let you out."
"..."
"!!!"
Impel Down plunged into a dead silence.
Every legendary pirate imprisoned there turned their gaze in unison toward this place.
Their eyes were full of disbelief, horror — and a flicker of rekindled, delirious hope.
Could they really get out?!
"...."
Bullet slowly stopped his training.
He turned and looked at Hawke, then glanced at the silent Magellan standing behind him.
"Do you mean it?"
"One Magellan isn't enough!"
His voice was hoarse and low, like two slabs of metal grinding.
He had trained in this world-isolated prison alone for a full twenty years.
He had never stopped thinking about how to surpass that man — to surpass Roger.
Finally he decided.
He would become "the world's strongest, surpassing Roger"!
The only way to prove it was to kill every strong one, including the Four Emperors and the Navy Admirals!
Now his power had been honed to the extreme — he only lacked one chance to walk out.
This young Navy Rear Admiral had the nerve to offer that condition.
Get out?
If he could get out, the whole sea would tremble at his release!
"...."
Hawke didn't answer.
He took off the Justice cloak from his back and threw it to the Zoro behind him.
Zoro hurriedly caught the cloak.
Then, under the eyes of Bullet and every prisoner in Impel Down, Hawke calmly rolled up his sleeves, revealing forearms cut with defined lines and coiled with explosive power.
He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out something.
A Den Den Mushi completely made of gold.
"Clack—"
He casually set the golden Den Den Mushi on the top platform of an empty cell nearby; it made a clear sound.
Then a second!
A third!
A fourth!
Four Den Den Mushis glinted with a golden sheen, lined up on the platform.
In the cold darkness of Impel Down, their light shone like four tiny suns — so dazzling that no one could look directly at them.
Because...
Each Den Den Mushi represented authorization for the Navy's highest-level military operation.
Each Den Den Mushi embodied the will of the Navy's top fighting power.
Buddha — Sengoku!
Akainu — Sakazuki!
Aokiji — Kuzan!
Kizaru — Borsalino!
Four orders to slay demons, gathered here!
Hawke looked calmly at the man in the cell, now completely stupefied.
"Do you think — do you think I'm serious or not?!"
"Right here, without endangering Impel Down, fight me with everything you've got and win."
"I will let you out!"