"So this is the Red Rabbit… the one they say can't be killed no matter what?"
As Da Hong appeared on the deck of the Marine warship, surprise flashed across the faces of the prison officers standing behind Chief Warden Magellan.
After all, Da Hong's treatment was nothing like that of other prisoners arriving at Impel Down.
Other criminals brought to the prison usually wore shackles on both hands and feet. They were often bruised, battered, and half-dead.
But Da Hong?
He wore no restraints at all.
He sat leisurely in a chair, calmly reading a magazine, while a Marine soldier stood nearby and occasionally fed a carrot straight into his mouth.
The absurd sight left the prison staff genuinely stunned.
Wasn't this supposed to be the monster who had rampaged across the execution ground, severely injured Vice Admiral Momonga, and even sent Admiral Kizaru flying?
Why was such a vicious criminal not only free of chains, but also being fed and pampered like a guest?
"Chief Warden Magellan, I'll leave the Red Rabbit to you."
At that moment, Admiral Borsalino stepped to the edge of the deck and spoke in his usual lazy tone.
"One suggestion: it's best to put him in Level Six, Eternal Hell. Clean up the cell first, and prepare some magazines, carrots, and canvas sneakers for him."
He paused.
"Oh, and one more friendly reminder."
"Whatever you do, absolutely do not dirty his canvas sneakers."
"Got it."
Magellan waved impatiently.
"Borsalino, when did you become this long-winded? Don't tell me the Red Rabbit kicked you in the head too."
"What an impolite thing to say, Magellan."
Borsalino pouted slightly, then waved for the soldiers to carry Da Hong down.
Da Hong ignored every insignificant person around him and continued reading his magazine with total focus while seated on the chair.
Magellan immediately began issuing orders.
"Domino, escort the Red Rabbit to Level Six. Leave the rest to Shiryu of the Rain."
Then he looked back up at Borsalino aboard the warship.
"Now that the Red Rabbit has been delivered, your job here is done. I won't see you out."
He had barely finished speaking when his face twisted.
"Agh—!"
Clutching his stomach, Magellan spun around and sprinted straight through the gates of Impel Down, heading for the restroom at top speed.
The Marine warship did not depart immediately.
Whether it was Admiral Kizaru, Vice Admiral Garp, Vice Admiral Gion, or the others, all of them kept their eyes on Da Hong.
During the entire journey, Da Hong's mood had remained unbelievably stable.
He only ever did three things:
polish sneakers, read magazines, and sit on the toilet.
At first, they had all worried that he might break out midway and make things even worse.
Now, it seemed they had worried for nothing.
Even after being delivered to Impel Down, Da Hong's mood remained steady from beginning to end.
It was difficult to reconcile this calm rabbit with the berserk monster who had nearly torn Loguetown apart.
Once Da Hong disappeared through the gates of Impel Down, Garp finally turned away.
Standing beside him, Tina spoke up, her expression genuinely puzzled.
"Vice Admiral Garp, there's something I really don't understand."
"You mean why the Red Rabbit clearly had the power to escape but chose not to?" Garp replied casually. "Maybe he just thinks staying there is more comfortable. At the end of the day, he's still a rabbit. Hahaha…"
"No," Tina said seriously, shaking her head. "What I don't understand is why the traveler never came to rescue him."
"Even if he knew we couldn't kill the Red Rabbit, he still shouldn't be completely indifferent."
"Or maybe… he really doesn't like fighting and killing. Since the Red Rabbit committed such terrible crimes, perhaps he wants him to stay in prison for a while and calm down?"
"Hm?" Garp blinked. "Why would you think that?"
"Because when we were hunting the Red Rabbit, both I and Vice Admiral Gion ran into that traveler."
Tina's expression turned thoughtful.
"He tricked me into going to Syrup Village. That means he clearly already knew the Black Cat Pirates were active in those waters. The only reason to send me there was because he wanted me to capture them."
"And he tricked Vice Admiral Gion into going to Cocoyasi Village. Because of that, she uncovered what had happened there, cleaned up the local Marine corruption, and learned all about the Arlong Pirates' crimes in East Blue."
"All of this suggests…"
Garp narrowed his eyes slightly, and a trace of regret flashed deep within them.
From the very beginning, his plan had been to pull Kairo into the Marines if possible.
He had never expected things to spiral this far.
Now, even if Kairo had not directly participated in Da Hong's crimes, the people in Holy Land would never allow him to join the Marines.
If anything, they were more likely to intensify their surveillance, dig deeper into him, and perhaps even send specialized combat units to capture him.
That meant Kairo would inevitably be forced onto the opposite side.
Just then—
"Buru buru—"
A Den Den Mushi rang.
Gion, who had been standing silently beside Tina, took it out and spoke at once.
"Have you found Arlong's trail?"
"Vice Admiral Gion, this is bad!"
The voice on the other end sounded shaken.
"The Marines stationed in Cocoyasi Village were slaughtered when Arlong suddenly returned to Arlong Park. Only one lieutenant survived. Everyone else is dead!"
"Under torture, that lieutenant told Arlong the reason the Marines appeared in Cocoyasi in the first place was because of a traveler."
"Once we learned this, we realized Arlong must have gone looking for that traveler, so we immediately contacted all East Blue branches to help search for him."
"And then—"
"Then what?" Gion's beautiful brows drew together.
She had not expected Arlong and his crew to be so vicious as to massacre her men. Even the usually mild-tempered Gion could not hide the killing intent that flashed through her eyes.
"At Marine Branch 153 in Shells Town, Colonel Morgan dispatched warships to help search."
"When they entered the waters near Syrup Village, they found Arlong's corpse."
"His head had been smashed apart, but they confirmed it was him."
"After confirming his identity, they continued searching and soon found several other members of the Arlong Pirates. But aside from Arlong and those few bodies, the rest of the crew and officers were nowhere to be seen."
"Then…"
The voice on the Den Den Mushi faltered.
"Then they found a group camping on a beach in Syrup Village, grilling food. That's when they discovered the remaining members and officers of the Arlong Pirates hadn't escaped at all…"
"They had been eaten."
There was a stunned pause.
"Eaten by a rabbit, a Droopy dog, a fox… and a mouse."
The explosive report instantly drew the attention of every Marine present.
The moment they heard that, aside from Arlong himself, the Arlong Pirates had basically been turned into a meal by several animals, everyone's eyes widened.
One Marine even threw up on the spot.
Even Gion felt slightly sick.
Arlong and his crew had deserved death, certainly—but being butchered, cooked, and served as food was something most people found hard to stomach.
After all—
fish-men were still people.
How could they bring themselves to eat them?
Suddenly, Gion turned toward Garp.
"A rabbit and a Droopy dog… could that be—"
"No."
Garp waved a hand.
"Kairo does have a Droopy dog and a Green Rabbit with him. But I'm certain he doesn't have any mouse or fox."
Gion nodded, then returned her attention to the Den Den Mushi.
"Did the Marines get close enough to investigate?"
The voice on the other end grew awkward.
"Well… according to the soldiers present, they were so frightened by the sight that they turned around and left."
Gion's brows knit tighter.
"Marines terrified away by a few animals? You…"
"Not us, Vice Admiral!"
The man hurriedly protested.
"We went back later!"
"Oh?" Gion's tone sharpened.
"And then?"
"Then we ran into the Krieg Pirates. Since they had dozens of warships, we…"
"You ran away again, is that it?" Gion's expression darkened at once. The corruption of East Blue's branch forces was already bad enough. But this kind of cowardice in the face of pirates was just as intolerable. A thorough reform was clearly needed.
"No! We didn't run!"
The voice on the Den Den Mushi answered quickly.
"We fought them until our ammunition ran dry, and only then did we withdraw! But we didn't go back to base—we pretended to leave and secretly kept following the Krieg Pirates."
"After that, when the Krieg fleet entered Syrup Village waters, they were suddenly bombarded by extremely dense artillery fire."
"Was it Marine reinforcements?" Gion asked, suddenly animated.
"No… no."
The reply came weakly.
"The ones bombarding the Krieg fleet were… those same animals who had eaten the Arlong Pirates."
"They somehow produced a huge amount of shells and destroyed all fifty-plus warships of the Krieg Pirates with artillery fire."
"All of them?" Gion's brow rose. "More than fifty ships?"
"Yes!"
"Other than Krieg's flagship, the Dreadnought Sabre, none survived. The pirates aboard them—more than five thousand—were all blown into the sea like dumplings dropped into boiling water…"
This time, even Gion—who had seen countless storms as a Vice Admiral—couldn't stop herself from drawing in a sharp breath.
A pirate fleet of five thousand men, destroyed cleanly by a few animals.
What in the world was happening to East Blue?
First came the red rabbit, who killed a Celestial Dragon in broad daylight and nearly wiped a kingdom off the map.
Now a few more animals had turned the Arlong Pirates into dinner and sent the entire Krieg fleet to the bottom of the sea.
At this rate, East Blue's public order was in serious danger.
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