“Ah, I really don’t get what Dobon and Holed’em are thinking, going around looking for women for no reason. With that kind of time, you might as well take a nap.”
On a wide rocky platform, Babanuki, transformed into a Slaking, rolled over. Slaking’s Truant ability made resting far more comfortable, and Babanuki had long since grown used to this lifestyle.
After being restrained by rules for such a long time, the prisoners here had become much more obedient, and his workload had decreased as well. Even Momonosuke, who had constantly complained before, seemed to have resigned himself to his fate lately, staying silent every day, with no one knowing what he was thinking about.
“Boss Babanuki, wasn’t there an invasion over there? Why do I feel like you’re not worried at all?”
“What’s there to worry about? Do you know nothing about our foundation? Forget Garp, I’ll bet you a whole year’s bonus that even if all of Marine Headquarters attacked, every last one of them would stay here.”
“Boss, isn’t your confidence a bit excessive?”
“No, no, I’m already being humble. If I’m talking nonsense, let lightning strike me right now.”
Yawning, Babanuki spoke casually, but the next second, he realized the sky above him had suddenly gone dark.
“No way, I wasn’t even talking nonsense…”
Sensing something strange, Babanuki hurriedly sat up, only to realize it was a false alarm. It was merely an Altaria preparing to land.
Very quickly, the enormous Altaria slowly descended into the Udon Quarry carrying Kuzan and a group of ice sculptures, while Kuzan jumped down first.
“Careful, slower. We’re already at this place, don’t make any mistakes now.”
“Leave it to us, Boss Kuzan!”
Looking at Kuzan wrapped in bandages, Babanuki still hadn’t figured out what had happened. He only felt that after going out once, this group of pirates now seemed to regard Kuzan with a lot more awe.
But after he clearly saw the face inside the ice sculpture, he couldn’t help rubbing his eyes.
“That’s… Garp??”
“Boss Babanuki, here’s what happened…”
A pirate walked up beside Babanuki and retold the previous events. After glossing over certain details, Babanuki finally learned the result of the incident—Kuzan had defeated Garp.
Afterward, worried that something might go wrong during transport, Kuzan had contacted the air transport unit midway and had Altaria carry them back.
“Clear out two special prison cells for me… no, make it three. These people are different, so all of you pay extra attention.”
“Daifugo! What are you standing around for? Get moving!”
“Oh, got it, I’m going right now…”
Still somewhat dazed, Daifugo walked toward the prison area and directed the jailers to empty several cells.
“Am I seeing things? Was that Kuzan? And the one frozen into ice was Garp?”
Kuhlman, a pirate with a bounty of 300 million Berry, had been thrown in here after setting fires and looting islands within the Beasts Pirates’ territory.
He believed he had only gone out to sea too late, and if he had possessed a powerful Devil Fruit, he definitely wouldn’t have been weaker than Kaido. At worst, he could have become a regional overlord.
There were many people like him. Countless pirates carried such thoughts, and reality had unquestionably dealt them a brutal blow.
Kuhlman, now mining here, was one such example. He had already been working here for quite some time.
In this place, the main way to learn information from the outside world was through newly arrived prisoners. Not everyone was Doflamingo, able to have the warden specially deliver newspapers even after entering prison.
So these pirates knew very little about the outside situation. After seeing the ice sculpture bearing Garp’s appearance being brought in, each and every one of them began doubting reality.
“Ice Time!”
After placing Garp into a prison cell, Kuzan activated his ability again, turning that prison into an ice prison.
“Kuzan… sir, what are you trying to do?”
“Freeze Mr. Garp up. You people can’t keep watch over him. What, were you planning to make him mine here? That wouldn’t do you any good.”
Garp wasn’t a Devil Fruit user, so even with Seastone handcuffs, they could only restrict his movements.
If they wanted to make him mine, they would at least have to let him move freely. But in Garp’s case, if they gave him that kind of freedom, he could use Seastone chains as weapons and wreak havoc throughout the prison.
Rather than having them keep watch over him, it was better to keep him frozen like this.
This was Kuzan’s reinforced ice layer. With his ability, this block of ice would show no signs of melting for a very long time, perfectly preserving Garp and placing everything about him into a suspended state.
“Queen already agreed that I get to decide how these people are handled. Separate the others and lock them up. If you want to make them work, do as you like, but don’t go overboard.”
“Understood, leave it to me. But their ice…”
Babanuki did not refuse Kuzan. In this prison, he was a true local tyrant. Under the restrictions of Kaido and the others’ orders, he could decide exactly what kind of life someone would live.
If Kuzan really had done what they said, then his future position would at least be at the level of a Calamity-level senior officer. There was no need to offend him.
They were only a few prisoners anyway. Even if there were other ideas, they could wait until Kaido’s orders arrived.
Seeing that there even seemed to be women inside the ice sculptures, Babanuki also understood what Kuzan meant by “don’t go overboard.”
“The ice will melt after some time. They might be weak for a while afterward, but don’t worry about it.
I’m going to find a hot spring and relax a bit, so I won’t bother you people anymore.”
As someone half-retired himself, Babanuki sensed a feeling of total exhaustion in both body and mind coming from Kuzan, so he merely arranged for one of his underlings to drive Kuzan to a place to relax.
Just as he was about to go back to sunbathe, someone suddenly grabbed his leg.
“Lord Babanuki! I want to surrender! I want to join you people! Please give me a chance!”
“You? You think you qualify? What kind of dream are you having?”
Looking at Kuhlman sprawled on the ground, Babanuki mercilessly kicked him back.
Babanuki knew very clearly which people could be recruited and which could never be released. For a pirate like Kuhlman, the only outcome was mining until death.
“Scary… too scary… Boys! Hurry up and work harder!”
Caribou, who had been hiding in a corner and watching everything, shuddered all over before ordering his younger brother and the members of his pirate crew to swing their shovels with all their strength.
Because of their large numbers, Caribou had instead become the foreman among the pirate prisoners. Babanuki was happy to see this situation and simply let him do as he pleased.
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