“You’re so young. Why were you imprisoned here?”
“M-My father was originally the Shogun of Wano Country, but Kaido used despicable methods and joined forces with Kurozumi Orochi to kill my father, seize Wano Country, and force my younger sister to become Wano Country’s Shogun.
“In the end, they threw me in here too, tormenting me every day…”
“A puppet ruler, huh…”
Momonosuke had not explained things in detail, so Koby had no idea that Momonosuke’s younger sister was already an adult.
He also did not know that Kozuki Hiyori had arranged for people to feed Momonosuke false information, making him believe that Hiyori was completely being coerced. This was the practical application of the tiny bit of advice Doflamingo had given Hiyori.
From Koby’s perspective, the Beasts Pirates had become even more like villains.
“Don’t worry. The Marines won’t abandon us. Sooner or later, they’ll come rescue us.”
“R-Really?”
“Of course they will—ow!”
Because he was talking to Momonosuke, Koby was not paying attention and bumped into someone, the stone he was carrying smashing directly onto the other man’s foot.
“Aren’t you one of those Marines who just got captured? You’ve got some nerve running into me.”
Outside, a collision like this might have been nothing, but in here, it was all the excuse needed for a brawl. Seeing that the other party was a Marine, the pirate immediately swung a punch toward Koby’s face without another word.
“Heh, so this is the Marines’ new hero? He’s nothing special. Doesn’t he still have to mine ores here just like us? And he’s weak as hell too!”
He walked over to Koby, about to continue beating him, only to have a chunk of stone thrown by Bogard smash into his head.
“Shut up, pirate.”
Bogard was not a Devil Fruit user. The handcuffs and shackles restricted his movements, but he had not fallen so low as to be bullied by anyone.
The reason he was obediently mining was because of Garp.
【Work honestly, or I’ll smash this old man into pieces!】
Those were Dobon’s threats against them. Although Dobon could not defeat Garp, bullying a frozen Garp was not difficult at all. In order to keep Garp safe, the group had no choice but to obediently work.
“B*stard…! A Marine hit me! Even in a place like this, the Marines still want to bully pirates?!”
Feeling that he was not a match for Bogard, the pirate did not act recklessly and instead shouted loudly. Among pirates, ninety-nine percent hated the Marines. Out on the seas, they might run away, but inside prison? Who was afraid of whom here?
“What’s this? You wanna fight?”
Bogard showed no fear either. Grabbing a pickaxe, he knocked out the first few pirates who rushed at him, but the number of pirates far exceeded their expectations. Fortunately, there were also some Marine prisoners here. Normally, they had hidden their identities, but now they finally stepped forward.
A prison brawl erupted just like that.
“Kid, those guys started fighting.”
Watching the chaos inside the prison, Killer approached Kid, who was still hauling rocks, and asked whether he had any plans.
“Heh, a bunch of idiots. They’ve all become prisoners, yet they still want to decide who’s superior and inferior? Even if you become king inside a prison, what’s the point?”
Kid had no intention of acting, and his tone carried thick disdain.
No matter how lofty their ambitions were, they first had to get out of this prison. After working here for so long, he had already become familiar with Udon’s situation.
For some reason, the prison guards had not acted yet, but those Chief Wardens were all Devil Fruit users. Without the keys to their chains, escaping their powers was impossible.
Not to mention the Rock-type Pokémon stationed throughout the mine.
“Forget about them. The timing’s wrong right now. If you don’t want to go hungry, keep working. You need a full stomach before you can think about what to do next.”
Kid did not recklessly involve himself in the conflict. Instead, he quietly continued working as a laborer. Having become the model miner for several months in a row, he was quite experienced.
And reality turned out much as Kid had expected. At that moment, Babanuki was simply watching everything unfold.
“Lord Babanuki, aren’t you going to intervene? They’re seriously fighting now.”
“It’s rare entertainment. What’s wrong with watching? No matter how badly they beat each other up, not a single bit of today’s workload is getting reduced.”
What was happening still fell far short of a riot, and Babanuki believed everything remained under his control.
In the middle of the crowd, Bogard grew fiercer the more he fought. Wielding two pickaxes, he became increasingly unstoppable, even taking on the stance of a Two Sword Style user. Of course, not everyone was as fierce as Bogard.
Koby and Helmeppo were currently being surrounded and beaten, while the other Marines could barely form a defensive circle to protect themselves. However, the fight did not last long before an unexpected factor interrupted it.
“All of you, stop!”
A crimson figure rushed in from the side and split apart all the prisoners in moments. Anyone still trying to fight got slammed hard in the stomach by him, regardless of whether they were Marines or pirates.
“Drake?!”
Seeing the newcomer, the members of SWORD were shocked inside, though none of them showed it.
Although Drake was SWORD’s captain, this was obviously not a place to acknowledge acquaintances. If anyone were to do that, their true motives should be thoroughly investigated.
“Red Flag? What are you doing here?”
Only after Drake stopped the fight did Babanuki emerge from the corner.
“Governor-General Kaido sent me. He said the ritual is about to begin, so he told me to come here and replace Dobon so he can go participate.”
Drake had no intention of breaking anyone out of prison. He knew exactly how terrifying Onigashima’s military strength currently was. Even if Garp were somehow thawed out successfully, this group of old, weak, and injured people still would not be able to escape.
At most, he could help within his capabilities, such as resolving the Marines’ current predicament.
“I see…”
Meanwhile, on Onigashima, even Arceus could not figure out what exactly was going through Kaido’s mind.
“You know the SWORD members are imprisoned in Udon, and you also know Drake is one of SWORD’s members, yet you deliberately sent him to replace Dobon. What exactly are you trying to do?”
“Worororo! It’s too boring. Those people have all been behaving themselves, and the Marines haven’t made any moves either. I’m just giving them an opportunity, aren’t I? If life gets too dull, even alcohol starts losing its flavor.”
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