Caesar's words left the newly freed Redfield stunned, wondering if he had misheard him.
Before Redfield could process it, the Ice Demon standing outside the cell door stepped forward expressionlessly at Caesar's command.
Ssskrt.
A sharp crystalline ice spear materialized in the Ice Demon's right hand.
"Ice Thorn Spear!"
Swish!
With a flick of his arm, the spear tore through the air like lightning, aiming straight for Redfield's head.
"Aokiji! How dare you?!"
Enraged, Redfield threw a punch at the oncoming spear.
BOOM!
Redfield spat out a mouthful of blood as the spear sent him flying, slamming him hard into the prison wall.
"Gah! Cough… Damn it! My Haki hasn't recovered yet. Caesar, what's the meaning of this? If you've got the guts, restore my Life Force first, and I'll—"
"Blizzard!"
The Ice Demon, now an emotionless war machine, hurled a massive wave of frost from his left hand, encasing Redfield's body in a block of ice.
"Freeze! Pheasant Beak!"
A brilliant blue phoenix of ice erupted from the Ice Demon's chest, smashing into the frozen Redfield and driving him deep into the wall.
Whoosh!
The ice spear shot from the Ice Demon's hand, piercing Redfield's chest and pinning him to the rock.
"That's enough. Bring him out."
Caesar's voice was indifferent.
The Ice Demon mechanically leaped into the crater, yanked the barely breathing Redfield out, and dragged him before Caesar.
Looking down at Redfield, whose breaths were shallow and ragged, Caesar's aura settled into an unfathomable calm, like a bottomless lake.
"Don't worry, Redfield. I will restore your Life Force. After all, you're a rare super combatant—perhaps even stronger than Kuzan here. I still need you… as the commander of my Shadow Guard."
Redfield coughed violently, spitting another mouthful of blood, his eyes blazing with hatred.
Deep inside, a murderous intent toward Caesar flared.
'Caesar… How dare you treat me like this? I am the Red Count! I'll endure this humiliation… Just wait'.
'Once I regain my peak strength, I'll show you the true power of the Lone Red!'
'I'll slaughter every pirate under your command, drain their blood, and imprison their souls within me to wail in agony for eternity!'
'I'll make you kneel at my feet, begging for my mercy!'
Redfield couldn't help but think—perhaps it was time to abandon his lone wolf ways.
With his overwhelming strength, all he needed was to rally the call, and legions of powerful pirates would flock to his banner.
At that time, he could fully ascend to the top of the New World and become the Pirate King like Roger!
Thinking of this, Redfield suppressed the hatred in his eyes and forced out an ugly smile.
"Cough... It's fine, heh, I will definitely support you with all my might, Caesar. Commander of the Shadow Guard, right? I will—"
Before Redfield could finish speaking, Caesar's large hand suddenly gripped his neck, firmly enveloping and restraining his entire body.
In a flash, Caesar's right hand shot forward, plunging into Redfield's forehead with a sickening squelch.
Redfield's eyes widened instantly as he let out a desperate scream.
"NO!!"
"I said I would restore you to your prime, but only after you become the Shadow Guard Commander."
Caesar's expression remained indifferent as he seized Redfield's memories and yanked them out!
Redfield's scream cut off abruptly, his entire body freezing as if time had stopped.
Redfield's memories held little of significant value.
His life, though somewhat legendary, was relatively dull and uneventful.
Born in the North Blue, he was the descendant of a fallen noble family.
As a child, he happened to encounter the Rumbar Pirates and was captivated by these peculiar musicians-turned-pirates, sparking his longing for a pirate's life.
Brook, the vice-captain of the Rumbar Pirates, was a kind man who not only taught Redfield how to play the piano and perform "Binks' Sake" but also instructed him in a few swordsmanship techniques.
A few years later, Redfield set sail alone.
His natural talent was extraordinary, and he trained diligently.
In Observation Haki, he reached heights few could match.
As he grew older, Redfield's Observation Haki grew even stronger, eventually allowing him to freely probe the thoughts of others.
Along his journey, Redfield witnessed much of the New World's darkness, and his personality gradually became introverted, unwilling to open up to others.
He was cruel and bloodthirsty, far from the elegant noble he might have been—even before he gained the abilities of a vampire bat.
Redfield reached the peak of his strength around the age of forty.
At that time, he could single-handedly confront the Roger Pirates and escape unscathed.
Even in his later years, he could still defeat Kong the Iron Fist, despite being surrounded by a large number of Marines.
It was during that battle that Redfield was captured.
Imprisoned in Level 6 of Impel Down, Redfield couldn't escape as quickly as Shiki had.
Instead, he spent nearly twenty years in the pitch-black depths of the prison.
Those two decades drained Redfield of all his vigor and spirit.
The once-proud Red Count had become a frail, white-haired old man.
His strength, too, waned as his Life Force steadily diminished.
If not for Blackbeard's rampage in Impel Down, Redfield would never have escaped, likely ending up as nothing more than a withered skeleton in Level 6.
After his escape, Redfield wasn't defeated by Monkey D. Luffy in this world.
Instead, after obtaining the Mythical Zoan-type Bat-Bat Fruit, he was beaten into a desperate retreat by the Marine Admirals who arrived upon hearing the news.
Suffering severe injuries once more, he had no choice but to temporarily abandon his ambitions and hide in a remote corner of the New World, secretly feeding on the blood of civilians from nearby islands.
One thing that caught Caesar's attention was that Redfield's purpose in coming to Totto Land this time wasn't merely to avenge Brook's death.
He had been drawn by the commotion of Caesar's Tea Party, and just like Blackbeard, he aimed to take advantage of the situation by feeding on the life force of pirates whose strength was neither too high nor too low, hoping to restore his own power.
But Redfield never expected that his well-laid plans would be ruined by Pizarro, that meddlesome troublemaker.
Then came Teach, who entangled him, making escape impossible.
In the end, this was the outcome.
Swish!
After reviewing Redfield's memories, Caesar waved his hand and erased all the memories in his mind, along with the lingering resentment from the blood he had consumed.
"Red Count Redfield is dead. From now on, you are the commander of my Shadow Guard Corps, codenamed Blood Demon!"
When Caesar released a vast amount of lifeblood, allowing the transformed Blood Demon to feed for a long time—
BOOM!
A terrifying, overwhelming aura erupted from Blood Demon's body, its magnitude instantly enveloping Sweet Island and continuing to spread across the sea!
Blood Demon's aged body underwent a drastic transformation—his face became youthful, resembling a man in his thirties, his physique full and robust, with a braid tied atop his head and a flamboyant red cloak draped over his shoulders, strikingly similar to a certain bald man's style.
Crash!
A massive hole was blasted open in the ceiling of the basement, and a towering figure leaped down while roaring.
"Redfield! You old ghost with no fear of death, do you want another beating? Huh?"