[Alabasta Rainy Street]
Yellow sand swept across the street corners in the wind, the remaining frost quietly melted, and pedestrians began to resume their hustle and bustle.
But Rogge did not stop, and continued to walk calmly among the increasingly bustling crowd, as if the brief confrontation with Aokiji just now was just an ordinary encounter between old acquaintances.
Ian was silent for a long time, and finally spoke in a low voice:
"...When you mentioned 'pedophile' just now, sir, are you referring to...?"
"Hmm?" Rogge turned around and grinned innocently, "Who else could it be?"
"Can't you stop making jokes like these that could easily lead to accidents..." Ian said helplessly.
"I'm not kidding."
Rogge raised his hand to straighten his cloak, his tone lazy and somewhat playful, "You can see that, Nico Robin, I will not take action for the time being."
"It's not because she's pitiful, but because the power behind her is quite strong."
His tone was tinged with sarcasm. "If I touch her, not only will the Celestial Dragons take notice of me, but some of my 'old colleagues' will probably be upset too."
Ian nodded thoughtfully, then caught a glimpse of Rogge's eyes falling on the sword at his waist.
"...Have you improved your swordsmanship recently?" Rogge suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Ian was stunned for a moment, then stood at attention. "I'm practicing, but to be honest, I've really felt like I've hit a plateau lately."
"Haki's coordination with Taijutsu is better than before, but in terms of swordsmanship... there aren't many seniors in the Marines who can be called 'sword masters'."
Rogge nodded slightly, put his hands in his pockets, and said calmly:
"Marine isn't short of experts, it's short of pure swordsmen."
"From Zhan Taomaru's Taijutsu style, Kizaru's light-speed combat, to ancient monsters like Garp whose punches are as hard as cannonballs... you'll find that those who are good with swords are basically on the other side."
"But..."
He looked up into the distance, his eyes growing darker. "If I were to name a swordsman-level figure in the Marines... there was one."
Ain's eyes lit up: "Who is it?"
Rogge gave a meaningful smile.
"Our next destination is Impel down."
Ai En was shocked. "Impel down?! That's where they hold serious criminals?"
"Didn't you say I should improve my swordsmanship?"
Rogge's lips curled slightly, his voice was not loud, but resounding:
"You'll know when you get there."
The dust rolled up, the picture faded, and the outline of Impel Down appeared in the distance in the background wind and sand.
[Impel down · Magellan Office]
"What?!"
Magellan slammed the table, and poisonous mist rose from his shoulders. "You want to take Shiryu away?!"
"He's a murderer! No!"
"He didn't kill the enemy, he killed his own people!"
"I know."
Rogge took a step forward, his eyes calm as water: "But I also said that I will subdue him."
"There are…never too many people in this world who enjoy killing Pirates."
Magellan's face was filled with distrust. "He tried to poison the entire security department at dinner time last time. How can you make someone like that obey you?"
"You don't have to believe him, but you can believe me."
Rogge said calmly, "I've already contacted Marshal Sengoku. He said that as long as you agree to take me to Level 6 for verification, it will be fine."
Magellan gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.
"…Let's go."
"But I warn you, if he loses control, I will poison him immediately."
"no problem."
Rogge smiled, "I'm not here to take a pet anyway."
[Impel down·LEVEL 6·Eternal Hell]
Beneath the bottomless cage, the smell of rust and death lingers, and the darkness that has not seen the light of day for years weighs on every inch of the air like a substance.
In the deepest solitary cell, Shiryu slowly opened her eyes.
It was a blood-red gaze, like a sleeping beast.
"…Here you are."
Rogge stood outside the iron bars, his cloak hanging down, his aura as steady as a mountain.
"It's actually the famous Rogge Vice Admiral."
Shiryu scoffed and stood up, the sound of the dragging chains echoing like a death knell.
"Are you here to laugh at me? Or are you here to read my final confession?"
"Neither." Rogge responded lightly, his voice calm but unquestionable.
"I'll take you in."
"Accept me?"
Shiryu licked her cracked lips, her smile growing crazier. "I won't be as obedient as those weaklings."
Rogge stretched out his hand and stepped towards the cage, his footsteps seeming to beat on people's heartbeats.
"You are the former chief of the Impel Down Police Department. Condemned to death for 'excessive killing of prisoners', you were later imprisoned in Level 6 Eternal Hell due to your immense combat prowess."
"You love killing, but you're not crazy. You just enjoy the sense of accomplishment of 'the strong beheading the weak.'"
Shiryu's smile froze for a moment.
"I don't care if you follow orders or not."
"I only want your knife—only for the 'deserving person'."
"The so-called Pirates of the Damned? You want me to be your butcher?" Shiryu's eyes were like blades.
"good."
Rogge stepped into the cell where "Impel Down's most dangerous criminals" were held, threw Thunderstorm to Shiryu, and his footsteps rang like a bell of judgment in Shiryu's ears.
"I know you can come out anytime, come on."
Shiryu grinned, the madness from years of confinement swirling in his eyes. He licked the corners of his cracked mouth, and a smile slid across his lips like a snake's tongue.
"Do you know how many people I killed in Level 6? Those guys didn't even have time to scream."
Before he finished speaking, the ground shook!
Shiryu suddenly jumped up, his body like a black shadow and lightning. The hand with broken chains picked up "Thunderstorm" and slashed down wildly. The wind from the sword was like a roaring sea!
"Try and see if you are worthy of saying this!!"
"Swish——!!!"
The long sword cut through the air, but it stopped strangely at the moment of its slash.
——It was not blocked, nor was it caught, but it stopped in the air and froze!
"Air?" Shiryu's face suddenly changed.
Rogge's face was calm, his right hand slightly raised, his five fingers spread out.
"You think... I'll teach you a lesson with a knife?"
The next second, the air exploded with a "pop"!
The invisible weight fell like a hammer from the sky, and Shiryu felt as if the chest was pierced by the hammer, and he slammed to the ground, causing the entire floor to cave in and explode!
Amidst the billowing dust and smoke, the stone pillars collapsed, and the iron bars of the cage dozens of meters away creaked!
Shiryu coughed up a mouthful of blood from the ruins, but his eyes became excited!
He slowly stood up. "So you're not a swordsman? That's even better—I hate those guys with titles!"
He leaped up again, Haki wrapped around the blade, and slashed down violently!
"I'll show you! Impel Down's most vicious lunatic isn't called that by shouting!!"
"Soul Breaker——!!"
The sword energy was like a hurricane, splitting ten meters in length!
But Rogge didn't move a step, just hooked his finger -
Seven transparent space barriers instantly blocked the area ahead. The sword light fell into it, but seemed to be swallowed by several flexible yet indestructible "air membranes"!
"Crack!!!" The last barrier bounced back and Shiryu's arm shook violently, and his knuckles burst!
"--What?!"
Rogge took a slow step, and Haki spread from under his feet to the entire ground, drowning Shiryu like a tide.
"Air—it can not only block movement routes and distort paths."
"I can also remove your blade and extinguish your arrogance."
As soon as he finished speaking, Rogge stepped forward!
"Air Explosion - Internal Strike!"
boom!!!
The air behind Shiryu suddenly "exploded", like silent thunder piercing through his nerves, and the whole person was blown away from behind, crashing through three steel pillars and falling headfirst into the stone wall!
He vomited blood and fell to the ground, his bones dislocated, but his face became more and more crazy.
"Hahaha... That's amazing... I understand..."
He covered his ribs and stared at the figure coming towards him in the dust with burning eyes.
The air, as hot as hell, solidified in an instant.
Rogge stood quietly in front of Shiryu, motionless, with his eyes slightly closed.
But the next moment——
He opened his eyes.
As soon as the words fell, a pressure as heavy as the doomsday bell suddenly erupted!
"boom!!!--"
Conqueror's Haki·Unbounded Release.
It was as if the entire LEVEL 6 was caught in an invisible storm. Black and purple lightning rose from his body, and the air was exploded with ripples. The stone pillars collapsed, the cage trembled, the iron chains hissed, and the walls were torn into spider-web-like cracks!
Shiryu's pupils shrank, and his knees suddenly softened as he stood up, and he fell to the ground with a thud!
"This, this is..." He gritted his teeth and held on, but found that even the hand holding the knife was shaking, and the Haki in his body collapsed and disintegrated as if it was squeezed!
"Conqueror's...how could he be this strong?!"
——It's not intimidation, but a sense of dominance at the level of "ordering you to kneel down".
In the cells within hundreds of meters, other death row prisoners were startled and saw the light that burst out like a heavenly punishment through the narrow gap.
"That's...that guy Shiryu was...suppressed?!"
"Are you kidding me!? Even he's on his knees!"
"Who... could have subdued Shiryu in Impel Down..."
"...Is that the 'Xuan Lin' that's being uploaded to New World?"
"...What on earth has this world become...?"
Fear spreads like a plague in the deepest hell.
Some of the originally arrogant and indifferent desperadoes now retreated silently in the cage, not daring to say a word.
And Shiryu...his face was distorted, but he forced himself to get up, his teeth clenched until they bled, and his eyes were no longer filled with contempt and frenzy, but with suppressed shock and rare "respect".
"I give in..." he whispered, his voice like broken iron.
"I, Shiryu... obey you."
"But I also took a gamble."
He lowered his head and gripped the hilt of the knife tightly. "Even if you tie me up... one day, I will definitely defeat you."
Rogge sneered, "Welcome to the challenge."
He turned around, his cloak rising like a dark tide, and stepped out of the cracked cage threshold.
"From today on, your knife belongs to me."
"But remember the rules."
"Only kill the Pirates, leave the civilians alone."
"You can challenge me once a year. If you win, you're free. If you lose, you'll continue to chop for me."
"I'll chop you to death, or all the Pirates will die."
Shiryu lowered his head and smiled, remained silent for three seconds, and then struggled to get up.
"...make a deal."
"I hate rules the most in my life, but this one of yours—I'll put up with it."
With Marshal Sengoku's filing documents and Rogge's signature completed, Shiryu was specially approved to be transferred to a "special organization observation soldier" and included in the G-5 branch special operations cooperation member.
Rogge watched him get on board, then turned to Magellan and said:
"Don't worry. If he really goes crazy, I will send him back myself."
Magellan was silent for a long time, then said coldly:
"You better know what you're doing."
Rogge smiled and waved.
"Don't worry, Impel down won't be empty."
"I'll probably be sending a whole bunch of people back soon."
"You might have to ask him to come back and help you carve out some space then."
Magellan looked at the people walking away and said helplessly, "It's as if the pirates you've handled are still alive..."