"How could I? The screams of sinners are the best proof of justice."
Shiliew paused for a beat, then smiled with an unreadable expression.
"Looks like Major Longinus really is different from the other Marines."
Just as the two were speaking, ghost-like muttering drifted in from the side.
"My Warden… my Impel Down…"
Longinus turned his head.
Magellan was dragging Hannyabal by the headpiece across the floor, while Hannyabal—still looking completely soulless—kept mumbling nonstop, utterly unresponsive to Magellan's rough treatment.
"Chief Guard Hannyabal still hasn't recovered? Yesterday's events must have really hit him hard," Longinus sighed quietly.
"Yeah… that idiot might really be beyond saving," Magellan said with a long sigh.
"Everyone's here earlier than expected. In that case, let's not waste time—straight to the office. The Warden won't want to wait."
Jhin approached from the distance, wrapped in shadow as always. Behind him followed two guards; evidently, he had been patrolling the floor.
"Still as decisive as ever, Jhin," Shiliew said, tilting his head.
"And you finally crawled out of your hunting grounds. How rare," Jhin's muffled voice replied from behind his mask.
"If I don't clean up those trash trying to escape quickly, and let them slip out, it ruins my mood to kill," Shiliew said helplessly.
"You two should restrain yourselves. The prisoners aren't toys for you to play with," Magellan snapped, irritated.
"Already giving orders before you're even Warden?" Jhin brushed past Magellan.
"Spread out and patrol. Don't screw anything up. Otherwise, a certain deputy warden whose only talent is diarrhea will come blame me."
"What did you say, Jhin?"
Poison dripped from Magellan's body, eating holes into the ground as he growled under his breath.
"Yes, Sir Jhin!"
Sensing danger, the guards who had been following Jhin immediately scattered.
"What, you want a fight?"
Jhin's body expanded rapidly, transforming into a massive Pteranodon, its wings spreading across the corridor.
"Heh! This might be fun to watch."
Shiliew folded his arms, clearly having no intention of stopping them.
"Compared to those two, I'm more curious about something else."
Longinus didn't even glance at the growing tension. Instead, his eyes shifted toward a different direction.
"That passage over there… that's the staff tunnel to Freezing Hell, isn't it? Why are these guards running down?"
"Just keep watching, Major Longinus," Shiliew said lightly.
"This floor will become a real hell soon enough."
But Longinus simply raised his right hand.
His index finger flicked forward, sending out a crescent-shaped burst of compressed force.
"Sorry. I don't think I have the patience to watch this play out."
Swish—!
"AHHHHHHH!"
A guard near the passageway screamed and collapsed.
Shiliew blinked, surprised—then looked at Longinus's fingertip.
"A Flying Shigan… derived from mastering Finger Gun to an extreme?
This level isn't something a recruit should have.
So the rumors were true—Longinus, the monster among monsters."
Hannyabal, jolted awake by the scream, stared at Longinus in horror.
"To think he can just tap lightly from half a floor away and hit like that…
Is this guy even human…?"
"No—no that's not the main point. The point is—he's even scarier than Shiliew!
At least Shiliew hasn't hurt our own people!
Wait—am I standing too close to him!?
Magellan Deputy Warden, SAVE ME!"
The scream also drew the attention of Jhin and Magellan.
"This guy…"
Jhin stared coldly at Longinus.
"Major Longinus, do you even understand what you've just done!?"
Magellan growled, stunned. He couldn't reconcile this with the polite Marine he met yesterday.
Longinus remained perfectly calm.
"I'm here on assignment. Naturally, I can't just watch a fugitive walk right past me."
His words instantly stirred the frozen guards.
"Johnson is a pirate!?"
"That's impossible! Johnson's been a guard here for over ten years!"
"But… are you absolutely sure he's the Johnson you think he is?" Longinus asked mildly.
The guards exchanged confused looks.
"What… what do you mean? Of course it's Johnson. We'd never mistake him!"
Because Longinus had left such a strong first impression, Magellan subconsciously leaned toward believing him.
"Major Longinus… do you have proof?"
Even Shiliew couldn't stand it.
"Magellan, did you diarrhea your brain out?
Use a damn Seastone cuff!"
"Oh! Right!"
Magellan crouched to jump up—
—but someone moved faster.
Jhin beat his wings once, soaring up in an instant.
"Longinus, you'd better not be wrong. Injuring my subordinates won't be dismissed lightly."
He clamped Seastone cuffs onto "Johnson."
And immediately—
His features distorted…
twisted…
and shifted into an entirely different face.
"It's him!
That's Butcher Ivan—wanted for 65 million berries!
But I've never heard he had Devil Fruit powers!" a guard shouted.
"Mimic-Mimic Fruit, probably.
No wonder even Lord Jhin didn't notice!
But that Marine—Major Longinus—he saw through it instantly!
No wonder HQ sent him!"
"I'll handle this one."
Jhin lifted Ivan like a piece of trash.
"I'll torture the location of the real Johnson out of him."
He marched toward the torture chamber, radiating deadly malice.
"Jhin really lost face this time," Magellan muttered.
"That pirate's end won't be pretty."
Then he turned to Longinus.
"Major Longinus—my apologies for doubting you."
"You don't need to apologize. I acted without asking first. As long as you aren't offended," Longinus said calmly.
"Nonsense. If you hadn't noticed the disguise, and he reached Level Five or Six—
the consequences… would've been catastrophic," Magellan shuddered.
"But that guy really was lucky.
With the last escapees killed yesterday, our vigilance dropped.
And since the meeting is about to start, we subconsciously ignored the possibility someone might escape now."
"Luck?" Longinus smiled faintly.
"I don't think so.
Too many coincidences together… become inevitability."
PS :
Shiliew (of the Rain)
Chief swordsman of Impel Down.
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