Hand over their Devil Fruit powers?
Whitebeard stared at Cyrus from behind the bars, unable to hide his surprise.
Someone like Cyrus would not make a claim like that without meaning it. Which meant he had found a way to remove a Devil Fruit power from someone else's body.
Once eaten, a Devil Fruit became part of its user.
The power would only return somewhere else in the world after the user died.
If there had ever been a way to steal another person's ability, it would have been impossible for no trace of it to exist.
"Kid, is that why you're so strong?" Shiki asked in surprise. "You've got a whole pile of abilities inside you?"
"Shiki, don't forget that when he fought us, all he used was fire," Linlin reminded him.
Shiki's face immediately stiffened.
"The world is about to undergo a major change, and I'll be the one leading it," Cyrus said calmly.
"Things won't remain as they were before. The three of you still have some use."
"Even so, Cyrus, once we're about to die, you'll still take our powers."
Linlin's eyes remained fixed on his back.
"Yeah."
Cyrus did not deny it.
He had no intention of lying to any of them.
He had already marked their abilities for himself long ago. Otherwise, he would not have kept them alive until now.
As far as Cyrus was concerned, each of their Devil Fruits still had enormous untapped potential.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit could create tsunamis, trigger seaquakes, and even cause earthquakes beneath the ocean floor. With enough power, raising the seabed and creating an entire continent might not be impossible.
The Soul-Soul Fruit offered even more possibilities. The ability to steal lifespan alone opened countless paths.
Cyrus still did not know whether his current body would age.
If it did, and he wanted to continue living far into the future, the Soul-Soul Fruit could become one possible answer.
As for the Float-Float Fruit, it could lift enormous islands into the sky. But how high could it truly send something? Could it push an object even farther upward?
"If you want my life, then take it." Shiki suddenly spoke.
"Shiki!"
The instant flames appeared in Cyrus's raised hand, Whitebeard called out.
Cyrus turned toward his cell.
Whitebeard rose to his feet, the thick Seastone chains around his body rattling loudly.
"I want to see how far you can go."
Shiki and Linlin both looked stunned.
Whitebeard was as stubborn as they came.
What exactly was he planning?
"You're agreeing?"
Even Cyrus sounded mildly surprised.
Whitebeard stepped closer to the bars and looked down at him.
"Then what are we supposed to do once we're outside?"
Since Whitebeard had included both of them in his answer, Shiki kept quiet.
He also wanted to know what the old man had in mind.
"For now, you'll probably serve as examiners."
Cyrus thought about it before answering.
"So you haven't even decided what to do with us?"
Shiki looked irritated, feeling as though he had been played.
"I expected you to choose the second option!"
Cyrus glanced at him.
"Once you're out, don't cause trouble. If you do, there won't be any chance to explain yourself. You should understand my abilities well enough by now."
Cyrus raised one hand.
Several streams of fire shot from his palm and sliced through the thick bars of their cells.
The same flames then swept over the chains binding the three prisoners and melted straight through them, even though they were made of Seastone.
All three were shocked.
The flames had been created by a Devil Fruit power. Seastone should have weakened them.
Yet that rule seemed to have no effect on Cyrus anymore.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to release them."
Heavy footsteps approached as a towering figure emerged from the darkness.
Magellan, the demonic-looking warden of Impel Down, advanced toward them.
Purple fumes spilled from his nostrils with every breath and spread through the corridor.
"If you'd stayed quiet, I would've pretended you weren't here."
Cyrus turned toward him and spoke softly.
"My orders are to prevent certain prisoners from escaping."
Magellan's voice was deep and grim.
Facing Cyrus placed enormous pressure on him, but his duty left him no choice except to step forward.
Had Cyrus not opened the cells, Magellan would never have interfered.
Now, however, he could no longer remain silent.
Thick purple venom poured from his body, writhing across the floor before rising behind him and forming an enormous poison dragon.
Cyrus's expression did not change.
He raised a hand, and a huge blue doorway appeared behind him.
"You can move freely on Sky Island until I contact you. You can even reach out to your former crews, but none of you are allowed to leave."
After giving the order, Cyrus walked toward Magellan.
Magellan's Devil Fruit was considered capable of defeating almost anyone inside Impel Down.
When the Blackbeard Pirates later invaded the prison, Magellan had nearly wiped out the entire crew by himself.
However, much of that strength came from the terrain of Impel Down itself.
Against Cyrus, it meant little.
If he wished, he could destroy the entire prison.
As Cyrus approached, every muscle in Magellan's body tightened.
He wanted to stop the three prisoners from stepping through the door, but instinct warned him that the moment he moved, Cyrus would launch an overwhelmingly violent attack.
That sensation made it difficult for Magellan to breathe.
Or perhaps he was so tense that he had nearly forgotten how.
"I brought them here, so it's only reasonable that I take them away. Right?"
Cyrus stopped in front of Magellan and looked up at the much taller man.
A moment later, flames gathered beneath his feet and lifted him into the air.
The most annoying part of speaking to people this tall was having to crane his neck.
Once he floated to eye level with Magellan, Cyrus asked, "So, are you going to attack?"
Attack?
Magellan could not move at all.
The moment Cyrus asked, every hair on his body stood on end.
He had overestimated himself.
Only by facing Cyrus directly could he understand the suffocating pressure and danger surrounding him.
It felt as though the instant he attacked, he would die.
"I'm the one taking them," Cyrus continued. "No one will blame you. They might even praise you for having the courage to stand in front of me."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Magellan froze, then his face flushed with anger.
"Your ability is impressive, but I don't want to turn into a poison man."
Cyrus shook his head and drifted lightly past him.
As he passed the poison dragon, he raised one finger and dragged it across the creature's head.
He could feel the venom trying to seep into his body, but he only shook his head.
The poison was powerful, yet it was not a rule-based ability.
It had little effect on him.
Magellan's body had tensed again the instant Cyrus reached for the dragon.
But when Cyrus merely shook his head in disappointment and floated away, Magellan finally relaxed slightly.
He stared in the direction where Whitebeard and the others had vanished, his expression heavy.
He had been scammed!
Cyrus had delivered the prisoners himself, collected the bounty, and then come back to release them.
At least Magellan had not paid the money out of his own pocket.
Then again, he could never have afforded it anyway.
That made him feel slightly better.
Still, he needed to report this immediately.
Magellan turned, dismissed the poison dragon, and hurried away. Even the loud rumbling from his stomach did not slow him down.
…
A huge green doorway appeared out of nowhere on Sky Island, drawing countless eyes.
While everyone was still wondering what it was, an enormous man with a crescent-shaped mustache stepped through.
"Eh?!"
The moment they recognized Whitebeard, the spectators' eyes widened so far they nearly flew from their sockets.
"WHITEBEARD!"
Shouts erupted before anyone could stop themselves.
His sudden appearance seemed to freeze everyone's thoughts.
Then another huge figure emerged from the doorway, no less imposing than Whitebeard.
She had lost a great deal of weight, but her face was still unmistakable.
Charlotte Linlin, one of the former Four Emperors.
This time, the spectators' jaws dropped, and their tongues hung from their mouths in shock.
The entire area went silent.
Then Shiki stepped out from behind them.
The crowd stared at the old man with the deep groove in his head. Their eyes began to bulge again, only to settle back into place when they failed to recognize him.
"Who's that?"
Someone whispered.
Shiki had been quietly enjoying the crowd's stunned reactions, but the question instantly enraged him.
"You bastard! I'm Golden Lion Shiki, admiral of the Golden Lion Pirates!"
He raised a hand, ready to make his point.
"Don't forget. We're not allowed to cause trouble."
Surprisingly, it was Linlin rather than Whitebeard who warned him.
The sweet scent of cake drifted through the air.
She swallowed hard, yet drool still leaked from the corner of her mouth.
"Sirs!"
A young man in a Hunter Guild uniform came flying toward them, his voice arriving before he did.
"I've been ordered to escort the three of you to your accommodations."
He landed in front of them, but despite his formal greeting, he could not stop himself from swallowing nervously.
These three had been famous across the sea for decades.
Even with someone as terrifying as Chairman Cyrus now standing above them, Whitebeard, Linlin, and Shiki remained legendary figures in the eyes of almost everyone alive.
"Mamamama… cake. I want lots of cake!"
Linlin stared at the young man with bloodshot eyes, muttering under her breath.
"That won't be a problem."
Sweat covered his forehead beneath her gaze.
She looked as though she wanted to eat him along with the cake.
Whitebeard and Shiki merely nodded before following him away.
Only after the three disappeared from sight did the stunned crowd slowly recover.
"What the hell is going on?"
"That guy was wearing a Hunter Guild uniform, right?"
"Did Whitebeard and the others join the Hunter Guild?"
"That's impossible! They were Emperors of the Sea—real legendary pirates!"
Conversations erupted in every direction.
The sudden appearance of those three had completely overwhelmed everyone who witnessed it.
...
The news spread rapidly.
When Mihawk heard about it while training Kuina and Zoro, he strapped his sword to his back and left.
Kuina and Zoro were curious about where he was going.
Not long afterward, a violent tremor shook even the place where they were staying.
Then Mihawk returned.
His sword was still on his back, but his face was covered in bruises and swelling. His expression, however, remained as calm as ever.
Neither Kuina nor Zoro dared ask what had happened.
They only knew one thing.
Mihawk had suffered badly~
…
By the time the Marines received Magellan's report, it was already late.
Sengoku was not surprised.
What had confused him was Cyrus insisting on sending Whitebeard and the others to Impel Down in the first place.
Now, though…
"Don't tell me Cyrus really did all of that just for the bounty money."
Garp shook his head as he spoke, spraying senbei crumbs everywhere.
"'Just' the bounty money? Garp, do you even hear yourself?"
Sengoku slammed both hands onto the desk and roared, his face dark.
Garp casually dug a finger into one ear after the shout left it ringing.
"Then ask the World Government for the money."
Sengoku's mouth twitched violently.
The World Government was already reducing the Marines' budget, and Garp wanted him to ask for more?
Not just a little more, either, but an enormous sum.
"They'll give it to you," Garp said lightly. "They still need the Marines, don't they?"
Sengoku paused, then slowly sat back down with a frown.
"Besides, if you don't collect it now, Berries might not even be worth anything later."
That made Sengoku turn sharply toward him.
"You think Cyrus will win?"
Garp remained perfectly calm under his stare and stuffed another handful of senbei into his mouth.
"If the World Government could deal with him, none of this would be happening."
Sengoku fell silent.
"They fought him the first time he arrived at Sabaody," Garp continued, ignoring Sengoku's expression. "How did that work out for them?"
Then his voice changed.
"And the power of the person behind the World Government is far too dangerous. You know what Wano has become. That is a power capable of turning the entire world into hell, and it has already begun doing exactly that."
Garp still remembered what Rocks had become at God Valley.
He did not want the entire world filled with monsters like that.
He certainly did not want to become one himself.
His loyalty had never truly belonged to the World Government or even to the Marine organization.
It belonged to the word justice.
To doing what he personally believed was right.
With such darkness now laid bare before him, the fact that he had not immediately switched sides was already the most restrained Garp had ever been in his life.
"That's enough, Garp. You've had too much to drink."
Sengoku raised a hand to stop him from continuing.
"I'm drinking tea!"
Garp nearly laughed from sheer disbelief and stared at Sengoku as though he had lost his mind.
The stubborn fool still could not make a decision.