For who knew how many times now, Shiki woke from sleep once again.
Ever since he had charged into Marine Headquarters alone more than half a year ago, only to be defeated by Garp and Sengoku together and sent to Impel Down, where he lost his freedom, he had gradually grown used to this life.
As one of the most vicious pirates in the world, with a bounty of 4.6 billion Belly, the captain of the Flying Pirates, and the admiral of the Golden Lion Pirate Fleet, Shiki was given what could only be called special treatment in Impel Down.
Not only were his limbs locked in Seastone shackles, but chains forged from Seastone had also been wrapped around his entire body, layer after layer, leaving him completely unable to move.
For a man who had once ruled these seas, such a life was certainly tragic. But what tormented Shiki even more was that during these six months of captivity, he had spent every day thinking about his lifelong enemy, Roger, and why he had turned himself in to the Marines. No matter how much he thought about it, he could never find an answer.
But today, when he slowly opened his eyes, he sensed that something was wrong.
What appeared before him was not the familiar ceiling of his cell, but clusters of flames floating in the air.
"???"
Shiki's mind was full of confusion.
"Am I dreaming?"
He instinctively tried to struggle, only to discover something even more unbelievable.
His body was not in its familiar position, with his four limbs spread apart and bound by chains connected to the wall. Instead, he had been tied up tightly, his arms bound together with his body.
Although he still had not escaped the fate of being restrained, at least he could move a little.
This was definitely not a dream.
As one of the strongest people in the world, his Observation Haki allowed him to clearly distinguish reality from illusion.
So he sat up with a sudden kip-up and looked around in confusion.
Only then did he realize that he seemed to be in a huge pit. Around him were stone walls that looked as though they had been dug out, and rings of fireballs floated in the air, lighting up the entire cavern.
At that moment, he also noticed a short old man lying unconscious not far away.
The difference was that the old man had no restraints on him at all.
With one glance, Shiki could tell that the old man was extremely weak.
"What's going on?"
He tried to use all his strength to break free from the chains on his body, but after half a year, his stamina had been drained far too severely. On top of that, the shackles and chains were made of Seastone, so he could not break free at all.
All he could do was hop to his feet, then hop over to the old man's side and kick him without the slightest mercy.
"Hey, you stinking old man, wake up..."
In his daze, the short old man really did wake up.
But Shiki could also see confusion in the old man's eyes.
The old man first looked at him, then looked left and right, before finally looking back at him and shouting in terror.
"Shi... Shiki..."
As he screamed, he scrambled backward.
Shiki looked at the old man's terrified state without caring in the least and barked sharply.
"Hey, stop making noise, you stinking old man. Do you want to die? Hurry up and tell me where this is. Why am I here?"
Shiki's roar snapped the old man back to his senses. He looked around in panic, then glanced at Shiki, who was bound in chains from head to toe, and finally relaxed a little.
"Shi... Shiki-san... My name is Furumi. As for why we're here, I don't know either. As for this place..."
Dr. Furumi looked around carefully and gave his judgment.
"This should be Level 5.5 of Impel Down..."
"Level 5.5..."
Shiki froze. From the name alone, he could easily judge where they were. He looked back at the old man and asked sharply.
"Impel Down has a place like this? How do you know?"
By then, Dr. Furumi had also recovered somewhat. He stood up, looked around, and explained cautiously.
"I... I'm the same as you, Shiki-san... I'm a prisoner of Impel Down... It's just that because I'm somewhat useful... I was brought here..."
At that point, Dr. Furumi seemed to think of something and muttered under his breath.
"Could Nicholas have done this? But that makes no sense. And why would he bring Shiki here too? The only one who knows about this place is Nicholas..."
Shiki immediately understood who the Nicholas in the old man's mouth was.
But just then, his Observation Haki sensed something walking out from the dark cave entrance not far away.
"Shihahaha. Looks like there's no need to guess. The answer is about to reveal itself..."
Dr. Furumi froze, then followed Shiki's gaze toward the cave entrance.
A few minutes later, under his incredulous gaze, a combination of four beings he never would have imagined walked out of the cave.
A red-haired boy, a little girl who looked twelve or thirteen, a fox, and a tiny little person...
"Wait..."
At that moment, as Dr. Furumi stared at the tiny little person, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
He could no longer look away from the tiny little person.
Shiki was just as shocked.
He looked at the fox standing on the boy's shoulder, losing his usual composure as he asked cautiously, his voice full of doubt.
"Lillilu, is that you?"
As if answering him, the fox on the boy's shoulder spoke, her tone carrying a hint of nostalgia.
"It's been a long time, Shiki..."
In an instant, Shiki's whole body trembled. Then he suddenly burst into laughter.
"Shihahahahaha... Yeah, it really has been a long time. I was even wondering if I was dreaming..."
At that point, Shiki's gaze moved to the red-haired boy beneath Lillilu, and his voice took on a mocking edge.
"Looks like you found yourself a new master, Lillilu..."
Lillilu looked at Shiki without caring in the slightest.
"The same question again, Shiki. When John saw me, he asked the exact same thing..."
"!!!"
"Unfortunately, he isn't some new master. He's the young master..."
"The young master..."
Shiki froze once again, then burst into loud laughter.
"Shihahahahaha, now this is interesting. So that guy Rocks actually prepared a backup plan like this for himself? Shihahahahaha!"
His laughter echoed through the huge cavern.
At that moment, Shiki's eyes sharpened once more. He looked boldly at Lillilu and the boy.
"Kid, give me your name. Let me hear whether you're worthy of carrying that man's will."
But to his surprise, the boy before him looked a little helpless as he replied.
"I'm afraid you've misunderstood something, Shiki-san. I don't really care about being called young master, but I'm not the child of Rocks you're imagining."
"!???"
"As for me, allow me to introduce myself. I'm the captain of the Sky Pirates. As for my name, I have two: Rocks D. White and Yemu. You can call me whichever you like..."
"Is that so?"
Shiki seemed to piece something together on his own.
"Sky Pirates. That name is rather similar to my Flying Pirates. In that case..."
Although Shiki was wrapped in chains from head to toe, his presence had not diminished in the slightest.
"You didn't rescue me from down there just to catch up, did you?"
"Of course..."
Yemu was just about to give his answer when a low murmur suddenly shattered the tense atmosphere.
"No... impossible... This form... There's no mistake... This is a creation of the God-kin from the ancient era..."