I guarded Impel Down for a hundred years in the pirate world.

Sure enough, Peslow was in the know, and even had evidence, which is why the clues pointed to him when the events demanded an investigation to uncover the truth.

This "worrying" is definitely not the same as "worrying about that," but rather means manipulating people's hearts.

Figo remained in Impel Down, while Shaw, standing nearby, showed a look of fear. He still didn't know who this so-called Worry Demon was.

With his bound hands, Peslow struggled to pull a few crumpled pages of paper from his pocket and handed them to Figo. The first thing Figo noticed was a wanted poster among them.

The image on the wanted poster is of a middle-aged man wearing a cloak, with prominent cheekbones, a sinister smile, and an ugly appearance, somewhat resembling an alien circulating online.

Worrying demon Gerd Chuck.

Bounty: 1.32 billion Berries!

In an era where bounties are capped at 1 billion and even the most notorious pirates only have 100 to 200 million, a bounty of 470 million is probably enough to rank you in the top 50!

Figo scrolled down and found a news article from over a decade ago. The article featured a heroic naval couple, accompanied by a picture of them both being pierced by an iron spear and dying together, tightly embracing each other.

"That incident happened at the G21 branch. The island that the lieutenant colonel was guarding was attacked by pirates. He fought hard for a long time and repelled the pirates, but he was also pierced through the body from behind by a spear and was on the verge of death."

Peslow explained to Figo: "Before he died, his wife ran from a distance and, without stopping, ran into the spear stuck in the lieutenant colonel's body, dying together in his arms."

If you only hear these words, it is indeed a touching story, but Peslow added, "Look at the next photo, it's a photo that a reporter secretly took from another angle."

Figo flipped to the next image.

It's the same scene, the same two people, but this photo shows the face of the wife who went to her death with her husband.

The expression was neither warm nor calm.

Instead, it was struggle, ferocity, and fear!

She did not choose to die!

"That was the first time we discovered traces of the 'worrying devil' Gerdchak. He's a user of the String-String Fruit, and he's passionate about using the fruit's manipulation abilities to create misunderstandings, tragedies, stories, and coincidences. He's obsessed with manipulating people's hearts!"

"The Thread Fruit?" Figo murmured.

"He has caused at least a hundred tragedies in a similar way of manipulating people's hearts. The death of Kevin the Giant's daughter bears very obvious traces of him! He is also one of the kings of the underworld, and has even secretly orchestrated a coup in a small country. He is a pure villain who does not care about his own interests and only wants to get pleasure by manipulating people's hearts!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the events surrounding the Giant Kevin immediately changed. The first half of the need to investigate the clues disappeared, and it was transformed into... killing or capturing the Worry Demon Gerdchak!

Figo focused his thoughts, and a pointing arrow appeared, which he quickly withdrew.

Then he glanced at the unconscious human trafficker nun and said, "Alright, you've made an exception for the matter of Kevin the Titan. Next, I'm going to the town's execution ground to investigate the cause of death of the Marines."

"Old Xiao, calm down. This shouldn't have been done by those three. While I'm away, keep an eye on those four. Remember to keep your men away and make sure they know who they are."

Seeing Figo leave, the three CP9 members simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief, yet also felt aggrieved. Looking at Shaw, who still held his sword hilt and was utterly distrustful of them, they weren't so friendly.

"You, a naval lieutenant commander, were so scared that you ran back without carefully checking the cause of the sailors' deaths?!"

"Without any independent judgment, you just assumed we killed your men?!"

"idiot!"

Xiao was furious. How could I be considered an idiot again? Seven years ago, Jinqie said those things about me, so I transferred out of Impel Down overnight. Now that I'm gone, you're all saying these things about me again! Wasn't my transfer from Impel Down pointless?!

He wanted nothing more than to draw his sword and chop those three CP9s down, and then... he actually drew his sword with a clang.

He froze for a moment, as did the three CP9 members. The little tiger scoffed, "So you've got guts now? Come on, kill me!"

Then Xiao really did raise the knife high above his head, trembling, as if to chop.

“No, something’s not right.” Peslow noticed something was wrong with Shaw’s trembling and unnatural movements and shouted, “Shaw, what’s wrong with you?!”

Xiao trembled, unable to respond.

"Stop playing around." At this moment, another clear female voice came out, and the nun who had been unconscious opened her eyes and said, "The feeling of powerlessness when you're bound in seastone handcuffs is not fun at all."

She struggled to sit up, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and said in a low voice, "The World Government is indeed an unreliable bunch. Lord Chuck, let's deal with that troublesome guy as soon as possible while he's away."

Lord Chuck? Peslow was startled.

"Hehehehehe..." A strange laugh suddenly rang out, and a cloaked figure appeared silently at the cabin door.

He stretched out his right hand, hooking his five fingers towards Xiao's body, as if he were manipulating a marionette.

The sunlight illuminated his face beneath his cloak.

The three CP9 members turned deathly pale instantly.

I'm talking about fucking, and I'm fucking it!

"The Worry Demon... Gerdchak?"

Why? Why did you do that?

"Yamaba, that notorious human trafficker, should be far less influential in the underworld than you. Why would she send you to rescue her?!"

"Foolish," the nun said calmly. "Can't you still not realize that colluding with you to deceive the giants was originally Lord Chuck's idea? Without Lord Chuck, how could I dare to cooperate with you guys?"

Was it the Worry Demon's idea?

He deceived the giants, gained their friendship, established the House of Lambs to adopt orphans, and then secretly sold them to the World Government... I see.

Peslow closed his eyes helplessly: "Damn it, the World Government will not let you get away with this."

"Hehehehehe... Although the plan failed," the Worrying Demon chuckled hoarsely, "I must say, your series of actions were quite brilliant. As expected of the World Government, when it comes to manipulating people's hearts, you are still more adept."

"Then, in return, I'll let you die a quick and painless death." He waved his right hand downwards!

Shaw's knife slashed heavily towards Peslow!

"Brother Peslow!" the little tiger and the female CP9 cried out in terror.

Just as the knife was about to strike Peslow's head, Shaw suddenly regained his mobility, and the blade hovered precariously above Peslow's head!

Whew... Xiao Da breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the ground, his whole body drenched in sweat.

Peslow opened his eyes in surprise and saw a familiar, tall figure appear behind the Worry Demon Gerdchak, shrouding the Worry Demon in darkness!

“Warden Figo…”

"Hehehehehe..." Worrying Demon let out another strange laugh: "How strange. You ruined CP9's operation. These three CP9 members probably hold a deep grudge against you. They might even file a complaint against you with the World Government. You shouldn't be unaware of this, right? If I were you, I would have appeared a minute later and used my hands to kill them. Wouldn't that have been perfect?"

"You assassinated the marines, leaving only Shaw to return and deliver the message, just to create a suitable alibi for me?" Figo asked.

"Hehehehehe... It's quite interesting, isn't it?" the Worrying Demon retorted.

"Utterly boring."

Figo drew his sword and slashed!

Chapter Eighteen Monsters

swoosh-

Figo's knife did not strike the object.

As Figo's blade approached Gerdchak's body, an invisible net of threads blocked it, deflecting and resisting the force of the strike, emitting a piercing shriek!

"Hehehehe... I've heard a lot about Impel Down, the underwater prison built eight years ago. What kind of place is it? The former warden of Impel Down, Gaston Figg!"

Fine cracks continued to spread from the deck beneath their feet. Figo looked down and met the gaze of the Worrying Demon: "You'll find out in a few days."

boom!

As soon as he finished speaking, Figo suddenly increased the force of his arm, and a bouncy force sent the Worry Demon flying, smashing into the cabin!

At the same time, Figo flicked his hand at his waistband, tossing a bunch of keys at Shaw's feet, and then, knife in hand, chased after Worrying Demon.

"Quick, untie him!" Peslow shouted urgently. "He needs our help!"

The nun beside her tried to shrink back, cursing inwardly, "Why don't you rescue me first before playing with that guy, Lord Chuck?"

The battlefield moved to the center of the ship, and the booming sound alerted the marines who were tasked with guarding the giant.

"what happened?"

"Another enemy?!"

The word "again" revealed their bitterness, but this time, they clearly shouldn't have come.

The Worrying Demon dodged Figo's two follow-up slashes, leaped onto the rail, and curled a malicious smile at the corner of his mouth.

"The Rain-Gun!"

He raised his hands to the sky, his ten fingers spread wide, and countless invisible threads shot straight into the sky, then refracted violently back down after reaching a certain height!

Dense silk threads enveloped all areas of the warship's center, attacking not only Figo but also drawing in all the marines who came upon hearing the commotion!

The marines couldn't see the extremely fine threads formed by their abilities, unaware of the impending danger. They were still trying to identify the Worry Demon standing on the rails when a crescent-shaped slash struck them in the chest. They were sent flying backward, bleeding profusely, and fell into the sea.

Immediately afterwards, the spot where they had been standing was blasted apart by a dense barrage of silk threads, sending wood chips flying everywhere!

It was Figo. In this situation, Figo only had time to knock the marines into the sea with a relatively gentle flying slash. After that, these marines had to fend for themselves.

He himself needs to defend himself.

With his Observation Haki fully activated, he used his longsword to block and parry, severing the threads that were piercing him.

Wherever he was, there was a constant clattering and clanging.

In other locations, the metal exploded and shattered continuously!

Like raindrops the size of beans, a series of muffled thuds echoed on the deck as the ship shattered under the piercing blows of countless sharp, blade-like threads!

The medium-sized warship's draft increased instantly during the intense attack, and it swayed precariously in the rain.

"Quick! Get out of here! Warden Figo doesn't need us to cause trouble!" Peslow's shout suddenly came from not far away, and then there was no more interruption.

After a long while, the rain stopped.

The area between the rail post erected by the Worrying Demon and the small space where Figo stood became the only two intact locations in the middle of this warship!

The tide turned against them, and a crescent moon flew from Figo's blade, slashing horizontally at the Worry Demon, whose outstretched hands clenched fiercely inward.

"The punishment of shredding!"

Clang!

Ten exceptionally hard threads tore apart Figo's flying slash and entangled his blade!

A piercing screech resounded, and a broken piece of the knife tip flew through the air before falling to the ground!

The battle has temporarily ceased.

"Hehehehe... Such impressive swordsmanship! You saved those marines and even managed to defend against my attacks flawlessly. It's a pity your sword doesn't seem to be very good."