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

No, if it were just the four of them, I could bring four more, but the Star King before me... just pulling him into the Time Corridor consumed far more energy than trapping Norton for a month...

Grat paused for a second, then slammed a fist, its surface stained with red and black ink, toward Figo.

The next second, his figure turned into a blur, crashed through the sacrificial hall with a thunderous roar, and flew out!

Chapter 356 Figo's Friendship, Love, and Family

The sounds of explosions echoed.

The sacred temple for the merfolk has been breached with a huge hole and is now slightly tilted to the side.

Grat rolled onto the square, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his withered hand, and coughed somewhat awkwardly.

He is not good at hand-to-hand combat.

After all, he was an old man over three thousand years old. Even if he used his abilities to maintain his life and constantly replace his aging self with an earlier version of himself, and incidentally make others ignore his exaggerated lifespan, his physical strength was limited and he could not become a perpetual motion machine. His body had already begun to decay.

A giant foot came crashing down from above. He braced himself with his hands and leaped and dodged like a toad. With a deafening roar, cracks rapidly spread across the entire square, causing it to sink.

Powerful members of both races were quickly deployed to the surrounding area, and someone exclaimed in surprise, "Demons?! Demons have actually infiltrated the kingdom?!"

"The disappearance of the two kings was caused by him?!"

"King of the Stars, the evacuation of the surrounding area is complete, and the statue of the Mermaid Queen has been moved. Now, you can focus on exorcising the demons. We will control the aftermath of the battle!"

Figo glanced at them, and in the distant sea, the bright, sun-like lights reappeared, and power flowed through the ocean, attaching itself to them.

A vast power surged forth, enveloped in wispy aurora borealis. The terrifying aura and fluctuations instantly froze the expression on the face of the powerful merman who had just claimed he could control the aftermath of the battle, and the others were filled with fear.

Grat chuckled, "You can't talk about ice with a summer insect, you bunch of ignorant brats!"

Boom!

He also broke through the blockade of lights! Five more bright lights appeared in the sky above the sea, the brightest of which was comparable to the darkest of Figo's four level-six lights, the Overlord color!

That was a level six lamp!

After thousands of years of honing his bloodline abilities, Grat's bloodline power has reached level six. If it weren't for his physical weaknesses, he would definitely be stronger than the Twin Demon Pillars!

Both sides were at their peak, but Gratte was not as powerful as Figo and would not be overwhelmed immediately.

The wind howled, buildings collapsed, and the fishmen who said they would control the aftermath were now ashen-faced!

"Come on, Gaston Figo, let's turn the Merman Kingdom upside down!"

Grat turned and flew off, heading straight for the commoners' district of the Mermaid Kingdom. Just as he was about to fly out of the damaged temple square, a chain descended from the sky, grazed his face, and pierced the ground.

This caused him to come to an abrupt stop.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

Then, the lock links one after another.

The earthquake trembled incessantly.

In an instant, the chains descending from high above Figo transformed the area of ​​the temple square into a sealed birdcage.

"Prisoner of Deathmatch!"

Figo descended from the sky.

Long ago, when the aftershocks of the battle became increasingly uncontrollable, with a single strike affecting thousands of miles, Figo was already considering today's scenario—what should he do if he were threatened?

Therefore, this technique was developed specifically to address the issue.

These chains were constructed from his level six Figo power bloodline lamplight ability, further enhanced by level six and a half Armament Haki. Even ordinary five-lamp kings would not be able to break them in a short time.

Grath wasn't an ordinary five-light, but his physique was ordinary, so he was just ordinary.

Bang!

He tentatively punched the chain in front of him, causing it to tremble and chip a few pieces. Grat's face darkened considerably.

A gust of wind surged behind him as he turned to parry, deliberately drawing Figo's punches and shockwaves toward the chains. But after only two exchanges, he discovered that the chains were still under Figo's control. By diverting the force, Figo would actively repair the chains.

So after he fell over once, he stomped on the ground with his feet, trying to get out from underground, only to find that what was exposed deep inside was also pitch black!

The chains embedded in the ground had long since sealed off this underground breach.

Just as Figo named it, 'Prisoner of the Deathmatch,' there's no escape until a winner is decided.

Grat could not accept a fight to the death that was solely his own; without the threat of the commoners of the Fishman Kingdom, he had no chance to escape.

So... we can only trap Figo in his ability for now and buy him time to break the chains!

Grat quickly made his decision. After yet another clash with Figo, his crimson eyes met Figo's: "Sink into the abyss of memory... the corridor of memory!"

As a time-looping ability user, he can not only capture a segment of time that both parties have experienced to trap the opponent in a loop, but also directly trap the opponent in a loop of a deep memory from the past.

If there are regrets, they are even more difficult to resolve.

Even if all else fails, you can still find certain weaknesses in your opponent by reviewing their memories.

Figo's figure vanished in an instant, sinking into a past memory. Grat breathed heavily, focusing on Figo's past, and turned back to frantically strike the chains.

……

Figo arrived on a desolate planet.

A feeling of weakness enveloped him, and he looked down at his own appearance.

A pitted chest, broken and tattered angel wings, blood-stained arms... On the other side, the enormous Behemoth was limping toward the three kings.

King of Fur, King of Angels, King of Snakes.

"So this is the memory: the scene where Ato and I were both badly injured, and Ato faced death."

What should I do now? Make up for the regret, help Ato, and beat up those three kings?

"We can't change the future, and there's no point in having any regrets. I think... if we hand the light over to Naika, Ato will be gone too."

He smiled and then disappeared.

They broke away right from the start.

……

Grat, who had just blasted the chains until they cracked, turned pale and gritted his teeth, saying, "This is the friendship you remember most and regret the most?!"

Normally, you should at least try to save your friend, make up for the regret, and then break free, even if you get stuck in the cycle again and again. You just smiled and said the cycle was broken? You've been fooled. The King of the Stars probably doesn't have any friends at all!

The chains healed at high speed, wasting his energy. Figo smiled and said, "Why don't you try again? It's quite fun... Besides, the friendship isn't like Old Jin's. I feel something's not right."

Fun?!

"...Then so be it."

Memory Corridor!

……

Figo appeared at the hospital.

"Do you still remember the day Impel Down was selecting its jailers?"

A voice, though distant, still familiar, reached Figo's ears. He was holding a withered, aged hand, while a sickly old woman lay on the hospital bed.

Is this... a return to the day I sent Mia 50 years into the future?

There was indeed a bit of regret on this day.

Figo recalled, "I remember, of course I remember."

Mia smiled and said, "I often think, if Teacher Doug hadn't influenced me with the Encouragement Fruit back then and allowed me to become the Warden of Impel Down, wouldn't many things have been very different? Life, everything..."

"And us?" Figo asked.

Mia paused, then smiled, a hint of regret in her eyes.

"Is it because we don't age, because of the difference in lifespan, that it's only now that..."

"Haha, you saw right through me."

Outside the hospital bed, young Lingling, Tianyue Shi, and Ba Jin stared at the two in surprise.

A few seconds later, Figo broke free again.

……

Having just broken through the chains and escaped, Grat was pulled back by Figo, who threw him back. Grat rolled around in a sorry state, staring at Figo, not wanting to say another word.

Is this what you call a regrettable love story?!

This regret is all too easily made up for...

I don't believe it. In life, nothing is ever perfect. There will always be past experiences that touch the depths of your heart and make you feel down for a while!

Memory Corridor!

……

Figo reappeared at the hospital.

"Hahaha, Figo, even if your teacher forgets someone else, he will never forget you!"

The old man on the hospital bed smiled like a child who had stolen candy.

Figo suddenly realized that this was the day he had refused the Celestial Dragons' orders, returned from his trip to Impel Down, and visited his ailing teacher, Doug. Beside him was Mia, who looked middle-aged but still retained her charm and elegance, and at the window was Sora, a young man who was sulking.

"How did you suddenly get into this state?" Figo said. "At your age, can't you think of something happy?"

"You brat." Doug, lying on the bed, chuckled and scolded, then sighed, "Well, you still have to be happy... Never mind, sit down, everyone sit down, smile, smile, Figo, Xiaoya."

“Well, I have something happy to share with you,” Figo said with a smile.

"Oh?" Doug looked curious.

Mia, whose eyes were red-rimmed, looked over in surprise. "How can you still laugh when the teacher is like this, Figo..."

Suddenly, she realized that her hand was being grabbed by a large hand. In a moment of surprise, Figo gently put his arm around her and smiled at Doug.

Doug's eyes widened in surprise, and he sprang up from the hospital bed as if he were bursting with energy!

He stared at the two of them for three seconds, then burst into wild laughter: "Good! Good! Hahaha... This is excellent! Yes, you two are a match made in heaven, and I firmly believe it!"

I firmly believe this—

The 19-year-old was shocked.