Loguetown Marine Branch.
The air was damp and foul in the dim, heavily fortified underground prison, where only a few prisoners were currently being held in the cells.
Near the entrance were the three young members of the Sea Shell Pirates who had just surrendered and narrowly escaped death at the tavern.
They were currently sitting in the dirt, nibbling on very small, stale steamed buns.
Their eyes reflected the shaking relief of having narrowly escaped the Reaper's blade.
"Fran... I always thought you didn't seem much like a pirate, more like a sniveling merchant. But now I see you are truly the wise one," a burly pirate muttered, touching his own neck, incredibly grateful his head was still attached to his shoulders rather than severed by Raleigh's sword.
"If it weren't for your quick thinking, our heads would have been taken by Vice-Admiral Raleigh to build that mound of corpses in the square."
The man called Fran was the same young pirate who had frantically wiped Raleigh's stool and poured his wine in the tavern.
Now, as he nibbled on his dry steamed bun, he too felt a deep lingering terror.
Who would have thought that casually eating a meal in a tavern would lead to encountering the Navy's greatest killing star?
Fortunately, he had been quick-witted and completely submissive toward Raleigh, barely managing to survive the bloodbath.
After undergoing a formal trial in Loguetown, they only needed to labor in a standard prison for a few years before being released.
"The longest sentence the judge gave us was only ten years," Fran whispered, shivering. "Sigh... I was so terrified at the time, my body just instinctively moved to please Raleigh."
"Compared to the guys whose heads have already been chopped off and stacked in the street, at least we are still alive, right?"
Although the three brothers deeply despised the thought of prison life, when they remembered the dozens of pirates who had died screaming in that tavern, they felt it was more important to just keep their heads on their shoulders.
"Hey... have you guys heard? That Pirate King, Roger... he is also imprisoned down here," his companion whispered mysteriously, looking nervously down the dark hall.
Fran was so shocked that the dry steamed bun in his hand nearly choked him.
"Cough! Cough...!"
After finally swallowing the bread stuck in his throat, Fran spoke with a tense, panicked expression.
"This is bad. What if someone tries to rescue the Pirate King?!"
"What if his monster crew members and all those maniacs from the New World who love chaos attack the base?! We might get caught in the crossfire and killed in our cells!" Fran stood up, nervously pacing around, trying to find a safe spot to hide within the small cage.
"Relax, Fran! This entire place is under the direct control of Vice-Admiral Garp and Vice-Admiral Raleigh! Those pirates can't possibly get in," the burly man reasoned, pulling Fran back down.
"Besides, the pirates have their hands full right now. Just dealing with Vice-Admiral Raleigh's bloody street purges is enough to give them a hard time."
Hearing this, Fran felt his reaction had been slightly excessive and sat back down with an embarrassed, shaky smile.
"Tell me... what exactly is Vice-Admiral Raleigh's strength?" Fran asked quietly. "I have fought against fleets led by Navy Vice-Admirals back in the South Blue before, but that Vice-Admiral didn't feel anywhere near as terrifying. In front of Vice-Admiral Raleigh... it felt like we couldn't even die without his explicit permission."
The companion who had been silently eating cornbread beside him finally swallowed the difficult-to-eat food and spoke up.
"When I was gathering supplies on a black-market island before, I heard veteran pirates say that Vice-Admiral Raleigh is at least at the elite Vice-Admiral level, if not full Admiral level. It is just that he currently lacks the political seniority to be officially given the Admiral position."
"If the Navy selects new Admirals next term... Vice-Admiral Raleigh will definitely be the first to be promoted."
Upon hearing this, Fran was first stunned, then his face fell into a deeply worried expression.
"Then the Pirates is doomed. Vice-Admiral Raleigh has already single-handedly wiped out all the pirates in this entire town in just a few days. If a monster like him becomes an Admiral one day... I think that would truly be the end for piracy as a whole."
Hearing this grim truth, the three former pirates immediately hung their heads dejectedly.
They had become pirates precisely because they didn't want to break their backs farming dirt, choosing instead to seek freedom and easy money at sea.
But Christian Raleigh's sudden, bloody emergence had violently shattered too many pirates' dreams.
If not for the fact that many powerful legendary pirates still remained active in the New World, the Navy might have already broken the absolute backbone of global piracy.
Tap... tap... tap...
The crisp, rhythmic sound of military boots stepping on the stone floor echoed far through the quiet underground prison.
The prisoners immediately stopped talking, holding their breath, preparing to see who would come inspecting the maximum-security prison at this late hour.
"Don't you think those footsteps sound familiar...?" A look of confusion flashed across Fran's face, then his pupils gradually widened in absolute terror.
He immediately scrambled up and ran to the darkest corner of the cell, trying to curl his body into a tiny ball to reduce his presence.
"Whats wrong, Fran?" His two companions didn't understand his terrified behavior.
They were already locked in a Marine prison—where could they possibly hide?
Besides, who could frighten Fran like this?
Unless... it was the Butcher they had just encountered.
Wait??? Vice-Admiral Raleigh?!
They immediately realized the danger and followed Fran's lead, pressing themselves desperately against the corner wall like frightened mice.
The person who entered the dim hallway was indeed Vice-Admiral Raleigh.
He had come to the lowest level of this prison to speak personally with the soon-to-be-executed Pirate King.
He had many questions that needed Roger's specific answers.
The local prison guards were exceptionally enthusiastic and deferential as they escorted him—Raleigh had become everyone's absolute idol now.
Within just a few short days, Raleigh's ruthless cleanup operation had shown terrifying results.
Most of the thousands of pirates who had flooded into Loguetown had either been brutally killed by his death squads or had fled the island in terror.
"Vice-Admiral Raleigh, sir! The Pirate King, Roger, is being held in the maximum-security cell at the end of the hall," the lead guard said obsequiously, bowing slightly.
Raleigh stopped walking and stared at the guard, making the man break out in a cold sweat.
Just as the guard was frantically wondering what he had done wrong, Raleigh spoke.
"In this prison, there is no so-called 'Pirate King.' He has only one identity within these walls—that of a condemned prisoner waiting to die. So you should refer to him strictly as Prisoner Roger."
The guard's back was completely soaked with cold sweat.
He genuinely hadn't paid attention to these naming conventions, simply using the title everyone else used, but making a mistake in front of the Pirate Butcher might literally cost him his life.
"I-I am so sorry, Vice-Admiral Raleigh, sir! I misspoke earlier! It is Prisoner Roger!" the guard hurriedly apologized, bowing deeply.
Raleigh nodded curtly without responding.
For the rest of the journey, the terrified guard didn't dare say another word, only leading Raleigh silently through cell block after cell block.
They didn't stop until they reached the absolute end of the corridor, where only one spacious, heavily chained cell remained.
The guard cautiously spoke up, his voice trembling. "Raleigh-sama... please forgive us, but since Prisoner Roger is an extremely dangerous individual, we cannot open this cell door under any circumstances."
To Raleigh, this wasn't actually a major issue.
If he truly wanted the guard to open the cell, the guard would have no choice but to obey.
After all, there were only two Vice-Admiral level officers in Loguetown right now.
Garp couldn't actually restrict Raleigh's movements because Garp and Raleigh held the exact same rank—while Garp could offer strong suggestions, he couldn't issue commands to another Vice-Admiral.
Raleigh wasn't surprised by the security protocol, nor did he intend to enter the cage and face Roger directly anyway.
"Very well. Guard the entrance to the block. I need to discuss some private matters with Roger," Raleigh instructed coldly.
The guard quickly nodded, immensely relieved, and hurriedly led the other jailers out of the area, leaving the two monsters alone in the dark.
Inside the cell, Roger, who had been lying on a wooden plank resting, opened his eyes and laughed heartily.
"Quite a scary fellow has arrived!"
Roger stood up, dragging his heavy Seastone chains.
He walked to the thick steel cell door and sat cross-legged on the floor.
His gaze carried both lighthearted amusement and a well-concealed hatred.
This, of course, didn't escape Raleigh's sharp notice, but he paid it no mind.
With the Pirate King already heavily chained in Seastone, he didn't believe the dying man could cause any trouble.
Moreover, the current Christian Raleigh was no longer the Raleigh of the past.
After his battle with Whitebeard, Raleigh's raw strength had risen to a terrifying level.
Hummmmm—!
Without any warning, Roger unleashed his Conqueror's Haki!
An overwhelming, suffocating aura erupted from the dying man's chained body, rapidly pressing heavily against Raleigh's mind.