Whitebeard stroked his newly trimmed beard with a broad smile on his face.

How could he let this opportunity pass him by?

His eyes shone greedily as he looked at the people before him like treasure.

With more people in his gang, wouldn't he be able to become king of this place?

By then, he would kick that scummy Eli Barn and step all over his pretty-boy face.

The nerve of him to show no signs of respect to his seniors.

What have children of today become?

He was in his early 40s, and the brat was around 24~26 years old.

So who should be bowing to whom?

He had a personal grudge that would be avenged before he left this hell hole.

But for that, he needed more men.

And since more pirates got captured, then why not take them in?

Of course, before he got rescued, he would still get revenge for these Baymardians who trimmed his beard and hair.

They trimmed his flowy bread that reached his belly, all in the name of taking precautions.

They claimed that he could be hiding weapons there, but didn't they know that his beard and overly long hair were part of his persona?

If he didn't yell out the names of the pirates before him, they might not have known who he was.

No one had ever seen him like this.

He now looked completely different and younger with his shaven face.

Dammit!

How was he supposed to instill fear without his scary looks?

He felt like these Baymardians had destroyed a part of him, and he wanted revenge!

Of course, that would be later on when his brothers rescued him.

For now, he wanted to recruit these pirated into his range and overthrow Eli Barn, the King within these walls.

.

Whitebeard looked at everyone expectantly, but sadly, they didn't seem to agree with his vision.

All three pirate Captains looked at him in disdain and sneered.

"Sorry, but we refuse!"

"Hmhm.

You of all people, should know how prideful we as pirates can be.

So how do you expect us who are Captains of our own crews to bow under someone else's leadership?

Com'on, did you really think that we would agree?"

"That's right!

Unless it's the LEADER himself, we will not join anyone less crew.

You say this place is a deadly jungle, then why do you think that we won't like to test it out for ourselves?

Have you forgotten that we are all top-ranking pirates?

So if you Whitebeard can survive, then why can't we?"

Whitebeard's smile cracked the more he listened.

His face turned as red as a tomato's in fury.

Ingrates!

Here he was doing them a favour by offering protection, but they still turned it down?

Fools!

He glared at them with no intention of hiding how he felt.

"I hope you all know what you're doing.

Be careful that I don't report this matter to my brothers after they rescue me."

Miwo smiled sarcastically at him: "Speaking of your brothers, I forgot to mention something exciting. Your brother, The Baker, had also been captured."

--silence--

.

Everyone, including the other pirate Captains, looked at him in disbelief.

Time froze as they listened to Miwo.

It was as if all noise in the world had stopped.

The heavy pressure that their minds and ears were facing now sent chills down their spins.

Who was the Baker?

That someone that all of them dared not have eye contact with.

They had never even seen his face before, and his tales were legends amongst the top pirates.

So how could he be here with them?

But was the Baker really locked up here?

No way!

That's impossible, right?

Everyone looked around as if trying to determine whether the Baker was right under their nostrils all along.

Such thoughts only frightened them even further.

Mr. Baker, where are you?

WhiteBeard's lips quivered in disbelief.

"What the hell are you talking about?

Do you know the kind of evidence that brother of mine is?

There's just no way that he got captured!"

"What can I gain if I lie?"

"My trust!"

"Pui.

Who wants your stupid trust?

I'm telling the truth!

A few days before we were attacked, your brother secretly arrived on the island and decided to stay there to wait for you, Whitebeard.

He knew that you would be coming there soon, as per your usual schedule.

So he stayed.

But unfortunately, his timing was wrong.

All I know is that when I asked about him, the head guard said he had been captured.

I'm telling you, the Baker is here!"

.

Whitebeard felt like he was losing his mind.

How?

Was his brother truly captured?

Then where was he?

He was counting on him to rescue him first.

So did this mean that he would have to wait longer before getting rescued?

His other brothers were far away in Morgany.

So by the time the news gets to them, an entire year might've gone by.

Marlo was the closest around the Pyno Continent.

So with him down, wouldn't he have to wait here even longer?

More still, what have they done to his brother?

They better not have touched a single hair from his head, or else they would have to face his wrath when he got out of this prison.

With that, he ran towards one of the guards and started making trouble.

"What the hell have you done to my brother?

Why isn't he here if you captured him?

Where are you torturing him?

I want to see him now!"

Guard: (-_-)

Just like that, Whitebeard started fighting the guard, and a little matter became a big matter that once again alerted Mitchen.

On the other side of life, Marlo was currently trouble adjusting to his new vegetarian life.

What the hell was this?

His body felt weak and really felt like he was ill.

Ever since he got captured, he has been eating vegetables and all sorts of disgusting meals daily.

His body was too used to human flesh that any other thing made him throw up.

He's been a cannibal for decades now, mainly eating one thing.

So the change seemed to affect his entire body as his belly constantly felt empty, and even after eating vegetables, he felt like he would still pass out from extreme hunger.

Meat!

Meat!

Meat!

He wanted human flesh!

.

Marlo curled his body on his bed and tried his best to calm his turbulent mind.

The hunger pain gave him intense headaches.

And as every second passed by, he seemed to be losing his sanity.

He was currently within a large glass box within another gigantic cubic barred box within the cell.

His cell was the size of a massive one floored house, and he was in the center of it all.

There was so much security in place just to keep him here.

He kept screaming for human meat nonstop, but no one paid him any attention.

They didn't for one second believe that he would die if he didn't eat human flesh.

Please!

The medical team had researched and given him a proper diet in line with his age and health.

So what was he yapping on about?

Of course, they still watched him closely because the way he looked at his own feet gave them the notion that he might honestly eat them.

That would just be tragic.

[Mitchen: You said the prisoner died?

Guards: Yes Sir. He ate himself to death.

Mitchen: Eh? so he died from too much food?

Since when did the prison become a 5-star hotel that gave people food whenever they wanted? 

Guards: No Sir. I think you're missing the point. He died because he ate himself to death. Sir, he ate his own body.

Mitchen: '_' ]

The guards could already see it now.

That's why they had close attention to him, as well as Ratcliffe and the other core members of his gang who were Cannibals.

It was all fun and games until they actually are themselves.

That's one of the reasons why they dared not put them in one cell.

In the face of zombie-like hunger, loyalty didn't matter here at all.

They were 100% sure that given time, both master and subordinates would eat themselves.

So why risk it?

.

Like that, Marlo and his clique found themselves in hell, while Whitebeard fought his way through to see his brother.

As for Landon, he was getting ready for the show.

That's right!

He was on his way to the Novora Fashion Show!