22 Chapter 22: I'll Be Back

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"You can't, you'll die!"

"I can!"

"You can't!"

"Even if I can't, I have to. I don't want to stay in this hell any longer!"

Hiro didn't want Fisher Tiger to take the risk. Fisher Tiger was his only hope to get out of here, but Fisher Tiger seemed to have made up his mind to leave right from here.

Tesoro, watching the two of them argue, interjected, "Don't worry. I've calculated it carefully. I've tested it with a rope from the cliff top to this drainage outlet. The distance is about 130 meters. Given Big Bro Fisher Tiger's physique, he can definitely escape safely. Plus, there's sea beyond the cliff. With Big Bro Fisher Tiger's physique, he can absolutely escape!"

"Bullshit, how high is the Holy Land, Mariejois?

Ten thousand meters!

Even if Brother Fisher Tiger is a fishman, if he falls from this height, he will definitely die!"

Hiro looked at the somewhat dazed Tesoro and gave him a slap to wake him up.

"Let it go this time, Fisher Tiger!" Hiro said. "We'll find another way to get out of here!"

After hearing Hiro's words, Fisher Tiger gave a bitter smile.

"Is there any other way out? This is likely the only place that might offer a chance for escape. If we're lucky, we'll survive. If not, at least we'll be free from this hell. Hiro, I appreciate your concern, but there's no need to persuade me further. I will leave from here!"

Seeing Fisher Tiger's determination, Hiro sighed and did not try to dissuade him further.

"Big Bro Fisher Tiger, take care of yourself," Hiro said.

Fisher Tiger nodded, opened his arms, and embraced Hiro.

"You're my first human friend. If I can survive this, I promise to come back for you and our fishman brothers. Tell them to hold on and wait for my return," Fisher Tiger said.

Upon hearing these words, Hiro nodded his head fervently and promised, "Okay, I'll take care of them while you're gone."

Upon hearing Hiro's promise, a smile appeared on Fisher Tiger's face.

"You all should leave before you're discovered," he said.

At that moment, the water level began to decrease. If they kept lingering, the gate might close again, and they would have to wait longer to get out. The longer they waited, the riskier it would be, because they didn't know what might happen outside.

Therefore, even though it was hard to leave Fisher Tiger, Hiro and Tesoro left, looking back at Fisher Tiger as they went. Fisher Tiger just smiled and waved goodbye.

Once they had left, a stern expression appeared on Fisher Tiger's face. With a sense of determination bordering on resignation, he gazed into the unfathomable exit.

"Come on, let's see how deep you really are," he said.

After waiting for a while, the circulation of the bathwater finally stopped, and the grating in front of Fisher Tiger slowly rose.

As the water began to pour into the outlet, the suction from the bottom increased, gradually affecting Fisher Tiger. However, Fisher Tiger was unfazed and burst into laughter.

"I will be back," Fisher Tiger roared defiantly.

With that, he dove into the water and swam towards the increasingly large exit.

...

Once Hiro and Tesoro returned to the bathhouse, Hiro punched Tesoro hard in the face.

"Tesoro, I understand your eagerness to leave, but your impatience could have jeopardized our chance of escape," Hiro said.

Tesoro fell to the ground from Hiro's punch, his head bowed, tears silently streaming down his face.

"Hiro, did you know? The woman I loved is dead. She was toyed with and killed by the Celestial Dragons. If I had managed to earn her ransom money faster, she wouldn't have died…"

Hearing Tesoro's sobs, Hiro's anger disappeared. He had seen the tragic love story between Tesoro and Stella unfold, so he understood Tesoro's desperate wish to escape.

He too wanted to take revenge on the Celestial Dragons!

But as a slave without the Gold Gold Fruit, Tesoro wanted nothing more than to leave this hell. Only by escaping could he have a chance to avenge Stella.

"I understand your feelings. I too want revenge against the Celestial Dragons, but we can't rush this. We must not waste our lives in haste," Hiro said.

Tesoro nodded silently, not saying anything further.

After some thought, Hiro spoke to Tesoro. "From today, you will start training. Maintain good health. If Fisher Tiger is still alive, he will come to rescue us within a year at most."

Having met Fisher Tiger earlier, Hiro realized that he had remembered the plot incorrectly. After going back, he recalled Fisher Tiger's storyline.

In his memories, after Fisher Tiger escaped, he first returned to Fish-Man Island. Only after speaking with the King and Queen did he come back to free the slaves of Mary Geoise a year after his escape.

With this in mind, if Fisher Tiger was still alive, he could escape within a year.

So, he didn't want Tesoro, who he considered his crewmate, to get into trouble during this time.

"A...a year?" Tesoro asked, puzzled.

Tesoro looked at Hiro, not understanding how he had arrived at this timeframe. However, he didn't get an answer from Hiro and chose not to ask further, especially given the uncertainty of Fisher Tiger's fate.

They didn't say much afterwards, but quickly washed up and left the bathhouse.

Back in the cage, Hiro began to plan how he would spend the upcoming year.

First, he needed to increase his strength. Now that he had become Charlos's enforcer, he would certainly be forced to fight other slaves of the Celestial Dragons. These slaves varied in strength, and the Celestial Dragons often forced them to eat Devil Fruits for entertainment.

Therefore, he needed to enhance his power as soon as possible to better handle future battles.

Moreover, if he wanted to take revenge on the Celestial Dragons in the future, strength was a prerequisite. Without strength, even if he was a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user like Kuma, no one would respect him.

Secondly, he needed to harness his Devil Fruit power. Currently, his use of his Devil Fruit power was very reactive. He had to be hit and accumulate a certain amount of rebound energy before his attacks would have any force. He had tried and found that without the enhancement from his Devil Fruit power, he couldn't even break a stone.

Thus, he needed to develop a method to accumulate energy without getting hit.

The development approach was derived from his prior method of standing in a stream and absorbing its force to create a mechanism that can accumulate rebound power at any time. Moreover, he trained to have a strong physique so that he wouldn't faint from excessive physical exhaustion after using his Devil Fruit powers, like what happened during his previous fight against the Slave Quintet. As such, he must build a robust physique to support the long-term use of his Devil Fruit abilities. Lastly, he trained to break free from the control of Sea-Prism Stone or at least maintain some combat power when bound by it. Of course, the most crucial point is to survive. As long as he can last a year without dying, he would have a chance to escape this hell.

On the other hand, beside the Red Line, a red-skinned fish-man was floating on the sea surface. A shark headed towards the fish-man, its mouth full of sharp teeth, ready to enjoy this easy prey. However, it was smacked away by the fish-man. After looking around, the awakened fish-man howled and promptly dove into the water, deeper and deeper.