The two cages, separated only by a wall, fell into a tense silence. Wilder's expression was utterly black.
"Gurgle…" His body trembled slightly, the veins on his forehead bulging. Then, Wilder suddenly began to laugh. "Nyahahaha!"
Amidst his laughter, his left hand silently dissolved into swamp, sinking to the floor. Dozens of thin tendrils snaked through the bars of his cage and surged along the cracks in the floor.
"You know me?"
The laughter abruptly ceased. Wilder, his face devoid of expression, spoke to the wall. His voice was no longer a low, chilling rasp, but the eerie calm before a storm, laden with suppressed fury.
"I saw you when you were brought in. You have dry skin."
This time, Wilder clearly heard the voice from the neighboring cell. Flat, dull, numb… like… a salted fish that had given up on its dreams.
Automatically dismissing the strangely inserted remark at the end, Wilder was preoccupied with something else.
He wanted to know how the other man had discovered him, and when.
This was crucial. It would determine whether or not the other man would die today. Of course, if possible, Wilder didn't want to kill anyone right now. Killing meant risking exposure.
"You want to know how I found you?" The flat, lifeless voice echoed from the next cell again.
His left hand continued to release more swamp. Wilder remained expressionless. He wasn't surprised the other man could guess his thoughts; it wasn't exactly rocket science.
Just as Wilder could guess that the other man would proceed to answer his own question.
Yes, in the absence of someone to play along, most people would resort to answering themselves. It was a natural instinct to avoid awkwardness.
The corners of Wilder's mouth twitched upwards. He was curious to see what the other man would say.
"Haki!" The flat word came from across the wall, confirming Wilder's guess. However, the term "Haki" still stirred a flicker of unrest within him.
Haki…
Wilder's eyes narrowed slightly. He was suddenly intrigued by this unfamiliar cellmate.
"Haki?" Wilder didn't mind playing along when appropriate, a hint of curiosity coloring his tone.
In the pitch-black cage, dozens of swamp tendrils slithered silently, converging from all directions.
The man in the neighboring cage seemed completely oblivious to all of this. Hearing the questioning tone from across the wall, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards.
He nodded to himself. "Haki is divided into three types: Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki. I possess Observation Haki. I can predict any attack and perceive things beyond the sight of my eyes. Therefore…"
"Therefore, you already knew I was here, didn't you?" The swamp shifted, and Wilder's figure emerged from the darkness. "How utterly annoying!" Wilder wore a twisted grin, but his eyes blazed with murderous intent. "All this pointless chatter, and I still haven't gotten the desired effect."
"Disappointed, aren't you?" The man in the cage spoke with his back to Wilder.
"Yes, very disappointed."
As he spoke, swamp erupted from his body. Wilder's eyes turned frantic, and in an instant, his surroundings were flooded with a vast amount of swamp.
He could launch an attack at any moment.
"You can't hurt me. I'm not a Devil Fruit user. These handcuffs only restrict my hands; they don't take away my power. Observation Haki allows me to dodge your attacks in advance." The flat tone seemed incapable of any other inflection. The other man finally turned around, and Wilder could see his appearance clearly.
Compared to Wilder's nearly three-meter height, the other man looked like an adolescent child. He was thin, with a sallow complexion and deeply sunken cheeks. His eyes were dull and lifeless, and he appeared to be around 22 to 24 years old.
He was probably only about 180 centimeters tall. "Skin and bones" would be an apt description.
"Nyehehehe…" Wilder let out a low, suppressed chuckle. The other man's words held a certain logic, but logic was merely logic. If Wilder didn't acknowledge it… then it wasn't logic.
"Kid, when did you start noticing me?" Wilder suddenly asked. At 35 years old, he felt perfectly justified in calling the other man "kid," even though he himself didn't look his age.
"I don't mind if you call me by my name, Eigg." Eigg raised his dead-fish eyes to look at Wilder, speaking calmly.
"Nyehehehe… Very well, Eigg. When did you discover… about me?" Wilder tried to force a friendly smile onto his face.
"Just now." Eigg showed no interest in hiding anything, giving Wilder a straightforward answer.
"Just now?" Wilder's smile faded slightly.
Eigg's dead-fish eyes seemed to become even more lifeless. "From the moment you entered the cell across from me. I don't know exactly what you were doing in there, but I doubt it was anything meaningless, right?"
"So… are you still going to attack me?"
The cage fell silent for a moment. Wilder looked at Eigg without a word.
Honestly, he was feeling quite conflicted right now, but not about whether or not to attack. It was about… whether or not to kill Eigg.
Yes, from beginning to end, Wilder had never considered whether he could kill him.
It was only a question of killing or not killing.
"Eigg, become my subordinate." Wilder spoke after a long silence.
This was a decision he'd made after much deliberation. Offering a subordinate position was merely a signal he wanted to send. Whether or not he actually gained a subordinate, his goal… was to avoid killing if possible.
Eigg's expression showed a flicker of surprise before returning to its usual despairing look.
"I have no interest in being anyone's subordinate."
"Nyehehehe…" Wilder's shoulders trembled slightly, a muffled laugh escaping his lips. His smile held both disappointment and a sense of inevitability. "Then there's no helping it." As he finished speaking, the swamp surrounding his body began to churn.
Eigg looked at this scene coldly and said, "I told you, you can't hurt me, even if you seem to be a Logia user." Eigg raised his hands, showing the Seastone cuffs.
"Boom!" The instant the words left his mouth, the swamp transformed from stillness to a raging torrent. Wilder was done with this pointless conversation.
"Raging Swamp!" The darkness on his face revealed Wilder's current mood. His patience had been constantly tested since the beginning, and it had made him very unhappy. A massive amount of swamp surged from Wilder's body, instantly filling the entire area. The swamp, like surging ocean waves, gave Eigg no chance whatsoever, pressing down on him like an unstoppable force.
"Boom!" The swamp was silent, but Eigg's pupils widened in disbelief. How is this possible?!
His Observation Haki reacted in an instant, but his body was utterly powerless against this overwhelming, all-encompassing swamp. He was immediately submerged and covered.