Under tremendous pressure, knowing their lives could be taken at any moment, the prisoners from Impel Down began to beg for mercy.
Unfortunately for them, Wood had no intention of showing mercy. His face remained cold as he swung his sword, taking one life after another.
Not only were these people scum of the sea, but Wood had already given them a chance.
If they had been honest, Wood might have spared them to form a pirate crew.
However, since they harbored ill intentions, there was no reason to show them mercy.
Those who betray once will certainly betray again. Keeping such people in his pirate crew would only lead to endless trouble in the future.
Overwhelmed by Wood's immense pressure, some even jumped off the deck into the sea, unable to bear the fear.
Wood didn't bother chasing those who jumped because they were as good as dead.
They were in the middle of the ocean, far from any land. The closest land was Impel Down.
Even if they had the strength to swim back, they couldn't make it through the Calm Belt, where the Sea Kings would likely devour them.
No, even if they could pass through the Calm Belt, they wouldn't make it due to the chains still binding their feet.
In short, jumping off the ship meant certain death, whether by Wood's sword or by drowning in the sea.
Russ, hiding near the cabin door and watching, gulped nervously as he saw Wood finish off the last prisoner, achieving the feat of slaying a hundred men.
Honestly, Russ had thought that when Wood mentioned solving the problem, he meant persuading the prisoners. But this method was beyond anything he had imagined.
"It seems we were all wrong. The captain was able to rise from a private to a Navy major in one mission, not because of any connections, but because of his own strength..."
As a former Navy captain who had served for over ten years, Russ had seen many high-ranking officers in the headquarters and witnessed them in action.
But Russ was certain that none of the other Navy majors could match Wood, not even close.
Wood's displayed strength was at least at the level of a Navy rear admiral, and he was still so young...
At that moment, Russ began to think that following someone like Wood might lead to a promising future.
Indeed, Wood's actions had been brutal, but in a world where only the strong survive, what did it matter?
If he stayed in the Navy, he would be stuck in Impel Down for the rest of his life. A real man's ambition should be to explore the world; who would be content to remain a mere Navy pawn?
Looking at the pile of corpses on the deck, Russ swallowed his fear and was about to ask Wood about the next step, as they still hadn't decided on a destination.
The ship's course could only be set by the captain, Wood, and Russ dared not act without orders, especially after witnessing such brutality.
But as Russ gathered the courage to approach Wood, he noticed that Wood was staring intently in a particular direction in the sky, his face serious.
Even when facing over a hundred prisoners alone, Wood had remained calm.
"Tsk, it's too late to change course now. A troublesome guy is heading this way. If I end up fighting him, you all should jump ship and escape. The guy coming this way is someone I'm not confident about. If it comes to a fight, I might not be able to protect you or even myself."
Russ was shocked to hear this. Wood's recent massacre of the prisoners had shown how powerful he was, and they had already labeled him as "strong."
They couldn't imagine who could be so powerful that even someone like Wood would feel threatened.
"Is it the Navy reinforcements? But with your current strength, Captain, even if the Navy sends a vice admiral, only a few could overpower you."
They had just defected from the Navy and were familiar with the headquarters' power structure.
In Russ's view, with Wood's strength, only a few exceptional vice admirals like Garp, Akainu, or Kizaru could pose a threat to him.
"It's not the Navy. It's someone like us, who escaped from Impel Down. In fact, the reason we were able to leave so easily is mostly thanks to him."
As Wood finished speaking, before Russ could ask who this person was, a figure floated above their warship.
The Golden Lion Shiki, dressed in the Impel Down prison uniform, was puffing on a cigar as he observed the situation below.
After the battle in the Level 6 Infinite Hell of Impel Down, Shiki had managed to kill the current warden, but he wasn't in great shape himself.
Rain and Magellan weren't easy opponents. Although Shiki had successfully escaped, overuse of his abilities during the fight had left him weakened.
Shiki wanted to use his Float-Float Fruit powers to reach another island, but it wouldn't be easy.
The New World's seas were treacherous, and without an experienced navigator and a Log Pose, getting lost was a real possibility.
Floating in the air for days or even months was no problem for Shiki.
But the key issue was finding an island to land on and getting food during that time.
Even a powerful figure like Shiki was still human, and all living things need to eat.
Moreover, after the intense battle, Shiki was injured, making it difficult for him to stay airborne for long. He didn't want to escape the hell of Impel Down only to die at sea.
After leaving Impel Down, Shiki had considered hijacking a Navy warship but then realized that he had no knowledge of navigation.
And escaping by ship wouldn't be as fast as flying, so Shiki had decided against it and instead aimed to take over a ship with a ready crew.