Returning to Impel Down this time had a special purpose. Sengoku and the others had arranged for Wood to "betray" the Marines in a way that made sense by staging a scenario. In this scenario, Wood would inadvertently release prisoners from Impel Down for certain reasons, leading to his forced defection from the Marines due to the gravity of his crime.
Originally, Wood thought becoming a Marine Major was a good thing, allowing him to advance his pay and enjoy a comfortable life in a local branch. But now, he was forced to become a double agent!
Everyone knows that double agents rarely meet a good end. Never mind the saying "justice prevails"—this is a high-risk job where one wrong move could lead to a gruesome death at the hands of an ally.
Faced with such a difficult task, Wood almost instantly decided to refuse, declaring that since he had become a Marine, he would never do anything to betray the word "justice" on his back, even if it was just pretending to be a pirate.
Although he had only received his "justice" cloak a few days ago after being promoted to Major, now that he wore it, he felt responsible for the word "justice" on his back.
Why was it okay to impersonate a Fish-Man and commit acts of arson and robbery before? Because back then, he was just a Marine grunt—just a minor character who couldn't tarnish the overall image of the Marines.
But things were different now. Wood was at least a Marine Major, albeit one whose rank was still lower than Gion's, but still someone qualified to wear the cloak of justice.
However, just as Wood was about to deliver his prepared refusal, the long-dormant mute system suddenly became active again and triggered a special mission.
"Congratulations to the host for successfully triggering a special mission.
Mission Name: Create Chaos in Impel Down
Mission Objective: Cause chaos in Impel Down and ensure that at least 100 prisoners, including the Golden Lion Shiki, successfully escape.
Mission Progress: 000/100
Mission Reward: One opportunity to use the World Life Simulation.
**(P.S.: Rejoice, rookie. Special missions are rare opportunities, and the World Life Simulation is the core capability of this simulator.)"
Seeing the task pop up from the system, Wood was stunned into silence, the words of refusal stuck in his throat.
According to the system, the previous life simulations were merely beginner rewards, while this "World Life Simulation" was the system's true core function.
Not to mention that special missions were incredibly rare—regular missions only triggered after long intervals. Wood was genuinely reluctant to pass this up.
Every time the system assigned a task, Wood's abilities would improve dramatically. This was the benefit of having a cheat system.
However, this time, the system's task requirements made Wood feel conflicted.
The Golden Lion Shiki was destined to successfully escape; there was nothing Wood could do to stop that with his current abilities, so there was nothing to discuss on that front.
But assisting over 99 other prisoners in escaping made Wood uneasy.
Not all the inmates in Impel Down were irredeemable scoundrels, but they were certainly not good people. Releasing this trash back into the sea would only lead to more innocent people getting hurt. Wood wanted to become stronger through the system, but he had his limits.
If gaining power meant sacrificing the lives of countless innocent people on the seas, then he would rather forgo that power!
But just as Wood, after careful consideration, resolutely clicked on the "Refuse Task" button, the system uncharacteristically popped up another dialog box.
"This task is the host's first special mission. If refused, you will permanently lose access to the system's 'World Life Simulation' function. Are you sure you want to refuse?"
Staring at the dialog box, Wood hesitated only briefly before pressing confirm.
He wasn't sure what the "World Life Simulation" function was, but Wood didn't want to lose his principles for the sake of power.
The ordinary "Life Simulation" was sufficient for him. He didn't want to be entirely led by the system.
Unexpectedly, as Wood clicked on the "Refuse Task" button again, the system popped up another dialog box with additional hints.
"Since this is the host's first special mission, you might not be fully familiar with the system's mission mechanics. Therefore, here is a friendly reminder.
As per the mission's text, the host needs to ensure that 100 prisoners escape from Impel Down for the task to be considered complete.
As for the fate of these 100 prisoners, the system will not interfere. The mission will be considered complete based solely on the task criteria.
If, after careful consideration, the host still chooses to abandon the mission, the system will not issue a third warning."
Wood had always thought this trash system was not only silent but also somewhat sentient, given its occasional snarky P.S. comments. Now, with its recent series of responses and the current prompt, Wood was even more convinced that the system had some level of intelligence.
Moreover, this trash system seemed eager for him to accept the mission, as it was doing its utmost to guide him.
Although the system's hint was somewhat ambiguous, Wood wasn't so dense as to miss the point. He quickly grasped the system's underlying message.
Ensuring that 100 or more prisoners escape from Impel Down would complete the mission.
After completing the mission, what happens to those prisoners is irrelevant to the system.
This meant that Wood could let the prisoners out to fulfill the mission criteria and then turn around and eliminate them all to prevent them from causing havoc on the seas.
With this in mind, Wood saw no reason to hesitate. Since he had already accepted the Marines' top-secret mission to defect, this task aligned perfectly with that objective.
One could only imagine Sengoku's reaction when he learned that not only did a few minor figures escape from Impel Down, as he had planned, but also 100 prisoners, including the Golden Lion Shiki.
After completing the mission of escorting slaves to Mariejois, which took over a month, Wood returned to find that he had jumped eight ranks, from a mere Third-Class Soldier to a Marine Major.
The highest-ranking officer in the Marine detachment at Impel Down had been a Marine Captain. Now, returning as a Major, Wood was the highest-ranking officer at the facility.
Although the Marine detachment at Impel Down had only a few dozen personnel, it still gave Wood a taste of what it felt like to be in command.