A day or two had passed by since Nico had found himself hearing the all too familiar sound of heavy boots marching along outside of his door. The sound itself was growing louder, which could only mean that they were headed in his direction, yet, he wouldn't have been surprised if the sound disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. The sound of marching wasn't too uncommon in a place such as Marineford. Especially paired with the fact that some of that marching belonged to Marines that had been given the duty of keeping Nico in his "cell".

All in all, it seemed as though Nico's agreement to the Government's terms had only moved him from a maximum security prison to more of a gilded cage. Nico's impression of this deal was that once he agreed to participate he'd be "free", in a sense. He'd still be under agreement with the World Government, yet, he'd at least be allowed to move about on his own. However, it seemed that this wasn't the case, and the Government trusted him about as far as they could throw him. It seemed that he'd only be given his freedom after the "War" against this Yonko; and judging from how slow things were going it didn't appear that this would occur anytime soon.  

Before Nico could think any further on these topics, the sound of his door opening caught his attention. After opening his eyes after slightly turning his head to his left he found himself being greeted by the sight of a male he'd never seen before. The first thing that anyone else would have noticed about this man was simply how tall he was - however, given that Nico wasn't the average man, the first thing he'd happen to notice about this man was how well dressed he appeared to be. This observation led Nico to the obvious conclusion that this gentlemen held some sort of importance.

Nico slowly began to sit up from his supine position on his bed before greeting the man with a simple hello. There was a brief awkward silence before the man began to explain that the World Government had finally deemed him worthy of his Shichibukai status. Almost as soon as he stated this, two marines made their way into the room and immediately began uncuffing the new Shichibukai. Within the instant the seastone cuffs were removed, Nico could immediately feel a boost of energy fill him, as well as the return of abilities that he hadn't felt in close to four years.

"Why do this all of a sudden?"

Even though Nico had learned to never look a gift horse in the mouth, he also found himself entirely taken aback by how quickly the situation had reversed. The gentleman quickly began to explain that even though the War in question had yet to trasnpire, what the World Government was really observing were Nico's reactions to participating and cooperating with Marines. Even though Nico may not have liked the circumstances, it was obvious that he realized who was holding his leash and cooperated fully. Though some Pirates may have found this humiliating, this is something they looked for in Shichibukai when it came to their loyalty to the World Government.

After the conversation, it wasn't long before Nico was on the ship that had been gifted to him by the World Government, as well as a Navigator that had been supplied to him from the Marines. With his new found freedom, Nico felt that it was now about time to explore the world he was now being reintroduced to starting from square one.

- Travel To North Blue