"Grrrrrrr~~~"
Amid a sound that made one want to clutch their stomach,
Magellan set down the Den Den Mushi and squatted on the toilet, waiting for the final release.
Although he had already received the warning from Marine Headquarters and confirmed the invasion of Warlord of the Sea—Blackbeard Teach,
Unfortunately, there was still a little stock left in his stomach that needed clearing out.
Considering that Hannyabal had led a group of Jailer Beasts over, delaying things for this short while should not be a problem.
Magellan stared at the floor, waiting for the last release.
And at the end of his line of sight, piercing through layer after layer of flooring to the very bottom, below Level 6 Underground, or rather, within the very foundation of Impel Down itself, tremors were coming through.
"Hey-ho! Hey-ho!"
Amid spirited chants, a cross-dressing giant swung a trident.
Unlike the huge giants one would normally encounter, this giant was only twelve or thirteen meters tall.
His body was fat, his face large, with catfish-like whiskers and a thick beard.
His upper body was bare, with belts tied around his arms, ammunition clips slung across him, and a weapon pack on his back.
His lower half was extremely distinctive—or rather, painful to look at.
He wore a red plaid miniskirt and bubble socks, and there was a flower pattern on his left forearm.
It was an extremely "girlish" style of dress.
In truth, he was indeed a girl—a Newkama giant.
Morley, Commander of the Revolutionary Army's West Army, a user of the Push-Push Fruit, could push all kinds of things without damaging the object itself.
For example, he could shape the ground he touched like clay, hide himself underground or inside rock walls, and even carve out tunnels.
He could also turn the ground he touched into clay to restrict an enemy's movements.
And now, this special Newkama giant was using his fork, thrust after thrust, to push everything blocking the way aside, opening up a passage straight to Level 6 Underground.
As he moved, he chatted with the person behind him. "Little Ren, don't worry. Morley knows this place very well.
"I even built a Level 5.5 here before. Later, I got bored of staying there, so I ran out."
"I know. Ivankov built the Newkama Kingdom there."
Ren, who had appeared here, nodded.
At the same time, he manipulated his own energy to block off the seawater outside, ensuring that no seawater entered and affected Morley, an ability user.
Obviously, the one here was a clone.
"As expected of a prophet. I'm starting to like you a little."
Morley spoke in a bashful voice, even twisting his body as he did.
"All right, I'll be troubling you with this favor."
The corner of Ren's mouth twitched, and he felt somewhat of a headache.
How should he put it? In theory, he did not discriminate against gay people, lesbians, or even okama.
But when he actually encountered one, it was indeed hard to get along with them.
Morley also seemed to notice Ren's discomfort, and did not pester him too much just because he was interested in him.
He spoke very directly about the proper business.
"No, no, no. We also need to rescue someone. The era outside is changing too quickly. We Revolutionary Army have to keep up with your pace too.
"It's time to fish Ivankov out so he can work for the revolution, rather than staying inside as a king."
"Haha, he should be thanking you for leaving behind that 0.5 level."
The two of them chatted quite casually, while the passage leading to Level 6 Underground was rapidly opened.
As a giant, Morley possessed tremendous strength to begin with, and he also had a Devil Fruit ability that could be called the best possible ability for excavation.
Even starting from the bottom of the sea, with Ren's assistance, he was still capable of accomplishing this.
And above them, in the skies over Impel Down, the Judgment hovered within the clouds, quietly waiting for the right moment to act.
"Instead of playing fisherman, wouldn't it be better if I just fired one shot down and wiped them all out?"
Dressed in light, cool clothing, Nami pouted. Although she said that, she had already prepared herself to enter the power room and generate electricity.
The strongest weapon of this flying battleship could be fired at any moment. It was not only prepared for destruction, but also ready at any time to provide Ren with high-energy support.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the situation had to deteriorate beyond imagination.
If it was not bad enough, then Ren's current basic preparations should be enough to handle it.
For example, the army on Vivi's side.
Dense ranks of angels stood ready for battle inside the Judgment.
Their numbers were extremely astonishing—over a thousand in total. Among them, a portion were Angels of Glory that had appeared after the original five hundred angels were upgraded.
The rest came from the new generation of Kuja Island.
With a minimum baseline of five hundred in each batch, the numbers of the Angel Legion had skyrocketed in a very short period of time.
In fact, the Angels of Glory waiting here were not even the Angel Legion's main-scale force.
They were merely a small group of elites, carrying out extermination battles that required fewer personnel but greater strength.
For this purpose, Ren had activated Divine Favor Blessing, projecting his Immortal trait and part of his attributes onto these thousand-plus elite angels.
In a certain sense, all those waiting here were high-level combatants on the level of "mini-bosses."
And at this moment, inside the Integrated Network, as 001 issued orders, command after command was continuously transmitted, interweaving into a concrete operation plan.
"Do not take the initiative to attack the jailers. If you encounter those who insist on attacking, counterattack."
"Kill any pirate you see. Even if Impel Down is destroyed, do not allow a single pirate to escape."
"Enemies encountered after Level 4 Underground require identification. If their strength is sufficiently high, battle under the premise of capturing them alive."
"After capturing materials, guard them collectively and await transport."
"If you encounter powerful figures on Level 6 Underground, avoid them and leave them to our Lord."
These were akin to operational guidelines.
They also revealed one fact.
Ren's action in the great prison Impel Down was not something small in scale.
Blackbeard believed this was a good opportunity because the high-level combat forces of Marine Headquarters were currently all dealing with the crisis brought by Whitebeard.
Ren was actually the same. It was just that Blackbeard wanted to find pirate companions, while Ren wanted to take these pirates as materials and transform them into a batch of angelic combat power strong enough to matter.
Incidentally, he would also capture those Devil Fruit users and reincarnate them as angel units, further expanding the Angel Legion's combat power.
This was a carnival. The difference was that Blackbeard would step on all the land mines for him first.
Impel Down, Level 6 Underground.
Those who could be imprisoned here were all the most vicious and wicked pirates in the world.
But almost no one in the outside world knew of their deeds.
Because their crimes were far too cruel and brutal, the World Government had no choice but to cover them up and conceal them.
If Crocodile had not died, he would also have been imprisoned here. At the same time, the matter of Crocodile attempting to usurp a kingdom would also have been altered and erased.
Donquixote Doflamingo would be the same.
And at this moment, Jinbe, who had just received a single cell, leaned against the wall with deep worry.
His mind was filled with Ace, who had been taken away not long ago...
Regrettably, he had failed to protect Ace from execution. He himself had also been thrown into Infinite Hell because of his fierce opposition.
'I cannot understand it. Why provoke a great war at a time like this? Why fight the Whitebeard Pirates to the death...?'
Jinbe was in pain and confusion, while also blaming himself for his own powerlessness.
Yet at that moment, a small accident suddenly occurred.
Crack!
A sound of breaking, extremely faint yet clear, sounded especially distinct in the dark and icy prison cage known as Infinite Hell.
"!"
The self-reproaching Jinbe abruptly raised his head, opening his eyes as he swept his gaze around.
What was that sound?
Was someone trying to break out again?
The materials used in this hell were high-strength alloys of Seastone and steel.
Whether it was a Devil Fruit user or a master of Fish-Man Empty-Hand Martial Arts like him, there was not the slightest way to escape.
In fact, he had tried when he first arrived, and it had drawn a wave of laughter.
If there had been even the slightest method, the others would not have been imprisoned here for so long.
"Who is it? Stop trying. Ever since that bastard Golden Lion escaped last time, this place has been filled with Seastone everywhere."
In a dark corner, a ragged but noble-looking man spoke in dissatisfaction. "Can't you let an old man rest in peace?"
"If you want to rest, why not just die and sleep forever? Redfield, you've already lived long enough anyway."
Next door, a man bound by layer after layer of chains continued exercising as he spoke coldly.
"Hah? Bullet, are you looking for a fight?!"
The old man named Redfield immediately began cursing. "Even when your captain was around, he didn't dare talk to me like that!"
"Why do I remember you being chased around by Roger?"
Someone sneered as he joined the conversation. He wore a red-haired helmet and looked like a stubbly old man.
Jinbe observed coldly from the sidelines and did not join the exchange.
In this Infinite Hell where there were no guards and no possibility of escape, occasional conversations seemed to be a form of amusement for the great prisoners.
More importantly, he did not want to join this group of people with terrible reputations.
Yes.
Although the outside world's history had been erased, Jinbe, who had lived for many years, roughly knew who these people were.
The first one who spoke was Red the Aloof—Patrick Redfield, a legend from the same era as Roger.
And he was the highest level of legend at that!
The Fleet Admiral had said that this man was a legend capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Roger and Whitebeard, and had always been alone.
However, according to what Jinbe knew, Garp believed that Patrick was not someone worthy of leaving his name in history.
The rumors were somewhat contradictory, and he did not know the specifics.
At the same time, it was said that this man's Observation Haki was extremely powerful.
The second was a member of Roger's crew, the Demon Heir—Douglas Bullet.
Over twenty years ago, in the second year after Roger's death, he went berserk on the sea for reasons unknown.
It forced the Marines to launch a Buster Call. In the massive encirclement, even the Marine hero Garp and Sengoku, who had been an admiral at the time, were deployed.
The last was the World Destroyer—Byrnndi World.
There were far, far too many stories about him, most of which amounted to him destroying one place or another.
Because he had committed too many sins, he was hunted by the Marines. After his defeat, he was imprisoned here.
In addition, the prisoners inside Infinite Hell were not limited to these three and Jinbe himself. There were others as well.
There was Vasco Shot, who was dreaming of drinking wine, a user of the Glug-Glug Fruit, seemingly hunted down and defeated by the Marines because of excessive arson.
There was the enormous giant pirate, Sanjuan Wolf, who was rumored to be able to become as massive as a battleship.
And there was the Crescent Moon Hunter—Catarina Devon, who enjoyed peeling off people's faces and could transform. However, no one knew exactly what her ability was.
(End of Chapter)