"Annoying as hell. Hey, are we still waiting? If you don't make a move soon, you'll all get stuck here.
"Who knows how much time is left from what that guy mentioned, meow!"
Pizarro said in disgust, "If we miss this chance, we'll have to face an Admiral!"
No one answered.
Patrick Redfield and the others all frowned in thought.
Just then, footsteps rang out from the corridor. A swordsman dressed in Impel Down prison uniform arrived there.
"Shiryu!?"
Magellan and Hannyabal's eyes widened at the same time. The trace of surprise that had just appeared in their eyes instantly turned into horror.
Because the Shiryu who appeared here tossed several objects to those great pirates.
Antidotes that could neutralize Magellan's poison!
"You bastard! You actually betrayed us!"
Hannyabal pointed furiously at Shiryu. "We should have executed you first when we had the chance!"
"I was going to be executed anyway. Isn't betrayal only natural?"
Shiryu coldly drew the famed blade at his side—Raiu. "Next, it's time to end all this."
On the fourth underground level, above the collapsed pile of rubble.
Teach grimaced as he looked at the wounds across his body.
Too much poison had accumulated in him. There was barely a patch of good flesh left on his body. If he could not detoxify himself, things likely would not end well for him.
Footsteps approached from afar. Without looking back, he said, "Where's Doc Q? Hurry up and tell him to come treat me!"
"Sorry. He's dead. The others aren't in good shape either."
Van Augur had his beloved rifle slung over his back, and a belt holding two doses of medicine fastened at his waist.
He came over quickly, carrying two companions, one in each hand.
"What?!"
Teach's expression turned ugly as he stood up. His vision went black for a moment, and strange, dazzling scenes kept surfacing before his eyes.
He clutched his head, suppressing the surge of poison and pain, then looked ahead.
Van Augur was a sniper, but his strength was also considerable.
He placed the two companions down on a relatively flat patch of ground. Laffitte had already fallen unconscious.
Burgess struggled to open his eyes and reached a hand toward his captain, but that was already the limit of what he could do.
Clearly, both of them were in terrible condition.
"That Magellan was too strong. By the time I found Doc Q, he was already dead in a pool of blood.
"It took some effort to recover two antidotes. I'm not sure how effective they'll be.
"As you can see, Laffitte and Burgess are more or less like this."
At this point, Van Augur said in a low voice, "Now, Captain, it's time for you to make a decision."
"Zehahahaha, this really is heartbreaking.
"That bastard was so strong, yet he didn't have any fame at all. And of all things, he just had to be a deadly poison man.
"He restrained my Devil Fruit powers pretty badly, and he was completely beyond my expectations.
"If not for those prisoners who suddenly appeared, along with the guys from Infinite Hell, we probably would have died there already."
As Teach spoke, his gaze landed on the medicine doses at Van Augur's waist.
"Indeed. But you should still make your choice first. One out of two. How cruel."
Van Augur sighed, then said calmly, without the slightest hint of favoritism, "Captain, who do you plan to choose?
"Laffitte is our navigator. Before you became a Warlord of the Sea, he was the one who went to Mary Geoise and put forward your recommendation.
"As for Burgess, he doesn't have as many talents, but his condition looks better than Laffitte's…"
"No. There is no choosing one out of two."
Teach directly interrupted Van Augur and snatched the antidotes.
Under Burgess's furious yet suddenly understanding gaze, he injected both antidotes into his own body.
"Sorry about this, comrades."
Teach threw away the empty vials and turned to look at his last remaining companion. "Give them a clean end."
"…This is fate."
Van Augur raised an eyebrow, then lifted his gun and fired twice in quick succession, very cleanly sending his former companions on their way.
After doing all of that, he pushed up his monocular lens and said, "I can understand your decision, Captain."
"Zehahahaha, no need to flatter me. We came together because of mutual benefit in the first place."
Teach had no intention of accepting the offered way out. Instead, he exposed the naked truth.
"In the end, we simply don't have enough resources.
"We don't know how effective the antidotes are. Doc Q is dead. Laffitte and Burgess were both on their last legs.
"And now we're in this situation. Magellan and those great pirates are still fighting.
"Rather than gambling on three people barely clinging to life and hoping someone else survives, it's better to gamble on me living.
"If there's a chance afterward, maybe we can pick new companions from among those great pirates.
"Van Augur, our crew has always been this nakedly honest. We came together for profit, and because of profit, we will make different choices.
"If one day I no longer have strength, or can no longer fulfill my promises, what will you do?"
"Kill you or betray you, depending on the situation."
Van Augur said calmly, "But if you owe me too much, I'll kill you too."
"Zehahahahaha! Now that's the kind of companion I want!"
Teach turned around with a savage grin, his gaze fixed on the hole above. "Next comes our chance.
"That Magellan really is strong. Far beyond my expectations. Launching a sneak attack at that moment wasn't a good opportunity. Instead, it almost buried us.
"That was my mistake. But it also gave us an opportunity.
"Now, this is a rare chance to enter later. As long as we grasp it properly, we'll be the final winners!"
As he spoke, he strode forward and accelerated, his voice so feverish it was almost impossible to suppress as it echoed around them.
"Believe me, Van Augur! I will definitely become a major figure in the world's future!
"We're about to gain new and even stronger companions, and in that war, I'll get what I want.
"Whether it's Whitebeard, the Four Emperors, or that guy called Ren, one day, they'll all die before my eyes!"
The two of them left. The corpses with holes in their heads lay silently on the ground.
Then, a cluster of light floated up from the ground and transformed into Ren's appearance.
He looked toward the increasingly violent battlefield above, then toward the departing Blackbeard duo, and thoughtfully rubbed his chin.
'When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits. Blackbeard thinks he's the fisherman, so what am I?
'Hmm… the owner of the fish pen?'
Ren chuckled, then began making his preparations.
Soon, it would be time to harvest the entire field.
The death battle on the third underground level had already reached a fever pitch.
Shiryu's betrayal and the existence of the antidotes had stripped Magellan of his terrifying weapon—poison.
Poison was different from other things. No matter how much strength one had, poison could still break them down from within. Haki had no real solution against being poisoned.
If one wanted to endure it head-on, one would need to cover their entire body in Armament Haki. The stamina consumption involved could be imagined.
However, now that they had antidotes, these great pirates had a way out and no longer drove cannon fodder forward to take hits for them.
This was not Magellan's fault. The location where antidotes were stored to prevent accidental injury was known to very few people even within Impel Down.
So there should have been almost no possibility of Magellan being specifically countered.
But… who could have expected the unexpected factor that was Shiryu of the Rain, the former Head Jailer?
Precisely because of this, almost all of Magellan's attacks were aimed at Shiryu.
After the prisoners from Infinite Hell noticed this, they somehow reached a silent understanding and allowed Shiryu to bear the brunt of the attacks.
This made Shiryu, who had already offered his pledge of allegiance, extremely furious. However, he had no way to switch back to Impel Down's side in the middle of battle.
And so—A flash of sword light passed across Hannyabal's body. The terrifying slash nearly split open the Vice Warden's chest.
Shiryu flicked the long blade Raiu, then stepped on the dying Hannyabal.
In front of him, Magellan, whose entire body was covered in dark red deadly poison, grew even more furious. "Shiryu, you bastard! Have you forgotten that when you were locked in the sixth level, Hannyabal pleaded for you?!"
"He only wanted to get on my good side so it would be easier for him to replace you."
Shiryu said coldly, "And if he overestimated himself and continued taking part in the battle, it's no surprise he ended up like this, is it?
"Besides, who would be troubled by cutting down small fry? If it can put me in a good mood, then trash like this can die for all I care."
"That is exactly why I threw you into Infinite Hell!"
Magellan grew even more enraged. Just as he was about to attack, he stopped.
Because Shiryu lifted the dying Hannyabal and used him as a shield in front of himself.
"At a time like this, you still intend to threaten me?"
Magellan said that, but he still stopped.
"I'm not that naive. I just want you to temporarily stop attacking me.
"Aren't those bastards also targets? There's no need to single me out, is there?"
As Shiryu spoke, he looked toward the surrounding bastards who were completely slacking off. "I've already given you antidotes. If you keep cherishing your own feathers, you may not get another chance to leave."
Bullet, Jinbe, Patrick Redfield, Byrnndi World, Vasco Shot, Catarina Devon, Pizarro, Sanjuan Wolf, and the others all revealed expressions of "disappointment."
After all, if someone else could suffer, why should they be the ones to do it?
But now, Shiryu's actions had taken away one of the meat shields standing in front of them.
Douglas Bullet, standing farthest away and not particularly fond of group attacks, had a flicker in his eyes, as if hesitating over whether to join the battlefield.
Jinbe, who was equally anxious about Ace's execution, was also considering whether he should take the risk and step forward.
And at that moment, a wild, arrogant laugh rang out.
"If none of you have any ideas, then I'll be the one to take the fame! But in that case, all of you will owe me a favor!"
Teach abruptly entered the scene at that moment, accompanied by spreading black smoke.
And deep within the black smoke formed by darkness, Van Augur silently adjusted his rangefinder goggles.
Blackbeard's sudden arrival caused everyone present to cast surprised looks at him.
"Murunfuffu. If you dare, I don't mind."
Catarina, who was injecting herself with an antidote, grinned while glancing at the others.
No one rejected this extremely beneficial proposal. At least, not openly.
Among the great pirates, Pizarro suddenly sank into the ground and vanished. This was the beginning of his Devil Fruit ability.
Vasco Shot hugged a wine barrel and gulped down liquor. This was also the beginning of his Devil Fruit ability.
Byrnndi World held a gun in one hand and a cannonball in the other.
Douglas Bullet took off his shirt.
Jinbe assumed a stance, ready to strike at any moment.
Patrick Redfield revealed an inscrutable smile.
(End of Chapter)