"It's not me who's in a hurry, but these children. They always crave blood and aren't very patient."
Behind her, the Minorhino, Minokoala, and Minozebra were staring intently at the door leading here, ready for battle at any moment.
Just as Magellan and the others were standing ready, a prison guard ran over: "Reporting to the Warden, Luffy has entered Level Four."
Magellan's head peeked out from behind his chair as he asked, "What? How did he manage that?"
The guard said, "It seems he fell through the ventilation shaft. Also, a large rock blocked the Blood Pool, and the Jailer Beast Minotaurus was defeated."
Magellan quickly calmed down. After considering the prison's layout, he made arrangements:
"Hannybal, go guard the entrance to Level Three. Little Sadi, go guard the entrance to Level 5."
Sadi was somewhat dissatisfied with Magellan's arrangement: "I don't want to defend; I want to attack! Without attacking, my life has no meaning, Warden."
Hannybal was secretly plotting: "Should I let someone slip through? Then, if the Warden is judged for dereliction of duty, I can take his position."
Magellan opened his mouth, and a puff of poison gas emerged: "What? Do you have some dissatisfaction with my arrangements?"
Sadi and Hannybal quickly covered their noses: "Don't sigh, Warden!"
"If you catch the intruders, you can do whatever you want with them."
Hearing the Warden's words, Sadi was immediately full of motivation: "Wonderful! I can't wait."
Near the Blood Pool, Luffy, Buggy, Mr. 3, and the okama Ivankov were running down the corridor. Ivankov had roughly memorized the layout of Level Four, but was sweating profusely from the heat.
Luffy said, "It's so hot! Why is it so hot up ahead?"
Buggy, suffering from the heat, couldn't stand the temperature either: "Quick, let's get out of here! Which way do we go to leave?"
Ivankov ran ahead, not forgetting to spin elegantly to look back: "A calm mind keeps one cool. Of course, it's a bit hard to stay calm in this situation. I feel like I'm being scorched. Hot, it's really so hot!"
The other three thought Ivankov wasn't afraid of the heat because of what he said, but after hearing the rest, they said in unison: "So you're the one most afraid of the heat!"
Ivankov thought of the map of Level Four: "Straw Hat, the place you're heading towards is the Kitchen."
Hearing "Kitchen," Luffy immediately became excited. The food he had eaten earlier had long been digested during the continuous battles; now was exactly the time he needed to replenish his energy.
But the commotion caused by Luffy's group was quickly noticed by the guards. After Luffy made short work of them, the Warden of Impel Down, Magellan, arrived just in time.
"You brats, I've finally found you."
When the other guards saw the Warden arrive, they panicked and quickly scattered before he could start fighting. Magellan didn't move yet, giving them time to evacuate.
Luffy said, "Who are you? I was almost at that delicious-smelling place."
Ivankov recognized the person in front of them and quickly said to Luffy, "Straw Hat, don't fight him! He's a Doku Doku no Mi user; his body is extremely poisonous."
Magellan said, "That's right. I am Warden Magellan. Straw Hat Luffy, to dare invade this heavily guarded great prison... you've made me lose face as Warden. I will not let you rescue Ace."
Ivankov hurriedly said, "Straw Hat, his whole body is poison! Don't fight him! Come back, let's enter Level 5 from over there."
Magellan said, "It's useless. There are Jailer Beasts guarding that way. Level Four has been sealed off; you have nowhere left to run."
Then, seeing that most of the guards had left, Magellan stopped wasting words with Straw Hat Luffy. Poison gas gathered in his hands: "Stay here, Straw Hat... 'Poison Dragon'!"
Poisonous liquid erupted from behind Magellan, forming a giant dragon that struck out at the four fleeing people.
Luffy immediately coated his fists with Haki, but after multiple rounds of exertion, his physical stamina was severely depleted. Even though his fists were protected by Armament Haki, other parts of his body were still covered.
Luffy quickly jumped away, using his bouncing ability to dodge the strike and avoid being too heavily poisoned.
Magellan spat a bubble from his mouth—'Chloro Ball'. The bubble exploded in the air, and the toxins caused Luffy to keep tearing up and sneezing, making it impossible for him to concentrate.
Seeing Magellan pursuing Luffy along a path formed of poison, the other three's fear of the Warden outweighed their desire to help Luffy. They fled one after another, wanting to return to Level Three.
Only Luffy persisted. Seeing that it was impossible to shake off Magellan, he stopped merely dodging, and his gaze became determined.
Magellan, who had caught up, did not pursue the three escapees. He thought of Hannybal guarding Level Three: "Still won't surrender, Straw Hat?"
"I won't leave without rescuing Ace! If touching you means getting poisoned, then I'll defeat you before I collapse! 'Gum-Gum Bazooka'!"
His twin fists, coated in Armament Haki, struck Magellan. Luffy's fists didn't feel the sharp pain of being poisoned, and Magellan was knocked to his knees by the blow.
Although his fists hadn't touched the poison, the areas not covered by Armament Haki were still scorched by the toxins. The exhausted Luffy no longer had much stamina left.
Magellan felt the force of the blow that had just hit him and rubbed his stomach: "Truly surprising. If your stamina hadn't been depleted, I might actually have been knocked down by that strike."
With that, poison mist spread through the small corner. Magellan spat another poison ball from his mouth—'Doku Fugue'.
The poison on Luffy's arms prevented him from activating Gear Third. He could only barely activate Gear Second and launched a 'JET Pistol' at Magellan.
The weakened Luffy couldn't even use Armament Haki anymore. Poison spread from Magellan's right hand, and the 'Poison Dragon' engulfed Luffy once again.
In the cramped space, the toxins even formed a Poison Cloud. Luffy's entire body was covered in poison, and he collapsed to the ground.
Magellan said, "What a tenacious pirate. But the poison has already filled your body. The poison has stripped you of everything."
"This is your death sentence, Straw Hat Luffy. Having taken this much poison, there's no need to imprison you. You will die here after 24 hours of agony."
Where Luffy fell, a pitch-black bullet emerged from the shadows and hit him. Luffy instantly returned to a state of being unpoisoned, but he remained unconscious.
In his cell, Ace listened to the commotion outside, his heart filled with anxiety: "Why? Why did Luffy come here? Why didn't Hera stop him?"
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