With Sengoku's words, the atmosphere eased slightly.
However, Big Mom and the others stared straight ahead. Seeing that no fight had broken out, they immediately looked somewhat displeased.
"Sengoku, this is the best chance you'll get. The Seastone here can limit his ability. Once he leaves this place, no one will be able to restrict this brat's power."
Golden Lion had found a cigar from who knew where and was biting it between his teeth as he suddenly spoke, clearly hoping the whole world would descend into chaos.
"If we do make a move, you'll be the first one I deal with."
Hearing that, Sengoku turned his head and snapped at Golden Lion, his gaze becoming increasingly unfriendly.
"Hmph. Since I've returned here, I never planned to leave alive. Kill me if you can."
Golden Lion immediately laughed when he heard that.
His Devil Fruit ability was far too dangerous.
Even if he wanted to die, the Marines would not agree.
Sengoku's expression stiffened. He snorted, then turned back and walked past Cyrus.
"Sakazuki, go back and deal with those people. Don't destroy their corpses. I'll have use for them later."
Sengoku gave the order.
Anyone could hear the displeasure in his voice.
Akainu nodded when he heard that and took a step back to make way. Then he watched the group walk past him.
Once everyone had headed deeper into the passage, Akainu turned and went back.
When he returned to the place where the earlier attack had happened, a sapling slowly began to grow not far from his feet.
Then the sapling rapidly formed into a humanoid shape.
"Admiral Akainu, have you considered it? This is the position of Fleet Admiral. As long as you agree now, the seat of Fleet Admiral will be yours next."
The tree-like figure looked at Akainu and spoke urgently.
Akainu frowned and looked at the wooden figure that had grown beside him.
"You think I would agree?"
His tone was extremely unfriendly, as though he might attack in the next moment.
"Come now, Admiral Akainu. If you were certain you disagreed, you would have made your move the first time I approached you. You wouldn't have waited until now."
The tree-man's tone was somewhat lazy.
"Besides, this may put Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the others in danger, but compared with eliminating Cyrus, everything is worth it. You should understand that.
"And afterward, we can say that Cyrus attacked Impel Down, while Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the others stopped him and perished together with him."
The more the tree-man spoke, the more excited he became.
"At that time, the lords of the Holy Land will support you in taking the Fleet Admiral's seat. Haven't you always wanted to carry out your justice?"
Akainu's expression shifted darkly.
His principles did not allow him to commit such a despicable act.
However, if it succeeded, the benefit would indeed be enormous.
Of course, what he cared about was not the position of Fleet Admiral, but the destruction Cyrus was causing to this world.
In Akainu's eyes, the Hunter Guild spreading across the sea was damaging the world itself.
He deeply disliked the current situation.
Especially after the Marines' massive world draft, they were still in a disadvantaged position.
According to the information they had gathered, Cyrus had barely interfered in the Hunter Guild's development, yet even that alone had already left the Marines overwhelmed.
Seeing Akainu's expression, the tree-man did not urge him.
At his feet, several withered yellow vines extended outward, their target being the corpses of the assassins lying on the ground.
Akainu noticed it, but he did not speak to stop him.
His mind still could not reach a decision.
The vines touched one corpse, and the tip of the vine suddenly hardened, giving off a metallic gleam.
Just as it was about to pierce into the charred-smelling body, a ball of flame abruptly appeared.
The fire was not large, but it clung like a curse and rapidly spread along the vine.
In the blink of an eye, the flames followed the vine all the way onto the tree-man's body.
Before the tree-man could even show a look of shock, the flames had already swallowed him completely.
Akainu's heart tightened, and he instinctively stepped back.
Flames.
That was Cyrus's method.
Was this something Cyrus had left behind earlier?
Or was Cyrus watching this place through the flames right now?
Akainu could not be certain.
However, the sudden appearance of the fire dragged his slightly shaken heart back into place.
"This is fine."
Akainu watched the tree-man burn to ash in the flames and let out a breath as he muttered to himself.
Doing that would not align with his justice after all.
He had indeed wavered just now, the temptation of killing Cyrus was simply too great.
But with Cyrus's strength, even here on the lowest level, he could not be restrained.
Even if all of Impel Down were completely destroyed and plunged into seawater, Akainu still felt the same.
Forget Cyrus; the others would also be difficult to kill through such a crisis.
…
On the lowest level.
The corners of Cyrus's mouth lifted slightly.
As expected, the feeling earlier had not been wrong. With an ability like this, it was another familiar face.
The real body should be outside Impel Down.
"A newcomer has arrived again."
A hoarse voice suddenly appeared, as though its owner had not spoken in a very long time and was struggling with the words.
"Wait, Sengoku? You bastard…"
"Escorted personally by Marine Admirals? Just who is it this time?"
The pirates imprisoned on Level Six discovered Cyrus and the others, and voices immediately began to rise.
The entire sixth level seemed to grow lively all at once.
Especially after someone called out Sengoku's name, the sound of countless chains clashing rang out.
"Marine Admiral? That bastard Sengoku has been Fleet Admiral for ages, old man."
Someone heard the words "Admiral Sengoku" and immediately retorted.
All kinds of voices rang out like noise.
Sengoku's expression did not change. He continued walking deeper inside.
Then, Whitebeard and Big Mom, who were walking near the rear of the group, were discovered.
"Whitebeard?"
"Big Mom?"
"How is that possible?"
The chaotic voices came to an abrupt stop.
This sea was vast, yet in some ways, it was also very small.
Every person imprisoned here had once been a figure who stirred their era.
However, more than half of them had walked the sea and been beaten by Whitebeard, the man who had dominated the ocean for decades.
As for the smaller remaining half, they had been beaten by Big Mom.
Now that Whitebeard and Big Mom had appeared here, the shock these prisoners felt was naturally immense.
As for Whitebeard and the others, what kind of scenes had they not witnessed before? Naturally, they did not react strongly.
At most, they turned their heads when they heard familiar voices.
"You bastards! Are you all blind? I'm right here too!"
Golden Lion, who had once stood at the top of the sea, immediately became unhappy when he heard everyone mention only Whitebeard and Big Mom.
"Are you Golden Lion? Where's the ship's wheel on your head?"
After someone heard Golden Lion's voice, they finally saw him being carried along by trembling Marines beside the two towering figures.
They were immediately stunned.
The moment those words came out, Golden Lion's face darkened.
Was the ship's wheel his real body or something?
'These bastards!'
"Golden Lion, didn't you escape? Were you captured by the Marines again?"
Golden Lion had been imprisoned in the underwater prison for a period of time before cutting off both legs and escaping.
Most of the people on Level Six knew of that incident, and some had even witnessed it personally.
"The Marines? You think they could catch me?"
Hearing that, Golden Lion spoke disdainfully.
"Quiet down. Once you're locked up here, you'll have plenty of time to chat. I hope you'll still have the strength by then."
Sengoku suddenly turned his head.
Garp stood with his arms crossed.
He paused in front of each cell for a while, sizing up the people imprisoned inside.
Cyrus did not cut in.
Although his Observation Haki was restricted, he could still see this level clearly.
Even though he had already expected it somewhat, when his Observation Haki counted the number of pirates here, he was still shocked.
Impel Down was smaller at the top and larger at the bottom.
The first level was actually the smallest, while the sixth level was the largest.
Although many cells were empty, there were nearly ten thousand of them.
One had to understand that anyone imprisoned here was not weak.
The weak had already died.
"You're a little too conservative." Cyrus suddenly spoke, immediately attracting the attention of those traveling with him, as well as the pirates in the surrounding cells.
"You only released that small number earlier. That has no effect on me at all. Why not release all the fellows here? Maybe that would actually cause me a little trouble."
Cyrus turned his head and looked at Sengoku, offering the suggestion.
"What are you trying to do?"
Sengoku abruptly stepped back and assumed a guarded stance.
His reaction made the people in the cells feel somewhat puzzled, and their eyes fell on Cyrus.
If one wanted to know whether a person was powerful, the easiest way was to look at their opponent.