When the first rays of sunlight fell upon Impel Down, Magellan, the prison's warden, appeared on Level Six and walked up to Garp.
"Vice Admiral Garp, it's time."
Garp gave a quiet hum and silently stood up from the floor.
Several jailers opened the cell door and brought Ace out, his wrists shackled with Seastone cuffs.
The group slowly left Level Six.
"Ace."
As Ace passed by one of the cells, a voice called out.
Ace turned his head and saw a plump Fish-Man in front of him.
"It's you, Jinbe."
Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, had refused to take action against the Whitebeard Pirates. Because of that, his Warlord title had been stripped, and he had been imprisoned on Level Six of Impel Down.
Jinbe looked at Ace, who had completely lost his spirit, and slowly said, "Farewell, Ace. Forgive me for being unable to see you off."
Ace shook his head. "It's fine. None of it matters anymore. Goodbye, Jinbe."
"Goodbye."
After that simple farewell, Ace was escorted by the jailers out of Level Six.
Once Ace, Garp, and the others had left, the previously silent Level Six instantly became lively.
"Who would've thought? Garp's grandson actually became a pirate, and now he's going to be publicly executed. How satisfying."
"What's that compared to what we just heard? Garp's grandson took Whitebeard as his father."
"Wait a second. Garp is Ace's grandfather, and Ace became Whitebeard's son. Doesn't that mean Whitebeard became Garp's son too?"
"Exactly. Explosive, right?"
"That old bastard Garp actually wanted to become Whitebeard's father."
"I'm dying of laughter. Whitebeard spent his whole life taking in sons, and in the end, he became Garp's son."
Jinbe, who had been immersed in grief, flew into a rage when he heard this.
"Do not insult Pops, you bastards!!!"
However, faced with the furious Jinbe, the prisoners did not take him seriously at all.
"Huh? And who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"You think being a Warlord is so impressive?"
"You know, you're not the only Warlord in this prison. Right, Crocodile?"
Crocodile, who had been named, swept his expressionless gaze around the area and said nothing.
But just then, a cold snort rang out.
"So noisy. A bunch of cowardly rats."
"Douglas Bullet, what did you say?!!" someone flew into a rage and looked toward the man who had spoken.
He was a tall, muscular man with eyes like a demon.
He wore a military uniform, and the left side of his body bore large scars from the bombardment of a Buster Call.
At this moment, he looked down at everyone present with no expression.
"I said, you people are nothing but cowardly rats."
"When Garp was here just now, none of you dared speak. Now that Garp is gone, you've all become lively."
"A bunch of people who only dare gossip behind others' backs. If that isn't cowardice, then what is?"
Those words cursed everyone present. Who could tolerate that?
"You think you're so great? So noble? Douglas Bullet, don't get too arrogant."
"That's right. You didn't speak just now either, did you?"
"You really look down on people too much."
"That is why I said you people are really… so damn noisy!!!!!"
The Demon Heir, Douglas Bullet, glared and roared. A violent burst of Conqueror's Haki swept out like a landslide and a tsunami, crashing toward those bastards.
Many people were suppressed by the Conqueror's Haki. Their faces twisted as if they were bearing a thousand pounds of pressure, and they could not say a word. One by one, they cursed wildly in their hearts.
So what if you have Conqueror's Haki? Does having Conqueror's Haki mean you can bully people like this?
That was way too much.
Seeing that those people had finally learned to shut their mouths under the pressure of his Conqueror's Haki, Douglas Bullet withdrew it in satisfaction.
"A bunch of trash."
Someone sneered. "You're so great, huh? You're not trash? Then if you've got the guts, break out of prison. No matter how much you talk, aren't you just like us? Trapped in this sunless hell, rotting away little by little."
Douglas Bullet immediately fell silent.
No matter how extraordinary he believed himself to be, he was ultimately still a prisoner of Impel Down.
Just like everyone else here, he could only waste away in this place, age bit by bit, and eventually turn into a pile of bones.
That was the fate of prisoners locked inside Impel Down.
For the past eight hundred years, countless people had tried to break that fate.
But in the end, only one person succeeded.
Golden Lion Shiki.
That man had cut off both his legs and successfully escaped.
But ever since then, some heavily punished prisoners had not only their legs restrained, but even their hands and necks locked in place.
Escaping was harder than climbing to heaven.
Even he, Douglas Bullet, could only obediently stay in this place.
Aging little by little.
Thinking of this, Douglas Bullet fell silent. He no longer even had any interest in speaking.
The others were the same.
After an unknown amount of time, one imprisoned criminal suddenly said,
"If someone could take me out of this damn place right now, I'd be willing to work like an ox or a horse to repay them."
However, instead of sympathy, that sentence drew ridicule.
"You want to leave this damn place? How is that possible?"
"Wake up. You have to fall asleep before you can dream."
"In this life, none of us are leaving this hellhole."
"That's right. I've already accepted my fate."
"I've accepted mine too."
"Huh? Wait. Look, what is that?"
Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention.
Then, the prisoners on Level Six of Impel Down witnessed an unbelievable sight.
The air was pushed open.
Yes. The invisible, intangible air, at this moment, was pushed open like a door.
For a moment, many people thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
"Is that a door?"
"How is that possible? No, wait, it really is a door. An air door."
"A Devil Fruit. It's the power of a Devil Fruit."
The prisoners, who had already fallen into despair, instantly erupted into excitement. Even Douglas Bullet, who had been resting with his eyes closed, Crocodile, who had seemed indifferent, and Jinbe, who had been immersed in sorrow, could not help raising their heads and opening their eyes.
Then they saw a door open in the air.
A man and a woman walked through the door as if no one else were there and entered Impel Down.
When Crocodile saw the man, he remained unmoved. But when he saw the woman who walked in, his expression shook violently, even becoming ferocious.
"Nico Robin!!!"
Hearing someone call her name, Nico Robin froze slightly and looked toward the voice.
"Oh? Isn't this my former boss, Crocodile? I didn't expect us to meet in a place like this."
Seeing Nico Robin smiling so pleasantly, Crocodile nearly went mad with rage.
"Who do you think is responsible for me being imprisoned here?"
"If not for you, how could I possibly have been locked up in this place?"
"You shameless woman."
Hearing her former boss's passionate, hysterical accusation, Nico Robin remained completely unmoved.
Seeing this, Crocodile could only shift his gaze to Rowan.
"Hey, I don't know you, but you should be Nico Robin's new boss, right? Let me warn you. This woman is not someone easy to deal with."
"She is a woman who treats betrayal as casually as eating and drinking."
"If you're useful, she'll attach herself to you. If you become useless, she'll abandon you without hesitation and stab you in the heart."
"I know."
Rowan nodded and looked at Crocodile with a smile.
"Why do you think Morgans knew about your actions in Alabasta?"
Crocodile's eyes suddenly widened.
"You…"
"Mm, that's right. It was me. I encouraged Nico Robin to report you."
Rowan said calmly, "Mainly because we had an important operation back then and needed someone to draw the World Government's attention. After thinking it over, we could only let you suffer a little."
Crocodile: "You filthy couple! You damned filthy couple!!!"
At that moment, Crocodile was so angry his vision went black in waves. He wished he could tear the two of them to pieces.
Shameless.
They were truly shameless.
He had lived this long and had never seen such shameless people before.
Rowan ignored Crocodile, who was about to faint from anger, and walked up to Jinbe with a smile.
"Knight of the Sea Jinbe, right? Do you want to leave this place? The Whitebeard Pirates will soon go to war with the Marines. If you go now, you can still fight the Marines alongside Whitebeard."
Jinbe was not overwhelmed by this sudden surprise. Instead, he asked cautiously,
"Who exactly are you?"
"Just an ordinary person who likes eating, drinking, and having fun."
Rowan snapped his fingers, activating his magic that could cut almost anything.
The invisible slash not only cut through the cell door, but also severed the Seastone cuffs on Jinbe's body.
Jinbe was shocked. Seastone cuffs were almost the hardest material in the world. Even the sword energy of a great swordsman could not cut through them.
Yet the attack this man had released cut the Seastone cuffs in two as easily as a hot knife cutting through butter.
It was truly unbelievable.
"If you want to come, follow me. If you don't, then stay inside."
After saying that, Rowan walked over to Douglas Bullet.
"Do you want to come out?"
Douglas Bullet asked, "What are your conditions?"
He did not believe anyone would release him for free.
Rowan said, "Same as Jinbe. Help Whitebeard fight the Marines. Make sure to pin down all of the Marines' combat forces at Marineford."
Douglas Bullet was silent for a moment, then said, "Fine."
He really did not want to spend the rest of his life in this damned place, so he could only agree to Rowan's conditions.
Rowan released a slash, cutting through the restraints on Douglas Bullet's body and freeing him.
Then Rowan walked to the front of the Red Count, Patrick Redfield.
"The conditions are the same. What's your answer?"
~~~
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