The massive black blade fell. Time seemed to slow down in that moment.
Teach could only stare wide-eyed. At first, he didn't even feel the pain.
Not until the black blade cut through the darkness armor, slicing down from his left ear—his neck, left shoulder blade, left ribcage...
All the way down!
Blood sprayed like a burst water pipe.
Then, the Haki and Conqueror's Haki power that had been compressed onto the blade's edge finally erupted in that instant.
Swish.
A tens-of-meters-wide black-red sword light passed through Blackbeard's body and continued onward, undiminished.
Wherever the sword light passed—rock, steel, cages, ruined walls—all matter was destroyed the moment it touched.
"Not dead yet?"
Luffy glanced down. "His vitality is really tenacious."
The power of that slash was the strongest move he could use right now. He felt that if it hit, it could kill anyone.
But Blackbeard's bizarre vitality was a bit too excessive.
"He still has some vitality left, but he's unconscious. Enduring pain has its limits. No one can endure pain that exceeds death."
Luffy planned to jump down and finish him off.
Nearly half of Teach's body had been cut away. His ear was somewhere unknown. The massive sword light was still cutting into his body, carrying him down from Level Four.
Boom, crash, rumble!
But the effect of that slash was unexpectedly good.
A visible vacuum ring rapidly expanded along the trajectory of the sword light!
The entire Impel Down let out a groan!
"What—what the hell?"
Magellan watched this scene. He felt like the sky was falling.
A rumbling sound came. Starting from Level Four, Blazing Hell, that immense sword light forcibly sliced off one side of Impel Down. A mirror-smooth cut crack, following the path of the sword light, pierced through Impel Down's entire main structure!
Impel Down—this so-called inescapable iron fortress, the world's largest prison—had been split open by that single slash!
Under the pressure of the immense force trapped inside and the seawater outside, the enormous building structure began to slowly shift and tilt along that smooth cut surface. The seawater found its breach, letting out a deafening roar as it surged through the crack!
"Gehahaha! Straw Hat, time for us to get out!" Golden Lion Shiki, suspended high in the air, floated over to Luffy and shouted.
"That guy's a Devil Fruit user, isn't he? If he survives this, that's just good luck. The seawater's already rushing in. If you go after him, those other guys are waiting for their chance."
"Yeah, I don't want to get frozen either."
Golden Lion gave Luffy a piece of rock to stand on.
Nearby, Aokiji scratched his head, looking tired. "This is terrifying. The entire Impel Down has been cut up like this. I won't be able to explain this to Sengoku at all."
"So, my earlier proposal wasn't bad, was it? You don't have much time left to think it over!"
Golden Lion laughed. "I'm even more impatient than you. If there's no war to keep us here, then sayōnara."
Swoosh.
Most of the fallen ground surface floated up and served as a landing platform.
This was the perfect time for the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi's ability.
Ace and the others stepped onto these massive rocks, quickly breaking away from the collapsing prison structure and hovering in the air.
All around, Impel Down was disintegrated from the center!
Massive rocks, mixed with seawater, fell like apocalyptic meteors.
Not far away, the remaining crew of the Blackbeard Pirates almost didn't hesitate. They jumped directly into the ruins below.
It wasn't that they were fiercely loyal to Blackbeard.
With the plan having failed, the Blackbeard Pirates should directly fall apart. This group had no sense of camaraderie. They had all been recruited by Blackbeard for their own purposes.
But if they tried to go up, Straw Hat—the man who had cut their captain down with one slash—was still there. If they showed their faces, they might get knocked right back down.
Better to take care of themselves than let someone else do it for them.
Jumping down might still give them a chance.
"Everything is a gift of fate. Beneath fate, all things have their price."
Van Augur said in his usual mystical tone.
Then he jumped down with the rest.
"Straw Hat Luffy!"
Magellan, who had just been punched into the ruins by Ace, saw the Impel Down he had sworn to protect cut apart like this and roared, "I will definitely capture you!"
Luffy, who had now returned to his original form, looked down and said, "That's going to be pretty hard."
Magellan's giant body didn't look like it could fly.
"We won't be staying. We're flying straight out."
Golden Lion looked very pleased in his home element.
Aokiji had been making him somewhat uncomfortable just now.
Now he just needed to fly all the way up from Level Four. Luffy's slash had just cut a massive notch through this area.
"This slash is ridiculous."
"Arara. Now this has really spiraled out of control. This is the worst-case scenario. Sengoku, do you have any spare troops to send for support?"
Aokiji held a Den Den Mushi.
"I understand. The strategic objective has changed. Capture all of them," Sengoku said.
"Understood."
Watching the seawater rush in and Luffy and the others fly out of Impel Down, Aokiji's gaze turned cold. "Don't get any ideas."
He slowly crouched down, pressing his hands onto the thick ice beneath his feet. "I never agreed to let you go."
"Ice Age!"
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!
Terrifying cold air erupted from beneath Aokiji's feet. Starting from him, crystalline ice spread at an unprecedented speed, reaching throughout the entire Impel Down in an instant.
Hundreds of meters—a thousand meters!
The range of the freezing expanded rapidly.
In just a few breaths, a massive ice continent—over several kilometers in diameter—had appeared on the surface of the Calm Belt, centered on the original location of Impel Down.
The collapsed upper half of Impel Down was frozen in the ice. The lower half was supported by the ice, temporarily stopping its sinking.
The rushing seawater was frozen into steep ice cliffs.
Impel Down couldn't be destroyed.
And Golden Lion needed a reason to be kept here, too.
Aokiji didn't think that man was incapable of leaving.
Making him willing to stay was the only way.
"Moshi moshi. The monsters are coming out."
From a warship in the distance, a laser shot over, directly piercing Golden Lion's chest.
"How terrifying, Straw Hat."
Kizaru stood on the deck. The moment he attacked just now, he had sensed a gaze looking at him. "But now, you have no way to escape."
The moment Golden Lion's ability stalled, the floating all fell onto the ice.
"How sneaky. Were you aiming at me?" Golden Lion said. "Now there's no way to run."
There was no way he could carry this many people and still escape.
He could run by himself.
But why run?
"Gehahaha! Ice brat, you finally made your move!"
Golden Lion watched Aokiji approaching and laughed. "This is more like it! A nice, flat battlefield! Perfect for waging a war!"
"I didn't do this to create a battlefield for you."
Aokiji's gaze swept across the prisoners who had escaped from the ruins of Impel Down and were now scattered across the ice plain. "But fine. Now you can't run."
The moment his words fell, a huge sound came from all directions.
Whoooom!
A low, deep horn sounded from every direction of the ice plain.
Then came the mast and gun muzzles, rising like a dense steel forest—one after another!
One ship, ten ships, fifty ships, over a hundred ships... Massive warships flying seagull flags broke through the still partially frozen sea in the distance. Like well-trained wolves, they slowly approached from all directions, finally anchoring at the edge of the ice plain, their gun muzzles all aimed at everyone in the center of the ice field.
The Gate of Justice stood in the distance, forming the most stable rear support for this enormous fleet.
The hundreds of heavy cannons that were originally supposed to be deployed on the shores of Marineford Bay couldn't be moved here, but all the side cannons of the warships were already in position, aimed at this side.
One hundred thousand elite Marine soldiers, scripted from all over the world, stood densely packed on the decks of the warships, their expressions solemn and murderous, waiting for orders.
The entire Marine force that had been prepared to execute Fire Fist Ace had now, under Sengoku's decisive command, completed its strategic redeployment.
It had turned this newly formed ice plain into the ultimate encirclement net to trap the Impel Down prison break alliance!
On a warship directly in front of the Gate of Justice, Sengoku's expression was extremely grim.
"I order: we can no longer passively wait for the Whitebeard Pirates. The Gate of Justice cannot be opened. Deploy the Marines' full force to surround and eliminate the pirates from Impel Down. Recapture those pirates as quickly as possible."
A communications soldier immediately transmitted this order to every warship.
"Honestly. The battle situation has turned into a complete mess." Sengoku's expression was grim as he muttered to himself.
"Hey, hey, hey. This might be looking a little bad."
Golden Lion looked at the dense fleet of warships on the surrounding sea. Even though he had seen his share of storms, he couldn't help but grimace. "With this kind of force, this kind of firepower, they could destroy a country several times over, couldn't they?"
"That kind of thing is the most useless."
Crocodile blew out a smoke ring, his tone carrying his habitual mockery. "They can't use their cannons to blow up this ice plain along with the ruins of Impel Down, can they? There are still prisoners who haven't escaped in there, plus their own wounded soldiers."
Besides, their group included certain strategic targets that had to be taken alive.
"Now Impel Down has become our protective charm," Ivankov said.
The Marines had too much to lose. They couldn't launch indiscriminate saturation shelling.
"It looks like the Marines plan to focus their strength on us first."
Luffy had had the foresight to stash a good amount of food on his person, plus thanks to the porter Nika.
Even facing the full force of Marine Headquarters, he showed no fear. Instead, he grinned. "I guess the biggest challenge to getting back out to sea really starts here."
"Luffy, don't you need to rest?" Ace walked over and asked. "You used up a lot of energy taking care of Blackbeard just now."
"Blackbeard's still far from it. Hehehe."
Luffy swallowed an apple. "I just used a little Haki. It'll recover soon."
Blackbeard just had a lot of health. His attack power was far from enough.
If it came down to it, there was still Ivankov's Tension Hormones.
Maybe because of his ability, he felt incredibly energetic right now.
The war was just beginning!
Meanwhile, at the Sabaody Archipelago.
The people gathered in front of the giant screen were confused and panicked.
The footage that should have been live broadcast Marineford's public execution had, from not long ago, turned into static—the signal was lost.
"What's going on?!"
"Why did we just get news that the Marine Headquarters fleet left port in large numbers?"
"Is the war already over? Who won? Where's Whitebeard?"
"Was the execution carried out or not?!"
No official information was available, only all sorts of confusion and contradictory rumors circulating, exacerbating people's unease.
Especially after the recent incident of the Celestial Dragon attack, most residents of the Sabaody Archipelago had fled. Most of the people here now had migrated from Marineford.
This major event of a public execution also had many cameramen hired by the Marines and reporters eager to get the news first. They intended to be the first to report and spread it around the world.
Except... nothing had happened.
Just then, the giant screen crackled.
The giant screen lit up again!
But the picture that appeared wasn't Marineford Square as expected. Instead, it was an icy, snowy wasteland?
The background showed collapsed huge building ruins and densely packed Marine warships?!
"Where is this?!"
"Impel Down?! Why Impel Down?!"
"Are those people Straw Hat? And Fire Fist Ace, who was supposed to be executed?! How are they together?!"
"Wait, what's going on? Golden Lion Shiki, Crocodile, Knight of the Sea Jinbe! Oh my god, why are there so many big-shot pirates in Impel Down?!"
"The Marines have Impel Down surrounded? What happened?!"
The Sabaody Archipelago instantly erupted!
The screen was filled with Marine warships as far as the eye could see, plus giant figures.
The execution platform was gone.
This was no longer a public execution.
The eyes of all the cameramen and reporters lit up. Although the situation was completely unexpected, this was undoubtedly an even more explosive super scoop than the anticipated execution!
The source of the signal was a Den Den Mushi trembling in Buggy's hands.
On the other end, at the news company headquarters, Vivi was anxiously urging:
"Don't shake your hands! The only one with a signal right now is the Den Den Mushi in your hands!"
"Don't look at the Marines. Look at Luffy. Point the camera at Luffy!"
Buggy's throat moved. He didn't dare disobey.
He was going to die, wasn't he?
He was definitely going to die.
All he wanted was to escape with a group of prisoners while nobody was looking. Somehow, he had found himself caught up in the midst of these monsters and somehow he had come across this Den Den Mushi.
Then a woman with a pleasant voice who was terrifying when she threatened him — she said her name was Vivi — had told him that if he didn't do as she said, she would show him what it felt like to be cut to pieces by blades. So now he had no choice but to follow orders.
If he had a choice, he would rather be sitting in his cell in Impel Down right now!
Why did he have to go and touch that Den Den Mushi?
Nearby, Mr. 3 had already stepped back, trying to remove himself from the situation.
Even a fool could figure out that all the other Den Den Mushi in Impel Down had lost their signal. With this kind of setup, the Marines clearly didn't want the outside world to see what was happening.
This Den Den Mushi was very special—but it was also a death sentence!
But looking at the Marine encirclement outside, Mr. 3 now wanted to go back to Impel Down and lock himself up.
He was going to die. He was definitely going to die.
"Hey, Mr. 3."
A voice came, making Mr. 3 freeze. The voice was very familiar. His body seemed to recall that feeling and went dry.
Looking at the man not far away, he was dumbfounded.
"B-Boss!"
"Are those the guys you brought out?"
Crocodile glanced at the large group of prisoners behind Buggy and Mr. 3. "Let them go to their deaths."
Mr. 3: "..."
He was still so direct!
Who would listen to you and go die?!
"Ooh! Mr. 3 knows that big shot?!"
"Is he inviting us to join the war?"
"Captain Buggy, this is our chance to prove ourselves!"
Before Buggy even knew what was happening, these prisoners pushed him right next to Luffy and the others.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
"Yo, it's Buggy."
Seeing that Buggy was still in one piece, Luffy smiled. "You're still alive. Thanks for leading the way earlier."
Click!
Buggy felt like he had reached the peak of his life. He crossed his arms and put on a serious face. "Don't mention it. We're allies, after all."
"Huh?"
Golden Lion frowned and picked Buggy up by the nose. "And who the hell are you to be on my level? Wait a minute—you were an apprentice on Roger's ship, weren't you?"
Golden Lion, you bastard!
"Yes, that's right, it's me!"
Buggy's legs were trembling as he reluctantly looked at Golden Lion.
Anyone associated with Roger should have been executed. Now one had appeared—even as just an apprentice, it was surprising.
Even Jinbe hadn't expected this unremarkable red-nosed guy to have such a background. Then he looked at Luffy, who seemed completely unfazed.
"Luffy, aren't you surprised?" Jinbe asked.
"I met Rayleigh before, and he told me about it." Luffy smiled.
Eh?!
"You met Vice Captain Rayleigh?!" Buggy exclaimed.
"Oh, you met Rayleigh, too? That old bastard's still alive?" Golden Lion laughed heartily.
The prisoners had just felt that Buggy had a certain holy aura about him, but now it had instantly flown back to that Straw Hat kid.
Why did he know so many big shots?!
The escaped pirates could even stand around chatting. Meanwhile, on the Marines' side, everyone stood at full alert, their expressions serious—no one was laughing.
At the forefront of the ice plain battlefield.
A massive warship flying the Fleet Admiral's flag slowly sailed to the front of the encirclement.
On the bow, Sengoku the Buddha, wearing his Admiral's coat and frog-eye glasses, looked ahead with a grim expression.
At least he had made it in time.
"According to plan,"
Sengoku said in a deep voice, "the strategic objective has been temporarily changed. The public execution originally scheduled for Marineford is hereby converted into a battlefield suppression of the Impel Down escapees! The top priority is to capture or eliminate all escaped prisoners!"
They could no longer afford to passively wait for Whitebeard!
Luffy had thrown the entire battle plan into chaos.
Sengoku clenched his fist.
From the moment he learned that Luffy had infiltrated Impel Down, he had a premonition that things were going very badly.
So he had made a snap decision with astonishing efficiency and decisiveness. He abandoned the carefully prepared defenses of Marineford Bay and rapidly redeployed his 100,000 elite soldiers and nearly 100 main warships through internal channels to the Gate of Justice and the waters around Impel Down.
That decision now appeared crucial. If Straw Hat and his crew actually broke out of Impel Down and scattered in all directions, trying to capture them afterward would be nearly impossible.
Without strategic objectives, all planning was meaningless.
***
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