In Level Six—Infinite Hell—the infamous names that truly mattered were:
"Red Count" Patrick Redfield, Douglas Bullet, Jinbe, Avalo Pizarro the Corrupt King, Catarina Devon the Crescent-Moon Hunter, Sanjuan Wolf the Colossal Battleship, Vasco Shot the Heavy Drinker… and Bondi Waldo, who had just been cut down.
These eight were Luo Xing's main targets for this Impel Down operation—the ones he intended to recruit.
Every one of them was a notorious villain of the sea, long famous before Luo Xing ever rose to prominence.
So Luo Xing never expected this gang of arrogant monsters to all submit.
Those who refused could die. He wasn't going to waste words.
With Yama in hand, he swept his icy gaze over the remaining seven.
That crushing Conqueror's Haki—paired with the natural imperial aura he exuded—made even these vicious criminals tighten inside.
Even Redfield, who hadn't taken Luo Xing seriously at first, finally opened his aged eyes in surprise.
The moment he truly looked at Luo Xing's face and presence, his shock deepened.
"So I misread it earlier," Redfield thought. "This young man isn't simple… He actually gives me the illusion of seeing Roger and Whitebeard in their prime."
Back then, Roger and Whitebeard had been young too—at their peak, in the prime of their lives.
Every gesture carried overwhelming Haki, and the whole sea bowed beneath their presence.
This young successor in front of him stirred memories of that era.
Redfield no longer dared to underestimate Luo Xing. His expression turned fully serious.
After Luo Xing's ultimatum, no one answered for a moment.
But the expressions of Pizarro, Devon, Vasco Shot, and Sanjuan Wolf had already begun to waver.
Luo Xing had just ended Bondi Waldo with a single sword strike—displaying strength clearly above theirs.
No wonder a proud man like Shiryu of the Rain was willing to serve him.
And behind Luo Xing stood the Beasts Pirates… and the "Strongest Creature," Kaido.
No matter how you looked at it, submitting to Luo Xing wasn't disgraceful—it was profitable.
Luo Xing read their hesitation and wasn't surprised.
After all, in the original timeline, those four eventually joined Blackbeard. Submitting now to someone with even greater strength and backing was only natural.
His gaze passed over Jinbe without lingering—he had other plans for him.
Then Luo Xing looked straight at Redfield and Bullet.
These two were truly top-tier. Each had once stood as a sea-king in his own right.
Especially Redfield—he'd once dared to challenge Roger and Whitebeard alone.
If Luo Xing could recruit them, the Beasts Pirates would gain two supreme pillars of combat power, and future clashes with the World Government would become far smoother.
But people at the "sea-king" level weren't going to be as easy as the other four.
Even under the shadow of death, they still wore arrogant, cold smiles—pride carved into their bones.
Redfield stroked his beard, voice calm but disdainful.
"Brat, you are indeed unusual. But making this old man submit… you're far too ignorant of the sky's height."
"Even Roger and Whitebeard didn't have that qualification."
"Red Count," the lonely red who never bowed to anyone, had lived his entire life refusing to stand beneath another.
A man who dared to contend with Roger and Whitebeard—how could he submit to a junior like Luo Xing?
Five Emperor, Pirate King… it didn't matter. Redfield's pride didn't bend.
Bullet, on the other hand, was far more ferocious.
He seized the iron bars with both hands, and the ground itself trembled from the force.
He stared at Luo Xing with a savage gleam and bared his teeth in a grin.
"I only believe in my own strength!"
"Even back on Roger's ship, I was there for one reason—so I could defeat him!"
"Kid, compared to your 'submit or die' garbage, what I want to do now is smash you—then smash Kaido!"
"Five Emperor, Four Emperor… I'm the strongest in this world!"
As expected, neither of the two top-tier monsters showed even the slightest intent to submit.
Bullet even wanted to kill Luo Xing—and then go after Kaido—to prove his supremacy.
Luo Xing's pitch-black eyes flashed cold.
"In that case… you two can go keep Bondi Waldo company."
Bullet threw his head back and laughed.
"Ze-hahahaha! You think I'm trash like Waldo?"
"I've never stopped training these past decades in Impel Down! I'm stronger than I ever was!"
"And your fight upstairs already damaged these cages—this place can't hold me anymore!"
The more he laughed, the more frenzied he became, the bloodlust in his eyes thickening by the second.
His arms, thick as small hills, bulged with power—so strong that he actually lifted the iron bars of his cage up by force.
The chains on his body snapped like rotten rope.
Bullet could train at high intensity even in prison—these restraints meant nothing to him.
The only reason he hadn't escaped before was the Seastone cage. As a Devil Fruit user, he couldn't break it.
But earlier, Luo Xing's super-giants—the ones made by that so-called "King of Biceps"—had delivered a final blow that damaged Impel Down's foundation.
Level Six's cages were no longer stable.
They could no longer restrain a monster like Bullet.
Naturally, they couldn't restrain Redfield either.
And Redfield didn't even have a Devil Fruit yet—he wasn't being suppressed by Seastone at all.
The two top-tier monsters stepped out of their cages and released their Conqueror's Haki.
When their pressure collided head-on with Luo Xing's—
a three-way standoff formed instantly.
BZZT—!
Black lightning crackled through the air.
The weight of that pressure was even heavier than before, forcing everyone present to momentarily lose their breath.
Jinbe, Pizarro, and the others who were still imprisoned all felt their minds shake.
A clash on a level far beyond theirs…
was about to erupt.
...
...
Meanwhile.
In the Holy Land Mariejois, Tsuru arrived at full speed.
The first person she met was her former superior—former Fleet Admiral Kong, "Steel Bone."
Tsuru reported the news: Fifth Emperor Luo Xing had appeared in Impel Down through a strange door, as if arriving from nowhere.
Kong—already close to a hundred—shot up from his seat in shock.
Though aged, his mind was sharp, and he knew this was no small matter.
If things went wrong, Impel Down itself could be destroyed.
Without hesitation, Kong took Tsuru to the Room of Authority to meet the Gorosei.
The Gorosei erupted in fury, slamming the table.
"How did that man reach Impel Down?!"
"The Gates of Justice guard the sea, and we have eyes in the sky—how did he invade so easily?!"
Tsuru said grimly, "It was that strange door. It's likely some kind of spatial passage… a method to transfer directly from one place to another."
"Gorosei-sama, we can't focus on the how right now. The priority is sending reinforcements to Impel Down immediately—otherwise the consequences will be catastrophic!"
The Gorosei's anger almost cracked their teeth.
That damned Fifth Emperor Luo Xing—one day, they swore, he would be torn apart.
Suppressing their fury, they issued an order:
"We will dispatch CP0. The Navy is tied down fighting Whitebeard—there's no one to spare."
"Kong, pull manpower from other departments and move together with CP0."
Kong was decisive. He answered without hesitation.
"I'll send Tokikake and Gion."
The Gorosei's expressions eased slightly.
"Two Admiral candidates, plus CP0… even if they can't capture him, protecting Impel Down should be manageable."
And so—
CP0, who had only just returned to Mariejois, was forced to deploy again.
And their opponent was still Luo Xing.
The CP0 leader felt a bitterness he couldn't put into words.
Back at Sabaody, he had already witnessed Luo Xing's terrifying strength firsthand.
He had no confidence he could defeat him.
Whether this mission to protect Impel Down could even be completed…
the CP0 leader honestly had no idea.
Gion, code name Momousagi, glanced at the CP0 leader's tightly furrowed brows, her eyes filled with surprise.
She knew how strong he was.
In the past, no matter what task the CP0 leader took, he and his team completed it cleanly and decisively.
Yet now he looked troubled—like he was walking into something he couldn't handle.
Momousagi couldn't help but grow intensely curious.
The man even CP0 feared…
the Fifth Emperor Luo Xing—whose genius inventions were said to surpass even Dr. Vegapunk's imagination…
What kind of man was he, really?
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