"Oh my... It's so quiet it's almost frightening."
Kizaru stood with his hands in his pockets, tilting his head to study the giant gate through his tinted sunglasses.
His tone remained lazy, but the underlying gravity was unmistakable to anyone who knew him.
"Not a single sound from inside. The Den Den Mushi won't connect either. How troublesome."
"The lack of movement is exactly what makes it abnormal." Akainu stood beside him with his arms crossed, his face cold as ice.
"There is only one possibility. Impel Down has fallen, and the guards have been killed in action."
"Impossible!" the CP0 agent snapped, his voice twisted with anger.
His white suit hung in rags, and his shattered half-mask clung to a bruised face. "Our intelligence cannot be wrong! Zaraki caused the riot! No matter how strong he is, he couldn't survive a siege from the monsters in Eternal Hell! If there's no movement, he must have reached an agreement with the prisoners to plot an even greater conspiracy!"
He glared at Garp, his eyes venomous.
"The root of this disaster is your Monkey family bloodline!"
Garp's aura flared.
The deck beneath his boots groaned, splintering with hairline cracks. "You bastard. Are you trying to die again?"
"Garp!" Sengoku growled, stepping his mountain-like frame into his old friend's path.
His sharp gaze swept past the agent to the silent gate, his brow furrowing.
Something was wrong.
If CP0 was right and the riot had succeeded, the prisoners would be reveling, actively trying to breach the gates.
This dead silence made no sense.
Unless...
A bold thought flashed through Sengoku's mind.
"There is another possibility," Sengoku murmured. "The riot has already been suppressed."
The deck fell silent and even Garp paused his advance.
"Suppressed?" The CP0 agent let out a hysterical, mocking laugh. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, are you joking? By whom? That sixteen-year-old brat? He suppressed all of Eternal Hell, including Shiryu of the Rain, by himself? Hahaha... That's more absurd than the so called Joy Boy appearing in the world!"
In his eyes, this was nothing more than a pathetic excuse Sengoku had fabricated to protect Garp.
A heavy, grating metallic scrape cut his laughter short.
Creeeak—grrnnn—clank!
Every eye snapped toward the sound.
The Gates of Justice—a barrier that hadn't been actively opened from the inside in centuries—was slowly parting.
From the widening crack spilled pure darkness and the thick stench of blood.
A towering figure wearing a warden's uniform stepped from the shadows.
He was soaked in blood.
His clothes hung in tatters, his face was pale as paper, and his steps were unsteady.
But he was alive.
The Chief Warden of Impel Down, Magellan.
The CP0 agent's mocking smile froze.
'How is this possible? Magellan is still alive? Then doesn't that mean...'
His mind went blank as reality shattered his entire narrative.
Sengoku and Garp exchanged a glance, a silent mix of shock and dawning realization passing between them.
"Magellan!" Sengoku called out, stepping forward. "What exactly happened inside? Where is Zaraki?"
Magellan raised his head.
His gaze swept over the gathered Marines before locking onto the dazed CP0 agent. He opened his mouth and rasped out two words.
"...It's over."
The sentence struck the agent like a hammer.
'No! It absolutely cannot end here!'
If the Marines took over—if Sengoku and Garp protected the boy—his mission was a complete failure.
The resulting punishment from Mary Geoise was a responsibility he could not bear.
Madness hijacked his reasoning.
He had to confirm it with his own eyes.
He had to finish the mission before the Marines could react.
"Get out of my way!" he roared.
Activating Soru, he blurred into a white afterimage, bypassing the unsteady Magellan to charge straight into the open gates of hell.
"Stop!" Akainu moved to intercept.
But Sengoku was faster.
He clamped a hand onto Akainu's shoulder while his other hand firmly seized Garp, who was already lunging forward.
"Sengoku?! What are you doing?!" Garp roared.
"Something's wrong!" Sengoku stared fixedly into the deep darkness, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"This is a trap! Magellan came out alone... Someone is luring us inside!"
Before his warning finished, the CP0 agent disappeared into the shadows.
Immediately afterward, the heavy steel gates ground to a halt.
The world seemed to pause.
...
The sound of waves, breathing, and heartbeats vanished into a hair-raising stillness.
It was as though a predator lurked just beyond the threshold, jaws wide open, waiting for its prey.
To the fleet outside, the agent was merely a shadow vanishing into the gloom.
But to Zaraki, waiting patiently in the dark, the man was perfectly clear.
He was a foolish target carrying the enticing scent of blood.
Someone lost patience this quickly? Perfect.
No need to waste time waiting.
The CP0 agent had barely crossed the threshold, his eyes unadjusted to the gloom, when a terrifying killing intent spiked his adrenaline and locked onto his spine.
His Observation Haki screamed a frantic warning, but his body couldn't keep up with the absolute danger.
"Stop right there, Prisoner," a cold, emotionless voice murmured directly into his ear.
Prisoner? The agent's mind short-circuited, instantly replaced by absurd rage.
'I represent the World Government—'
Before the thought could finish, a burst of blue-white lightning exploded in his peripheral vision.
Crackle!
Zaraki materialized directly in front of him, as if teleported by the flash.
His fist came crashing down.
"Iron Body: Steel!"
Driven by survival instinct, the agent pushed his Iron Body to its absolute limit, crossing both arms over his chest.
He was confident that even a Vice Admiral's full-power strike couldn't shatter this defense.
However, he wasn't facing raw physical force.
He was facing lightning!
Boom!
The instant the fist met his arms, there was no metallic clang.
Instead, the sharp, sizzling sound of burning flesh filled the corridor. Amid the piercing crackle, an irresistible numbness and scorching agony tore through the agent's arms.
His proud Iron Body defense was shredded in an instant by the raging thunder.
Only then did the mountainous kinetic force behind the blow hit.
Crack!
The sound of shattering bone echoed clearly.
The agent let out an inhuman scream.
He flew backward, smashing into the stone wall before collapsing to the ground.
Struggling to rise, he realized both arms were twisted at grotesque angles, entirely devoid of feeling.
'How is this possible? Only one strike...'
He raised his head, staring in horror through his fractured mask at the approaching figure.
Zaraki stepped from the darkness, tiny arcs of electricity sparking beneath his boots.
His Marine coat hung in blood-soaked tatters, yet draped over his shoulders, it looked more domineering than a royal robe.
His golden eyes shone in the gloom, completely devoid of human empathy.
They held only the cold indifference of a predator examining its prey.
"Too slow to react and too weak to defend." Zaraki's voice was conversational. "You snuck out of the prison. If you aren't a prisoners, what are you?"
"You... you're slandering me!" The agent coughed up a mouthful of blood, shouting with more bluster than courage.
"I represent the World Government—"
Before he could finish, Zaraki vanished again.
A hand wrapped in crackling lightning seized the agent's throat, lifting him bodily from the floor and slamming him back against the wall.
Boom!
The stone cracked, raining dust and rubble over them.
Suffocation seized him instantly.
His limbs twitched weakly as violent electricity pulsed from the grip crushing his windpipe, ravaging his nerves and organs.
Primal fear finally overwhelmed his indoctrinated pride.
'He's going to kill me. This madman will actually kill me right here.'
"If you aren't a Prisoner..." Zaraki leaned close, a cruel smirk stretching his lips. "...then you're an intruder? That's even worse."
His grip tightened.
Crack! Crack!
Two sickening snaps echoed in the corridor.
Zaraki drove his knee forward with brutal precision, shattering both of the agent's kneecaps and destroying his final means of escape.
Agony swept through every nerve, blurring the agent's consciousness.
He was finished.
His mission had failed and he was going to die silently in this hell as a nameless intruder!
'No!'
Just before darkness swallowed his mind, he forced his mouth open and screamed toward the sliver of daylight beyond the gate.
His shrill cry pierced the stagnant air, echoing outside the silent Gates of Justice.
With a hoarse, desperate throat, he screamed a single name.
"Lord Black Three, save me!"
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