Echoes from the Depths of Impel Down

The line of text on the Sky Screen lingered overhead, its golden letters especially conspicuous against the night.

[Hint: This regret concerns a door locked from the inside, and a person who said goodbye with a smile]

The hint was so abstract that most people couldn't make sense of it even after reading it twice.

"A door locked from the inside? What door?"

"Someone who said goodbye with a smile? Who?"

"How come there isn't even a hint about a name?"

The pirates of the New World looked at one another in bewilderment, the citizens of Water 7 shook their heads, and even the staff officers at Marine Headquarters searched through every scrap of intelligence in their minds without finding a match.

But a few people understood.

In a cell deep within Impel Down, Jinbe leaned against the wall, his brow gradually furrowing.

"A door locked from the inside." He mulled the words over twice.

"The Gate of Justice at Impel Down can only be operated from the inside."

"Someone who said goodbye with a smile."

A vague image flashed through his mind, a fragment from the footage of the future that the Sky Screen had shown earlier.

"Could it be that guy?"

He glanced at Ace in the neighboring cell. Ace was also looking up at the Sky Screen, but his expression showed that he hadn't understood the hint.

Sabaody Archipelago.

Luffy stared at the hint on the Sky Screen, tilting his head as he thought about it for a long while.

"Someone who said goodbye with a smile."

"The gate at Impel Down."

His pupils shifted.

"Bon-chan."

Zoro turned to look at him.

"Who?"

"Bon-chan. Bon Clay. Mr. 2." Luffy's voice changed.

"The guy we met back in Alabasta."

"He was captured along with the rest of Baroque Works and locked up in Impel Down."

"Bon-chan is my friend."

His fists clenched.

"Someone who said goodbye, and a door locked from the inside."

"What does that mean?"

"What is he going to do for me?"

A name was taking shape on the Sky Screen, stroke by stroke.

"Isn't it obvious enough what he's going to do for you?" Zoro's voice grew somber.

Luffy didn't answer. He just stared at the Sky Screen, his fingers curling in one by one.

The name took shape.

[Top ten regrets, seventh place]

[Mr. 2 Bon Clay]

Lin Qi watched the name appear on the screen in the tavern. He leaned back in his chair and put down the sunflower seeds in his hand.

"Bon Clay," he muttered to himself.

"The purest embodiment of friendship in One Piece."

"No destiny as a member of the D. Clan."

"No Celestial Dragon bloodline."

"No heaven-defying Devil Fruit power."

"He's just a weirdo in a swan ballet costume."

"But for a friend he'd only known a short time, he left himself behind in the deepest hell of Impel Down."

"Luffy never even knew what he'd done."

"That's a real regret you can't get over."

A question appeared on the Sky Screen.

[Question: What role did Bon Clay play when Luffy broke into Impel Down to rescue Ace?]

[A. He guided Luffy through Impel Down and provided intelligence]

[B. When Luffy was poisoned and on the brink of death, he risked his life to take him to Emporio Ivankov, who was being held on Level 5.5, for treatment]

[C. After Luffy successfully led the others in a breakout, he stayed behind alone inside Impel Down and disguised himself as Warden Magellan to open the Gate of Justice, securing the only escape route for Luffy and his companions]

[D. All of the above, and after opening the Gate of Justice, Bon Clay was captured by Magellan and imprisoned forever in the deepest part of Level 6, never to be seen again]

The air in the Sabaody Archipelago seemed to freeze for a moment when option D appeared.

Luffy read all of option D, word by word.

His lips didn't move.

But Zoro, standing behind him, saw the muscles in his back gradually tighten.

"He disguised himself as Magellan." Luffy's voice came from deep in his chest, dry and rough.

"He opened the gate."

"Then he was captured."

"Locked up in the deepest place."

"Never seen again."

By the time he spoke those last few words, his voice was so faint it had nearly vanished.

Zoro walked over to him. He didn't touch him, only stood there.

"When did you meet him?"

"Alabasta." Luffy's eyes reddened.

"He was with Baroque Works. We were enemies at first."

"But later he helped us draw the Marines away."

"He stopped a ship full of pursuers so everyone aboard our ship could get away safely."

Luffy paused.

"Back then, he told me over the Den Den Mushi that we'd meet again someday."

"I believed him."

The New World, aboard the Moby Dick.

The members of the Whitebeard Pirates weren't familiar with the name Bon Clay, but after they read all four options carefully, every boastful, competitive voice fell silent.

Marco read option D aloud in a low voice.

"He stayed behind alone, disguised himself as the enemy's commander, opened the gate to escape, and then locked himself on the other side forever."

He looked up at Whitebeard.

Whitebeard's expression was grim.

"I've seen plenty of people like that."

"They weren't the strongest, the smartest, or the most famous."

"But they were willing to give up their lives in the darkest places for their friends, without a single word of complaint."

He raised his cup and took a drink.

"The bravest people often die in the quietest places."

In a cell deep within Impel Down, Jinbe listened to all four options, then slowly slid down the wall, his huge body leaning against it.

"So it really was him."

"That kid, Bon Clay."

His gaze passed through the iron bars of his cell, toward the far end of Impel Down's deep, dark corridor.

"In that future timeline, when Luffy escaped from here, you stayed behind alone."

"At the controls of the Gate of Justice, you sent your best friend off with tears on your face and a smile on your lips."

"Then you stood there and waited for Magellan to come and capture you."

"You knew what was waiting for you."

"Level 6, the deepest dungeon, a cell door that would never open."

"You did it with a smile anyway."

Jinbe closed his eyes.

"That's what a regret is."

The countdown to answer began on the Sky Screen, but this time, the whole world was unusually unanimous.

Everyone chose D.

Even the soldiers who had stood in Marine Plaza all day chose D.

Because this story made no distinction between pirate and Marine, between good and evil.

A person had sacrificed everything for a friend. That alone needed no particular standpoint to judge.

The countdown reached zero.

[Correct answer: D]