Seizing the Ship

As the sound gradually faded, Chen Qiang guessed that the door outside had fully opened. Without hesitation, he slashed the controller.

"Crackle!"

Sparks flew as the controller was cut into several pieces. It would take more than a little time to repair it and get it working again.

Then Chen Qiang thought about it and decided that still wasn't safe enough. He swung his blade again, cutting through all the nearby pipes and equipment.

Satisfied, Chen Qiang nodded, turned, and left, heading toward the interrogation room not far away.

The reason he didn't head straight for the prison entrance was that he had thought of something. He was about to take part in the Summit War, but he couldn't use Haki. That would put him at a serious disadvantage in the battles ahead.

So Chen Qiang decided to make a trip to the interrogation room first. When he had been tortured there earlier, the guards had restrained him with Seastone chains. That was the only place he knew where he could find Seastone.

Soon, he reached the interrogation room, easily dealt with the guards at the entrance, and went inside. In a corner, he found the chain they had used to hang him up.

Picking it up, he looked at the bloodstains left behind when he had been Tormented. Chen Qiang clenched his hand, then wrapped the chain around his bare upper body.

"Straw Hat Luffy, I'll never let you get away!" Chen Qiang had just come out of the interrogation room with the chain when an angry shout rang through the entire prison.

"Magellan's pretty quick!" Hearing the shout, Chen Qiang immediately recognized Magellan's voice and sped up.

Magellan's voice meant that the Marine warships waiting outside Impel Down were about to be called away. Chen Qiang had to hurry and seize a ship before they left the area around Impel Down, so he'd have a way to escape.

"Tiger Leap!"

Just as Chen Qiang had expected, by the time he reached the entrance, no one was there. The warships that had been waiting outside had already set sail and moved some distance away.

Chen Qiang didn't hesitate. He transformed into a giant blood-red tiger, spun at the entrance to build momentum, and leaped into the air.

"Fire! Shoot him down!"

The Marines aboard the warship had clearly spotted Chen Qiang. The ship's captain shouted an order.

"Yes, sir!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Cannons roared as they fired at the blood-red tiger in the sky.

But Chen Qiang didn't let the cannonballs hit him. While still in the air, he used the incoming cannonballs as stepping stones, leaping across them until he landed on a warship.

"Open fire!" Seeing Chen Qiang transform into a tiger and land on their ship, the Marines, already prepared, fired at him.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

"Roar!"

After landing, Chen Qiang didn't return to his original form. He faced the Marines firing at him and let out a mighty roar.

Countless blood-red wind blades burst from the giant tiger's mouth and slashed toward the Marines.

"Damn criminal! I won't let you steal my ship and escape!"

The ship's captain, a man with the rank of Rear Admiral, saw his Marines falling one after another. He drew the long blade at his waist, leaped down from the railing, and slashed at the tiger, cutting it in two.

But as soon as the tiger was split apart, it vanished. Chen Qiang was nowhere to be seen.

"Over here! Tiger Slash!"

At some point, Chen Qiang had appeared behind the Rear Admiral. He slashed directly at the man's back.

Three claw-shaped strikes flashed into view and struck the Rear Admiral before he could react. Three huge wounds opened across his back, and Chen Qiang's attack sent him flying off the warship.

After knocking the Rear Admiral away, Chen Qiang no longer faced any threat from the Marines aboard the ship. It wasn't long before he had taken them all down.

"Fire and sink that warship! Don't let the enemy take it!"

After Chen Qiang had dealt with all the Marines aboard the warship, the Rear Admiral had already been rescued by Marines from another ship. When they realized there was no longer any gunfire aboard Chen Qiang's warship, they quickly guessed that its crew had been taken out. They began turning back toward the entrance to Impel Down.

Seeing this, the Rear Admiral hurriedly ordered the other Marines to open fire.

The cannons roared again, but this time they weren't firing at Chen Qiang. They were firing at the warship he was aboard.

But it was obvious that one man's defense was nowhere near enough to protect a huge warship. There was no way he could stop every cannonball from hitting it.

"What a pain! I wasn't planning to use this move."

After blocking a cannonball aimed at the ship's mast, Chen Qiang looked at the warships still firing at him and sighed.

As he spoke, the blood flowing from the Marines lying on the deck seemed to be drawn by some force. It streamed toward the edge of the warship, spilled into the sea, and began spreading rapidly across the surface.

"Boom!"

The bombardment continued, so Chen Qiang didn't waste any more time. Once he was standing on the surface of the sea, he reached beneath the water.

The blood that had flowed into the sea spread out, covering the surrounding waters.

"Blood Tiger: Rise!"

"Rumble!"

With a tremendous roar, the entire sea covered in blood churned. The water broke free of the surface and formed a blood-red tiger larger than a warship. Chen Qiang flashed onto the tiger's head.

"Attack that tiger!"

The Marines had, of course, noticed the enormous change. They shifted their aim and fired at the giant tiger.

The cannonballs that struck its body only raised little splashes.

"Blood Tiger: Pounce!"

As the cannonballs hit the giant tiger, it moved again. It leaped from the sea and pounced on the nearest warship.

"Boom!"

The enormous force overturned the warship.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Under Chen Qiang's command, the giant tiger ignored the cannonballs fired by the warships. It leaped across the sea through their barrage, knocking over the remaining ships one by one.

"Whew! Finally done. I'd better use a move like that sparingly, though. It's too cruel."

After overturning all the warships, Chen Qiang dispersed the giant tiger and returned to the warship he'd taken earlier. All the Marines aboard had been drained of blood and turned into dried corpses. They looked pitiful.

Seeing this, Chen Qiang shook his head helplessly, then waved his hand and swept all the bodies overboard.

"The ship! The ship's coming back!"

"Great! We can escape!"

"Hahaha! We can finally get out!"

"..."

When Chen Qiang brought the warship back, a group of escaped prisoners was already waiting there. As soon as they saw it returning, they cheered loudly.

"Everyone, get on the ship! Magellan's coming!"

As everyone cheered, Luffy came charging out of the second level of Impel Down with the other prisoners, shouting to the rest of them.

Chen Qiang heard Luffy's call from aboard the warship and realized he couldn't bring the ship over. Otherwise, Magellan would catch up before all the prisoners could get aboard, and none of them would escape.

"Everyone, jump over!"

Once he understood the situation, Chen Qiang turned the ship's wheel and shouted to the prisoners near the entrance.

"That's too far! How are we supposed to jump across?"

"This is the Calm Belt! If we fall into the sea, we're done for!"

"If we don't jump, we die. If we jump, we might live! Let's do it!"

"..."

Hearing Chen Qiang, the prisoners near the entrance hesitated. The warship was hundreds of meters away, after all, and few people could make that jump.

A few powerful prisoners managed to reach the ship with a running start, but most were still hesitating.

"Boom!"