The One Piece world.
Time returned to the moment One Piece Duyang came back from the Mysterious Realm.
At the same time, he noticed that something was off. The disturbance was growing louder and louder.
That was right,
Luffy had already stormed into Impel Down.
Du Yang grinned.
If that was the case, escaping wouldn't take much effort.
As long as he followed Luffy and the others and took advantage of the chaos, he would definitely be able to escape Impel Down.
Trying to escape Impel Down on his own seemed like it would take far too much effort.
After all, once you were locked up in Impel Down, escaping was practically impossible.
The only successful case was Golden Lion.
Golden Lion had paid a terrible price to escape Impel Down: he had cut off both his own legs.
Sure enough, Du Yang hadn't even done anything, yet the entire second level had fallen into chaos.
Somehow, the prison gates had been opened, and pirates were cheering all along the corridors.
Many of the pirates were completely baffled. They had no idea what was going on.
And contrary to what many of them had expected, previous disturbances had been put down with ease. This time, though, the chaos had spiraled completely out of control.
The commotion spread like a plague, and many seemed to see a chance to escape.
It seemed people were rebelling everywhere, with explosions going off all around.
No matter how many Blugori, guards, or Jailer Beasts Impel Down sent out, it was no use.
Impel Down was even starting to lose ground completely.
"Something big is happening in Impel Down!"
"Straw Hat Boy invaded!"
"Captain Buggy the Clown freed us! You'd better remember that!"
Many escaped pirates were shouting at the top of their lungs.
The pirates in Impel Down seemed to be getting a clearer picture of the situation. Someone was causing mayhem, and at last, they had a chance to escape.
The chaos intensified.
More and more pirates gained their freedom.
Level 5, Freezing Hell,
Level 4, Blazing Hell,
Level 3, Hunger Hell,
It seemed riots were breaking out on every level.
Du Yang soon found the person he had been looking for.
A large crowd of odd-looking former prisoners surrounded a man with a conspicuous red nose, who was giving a speech with an air of self-importance.
"Ha ha ha ha! My plan was flawless! Follow Captain Buggy, and we'll get out of this hellhole!"
The pirates all cheered at his words.
Buggy the Clown felt extremely uneasy. It was like he'd been put on the spot, and somehow all the credit had inexplicably landed on him.
Now was the perfect chance to escape.
But Buggy seemed to think Du Yang wasn't entirely convinced by him. In his distinctive high-pitched voice, he shouted, "What are you looking at? Are you stunned by my peerless and heroic bearing? If you want to live, hurry up and join my crew!"
The prisoners around him immediately joined in.
Du Yang nodded and silently joined the chaotic group.
For now, he really couldn't expose Buggy.
Buggy laughed smugly and patted my shoulder. "Good! Another man with a good eye. Stick with me!"
As they made their way up, their group grew like a snowball rolling downhill.
They charged through the Level 2 beast lair, where the beasts had already been knocked down. They ran into a little trouble on the way to Level 1 and lost some time, but it wasn't a big deal.
Meanwhile, Luffy, Crocodile, Jinbe, and a whole host of powerful pirates fought their way up from the lower levels.
After all sorts of incidents, their group grew larger and more powerful.
Du Yang stayed mixed in with the pirates, continuing to play the fool while keeping his true strength hidden.
Somehow, nearly all the pirates seemed to credit Captain Buggy for everything.
With Luffy and the others working together, they finally broke through Level 1.
At last, the gate to the outside world stood before them.
Once they passed through, the salty smell of the sea, mixed with smoke and the scent of freedom, washed over them.
Outside was a chaotic harbor, where several stolen warships were moored.
Behind them were the guards still putting up a desperate fight, and Warden Magellan, who had transformed into the Venom Demon.
"Charge! For Captain Buggy!" The crowd summoned their last reserves of strength and surged toward the warships.
Du Yang let out a heavy breath.
After leaving Impel Down, he felt as though a great weight had lifted from his shoulders.
Impel Down had once been his nightmare.
But not anymore.
Luffy, Jinbe, Crocodile, Ivankov, Buggy, and the others all leaped aboard the rocking warships.
In the end, with Bon Clay's help, they broke through the Gates of Justice—something that should have been absolutely impossible.
All you could say was, Bon Clay was a real man.
They were aboard the ship now, but Du Yang had no intention of getting off.
Luffy had to go to Marine Headquarters to join the battle between Whitebeard's side and the Marines, and rescue his brother.
By rights, Du Yang had no reason to get involved in this mess.
But for one person, he would absolutely take part in the Summit War.
Akainu!
That man had killed his parents. Du Yang would never let him get away with it.
"We escaped?"
"We really made it out!"
Aboard the Marine warships, the pirates who had escaped Impel Down still seemed unable to believe it.
Some collapsed onto the deck and burst into tears. Others grabbed strangers beside them and pounded their backs. Most began rummaging through the ship, looking for the food and drink stored aboard.
They pried open bottles of liquor and handed out dried meat.
Before long, the deck had turned into a wild party.
The pirates slung their arms around each other, singing mangled pirate songs in their hoarse voices and stomping through chaotic dance steps, letting it all out.
The one and only center of the celebration was Buggy the Clown.
His frenzied admirers tossed him into the air again and again.
"Long live Captain Buggy!"
"Captain Buggy led us to freedom!"
"You really are a man with the qualities of an emperor!"
Every time he was tossed up, Buggy landed on a throne formed by the crowd's arms. With a bottle in one hand and the other waving about, he sprayed spittle as he boasted:
"Shoo ha ha ha! Of course! I had everything figured out from Level 1. Straw Hat Boy just happened to lend a hand. The real reason we made it was my brilliant leadership!"
He took the captain's hat handed to him by one of his men, put it on, and basked in the feeling of being adored by everyone.
Some poured him drinks, others rubbed his back, and every compliment was more outrageous than the last.
"Captain Buggy, that move you used to get through the Gates of Justice was incredible!"
"What was that? Observation Haki that lets you see into the future?"
"It must have been! Captain Buggy has been hiding his true abilities!"
Buggy didn't even blush as he stroked his chin. "Hmph, a little trick like that is nothing to me. Stick with me, and there'll be plenty more benefits you can't even imagine. Shoo ha ha ha ha!"
Amid the celebration, Du Yang looked at Buggy, seemingly turning something over in his mind.
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