Ivankov

At the sight of that suddenly appearing, flamboyant face, Bullet seemed as though he had known it was coming all along.

He remained calm, without the slightest ripple of emotion.

Emporio Ivankov, a high-ranking Revolutionary Army officer, known as the Miracle Man.

He was also the freest person in this Undersea Prison.

As information about Ivankov surfaced in his mind, Bullet could not help shaking his head.

Impel Down, known as the world's most impenetrable iron-walled prison.

It stood within the dangerous Calm Belt, the nesting ground of the Sea Kings.

The only way to reach it was through the towering Gate of Justice.

In over twenty years, there had only been one prison break from this iron-walled prison.

That was when Golden Lion cut off his own legs and escaped from Infinite Hell.

But what Marine Headquarters did not know was—

This hellish prison had long since been riddled with holes.

Between Infinite Hell and Freezing Hell lay a hidden level known as LV5.5, Newkama Land.

It was an enormous hidden space pushed out by Morley, the Revolutionary Army commander and wielder of the Push-Push Fruit.

This anthill-like nest branched out in every direction, connecting to many rooms on the fifth and sixth levels of Impel Down.

The Revolutionary Army had used this secret nest to recruit many capable fighters for the organization.

Such as Revolutionary Army officer Inazuma.

Bang!

Bullet casually tossed the Luffy he had been holding in front of Ivankov.

"Eh... Straw Hat Luffy?"

Ivankov blinked his huge eyes. Then his pupils suddenly contracted, and his enormous head immediately shrank.

He rushed to Luffy in a few quick strides, bent down, and pressed his ear against Luffy's chest.

"No heartbeat..."

He then lifted Luffy's eyelids.

"No consciousness..."

With a thud.

Ivankov's face instantly went pale. He collapsed onto the ground, looking dazed and lost.

"Dead..."

"Straw Hat Luffy is dead."

"Dragon's son is dead."

Ivankov muttered to himself, still unable to believe what he was seeing.

For the Revolutionary Army's grand plan, he had hidden in Impel Down for years.

The reason he had taken the enormous risk of escaping early was because of Luffy's identity.

Dragon's son!

But now, Straw Hat Luffy—the very reason he had escaped—was dead!

While he had risked his life to hold back Magellan, what exactly had happened here?

Recovering from the shocking truth, Ivankov finally had a chance to observe his surroundings.

The area around him was wide open, without any obstructions.

The moment he looked up, a towering, mountain-like figure entered his vision.

Ivankov's pupils shrank, and his body trembled.

"So it's you, you evil bastard!"

"Devil's Heir, Douglas Barrett!"

Then Ivankov saw Jinbe lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath him.

Crocodile, bound by golden threads and unconscious.

Blackbeard Teach standing behind Bullet, looking utterly distraught.

And Buggy the Clown and the others lying near a distant corner.

Ivankov rose to his feet and stared at Bullet with an extremely grim expression.

"Was this... your doing?"

Bullet did not answer. He merely pointed at Luffy's body by Ivankov's feet.

"Try your ability. Maybe Straw Hat Luffy can still be saved. He hasn't been dead long."

Ivankov looked at Luffy on the ground, whose body had already begun to stiffen. His eyes reddened as he gritted his teeth and snarled:

"How could he possibly still be saved?!"

"He's completely dead!"

"But aren't you known as the Miracle Man?"

Ivankov's face flushed red, as though he had been insulted.

"Don't joke around! No miracle, no matter how great, can bring the dead back to life!"

"Is that so?"

Bullet nodded indifferently, then turned and headed toward the passageway that had opened once more.

"What a pity."

Behind him, Ivankov ground his teeth. He could now be completely certain.

What had happened here was absolutely connected to Bullet!

Watching Bullet slowly depart, he rapidly blinked one eye and unleashed a howling shockwave.

DEATH WINK!!

The shockwave came screaming forward, about to slam into Bullet's broad back.

Boom!

A black wall suddenly rose from the ground, blocking the shockwave.

Whoosh!

The black wall surged upward and swiftly twisted into a massive black fist over ten meters wide, smashing fiercely down toward Ivankov!

Ivankov's heart skipped a beat.

His feet sprang into motion as he tried to leap away.

But the ground beneath his feet suddenly softened and slid apart, turning into octopus-tentacle-like strands that wrapped around both his legs.

"What?"

Ivankov's expression changed. The muscles in his legs rapidly swelled, bursting the tentacles apart.

Yet that one-tenth of a second's delay—

Was enough for the enormous black fist to come crashing down!

BOOM!!

The earth roared and shook violently.

Ivankov dropped to both knees, his hands desperately holding back the descending fist.

In the distance, Bullet's back had already entered the passageway and soon vanished from sight.

Teach hesitated for a moment before lowering his head and running out after him.

Crack, crack, crack!

The walls continuously broke apart and fused together, sealing off the floor once more.

Boom!

The ground exploded, and the black giant fist finally slammed heavily down.

Ivankov let out a muffled groan as the fist crushed him into the hard ground.

After a long while, the motionless black fist was pushed upward, and Ivankov's enormous face reappeared.

He laboriously shoved the fist away, restored his body, then walked over to Luffy and fell into deep thought.

After a very, very long time, he seemed to make some enormous decision.

Ivankov stretched out his right hand, and the tips of his five fingers became long and sharp.

Drawing a deep breath, he gritted his teeth and plunged all five sharp fingertips into his own heart with a wet stab!

"Argh!"

Terrifying pain assaulted him, making his vision go black.

With a thud, Ivankov dropped to his knees again, gasping like a bellows.

"Glug! Glug!"

A swallowing sound rang out.

The five fingers of his right hand were rapidly drawing something from his own heart.

As those swallowing sounds continued, the skin on Ivankov's face rapidly turned ashen and sallow.

His hair quickly whitened, and ravine-like wrinkles appeared across his face and around his eyes.

His eyes also became dull and clouded.

He seemed to have aged decades in an instant.

"Huff! Huff!"

Ivankov panted as he forcefully pulled his right hand from his heart, raised it high, and drove it heavily into Luffy's chest!

"Emporio—Healing Hormones!"

"Ultimate Miracle! Heart Blood Irrigation!"

"Glug!"

"Glug!"

The swallowing sounds rang out again.

But this time, it was not absorption, but transfusion.

A steady stream of heart blood was pumped by Ivankov into Luffy's heart.

Ivankov was a user of the Hormone-Hormone Fruit.

He was a human engineer capable of remodeling people from within.

Healing Hormones could give those suffering from incurable diseases a chance at salvation, but at the cost of several years of their lifespan.

The last time Luffy had been struck by Magellan's deadly poison, Ivankov had saved him with Healing Hormones.

But this time, in order to pull the recently deceased Luffy back from hell, Ivankov had expended decades of his own lifespan and activated the ultimate technique of the Hormone-Hormone Fruit.

This kind of human alteration, at such a tremendous cost, was nearly equivalent to the legendary Immortality Surgery.

The death of a hormone ability user, in exchange for the life of the one being saved!

As the stiff body on the ground gradually regained its color, Ivankov's pupils lost focus. His once-powerful body shriveled and withered, like rotten firewood.

He forced his heavy eyelids open and listened carefully.

After a long while.

Thump!

A faint heartbeat sounded.

Thump!

Then another.

At last, a satisfied smile appeared on Ivankov's lips.

"Hehehe, rising from the dead is the greatest miracle of all!"

His body, which had been forcibly holding on, finally collapsed.

Ivankov's body was like a sack punctured by knives, his life force rapidly draining away.

"Dragon, I saved your son. This time, you owe me a huge favor..."