Fearsome Middle-Aged Woman

Although he was a little surprised himself, a great swordsman obsessed with blades should not have had such a fragile weapon. Still, with her opponent's weapon shattered, Gion smiled smugly and swung her katana at his head without hesitation.

"It's over. You were a fine opponent."

Facing the slash aimed straight at his vital point, Sal raised his pitch-black arm and compressed his Armament Haki to the absolute limit under his conscious control.

"Clang... boom..."

The sharp black blade failed to break through the Armament Haki defense. Sparks even flew where the two collided. However, Sal, who was being overpowered, was swept straight into the sea by the slash. Fortunately, he was not a Devil Fruit user, or the victor would already have been decided.

Sal quickly burst out of the sea again, his clothes drenched and his appearance utterly bedraggled.

Prepared for this, Gion used Geppo again to close in on her enemy. Her ample chest bounced up and down as she pursued him, while her black blade sought to kill him in a single strike.

Just before the two clashed again, an enormous sound suddenly came from the warship behind them. A fierce sword aura shot out from the seabed and cleanly split the warship in two.

Steel was as fragile as firewood. The rumbling sound of the ship sinking was accompanied by the Marines' screams. Though Rayleigh had not deliberately targeted the ordinary Marines, some unlucky ones were caught in it.

For example, the slacking Marine who had gone to relieve himself when the battle began was swallowed by the seawater before he could even pull up his pants.

The whirlpool created by the sinking warship dragged some weaker Marines into the depths, while the stronger officer-level Marines began rescuing them.

The massive commotion forced Gion to divide her attention, and Sal seized the opportunity. He no longer intended to hide his identity and prepared to go all out.

Chain of Heaven

The Chain of Heaven, which had been disguised as a necklace, rapidly lengthened and thickened. Its two ends attacked Gion at once, constantly coiling upward from her left hand around her shoulder and neck, even tightly binding across her chest and making its full curves even more pronounced.

The instant her body was restrained, Gion's entire body rapidly turned black. Armament Haki made her graceful body harder than steel. The long blade in her hand gave off an even more chilling gleam, and the slash flashed past as the chains of the Chain of Heaven were severed outright.

Sure enough, if the enemy lacked divinity, the Chain of Heaven could hardly display its true power.

Conqueror's Coating

Sal would not wait for her to break free completely. His five fingers clenched, and dark red lightning coiled around his arm. Under Gion's astonished gaze, he returned the favor and hammered her into the sea, sending up an enormous column of water.

The powerful blow drove Gion more than a hundred meters into the seabed. Drawn by the sounds of battle and the people falling into the water, the Sea Kings immediately attacked her.

Blade light flickered through the dark seabed as slaughter continued.

[SS-rank character Gion has developed a normal emotion toward the host: minor surprise. Experience increased by 10000]

He had not expected Gion to qualify as an SS-rank character. Judging from the strength she had displayed in their exchange just now, she should still have been somewhat short of a true Admiral's level.

There was no point dwelling on it. Sal decisively turned and returned to the sailboat, choosing to quit while he was ahead. Even using Conqueror's Coating, he probably would not be Gion's match. Aside from lacking Conqueror's Haki, she surpassed him by far in both physical prowess and Haki.

By then, Rayleigh had already returned from the seabed and was watching someone's bedraggled state with an amused expression.

"Hahaha, getting beaten into such a state by a little girl? You're way too weak."

"I think she could handle one Dark King just fine."

"I'm not that weak yet."

"Then go fight her."

"Fine, I'm no match for that little girl."

"..."

Although the two kept trading barbs, they never stopped steering the sailboat away. Its bow cut through the waves, and it swiftly vanished into the distance on the sea breeze.

By the time Gion emerged from the sea, their sailboat had become a tiny dot. Soaked from head to toe, she bared a hint of purple beneath her clothes and gritted her teeth in fury, the wet fabric clinging to her full figure in alluring curves.

"Conqueror's Coating and the swordsmanship of a great swordsman... I'll find you sooner or later, damn it."

Still fuming, Gion joined in rescuing the Marines who had fallen into the water. In her heart, her subordinates were far more important than criminals. More urgently, they needed to contact Marine warships for rescue; there were two Marine fleets here.

While Gion was tied up by her subordinates on this side, an unexpected change also occurred for Sal and the others on the other side.

As Sal steered the ship, he felt the summons of the Avatar Talisman. If he could not make a decision immediately, the talisman would soon lose its effect. He only had time to give a few instructions before collapsing onto the deck and falling asleep.

"Rayleigh, I'll leave the rest to you. Someone needs my help."

"..."

Thinking Sal was slacking off, Rayleigh kicked him a few times and found no reaction. Only then did he confirm that Sal was truly unconscious. He was now the only one controlling the entire ship. If enemies came at a time like this, it would truly give an old man like him a headache.

In Impel Down, the great deep-sea prison, there was a Level 5.5 unknown to the Marines.

It lay between Level 5 and Level 6 and had been dug out by Morley, commander of the Revolutionary Army's Western Army and a Giant with the Push-Push Fruit.

Back when Morley had still been a pirate, he was captured and sent to Impel Down, where he luckily found an opportunity to escape. Since no one knew Morley had escaped, the world believed that Golden Lion was the only person ever to break out of Impel Down.

The Push-Push Fruit allowed its user to freely shift mass within objects without damaging their structure. It was because of this ability that he could move through solid matter.

After Morley dug out a space and escaped, he later joined the Revolutionary Army and told Emporio Ivankov, who was also a Revolutionary Army officer, about Level 5.5.

Now, the Okama King Ivankov was hiding here, seeking an opportunity to launch an uprising within Impel Down and destroy this symbol of the Marines.

At this moment, Bon Kurei, covered in bandages, stared at a room door as Luffy's shouts came from inside.

"I'm starving! I want food..."

The immense sound waves shocked the ordinary pirates. Even Ivankov began to like such an energetic BOY.

As for why Luffy and Bon Kurei were on Level 5.5, that had to start with what happened a day earlier.

After the two were defeated by Magellan on Level 5, they fought the snow wolves repeatedly. Though the pack was eventually knocked unconscious by Luffy's Conqueror's Haki, both of them also lost consciousness and passed out.

The unconscious pair was incredibly fortunate to be found by okama who had come out in search of like-minded companions, so they were brought back to Level 5.5.

Bon Kurei's poisoning was mild and easily cured. Luffy, however, had been deeply poisoned, so Ivankov used his Fruit ability to strengthen Luffy's immune system and make him immune to the poison.

Though the Fruit ability was extremely useful, Luffy lost ten years of his lifespan because of it.

After the treatment, Luffy and Bon Kurei explained their reasons and goal to Ivankov and the okama around him.

Ivankov was instantly moved beyond measure. Brotherhood—what an incredibly touching BOY! This terrifyingly powerful figure kept twisting his body.

Ivankov stood 449 centimeters tall, with a huge face, an enormous mass of dark purple afro hair, long thick eyelashes, pale blue eyeshadow, and purple lipstick.

His attire was equally bizarre: fishnet stockings and a cape, along with a skin-tight, deeply plunging bodysuit that exposed a huge skull tattoo over his abs.

As Ivankov chatted, he explained his background. During this, something amusing happened: a male pirate unwilling to join them had his gender changed by Ivankov's hormone energy.

He went from a burly man to a delicate blonde beauty, once again shattering Luffy's worldview.

Then Luffy revealed that his father was Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army.