Blackbeard

At this moment, on the sea around Impel Down, the five Marine vice admirals stationed here, ten warships, and a large number of Marines had nearly all departed to escort Fire Fist Ace to Marineford. Only three warships, with no vice admirals stationed aboard, remained behind.

Impel Down was at its most vulnerable now, both inside and out. Clearly, certain people with ulterior motives had seized upon this weakness.

The Marines guarding the main gate were knocked down by the suddenly arriving Blackbeard Pirates. Darkness shrouded the surroundings like smoke, while Blackbeard gripped a Marine Headquarters rear admiral by the throat. The rear admiral, temporarily serving as the highest-ranking commander, had no strength to fight back.

The rear admiral struggled without pause, but in the end, he could only ask in despair.

"Blackbeard, why are you doing this when you're a Shichibukai? Aren't you afraid the Marines will settle the score with you afterward?"

Threatened by someone whose life and death were in his hands, Blackbeard's eyes flashed fiercely as he snapped the rear admiral's neck. Then he burst into wild laughter.

"Zehahaha! The Marines settling scores? After today, I'll replace Whitebeard as one of the Four Emperors! I'll rule this sea—why would I fear a mere Marine threat?"

"Captain really is arrogant, haha."

Jesus Burgess chuckled foolishly.

Following behind Blackbeard were the four crew members he had recruited, each of them possessing considerable strength.

Jesus Burgess was a towering, burly man several meters tall and the helmsman of the Blackbeard Pirates. He was known as the "Champion," with a bounty of 20 million Beli.

Van Augur was the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates, a sinister-looking young man wearing a monocle. He was known as "Supersonic," with a bounty of 64 million Beli.

Lafitte was a somewhat effeminate man wearing a fur coat. He was the navigator of the Blackbeard Pirates and was known as the "Demon Sheriff."

Doc Q looked prematurely aged. He was the ship's doctor of the Blackbeard Pirates, known as the "Grim Reaper," with a bounty of 72 million Beli.

If nothing unexpected happened, Blackbeard would nurture the four of them into powerhouses comparable to Marine Headquarters vice admirals within two years.

As for Blackbeard himself, the Dark-Dark Fruit user, he was a middle-aged man missing several teeth, with a rough appearance, thick body hair, and a burly build. He wore a black coat over his shoulders, leaving his chest bare.

He had defeated Fire Fist Ace, who possessed strength on the level of a Shichibukai. Even if Devil Fruit compatibility had played a part, he was still a formidable powerhouse not to be underestimated.

The group pushed open the gates, only to be greatly surprised by Impel Down's level of defense. They were attacking Impel Down—an unprecedented event in a hundred years—so why was no one coming out to resist them?

The less response there was in such a situation, the more abnormal it felt. Lafitte gave a reminder.

"Captain, we mustn't let our guard down. Magellan, the warden here, is no ordinary man."

"Zehahaha! Don't worry. Your captain has plenty of confidence when it comes to Devil Fruit users."

At the same time, on the fourth floor of Impel Down.

Under the command of deputy warden Hannyabal, with assistant chief guard Domino, chief guard Little Sadi, and chief jailer Saldeath assisting from the side, several thousand prison guards stood ready for battle.

Other than its two top-tier combatants, practically everyone in Impel Down had gathered here. However, with Magellan and Shiryu of the Rain absent, Impel Down's side had little confidence in stopping the prison-break army. They knew very well that certain monsters could not be stopped by manpower.

The gate leading from the fourth floor to the fifth had been breached, and the breakout team appeared before everyone.

At the front were four powerhouses: Sal, Luffy, Crocodile, and Jinbe. Behind them followed Byrnndi World, Ivankov, and the others.

That lineup filled Hannyabal with despair, but as Impel Down's future warden, he absolutely could not retreat. He shouted himself hoarse.

"Open fire..."

Dozens of cannons that had long been prepared fired at once, accompanied by a barrage of dense bullets aimed at the enemy.

The four at the front each displayed their abilities against the attack. Crocodile unleashed a small sandstorm to block the cannonballs, while Jinbe used Armament Haki to withstand the attacks and charged at the enemy. Luffy turned into a balloon, rendering the bullets ineffective.

Sal alone appeared the most relaxed. A terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted from his sharp gaze, sweeping over the incoming attacks like a storm. The cannonballs exploded, while the bullets seemed to strike an invisible wall and were all blocked.

As for why he did not knock all the enemies unconscious, it was because there were allies behind him as well. He had no way to control his Conqueror's Haki that precisely.

The eruption of top-tier Conqueror's Haki drew everyone's attention once again. The leaders were all renowned powerhouses of the sea; how could they not understand just how rare Conqueror's Haki of that level was?

Crocodile's expression shifted slightly. He had thought Sal was some unknown brat, yet he possessed Conqueror's Haki on the level of a supreme ruler.

Several bullets pierced through his elementalized body. Crocodile then maintained his sand form and flew into the middle of the crowd, pressing one hand against the ground to activate his Devil Fruit ability.

Ground Secco

The ground rapidly began to crack and dry. It drained the moisture from living beings and objects it touched, gradually spreading outward. The surrounding buildings also slowly turned to sand and collapsed, while the ground itself seemed to die, becoming a cracked wasteland.

Hundreds of prison guards turned into mummified corpses without any power to resist. The guards were nearly broken by the first wave of attacks alone.

Hannyabal gritted his teeth and led the Jailer Beasts in a charge. A rhinoceros Jailer Beast lunged at Sal, its gleaming horn aimed at him, only for Sal to stop its charge head-on with Armament Haki coating his body.

The floor beneath them shattered. No matter how hard the rhinoceros man strained, he could not advance another step. The rhinoceros Jailer Beast let out an enraged roar. These irrational monsters only grew stronger the angrier they became.

However, Sal had no intention of indulging him. His jet-black fist shot out and knocked him to the ground with a single punch.

These Jailer Beasts were fairly strong, possessing power comparable to pirates with bounties over 100 million. But that was all. To true experts, they were merely tough, living targets.

He was rather interested in another aspect of these Jailer Beasts. They were Zoan-type Devil Fruit users who had undergone Devil Fruit Awakening. Logically speaking, anyone capable of awakening their Devil Fruit, even a Zoan-type Fruit, should not possess only this much strength.

Unless they had been forcibly awakened by someone else, leaving them innately deficient and causing them to lose both their reason and much of their strength.

Considering how broad the World Government's scientific research was, these Jailer Beasts might have been the product of one of its experiments. If the World Government completed that research, it would be truly terrifying.

Squads of replicable awakened Zoan-type users—even the ordinary members of the Beast Pirates would have no choice but to shake their heads and admit defeat. Before these things, the Beast Pirates' Zoan army was a joke.

The sounds of battle quickly subsided.

In just a few breaths, Impel Down's side had already collapsed. Sal looked toward a stunning, mature beauty not far away, with golden wavy hair and a graceful figure. She was Domino, the assistant chief guard.

He immediately used Soru to rush at her. Seeing the infamous, vicious criminal pounce at her, Domino instantly counterattacked, but Sal easily dodged and knocked her unconscious with a hand chop.

Being knocked unconscious by him was better than being defeated by those brutes who had no appreciation for beauty. Hannyabal's current state made that clear. Luffy had beaten him until he was covered in wounds, and only his unyielding will kept him from collapsing.

Even Little Sadi, the equally beautiful chief guard and perverted woman with sadistic tendencies, had been beaten into a swollen mess by Jinbe.

When Sal saw Hannyabal stand up again, he could not help admiring the man's willpower. He did not dislike this man who looked like a fusion of a pharaoh and an evil spirit. He immediately moved above him and, before Hannyabal could react, pressed him into the ground with one hand.

The powerful impact filled the ground with cracks. Hannyabal's head sank into the floor, and he fell unconscious, officially out of the fight.

"Rest for a while, Deputy Warden Hannyabal."

Sal clapped his hands. Although he admired the man, he could not waste everyone's time.

This time, despite facing several thousand prison guards, Sal had not exerted much effort. He gained less than 5,000 experience, after all, because aside from Conqueror's Haki, he had no other area-of-effect attacks.

A series of footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance, accompanied by unceasing arrogant laughter.

The Blackbeard Pirates had officially encountered Sal's group.