Bullet's Obsession

Sal was not making a fuss. Magellan was an SS-rank figure no matter how one looked at it; killing him would bring in 50,000 points. Just as the points for the second wave of purple draws were within reach, an accident happened.

Now, after fighting to the death and nearly reaping the reward, he had actually let that sudden interloper, Bullet, snatch it away.

Whether Magellan was dead or alive, Sal had no time to go down and check. His avatar time was nearly up, and he was about to vanish.

Bullet fixed Sal with a sharp gaze. He did not know what "kill-stealing dog" meant, but it probably was not a compliment.

Back on Level Six, the lighting had been too dim for him to see clearly. Now that he saw Sal's face, it was not merely similar—it was practically identical to the way he had looked when he first met that man, only somewhat younger.

If one had to name the most important man in Bullet's life, it would be Pirate King Roger. Roger had pulled him aboard his ship when he was at his most lost, and his strength had always kept Bullet's arrogance in check, giving him a faint taste of companionship.

After Roger's death, he had truly become an extreme existence who needed no companions and pursued only strength.

Bullet questioned him in a deep voice.

"Who are you, and why do you look so much like him?"

But Sal had no intention of answering. Amid Bullet's stunned confusion, he vanished as the Avatar Talisman officially expired. Only then did the temporary companions remember that Sal seemed to have emerged from a piece of paper.

Bullet looked grimly toward Ivankov, making the Okama King, who was resisting the poison, twitch at the corners of his mouth. He could only answer honestly. With Sal gone, the two leaders had little strength left to fight.

"Sal seemed to have been made from paper. It was probably some special method of creating a clone. His real body is somewhere else."

"Hmph. I'll find him."

Bullet walked away coldly. Roger was one of the few obsessions in his heart, and he had to uncover Sal's connection to Roger.

The group arrived at the top level of Impel Down. Crocodile and the other man had already brought the warship under control and docked it, but the moment Crocodile spotted Bullet, his eyes narrowed and the atmosphere changed.

Bullet revealed a savage smile as well. He and Crocodile had fought once twenty years ago, battling for a full day and night without a victor.

Back then, Desert Crocodile had been full of sharpness. His formidable Haki and Devil Fruit ability had forcibly held Bullet off for an entire day, and they had only stopped because neither could do anything more.

The current Crocodile made Bullet look down on him. He had lost his ambition to pursue strength, become eager for outside help, and spent twenty years trying to lay his hands on Pluton, one of the three Ancient Weapons.

This Crocodile was weaker than before. Beyond contempt, Bullet felt a trace of regret. The man who had barely qualified as an opponent back then had become like this. The Desert Crocodile defeated by Whitebeard had already had his spine broken.

Crocodile asked from above.

"Bullet, we're making a trip to Marineford. Are you coming with us?"

"I won't be going. Whitebeard doesn't deserve the title of the world's strongest. If he dies there, that will only prove that this is all he amounts to."

Neither of them noticed Buggy's expression suddenly change at the harbor. He quickly found a corner to hide in, leaving the men around him thoroughly confused.

Buggy casually made up an excuse to brush off his companions, then muttered in a voice only Mr. 3 could hear.

"That lunatic Bullet is here too. It'll be bad if he sees me here."

When he and Shanks were children, they had not exactly gotten along with Bullet.

Mr. 3, who had barely caught the words, was surprised. Buggy seemed to have quite a connection with that intimidating man. One moment it was Four Emperor Shanks, the next it was someone even the Shichibukai deeply feared.

Mr. 3 could not help thinking, Captain Buggy, just who are you?

After coldly refusing, Bullet headed toward an empty supply ship. Then a straw hat suddenly caught his attention, and the familiar hat even made his pupils contract.

It was no wonder Bullet was surprised. The straw hat's previous two owners were both people he knew well: Roger and Shanks.

Toward Roger, Bullet felt only respect, regret, and anger. As for Shanks, he looked down on him and refused to accept him. That brat who had once been nothing in his eyes had now become one of the sea's overlords, one of the Four Emperors.

Meanwhile, he had become a prisoner of Impel Down. Even so, he still believed he was no weaker than Shanks—perhaps even a level above him.

Deep down, Bullet also felt a trace of resentment. Why had Roger left the hat to Shanks instead of him?

"That damned straw hat again."

Bullet cursed under his breath and boarded the ship alone, then activated his Devil Fruit ability. The Paramecia-type Fusion-Fusion Fruit could fuse other materials with his body.

Metal and stone from the buildings rapidly separated and were absorbed by Bullet to modify the ship. One-fifth of Impel Down's top level was absorbed, and a vessel brimming with a metallic feel appeared before everyone.

"Wow..."

"That's amazing! What Devil Fruit is that?"

The cool, over-the-top metal ship drew every pirate's attention. Its futuristic style also made Luffy's eyes shine. No man could refuse a mech.

Flames blasted from its rear, and the metal ship set sail first. Soon afterward, Luffy and the others finished preparing and departed as well, their destination Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

Aside from the four Shichibukai-level fighters, Luffy, Inazuma, and Buggy, the ship's crew consisted of Ivankov's Okama Revolutionary Army and the Buggy Pirates from Level Two of Impel Down. As for the remaining prisoners still causing trouble in Impel Down?

Of course there were some, but they could not stir up much trouble. There was not a single ship left at the harbor, so they had no way to leave Impel Down. This was the terrifying Calm Belt.

Then Domino and the other guards on Level Four gradually regained consciousness. They were holding the fort in a hidden chamber on Level Four with the wounded, waiting for Marine reinforcements.

Once the war ended, the Marines would certainly move first to relieve the great underwater prison. This place was far more important than Enies Lobby.