Some Changes to the Timeline

"I'm on Level 2, with Buggy and Mr. 3."

Su Lin sent a message through the private chat interface.

"Jinbe and I will be there to join you soon!"

After that, they met up with Buggy, Mr. 3, and Straw Hat without any trouble.

There were countless prisoners being held here, and once they were released, the Beast Guards were completely useless.

Su Lin moved with the crowd as he made his way toward Buggy and the others ahead.

A magical artifact that automatically concealed and protected its owner hovered around him. The barrier it had just generated blocked several pirate attacks from people trying to ambush him and steal his clothes.

Su Lin easily knocked out those blind fools and left them in Impel Down as punishment.

He was not ready for all this fighting and killing yet.

"Where's Magellan?" Su Lin had already guessed the answer.

"I sent him flying." Luffy grinned confidently.

No wonder Ivankov and Inazuma were both here now.

Judging by Ivankov's expression, he probably still had not recovered from seeing Luffy cheat like that. But in that case, Magellan's Fruit ability could not be copied.

[Library Series—Ability Records] had now recorded and stored the abilities used by most of the people present. Thanks to Crocodile using his ability even while running away, Su Lin could at least turn into sand now.

Come to think of it, could the stored books not be destroyed?

Within his mental world, Su Lin gave up on tearing up Ivankov's ability. Forget it, it was not some okama ability. Someone had merely used it to become an okama. Right, the ability was innocent. The ability was innocent.

That huge head really hurt his eyes.

He picked up the book related to the Sand-Sand Fruit, ready to open it and switch abilities at any moment. Why not use it now?

What a joke. He did not want to draw Crocodile's attention.

"Straw Hat BOY, is this rather strange-looking BOY your friend?"

"Yes. His name is Su Lin. He's the one who brought Jinbe and me here."

"You and Jinbe?"

"Your Excellency Ivankov, we can discuss that later. Your Excellency Su Lin, here, this is yours." Jinbe handed over a pocket watch as he ran.

"It almost fell when it dropped out just now. Good thing Jinbe picked it up, hahaha." Luffy laughed.

Su Lin's hand trembled as he took the pocket watch, and a sudden wave of fear washed over him.

"Do you know that if we lost this watch, we wouldn't be able to go back?!"

"Huh? Really? It's that important?!" Luffy's eyes bulged out, though Su Lin did not know whether that was a side effect of the Nika Fruit.

A bead of sweat ran down Jinbe's forehead. It was not from exhaustion after running for so long, but from being frightened by his captain.

When Luffy had used Gear Fourth and Armament Haki to leap into the Aether and send Magellan flying, this thing had fallen from the Aether as well. If Jinbe had not reacted quickly...

Ivankov and the others beside them were utterly bewildered.

"Mr. 2!"

Su Lin quietly stored the pocket watch in his item space. He had only been in the pirate world for a short time, yet these scares had already outnumbered everything he had encountered in the first half of his life. "Mr. 2!"

"Did you call me~?" Bon Clay spun over to Su Lin's side.

"We'll split into two groups. Jinbe will go with the main force to seize a warship. Luffy and I will help Mr. 2 transform into Magellan, then go to the Level 1 Power Room and have the prison guards open the Gate of Justice."

"Who the hell are you, kid? You've been standing there since the beginning, but I've never seen you before." Buggy's head floated forward. "Why should I listen to your orders?"

"Lord Buggy, what do you think of my suggestion?"

"Uh... yeah, it's fairly smart. We'll do as you say. You guys go open that whatever Gate of Justice." Most of Buggy's body reassembled and floated into the Aether. "Men! Follow me and seize the Marines' warship! We're escaping this place together!"

"Yes! Our savior, Buggy!"

He was so easy to fool. Everyone thought the same thing.

Disguised as Magellan, Mr. 2 carried Luffy and Su Lin to the Power Room, successfully fooling the guards into opening the power gate.

"Then let's get going." Luffy clapped his hands.

All the surrounding guards had already been knocked unconscious. Su Lin had not directly participated; he had only used sand to blind them and destroy their communicators, preventing any information from leaking out.

Then he switched to the Op-Op Fruit's ability.

"ROOM."

The three of them teleported over and caught up with the warship in time. Without Magellan pressuring them this time, Jinbe did not call upon the Sea Kings he was close with to help in these waters. Instead, everyone lined up and boarded in perfect order, as though they were getting onto a cruise ship.

"Little Bon—!"

After boarding, Luffy hugged Mr. 2 and laughed through his tears.

"What are you doing, Luffy boy? I know you're happy to have escaped, but you don't need to go this far."

"Thank you, Bon Clay." Jinbe also placed a hand on Mr. 2's shoulder and spoke solemnly. "Come to think of it, Your Excellency Su Lin, thank you as well for giving us this opportunity. The course of history will change this time."

"I have my own purpose too, so there's no need to thank me." Su Lin smiled and waved his hand. "Change... for different people, is it truly good or bad?"

Within the ruins on Level 3, Magellan's finger twitched. "Straw Hat... how did he become so strong? Haki..."

"Haki coated his fist. He didn't even touch me from a distance."

As he gradually recovered amid the rubble, Magellan recalled what had just happened. He had clearly been fighting Ivankov when Straw Hat Kid and the former Shichibukai Jinbe suddenly appeared.

Their presence and strength were as though they had become entirely different people.

That form of Straw Hat Kid had caught him off guard and actually knocked him unconscious for a brief moment. Had that guy been hiding his strength from the beginning? No, absolutely not.

After carefully considering Straw Hat Kid's performance from beginning to end, Magellan found far too many mysteries. But now was not the time to think about such things.

He felt that he had recovered enough.

This was no time to rest. He had to stop the criminals from escaping.

"Hm?!" Magellan's pupils contracted. The sight filtering through the cracks in the rubble made him even angrier than when Straw Hat Kid had knocked him down. "Shiryu! You bastard!"

The Blackbeard group, whom he had defeated on Level 4, was actually traveling together with Shiryu of the Rain, the former chief guard, passing before the ruins.

"Heavy Drinker, Corrupt King, Colossal Battleship, and Crescent Moon Hunter."

"Zehahahahaha. What a complete mess." Blackbeard looked at the ruins ahead. "Looks like someone had a fierce battle with Magellan here."

Jesus Burgess slammed his fists together and laughed arrogantly. "I really want to fight that strong guy, hahaha!"

"But by now, he's probably already been dealt with by Magellan." Shiryu took a drag on his cigarette and blew out a smoke ring. "Bad timing. I really wanted to give the warden a slash myself."

The group chatted and laughed as they strolled toward Level 2, completely unaware that purple-black liquid was slowly seeping out from the rubble behind them.

(End of Chapter)