"Laser Beam!"
With Sphinx attacking him relentlessly, Jiang Lin stopped dodging. Several beams shot from his right hand and pierced Sphinx's raised palm in an instant.
"Zhajiang noodles!"
"Mixed noodles!"
The wound to his palm clearly enraged Sphinx. He attacked even faster, swinging his hands in turn and swatting rapidly at Jiang Lin.
"What a glutton!"
Jiang Lin had no intention of tangling with Sphinx. After wounding him, he took advantage of his frenzy to reach the gate leading down to the next level.
"Seastone, huh?"
Jiang Lin turned back toward Sphinx in resignation. He had meant to leave him alone, but without Galdino's Wax-Wax Fruit, he had no way to open the Seastone gate before him.
"Roar!"
Sphinx charged at Jiang Lin, bellowing the names of various noodles as he ran.
"Let me borrow your body!"
Jiang Lin used Yata Mirror to move above Sphinx, then landed on his back and began kicking with all his might!
"Light-Speed Kick!"
"Light-Speed Kick!"
Explosions rang out across Sphinx's back. In pain, he raced around and stomped wildly. He shook his back, trying to throw Jiang Lin off, while pounding the ground as if that might distract him from the pain.
"Hey! What's going on out there? First all that racket, and now it feels like an earthquake! Is this still Impel Down?"
The prisoners on the second level peered fearfully toward the doors, unable to keep from complaining.
"N-no! Sphinx has gone berserk! That man... that man's entered Level 3!"
As the cry rang out in the monitoring room, Jiang Lin rode Sphinx down into Impel Down's third level.
The scorching air made Jiang Lin feel as though he had stepped into a furnace. This was Impel Down's third level: the Hunger Floor.
"What a pain! I should've just taken the elevator upstairs!"
Jiang Lin looked out over the endless yellow sand and muttered his complaint. Even as he said it, he knew that if he had acted so openly on the first level, every guard and Marine in Impel Down would probably have surrounded him before he ever got this far.
"Speaking of which, how long are you going to keep spying on me?"
In a flash, Jiang Lin appeared behind a guard holding a Den Den Mushi. He lowered his head and smiled at him.
"I've b-been spotted! Repeat, I've been spotted! Move in now! Move in now!"
Cold sweat covered the guard's face as he stared at Jiang Lin. Without hesitation, he raised the Den Den Mushi and shouted into it.
"No choice! Catch him!"
At the order from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, swarms of Blugori and guards rushed out from every direction, straight toward Jiang Lin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As gunfire rang out, a barrage of small black nets flew toward Jiang Lin.
The nets were made entirely of Seastone. If one caught Jiang Lin, he would instantly lose all his powers.
"That was close! I almost got caught!"
Using the Glint-Glint Fruit's speed, Jiang Lin darted through their ranks, severing the guards' rifles as he went.
Jiang Lin was fast, but there were many guards. A frantic chase broke out across the third level.
"So this is the third level? It's really hot!"
While Jiang Lin had his hands full, Luffy arrived on the third level with Galdino.
"Monkey D. Luffy has been spotted. We've confirmed he's the brother of Portgas D. Ace, who's being held on the fifth level. He must be here to rescue Ace. You must capture him on the third level."
The moment the guards in the monitoring room saw Luffy, they hurriedly relayed the situation to the third-level guards.
"But... we've got a bigger problem to deal with right now!"
A guard clutching a Den Den Mushi stared ahead, sweat pouring down his face. Less than a hundred meters away, Jiang Lin stood calmly amid a crowd of guards and Blugori who lay on the ground clutching their stomachs and writhing in pain.
"What happened? Can't you stop that unidentified man? What about Saldeath? Isn't he on the third level? Can't even he stop him?"
In the monitoring room, the staff watched Luffy and Galdino make their way toward the prison, their faces tight with worry.
"Saldeath? He... he..."
"What happened to him?"
The faces in the monitoring room grew grimmer. Had something happened to Saldeath too?
"Saldeath's been taken down too!"
The guard's agitated voice came through the Den Den Mushi. Not far in front of him, a short demon clutching a trident lay beside Jiang Lin's feet, flat on his back with his eyes shut, motionless.