Magellan's Justice

“This is my Justice. As long as I'm alive, I won't let anyone walk past me.”

Magellan looked Jiang Lin in the eye. His earnest expression made it clear he wasn't spouting some grand principle. He meant every word.

"You're an opponent worthy of respect. I'll use everything I have to defeat you."

Moved by Magellan's resolve, Jiang Lin walked through the poisonous mist and stopped before him, his face grave.

"If you keep going, you might... die."

Jiang Lin quietly removed the Venom-Venom Fruit card from his device. He stood still, watching Magellan.

“My Justice is worth defending with my life!”

Magellan didn't hesitate. He knew Jiang Lin was powerful, but he wasn't putting on a brave face. He meant it from the bottom of his heart.

"Good. This is the strongest I can be right now. I hope... you survive."

Jiang Lin waited silently for thirty seconds, then slowly inserted a Devil Fruit Card into the loading device.

Glint-Glint Fruit (amplified by the Love-Love Fruit, Chop-Chop Fruit, and Venom-Venom Fruit) loaded. Duration: ten minutes. Cooldown: thirty seconds.

“Hah... hah... hah...” Beads of sweat the size of soybeans streamed down Jiang Lin's forehead like rain.

Combining the fruits' powers made them formidable, but each additional fruit placed a greater strain on Jiang Lin's body. Drawing on that power grew harder with every one he added.

"Come on!"

Jiang Lin's eyes widened as he shouted at Magellan.

“Poison Gas Bomb!”

Magellan drew a deep breath and spat a fist-sized ball of poisonous gas toward Jiang Lin.

“Yata Mirror!”

Jiang Lin turned straight into light. Unaffected by the gas, he shot above Magellan's head.

“Light-Speed Kick!”

A blinding yellow flash streaked past. Jiang Lin raised his left leg high and slammed it into Magellan's shoulder.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The harsh sound of crumbling stone came from where his foot struck. Magellan's shoulder was rapidly turning to stone.

"That's Boa Hancock's power. I never imagined you could combine the powers of multiple Devil Fruits. You're even more dangerous than I thought."

Magellan immediately liquefied his petrified right shoulder and restored it. Then wisps of mist spread from his feet, once again surrounding Jiang Lin.

"It's no use. Your poison doesn't work on me anymore!"

Jiang Lin ignored him. After landing his kick, he brought both hands forward. Pale red vapor flowed from his palms, and Magellan breathed it in.

“Heart-Throb!”

With a low shout, Jiang Lin crossed his hands before his chest and leaped high over Magellan's head.

"Yasakani Sacred Jewel!"

Dazzling golden light flashed. Countless light bullets hurtled toward Magellan below, too fast for the eye to follow.

The radiant bullets were devastating on their own. Infused with the Love-Love Fruit's power, they would also petrify an enemy's entire body on contact. Their destructive force was enough to chill anyone to the bone.

"Urgh... aaah!"

The barrage engulfed Magellan in an instant. Dust billowed up under the falling bullets and swallowed his figure.

"Stop fighting it! If you keep this up, you really will die!"

Jiang Lin listened to the continuous screams rising from the dust. Magellan hadn't given in. He must have been torturing himself to stave off petrification.

That might keep Magellan from turning to stone, but it also meant taking the full force of every light bullet.

Either choice would be disastrous for him.

"You're... strong! But I... won't let you... get past me!"

As the dust cleared, Magellan emerged drenched in blood. His demonic horns had snapped off, and blood covered his body.

Even someone as strong as Magellan had been driven to the brink.

"What a terrifying opponent. And one worthy of respect. But you're still my opponent. Keep fighting, and you'll die."

Jiang Lin admired Magellan's character, but he also had his own Justice to uphold.

"Chief Warden Magellan, leave this to me. Go deal with Straw Hat and the others!"

Just as Magellan dragged his battered body forward, ready to give his life to stop Jiang Lin, a tall man with unruly hair, a mesh eye mask on his forehead, and a pure white coat draped over his shoulders slid down the Ice Path and stopped before Jiang Lin and Magellan.

"Marine Admiral Aokiji! What's he doing here?"

Jiang Lin stared at the newcomer in confusion. As far as he knew, Aokiji had no reason to be at Impel Down.

What Jiang Lin didn't know was that Sengoku had sent Aokiji because Jiang Lin's identity hadn't been established at first.

"Admiral Kuzan, his power is terrifying. He can copy other people's Devil Fruit powers and combine several of them. Be careful!"

At the sight of Aokiji, Magellan finally let his body relax. He was on the verge of collapse. If Aokiji hadn't appeared, he might truly have died at Jiang Lin's hands.

"I understand. Go get your wounds treated. Straw Hat and the others will reach Level 4 soon. Leave this to me."

Aokiji turned toward Jiang Lin, his expression cold.

Aokiji possessed the Ice-Ice Fruit. He was among the strongest fighters at Marine Headquarters, one of the Marines' greatest fighting forces.

"I didn't expect to run into you here. I—"

Blood suddenly burst from Jiang Lin's mouth. Using the Devil Fruit Card, which combined four Devil Fruit powers, had placed far too much strain on his body.

"Looks like you're at your limit too, D! Kizaru might go easy on you, but I won't."

Ice crystals formed across Aokiji's body. Countless chunks of ice gathered like a storm of windblown sand and surged toward Jiang Lin, freezing everything they touched.

Even the searing sea of blood froze solid the instant the ice reached it.

"Yata Mirror!"

Faced with such an enemy, Jiang Lin didn't hesitate. He moved at light speed, leaping high above the ground.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The harsh sound spread across Blazing Hell. In an instant, the scorching floor plunged into bitter cold.

"So this is the power of a Marine Admiral? Who could possibly stand against him?"

In the surveillance room, the Prison Guards watched the battle on Level 4 through the monitor Den Den Mushi, exclaiming in astonishment.