When the Prison Guards saw the prisoners begin to flee, they immediately gave chase with their guns. But when they rushed forward and saw Jiang Lin, they all took a few involuntary steps back.
"Don't... don't panic! Attack! Attack!"
The Prison Guards glanced at Blackbeard writhing on the floor by Jiang Lin's feet. Fighting down their fear, they raised their guns and aimed at Jiang Lin.
"Black Vortex!"
Dense black mist poured from Jiang Lin's body and spread rapidly toward the Prison Guards.
"Captain!"
The Blackbeard Pirates watched from a distance as darkness gradually swallowed Blackbeard. Anxiety filled their faces, but the thick black mist kept them from rushing in to save him.
The Prison Guards of Impel Down had it even worse than Blackbeard. They had no Dark-Dark Fruit. As the black mist swallowed them, all they could do was struggle.
"Argh! Argh! Argh!..."
Cries of agony rang across Level 4. Darkness had nearly swallowed many of the Prison Guards whole.
"Poison Dragon!"
Just as the Prison Guards faced certain doom, a purple poison dragon surged in from afar, charging straight at Jiang Lin.
Ice-Ice Fruit (enhanced by Venom-Venom Fruit and Glint-Glint Fruit) loaded. Duration: ten minutes. Cooldown: thirty seconds.
Faced with the poison dragon, Jiang Lin switched Devil Fruit Cards without hesitation.
Splat! Splat!
Venom burst across Jiang Lin's body, dousing Blackbeard at his feet as well.
"Argh! Argh! Argh!"
Blackbeard had barely survived the darkness before the venom struck. The potent poison sent him rolling wildly in pain.
"Huff... huff... We're saved! I thought we were dead!"
As Blackbeard writhed helplessly from the venom, Jiang Lin's switch of Devil Fruit Cards freed the Prison Guards who had been swallowed by darkness. Against all odds, they survived.
Their ragged breathing brought a trace of life back to Impel Down's Level 4.
On opposite sides of the passage, Jiang Lin and Magellan locked eyes. The air between them crackled with hostility.
"Magellan!"
"D!"
Their voices rang out in turn. Between them, the surviving Prison Guards took a few tentative steps forward. Once they were sure Jiang Lin had no intention of attacking them,
they all bolted like madmen toward the passage to Level 3.
"You're not a prisoner of Impel Down. Step aside, and I'll let you leave!"
Magellan fixed Jiang Lin with a cold stare. He urgently needed to pursue the prisoners who had just escaped. Avoiding a fight with Jiang Lin would be the best outcome.
"Right now... I don't think you get to decide who lets whom go!"
Bitter cold radiated from beneath Jiang Lin's feet, freezing the passage around him in an instant.
Blackbeard, the Prison Guards, and the Blackbeard Pirates watching from afar were all engulfed by the cold and sealed in ice.
"D!"
Magellan barked his name and attacked. Thick venom gathered above his head into a purplish-red giant, which brought its hand crashing down toward Jiang Lin.
This was Magellan's second battle with Jiang Lin. He had suffered a crushing defeat the first time. Perhaps the outcome of their second clash had been decided the instant it began.
After that day, Impel Down's Level 4 could no longer be called Blazing Hell. Bitter ice sealed the entire floor, and Chief Warden Magellan, Impel Down's strongest fighter and highest authority, stood like a statue inside an enormous Ice Ball.
On Impel Down's Level 2, Jiang Lin slid along an Ice Path and appeared behind the main group. Not far ahead, Buggy had joined Luffy and the others, and together they charged toward the final passage to Level 1.
"Out of the way! Gum-Gum... Gum-Gum Rocket!"
Luffy knocked a mass of Marines aside with both hands, then led everyone through the Level 1 passage toward the doors at the top.
At the gates of Impel Down, tears filled the prisoners' eyes as they joined forces to push the doors open.
As the doors swung wide, shafts of light slowly fell across their faces. It was a light they could never have felt inside Impel Down, a light of hope that shone into every heart.
Beyond those doors lay the open sea and freedom.
But when the prisoners pushed the doors open, all they saw was an empty stretch of ocean. Not a single Marine warship remained where the ships had once been moored outside Impel Down.
"So this is what freedom without hope looks like?"
The prisoners stared out at the vast sea, breathing in the fresh air of freedom. They should have been rejoicing at a new lease on life. Instead, despair filled their hearts and disappointment showed on every face.
Without ships, they could not leave Impel Down. And if they could not leave, their escape had failed.
In the end, the Marines coming as reinforcements would simply capture them all and throw them back into Impel Down.
"There's no hope!"
The prisoners beat their chests as they gazed at the sea. Their despair was plain to see.
"It's just the sea. We'll cross it. Can't you see the sails in the fog? The Marines haven't gone far!"
Jiang Lin walked up from behind. His words made the prisoners, who had just sunk into despair, spring to their feet.
But when they looked out at the endless sea before them, they sat back down in frustration.
"We can't do it! The sea's full of Sea Kings. We'll never catch the Marines."
Despair spread among the prisoners. Many had already begun quietly retreating.
"Don't worry! I'm here. Leave this to me!"
"Leave it to me!"
Jinbe and Jiang Lin spoke at the same time. At their words, the prisoners looked up at them with renewed excitement.
Jinbe turned, pulled a door panel free, and carried it to the shore.
Seeing what Jinbe was doing, Jiang Lin quietly withdrew the cold he had just released.
"We can't carry many people, but we'll use this to seize a warship. If you're ready to take the risk, get on."
With that, Jinbe carried the door panel over the edge and jumped into the sea.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Jiang Lin, Crocodile, and Mr. 1 jumped onto the door panel above Jinbe one after another.
Seizing a warship would be difficult and dangerous for all of them. Though plenty of people stood on the shore, only Jiang Lin and the others had been willing to decide on the spot.
"Jiang Lin! I'm coming too!"
When Luffy saw Jiang Lin head out to sea, he jumped in after him.
Buggy saw them go, took the Den Den Mushi a prisoner beside him handed over, and followed Luffy.
Before they set off, Galdino and Bon Clay also stepped out of the crowd and jumped onto the door panel.
"Is that everyone? Hold on tight. We're off!"
Once Jinbe was sure no one else was coming, he shouted and accelerated through the water with the door panel above him, charging toward the Marine warships.