Leaving Impel Down

When the Prison Guards saw the prisoners fleeing, they immediately raised their guns and gave chase. But the moment they reached the front and saw Jiang Lin, they all took a few involuntary steps back.

"D-don't panic! Attack! Attack!"

The Prison Guards glanced at Blackbeard, who was rolling on the floor at Jiang Lin's feet. Swallowing 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 afar as darkness gradually swallowed Blackbeard. Anxiety filled their faces, but the thick mist kept them from rushing in to save him.

The guards of Impel Down had it even worse. They had no Dark-Dark Fruit powers. As the mist swallowed them, all they could do was struggle.

"Argh! Argh! Argh!"

Screams rang through Level 4. Darkness had nearly consumed many of the guards.

"Poison Dragon!"

Just as the Prison Guards faced certain doom, a purple dragon of venom came hurtling from the distance, straight at Jiang Lin.

Ice-Ice Fruit (boosted by Venom-Venom Fruit and Glint-Glint Fruit) loaded. Duration: ten minutes. Cooldown: thirty seconds.

Jiang Lin switched Devil Fruit Cards without hesitation as the Poison Dragon bore down on him.

Splat! Splat!

Venom burst across Jiang Lin's body, drenching Blackbeard at his feet as well.

"Argh! Argh! Argh!"

Blackbeard had barely endured the darkness before the venom struck. Its potent poison sent him rolling wildly across the floor in agony.

"Huff... huff... We're saved! I thought we were dead!"

When Jiang Lin switched Devil Fruit Cards, the guards swallowed by the darkness were freed. They lay gasping while Blackbeard writhed in the venom.

Their ragged breathing brought a trace of life back to Impel Down's Level 4.

From opposite ends of the passage, Jiang Lin and Magellan locked eyes. Hostility crackled between them.

"Magellan!"

"D!"

Jiang Lin and Magellan's voices rang out one after the other. Between them, the surviving Prison Guards took a few tentative steps forward. Once the Prison Guards realized Jiang Lin had no intention of attacking them,

All the Prison Guards bolted like madmen toward the passage leading to Level 3.

"You're not a prisoner of Impel Down. Step aside, and I'll let you leave!"

Magellan stared coldly at Jiang Lin. He needed to pursue the prisoners who had just escaped. Avoiding another fight with Jiang Lin would be best.

"Right now... I don't think you're the one who gets to decide who lets whom go!"

Bitter cold spread from beneath Jiang Lin's feet, freezing the passage around him in an instant.

Blackbeard, the Prison Guards, and the watching members of the Blackbeard Pirates were all engulfed by the cold and sealed in ice.

"D!"

Magellan gave a cold snort, then decisively attacked Jiang Lin. The thick venom gathered above his head into a towering purple-red giant, which swung fiercely at Jiang Lin.

This was Magellan's second battle with Jiang Lin. He had suffered a crushing defeat the first time. Perhaps the outcome of this second clash had been decided the instant it began.

After that day, Level 4 of Impel Down could no longer be called Blazing Hell. Piercing ice covered the entire floor. Magellan, the prison's Chief Warden and its strongest fighter, stood like a statue inside an enormous Ice Ball.

On Level 2 of Impel Down, 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.

"Move! Gum-Gum Rocket!"

Luffy knocked a mass of Marines away with both hands, then led the others through the Level 1 passage toward the gate at the top.

At Impel Down's gate, tears in their eyes, the prisoners joined forces to push it open.

As the gate swung wide, rays of light slowly fell across their faces. It was a light they could never have known inside Impel Down, a light of hope that settled in each of their hearts.

Beyond that gate lay the free and open sea.

But when the prisoners opened the gate, all they saw was empty ocean. Not a single Marine warship remained where the ships had once been moored outside Impel Down.

"Is this what freedom without hope looks like?"

The prisoners stared out at the vast sea and breathed the fresh air of freedom. They should have been rejoicing at their new lease on life. Instead, despair gripped their hearts, and disappointment filled their faces.

Without a ship, they could not leave Impel Down. And if they could not leave, their prison break had failed.

Their only fate was to be captured by the Marine reinforcements and thrown back into Impel Down.

"There's no hope!"

The prisoners stared at the sea, beating their chests in despair.

"It's just the sea. We'll cross it. Can't you see the sails in the mist? The Marines haven't gone far!"

Jiang Lin slowly approached from behind. At his words, the prisoners who had just sunk into utter despair sprang excitedly to their feet.

But when they looked at the endless sea before them, they slumped back down.

“We can't! The sea is full of Sea Kings. We'll never catch up to the Marines.”

Despair spread through the prisoners. Many had already begun quietly retreating.

"Don't worry! Leave this to me!"

"I'll handle it!"

Jinbe and Jiang Lin spoke at the same time. Their words made the prisoners, who had just lost hope, excitedly look up at them.

Jinbe turned, tore off a section of the gate, and carried the panel to the shore.

Seeing what Jinbe was doing, Jiang Lin quietly withdrew the cold he had just released.

"I can't carry many people, but we'll use this to seize a warship. If you're ready to risk it, climb aboard."

With that, Jinbe held the gate panel overhead and jumped into the sea.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

After Jinbe leaped into the sea, Jiang Lin, Crocodile, and Mr. 1 jumped onto the hatch panel above Jinbe one after another.

Seizing a warship would be difficult and dangerous for everyone. Though plenty of people stood on shore, only Jiang Lin and the others dared make the decision at once.

“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 a Den Den Mushi from a prisoner beside him, and followed Luffy.

Before they set off, Galdino and Bon Clay also stepped out of the crowd and jumped onto the panel.

"Is that everyone? Hold tight. We're off!"

Once Jinbe saw that no one else was coming, he shouted, picked up speed beneath the panel, and surged toward the Marine warships.