Unlike the other floors, which rang with prisoners' wails, this place was eerily quiet. Only the occasional clink of chains against the floor broke the silence.
In a secluded cell on this floor was a man-a prisoner.
His hair was white and might have been beautiful if not for the flecks of blood staining it. Two black ribbons crossed over his eyes, and he wore black-and-white clothes: the standard prison uniform.
Seastone hooks pierced his shoulder blades, connecting him to a massive steel plate behind him. Bound by chains, he could move no farther than one corner of the spacious cell.
He was Barn. That day, he had exhausted the last of his strength to unleash Dark Sky Wave Eye, successfully knocking Garp and Sengoku unconscious. But he, too, had passed out from exhaustion.
Unfortunately, Garp and Sengoku were not the only Marines. Barn had only himself.
A Marine Vice Admiral who arrived later discovered the three men lying on the ground and immediately sent the badly injured Garp and Sengoku to the hospital. After undergoing the baptism of Hell's Warm Water, Barn had been dressed in his current outfit and thrown into Impel Down.
Just then, Barn opened his eyes. Everything remained pitch-black, and a sound escaped his already hoarse throat.
"How... long has it been?"
But only the darkness answered him...
"The weather's great today. As Mr. Barn would say, perfect weather for fishing, right, Vista?"
Marco lay on the ship's outer railing, lazily basking in the sun as he spoke with a contented expression.
Beside him, Vista was leaning against the railing and polishing his swords. He smiled at Marco's words and said,
"Yeah. Too bad Mr. Barn never caught a fish, even in weather this good. Hahaha!"
Then he glanced at the two swords in his hands, which glowed faintly blue, and said,
"I wonder how Mr. Barn's doing..."
Marco sat up at that and said,
"Yeah. The last time we saw him was last month, when we delivered that Terrabreeze Coal."
Just then, another dollop of bird droppings landed squarely on Marco's head.
"...Oh, [bleep]!"
"Hahaha!"
Vista laughed mercilessly at his friend's misfortune, then picked up the newspaper the delivery bird had just dropped onto the ship. But his laughter quickly stopped, and the smile on his face gave way to shock.
He nudged Marco, who was wiping the droppings off his head, and said,
"Hey, Vista, take a look at this. I think there's something wrong with my eyes!"
"Huh?"
Marco took the newspaper Vista handed him and glanced at it. He, too, was stunned.
"'Asura' Barn captured by the combined forces of Marine legends Sengoku and Garp. Now imprisoned in Impel Down."
In his shock, Marco unconsciously read the words aloud...
"Pops! Something's happened to Mr. Barn!"
Meanwhile, little Hancock, who had boarded the Kuja Pirates' ship to return home, also saw the report.
She covered her mouth with her little hands, but the tears kept flowing from her eyes.
"It has to be a lie. Lord Barn, how could you..."
Adam, who had already reached the East Blue to prepare to establish the guild, looked utterly grim. Lia burst into heartbroken tears. Fisher Tiger had initially refused to believe the report, too. Now he stared up at the sky and murmured,
"I'm so sorry. I dragged you into this, Mr. Barn."
Meanwhile, aboard the Oro Jackson, which had already traveled halfway through the New World, Rayleigh pushed open the door to the Captain's Quarters, holding the newspaper with a grim expression.
"Roger, something's happened to Barn."
By then, Garp and Sengoku had regained consciousness.
"Ah..."
Sengoku adjusted his glasses and glanced at Garp in the neighboring hospital bed. Like him, Garp was covered in bandages, but he was busy stuffing himself with Senbei. Sengoku sighed.
"I never imagined Barn's final attack would be so powerful. He left both of us in this state."
At Sengoku's words, Garp stopped pouring Senbei into his mouth, his expression just as grave.
"Sengoku."
"Hm?"
Hearing his old friend call his name, Sengoku gave Garp a puzzled look.
"Senbei is too salty."
Garp delivered those words with a solemn face, and a vein once again bulged on Sengoku's forehead...
"Pops! Let's go save Mr. Barn!"
"Yeah, Pops!"
The Moby Dick was bustling with commotion. His children were all demanding that he rescue Barn, and Whitebeard wanted to as well. But he had fought Sengoku for years. Knowing Sengoku, if Whitebeard dared to go, Sengoku would be confident he could keep him from coming back.
Whitebeard did not fear death, and he was willing to take a risk for a friend. But he was not alone. He had an entire ship's crew to consider. They were his family, too, and he could not let them follow him to a pointless death.
At that thought, even someone as bold and forthright as Whitebeard could not help rubbing his temples.
Faced with his children's urgent pleas, all he could say was,
"It's not time yet."
Meanwhile, in the East Blue.
"I'm going to save him!"
The voice belonged to Fisher Tiger. He was furious, stubbornly convinced that he had dragged Barn into this. Strong-willed as he was, he wanted to do something, but Adam's words threw cold water on his resolve.
"Enough, Tiger. Even if you went, you couldn't do anything. All you'd accomplish is getting yourself thrown into Impel Down to keep my idiot master company."
Fisher Tiger slumped into a chair, discouraged, his fists clenched and veins bulging along his arms.
"Aren't you worried about Mr. Barn, Adam?!"
Fisher Tiger roared at Adam, who was calmly polishing his sword.
Adam paused for only a moment before continuing. Once Demon Moon's edge gleamed in all its sharpness, he gripped the sword in his left hand and drove it hard into the floor. Demon Moon sank straight in, leaving only its hilt exposed. Then Adam said,
"Of course I'm worried! He's my master! The most important person in my life, the man who gave me a second chance at living! But I choose to believe in him! He told me he'd be back soon, and my master has never broken his word!"
After angrily saying his piece, Adam bent down and pulled Demon Moon out of the floor. He resumed polishing it, then said calmly,
"What I need to do now is fulfill my master's instructions and establish this mercenary guild in the East Blue. That way, he won't have anything to complain about when he gets out."
Fisher Tiger gave Adam a long look and sighed, then turned his gaze toward little Lia, who had been hugging her knees the whole time.
Little Lia noticed his gaze and forced a smile as she told him,
"I believe in Master, too!"
"Chirp, chirp!"
Fitz, who had been standing by the window, chimed in as well.
"Ah..."
Fisher Tiger sighed and sat down.
Time always passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Barn had spent half a year imprisoned in Impel Down, and much had happened during those six months.
First, Roger had successfully completed a circuit of the Grand Line and reached its end, Laugh Tale. He had obtained the legendary One Piece and become the Pirate King.
Fisher Tiger had also left the East Blue and formed the Sun Pirates.
Using the enormous funds Barn had left behind, Adam had successfully established a vast mercenary guild, recruiting nearly every bounty hunter in the East Blue.
All people had to do was submit a request, and the guild would solve their problems. It was far better than the filthy, corrupt Marines. In the East Blue, people were more willing to trust Adam's mercenary guild than the Marines, allowing it to grow ever larger. Now Adam was planning to establish branches in the other three seas.
Of course, as the mercenary guild's reputation spread, Adam also made a name for himself with the swordsmanship Barn had taught him.
More and more people around the world came to know Adam as "White Hand."
Even the Marines sometimes paid commissions to hire Adam's guild to help eliminate bandits and carry out other missions. As a result, they tacitly accepted the mercenary guild's existence and did not interfere.
In a small bar on Grove Fourteen of the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh accepted a drink from his wife, Shakuyaku. With a heavy expression, he looked at Roger, who was also holding a glass beside him, and said,
"Do you really have to go, Roger?"
Roger's hand paused.
After reaching Laugh Tale, he had disbanded the Roger Pirates. He had just returned from Sky Island, yet upon seeing Rayleigh, he had announced his intention to turn himself in.
Roger said,
"Rayleigh, you know my illness won't let me last much longer. I have an idea now. Will you let me see it through? Besides, Barn's already spent half a year in Impel Down. I'd like to see him, too."
Rayleigh looked into Roger's eyes and saw the determination shining there. He knew he could not talk him out of it, so he could only drink in silence.
A few days later, news that the Pirate King had been captured and would soon be executed in Loguetown spread to every corner of the world.
Aboard a pirate ship in the New World.
"Captain! Great news! Your sworn enemy Roger's been captured by the Marines! He's about to be executed!"
A pirate lackey excitedly addressed the captain standing at the bow.
He was a tall man wearing a kimono and wooden clogs, with long blond hair and a strange object lodged in his head. A closer look would reveal that it was a ship's wheel.
At the pirate's words, he immediately turned in astonishment, punched the man who had been waiting for praise clear away, and snatched the newspaper. He read it over and over, then roared in shock,
"What?!"
Some time later, in Infinite Hell on the sixth level of the great underwater prison, Impel Down, the door to Barn's cell opened...
The sound of chains dragging across the floor reached him. Barn had been here for half a year, and this was the first time his cell door had opened. He ruled out the possibility that they were releasing him, which meant...
A "newcomer" had arrived...