At the entrance to Impel Down-
Golden Lion lightly patted a gatepost. The instant his palm touched it, the ground throughout the entrance area trembled. The paving stones began to crack.
Then a large section of the dock peeled away from the ground and slowly rose.
Loose rubble tumbled from its broken edges as it ascended, scattering into the sea and sending up splashes.
Golden Lion stood in the center of the floating dock, his hands tucked into his sleeves. His orange-and-yellow striped haori fluttered in the sea breeze.
Red Count and Bullet, standing nearby, showed no surprise. Crescent Moon Hunter and the other three, however, murmured in amazement.
The section of dock was fairly large, but Great Battleship was a giant. Crouching on it, he looked as though he were sitting in a one-man skiff.
Directly overhead, the Abyss launched a counterattack against the Red Tears.
Purple crystal structures across its hull gathered purple beams of light and fired them at the Red Tears.
The Red Tears slowly adjusted its orientation toward the Abyss, and its shipboard energy cannon arrays blazed white again.
Purple and white cannon beams crisscrossed the sky, erupting into brilliant rainbow refractions whenever they struck the opposing shields.
The spectacle looked straight out of a space-war movie, leaving plenty of people dumbfounded.
Granted, in essence, the two battleships were using their Benson Shells to draw energy from the planet magnetic field and shoot fireworks at each other.
Great Battleship and Great Sake Barrel were dim-witted and drunk, respectively. Neither was much of a talker, so one went "ababa," while the other went "wibbly-babble."
"A-amazing, meow..."
Corrupt King made a sound completely at odds with his rough, burly appearance and steadied his jaw.
"...It's only been a few years..."
Crescent Moon Hunter sighed, unable to comprehend