Night Raid on Impel Down / Lv. 6, Infinite Hell

Even without a guide, it's possible to find it using Ain's investigative abilities, but it will take more time.

Led by Cobra, the intricate underground passages went smoothly, and the two arrived safely at a room deep within the mausoleum.

The huge room was empty. In the very center of the stone chamber stood a square stone, the side of which, facing the entrance, was covered with incomprehensible square characters.

"This is it. If you want to know what's written on it, I'm sorry, I don't know either. You can make a copy and figure it out yourself..."

As Cobra was speaking, he suddenly suffered a heavy blow to the back of his neck, and immediately lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Ignoring the king, Dimon walked straight to the Poneglyph and placed his hand on the side with the inscription.

Animation!

In an instant, the surface of the Poneglyph seemed to be plated with gold, releasing a hazy golden light.

The next moment, this indestructible stone came to life.

Chapter 115 Night Raid on the Impel Down

The Poneglyph has come alive.

It began to split from the center, along golden lines, like a mecha transforming, from a square stone into... a stone man in the blink of an eye.

"Owner."

The stone man has no facial features, only a symbolic square head.

How can it speak without a mouth? It's not like it's Devil Fruit has come to life... Dimon looked at the new creation in front of him with surprise.

"You can talk?"

Why can I talk?

The stone man's voice was very deep, somewhat like the sound of two stones rubbing together.

Dimon remained silent. You ask me? Who should I ask?

"Rumor has it that the Poneglyph is indestructible. How strong is your defense?"

"I do not understand."

The stone man doesn't seem very intelligent; he looks a bit dim-witted.

"Never mind, just test it out."

Dimon extended his right hand, releasing the mark on his palm, which transformed into a ray of golden light and carved a complex teleportation array on the ground.

Accompanied by a blinding golden light, the two disappeared together into the underground mausoleum.

Beyond the capital lies an endless desert.

A ray of golden light outlined a pentagram magic circle on the sand, and in the next instant, two figures, one large and one small, appeared simultaneously.

This is a magic circle that Dimon left outside the capital before heading there.

When used at this moment, the magic circle gradually dispersed with the undulations of the desert, losing its shape.

"Can it only be used once? It seems that even if a magic circle is inscribed, it still needs a sturdy location."

Dimon withdrew his gaze, drew the Shusui from his waist, and said to the stone man, "Stand still and don't move."

"Yes, Master."

The stone man stood motionless, just like a stone.

Although this guy isn't very smart, he executes orders 100%... Dimon chuckled and tossed Shusui away.

"Go! Strike with all your might!"

Shusui unleashed a powerful Haki. It first flew into the distance to create enough space before turning around and stabbing at the stone man at several times the speed of sound.

Boom!!

The terrifying impact sent the stone man flying, the massive creature tumbling across the desert for hundreds of meters before finally coming to a stop.

Even so, the creature still remembered its master's orders and lay motionless in the desert.

Dimon waved his hand, and Shusui was withdrawn from a distance.

"How about it?"

"Master, this is too hard..."

Shusui sounded quite frustrated; even when facing Garp's Conqueror's Coating before, it had never felt this powerless.

It's simply impossible to sever.

"The rumors were true after all. No wonder the World Government couldn't do anything about this kind of stone."

Dimon exclaimed in admiration, his thoughts wandering as he walked toward the stone man.

If even Shusui's full-force attack couldn't sever the Poneglyph, then how did the Kozuki Clan manage to carve them in the first place?

It certainly wasn't done with a chisel.

As he pondered, he walked to the stone man's side and looked down at the spot on the man's chest where he had been struck.

Sure enough, there wasn't even a scratch.

"Good, get up." Dimon nodded in satisfaction, thought for a moment, and then named the other person. "From now on, you'll be called 'Big Stone'."

Considering there are still quite a few Poneglyph left, we might be able to find a few more pieces. When naming them, we could follow the sequence "Shi Er" (Stone Two), "Shi San" (Stone Three), and so on.

"Yes, Master."

Big Stone Shi got up in a daze and stood there motionless.

Dimon pondered for a moment, then asked:

Can you turn back into your original form?

"Yes, Master."

After saying that, a hazy golden light reappeared on the Big Stone, and in the blink of an eye, it turned back into an ordinary Poneglyph.

It seemed to prefer this state to the stone golem.

"Can you decipher the writing on your body?"

"I do not understand."

"Do you have any memories of that time? I'm asking, who carved the Ancient Script on your body?"

I still don't understand.

Well, he knew nothing about it... Dimon shook his head, giving up on the idea of exploring history.

The Kozuki Clan is now dwindling in number. Not considering the lecherous brat "Kozuki Momonosuke" who traveled through time, only Kozuki Hiyori remains in the world, and she is currently a courtesan in Wano Country.

However, the woman probably didn't know her family's secrets either, so the only way to find out who carved the text 800 years ago would probably be to decipher the Poneglyph.

Nowadays, it seems like only Nico Robin can read Ancient Script. Oh well, I'm not that curious. I'll think about it later... With that thought, Dimon turned and walked deeper into the desert.

"Ain, explore this desert. I remember there's a ruin underground here, and inside there's a Poneglyph."

Yes, Master.

After a full day, Ain's search yielded nothing.

Dimon had no choice but to give up. He remembered that this plot was original to the TV series. Luffy, Zoro, Chopper and others were traveling in the desert when they accidentally stepped on the sand and fell into an ancient underground ruin buried in the yellow sand.

Deep within the cave lies another Poneglyph.

Given that it's original content, it might not actually exist.

"Let's go back. Nami has found her target too."

Late at night.

Impel Down, thousands of meters above the ground.

On the deck of the Wave-Breaking Warrior, a magic circle on the floor flashed with golden light, and Dimon appeared in the center of the circle, along with a Poneglyph.

"Captain, you're back."

Lycaon leaned closer, looking curiously at the Poneglyph. "What's this? Is it tasty?"

Trying to eat even a rock? Be careful you don't break your teeth... Dimon really wanted to complain, but considering maintaining his image, he had to pretend he didn't hear it.

He glanced at Nami, who was holding the sea chart, and said approvingly:

"Your abilities are truly outstanding; you found it so quickly."

"It's no big deal."

Nami waved her hand, a proud look on her face. With a clear sea chart and a fixed natural landmark like the Tarai Current, finding a prison wouldn't be a piece of cake, would it?

A qualified navigator can be found quickly!

Rather than searching for a prison, spending the day on the ship allowed her to witness the interesting aspects of the Seven Deadly Sins.

A talking, flying ship, a gluttonous werewolf, the strangely-eyed older sister Bethany, and the Samael the Wrathful who looks like everyone owes him a million dollars—completely different from the terrifying images described in the news, the people in the organization are surprisingly easy to get along with.

"Mr. Big Eye, you asked me to find the Impel Down. You're not planning to break into the prison to rescue people, are you?"

Nami was extremely curious about this; had one of the organization's members been captured?

"This is none of your business. Your mission is complete; you can go back now."

Dimon reached out and aimed at Nami, releasing a palm print.

The mark on Nami's lower abdomen responded in unison, shining brightly in sync.

She immediately panicked. How could these people just use her and then abandon her? It was outrageous! She wanted to stay a little longer.

"Wait, wait a minute, at least give me some reward, one million... no, five hundred thousand Beli...!"

Amidst cries of defiance, Nami was teleported back to the East Blue and disappeared from the deck.

Bethany couldn't help but laugh.

"Master, this human woman is quite interesting; she actually wants money."

"That's just her personality; it's something she developed since she was little."

Dimon certainly wouldn't pay. For a mere peripheral organization member to serve their master is a tremendous blessing; asking for money? That's ridiculous!

After saying that, he walked to the ship's railing and looked down at the Impel Down below.

Who's going?

"I'll go."

Bethany volunteered, stepping to Dimon's side, her bloodshot eyes reflecting the image of the Impel Down.

"With my abilities, infiltrating this prison would be a piece of cake."

"It's up to you."

Having received permission, Bethany immediately jumped down.

Chapter 116, Level 6, Infinite Hell

The Impel Down has a total of seven levels: one level above the sea and six levels underwater.

The prison is tower-shaped, with most of it underwater. Even so, the portion exposed above sea level is still quite large, equivalent to the size of dozens of football fields.

To reach this place by ordinary means, one would need to navigate the Tarai Current, and the prison's control room would have to actively open a massive Gate of Justice so that the ship could escape the current and enter the waters beyond.

If the Gate of Justice remain closed, ships within the Tarai Current will continue to drift with the current, shuttling between the Impel Down, Enies Lobby, and Marine Headquarters, unable to escape.

Bethany's aerial invasion naturally disregarded the first line of defense.

She plummeted from a height of a thousand meters, eventually landing silently on a suspension bridge outside the prison.

A dozen or so warships were moored around the Impel Down, and marines were on guard everywhere, but no one was aware of the visitors who had suddenly appeared.

Bethany strode toward the prison's main gate, releasing a large amount of odorous energy from her blood-red eyes with each step.