Even notorious figures like Crocodile and Shiryu of the Rain felt a faint tremor of unease.
The strength of those four criminals had been terrifying in their own right. How could anyone who was imprisoned on the Sixth Floor of Impel Down be weak? Yet, in an instant, they were slaughtered. If such monsters could be erased so casually, what chance did others stand?
Thorne Ashveil had done it with a single flash. Had the situation been reversed, their fates would likely have been the same—instant decapitation.
Red Count, Douglas Bullet, and Byrnndi World narrowed their eyes at the young man who stood before them. He was dangerous, undeniably so, but he hadn't yet reached the point of instilling true fear into their hearts.
"Ashveil," Bullet said with a cold smirk, "don't misunderstand. We're helping you because you freed us, not because we're afraid of your strength."
His words captured the unspoken thoughts of Redfield and World perfectly. If rumors spread that they, the old monsters of the sea, had acted out of fear of this upstart, their reputations would be destroyed. Clarifying their stance was necessary.
"Of course," Ashveil replied with a calm smile. "This is nothing more than an equal exchange. I have no other intentions."
Just like that, the most infamous criminals of the Sixth Floor—beasts stripped from history for their brutality—marched alongside Ashveil, forming a force that shook Impel Down to its core.
The Marines defending the prison might as well have been decorations. Ashveil didn't even need to lift a finger; the rampaging criminals tore through the jailers effortlessly, leaving blood and chaos in their wake.
Laughter echoed through the cold, dim corridors. It was arrogant, wild, and terrifying. The entire prison was swallowed by madness.
Killing anyone who stood in their way, Ashveil and his terrifying companions reached the upper floors. When they finally arrived at the main gate, two thousand armed soldiers awaited them.
But the moment the guards saw the intruders, their discipline collapsed.
"T-Those faces! Red Count, Ashviel,Bullet, Shiryu of the Rain, Ace… My god, these are all monsters of the sea!"
"What do we do?! We can't stop them!"
Vice Warden Hannyabal, drenched in sweat, fumbled with a Den Den Mushi, frantically contacting Marineford.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, urgent report! Impel Down has completely fallen!"
At Marineford, Sengoku had been observing Whitebeard's movements when the call came through. His expression instantly darkened.
"What happened, Sengoku?" Vice Admiral Tsuru asked, her voice heavy with suspicion.
Sengoku coughed, his face grim. "Luffy broke into Impel Down… but that isn't even the worst of it. There's something far more dangerous." His fists clenched, his voice filled with despair.
Tsuru frowned, concern flashing in her eyes. She had never seen Sengoku so shaken.
"The criminals from the Sixth Floor have all escaped!" he declared.
The atmosphere froze. Even Garp, who had been nearby, tensed.
"All of them?" Garp asked sharply.
"The situation is unclear, but confirmed escapes include Ace, Crocodile, Shiryu of the Rain, Byrnndi World, Douglas Bullet, Thorne Ashveil, and Red Count Redfield!" Sengoku's teeth ground together as he spat out the names.
A collective hiss spread through the room.
Ace's escape, with his execution so close, was a humiliation in itself. But worse was the release of the monsters who had once shaken the seas. Garp knew exactly what this meant. Many of those criminals were ones he had risked his life to capture. Now, all of that sacrifice had been undone in an instant.
The world was about to be thrown into chaos.
Vice Admiral Tsuru's face tightened with dread. The newer generation of Marines couldn't possibly stand against such monsters. But if not them, who else could?
Back inside Impel Down, Hannyabal collapsed as a surge of overwhelming Conqueror's Haki crushed him into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, Luffy, oblivious to the devastation caused by Ashveil and his allies, was still racing downward. By the time he reached the Sixth Floor, they were long gone.
What greeted him instead was devastation. His mouth hung open, and sweat dripped down his face.
The walls of the Sixth Floor were shattered, the reinforced cells ripped apart, Seastone chains lying in pieces across the ground. It looked less like a prison and more like the aftermath of a natural disaster.
At the center of it all, Warden Magellan lay frozen in a block of ice, his body covered in blood.
Nearby, several other criminals lay broken and battered, their conditions uncertain.
"Wh-what happened here?" Luffy muttered in disbelief, his voice trembling.
Ivankov's heavily made-up face paled as his wide eyes scanned the carnage. Even his flamboyant mannerisms could not conceal his fear.
He knew the might of Magellan, and he knew the legends of those who had been locked on this floor. Sajuan Wolf, the Nine-Tailed Fox, Big Barrel, Avalo Pizarro…
Monsters whose names had been erased from history because their crimes were too vile, their power too great.
And yet here they lay, beaten into ruin.
"Who… what kind of monster could reduce Impel Down's most terrifying floor to this?" Ivankov whispered, trembling.
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