If it weren't for the chaos in Mary Geoise—the funerals of the slain Celestial Dragons and the ongoing purge of government spies—the Five Elders would have already sent forces to annihilate Amazon Lily. They wanted to teach both the Pirate Empress and Souta Kiryuu a lesson they would never forget.
But Amazon Lily wasn't going anywhere. The island sat quietly in the Calm Belt, waiting for the day judgment arrived. Once the Five Elders were free from the crisis at hand, they would issue an Order of Demon Extermination to wipe it from existence.
At this moment, the Navy's main fleets were still scattered across the New World, regrouping the remnants of their shattered divisions. And when those fleets returned… it would mark the day Amazon Lily was erased from the sea.
Under the command of the Five Elders, a massive spy purge had begun inside the Navy itself.
The exposure of Shinka Island's location could not have been the work of spies from Mary Geoise alone—there had to be infiltrators hidden deep within Marineford, the heart of naval power.
For a time, both CP agents and high-ranking admirals lived in constant paranoia, suspecting each other of treachery.
Meanwhile, the warship that Admiral Akainu had sent to check on Impel Down approached cautiously through the waves—only for its lookouts to see an enormous dome of thunderclouds encasing the entire prison like a cage of lightning.
The moment they saw it, the communications officer panicked, fumbling to grab a Den Den Mushi and report back to headquarters.
"What did you say?! Impel Down… surrounded by lightning?!"
Akainu—Sakazuki—and Admiral Tensei the Black Horse both went pale.
This sight was disturbingly familiar.
"Could it be… Souta Kiryuu's crew? Are they invading Impel Down?!"
The thought alone sent a shiver down their spines.
After Enies Lobby… could it be that even the prison known as the Iron Fortress of the World Government was about to fall into ruin?
"They couldn't have returned from Shinka Island this quickly…"
Akainu's expression hardened.
But then he remembered the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit, and the airship that Souta's crew used to travel the skies. It wasn't impossible—they could've crossed half the world in a single day.
The realization chilled him to the core.
"Tensei—call Vice Admiral Garp and Instructor Zephyr! We're heading to Impel Down immediately!"
Sakazuki's tone left no room for argument. Against the Kiryuu Pirates, he knew he couldn't act alone.
If they were going to face Souta Kiryuu head-on, they needed every top-tier fighter they could muster.
Otherwise… they would only be throwing their lives away.
He ordered the communications officer to immediately report the incident to the Five Elders.
If even one of the Five decided to act personally, they might have a chance to capture the Kiryuu Pirates—or at least, to reclaim Vegapunk.
During the battle of Shinka Island, Souta Kiryuu had united three Yonko, the Revolutionary Army, and even the Golden Lion himself to fight the Five Elders.
But this time, it was only his pirate crew.
The Navy's main forces alone could crush them—as long as they didn't flee.
That last thought made Sakazuki's jaw tighten.
The Kiryuu Pirates were known for their impossible mobility—appearing and vanishing across the seas like ghosts.
Who could possibly stop them?
In the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, the moment the Five Elders received the Navy's report, their fury erupted like wildfire.
They hadn't even finished preparing to destroy Amazon Lily—and Souta Kiryuu already dared to attack them again?!
Saint Markus Mars, one of the Five Elders, transformed into his Mythical Bird Form—Yatagarasu, wings spreading wide as he soared out of Mary Geoise at blinding speed, heading straight for Impel Down.
This time, they would not let him escape.
This time, they would capture Souta Kiryuu and take back Vegapunk at all costs.
At Marineford, the main harbor was chaos.
Elite marines rushed in formation as dozens of warships were loaded for battle.
"Damn villains!"
Vice Admiral Garp the Fist threw on his white cape and stepped aboard the warship with the dog-head prow.
Though a part of him found the Tenryuubito's slaughter on Shinka Island deeply satisfying, he couldn't ignore what Souta Kiryuu had done to Enies Lobby—or what would happen if the criminals of Impel Down were released.
His eyes grew cold with determination.
He couldn't allow that.
Beside him, Black Arm Zephyr stood silently, flanked by his disciples, Ain and Binz.
Since the day the World Government tried to recruit a pirate into the Shichibukai, Zephyr's faith in the Navy had been shattered.
How could they even consider such a thing?
That man—the one who cut off Zephyr's arm and slaughtered an entire ship of recruits—being given a title of "legal pirate"?
The thought alone made him sick.
"A rotten world," Zephyr muttered coldly. "A decaying government… a cowardly Navy. They all deserve to burn."
He had grown weary—of the hypocrisy, the politics, the compromise.
For him, the title of "Navy hero" had lost its meaning long ago.
The Seven Warlords system disgusted him to his core.
"Coexistence with pirates"? "Legalized pillaging"?—what kind of justice was that?
He clenched his fist.
"Garbage… every last one of them."
Deep inside, Zephyr had already decided—he would one day form a new Navy, one that hunted pirates without restraint or politics.
He only needed the right moment.
As Admiral Akainu led the fleet from Marineford, nearly all of the Navy's elite combat forces set sail with him, racing toward Impel Down.
The World Government could not afford to lose one of its three pillars—the Eternal Prison.
Inside Impel Down – Level 6: Infinite Hell
The chaos was unthinkable.
Dozens of notorious prisoners were being pulled one by one into Bege's living fortress, sealed away within his body for transport.
Even the colossal giant, Sanjuan Wolf, had willingly let himself be deflated by Geberkun, the puncture-man, and was neatly stacked and stored like cargo.
Souta Kiryuu didn't have time to recruit them all now.
He would take them first—then deal with their loyalty later.
Notorious pirates like Catarina Devon the Crescent Hunter, Basco Shot the Heavy Drinker, and Avalo Pizarro the Corrupt King—all were treated the same and dragged away.
"Level Five—the Freezing Hell," explained Ivankov cheerfully, guiding the Kiryuu crew through the ice tunnels.
"They say most of the inmates here had bounties over a hundred million… but almost all of them froze to death. Even worse survival rate than Level Six!"
When Ivankov first met Souta Kiryuu, he'd been shocked by the man's sheer aura of dominance.
It was greater than even Dragon's.
And seeing Shiryu of the Rain, the brutal former head jailer, now walking obediently behind Kiryuu like a loyal subordinate—it was clear enough.
Souta Kiryuu was not someone to be provoked.
"Pick whoever you want. Anyone still breathing, take them," Souta said flatly.
Beside him, Gecko Moria grinned wickedly, even collecting the frozen corpses of those long dead.
Each of these men had once held bounties exceeding a hundred million—they would make fine test subjects.
Many corpses, however, had already been devoured by the monstrous demon wolves that roamed this icy hell.
On Level Four—the Burning Heat Hell, prisoners with bounties between fifty and a hundred million suffered endlessly in boiling blood pools, forced to carry massive timbers until they dropped dead.
The Four Jailer Beasts and Little Sadi whipped them mercilessly.
"Take whoever's still alive. Prioritize Devil Fruit users," Souta ordered calmly.
He gestured for Boa Hancock to undo the petrification on the Jailer Beasts.
His men fitted each prisoner with Seastone cuffs, restoring their human forms before dragging them off with Magellan's assistance.
As for Hannyabal, the deputy warden without a Devil Fruit power, Souta paused for a moment—then decided to let him go.
Perhaps it was mercy. Or strategy.
He would leave a few loyal marines behind to manage what was left of Impel Down.
He wasn't here to erase it completely—not yet.
Leaving a handful of prisoners in the upper levels would ensure the Government wouldn't abandon the prison entirely.
Because one day, Souta Kiryuu planned to harvest Impel Down again—
and give the World Government yet another "surprise."