After Souta Kiryuu's crew raided the lower levels of Impel Down and took away most of the prisoners from the third layer and below, they also freed a number of strong Devil Fruit users and capable inmates from the upper levels.
Those who weren't chosen could only scream in despair, faces streaked with tears and snot, as their chances for freedom slipped away.
But there was simply no way to bring them all. Capone Bege's castle-body couldn't possibly contain so many prisoners, and even the stamina of the explosive powerhouse, "Blaster Man" Kiebelkun, wasn't enough to handle detonating that many strong captives.
Meanwhile, the Seraphim "Path of Humanity" was already levitating four Marine battleships stationed at Impel Down—but even then, there wasn't enough room for every prisoner.
As for the suggestion to lift an entire level of Impel Down itself—Souta rejected it outright.
The Seraphim needed too much time to raise an entire floor, and the main force of the Navy Headquarters was already approaching fast. Even from afar, a strange, monstrous bird could be seen streaking toward them through the sky.
If they tried to take the floating island along with them, their target would become enormous, and their speed would drop drastically.
It was better to just leave behind the weak pirates worth a mere ten or twenty million in bounty.
As the four warships rose into the sky and merged with the Ark Veritas, the massive lightning barrier surrounding the prison began to fade—marking the successful end of the audacious, thousand-mile strike on Impel Down.
"Boss Kami! Let me fight the Marines!!"
The self-proclaimed Thunder God Enel's eyes burned with fury. He couldn't stand how low his bounty still was—he needed to make another grand move to prove himself.
"Our crew alone can't handle the Five Elders and the entire Navy Headquarters," Souta said calmly, shutting him down. "If you're so desperate to raise your bounty, save it for next time—go slaughter a few Celestial Dragons."
If it were only the Navy's elite forces, the Souta Pirates might have stood their ground for a spectacular battle.
But the presence of even one of the Five Elders meant that all five could respond at any time.
That was a risk Souta had no intention of taking.
"Move! Pull out—now!"
He barked the command, cutting short Enel's bloodlust. Under his orders, the airborne fleet began a rapid retreat from Impel Down's skies.
The strange bird—Izunaten, as the world called it—was moving far faster than any Marine vessel. There was no chance they'd clash with the Navy first.
And Souta had no desire to face the Five Elders in open combat.
After the war at God-Demon Island, he had already drawn the full ire of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
For all he knew, once Izunaten arrived, Imu herself and the four remaining Elders might descend upon him—and in that case, his entire crew could be wiped out in minutes.
Never underestimate how badly Imu and the Five Elders wanted him dead.
Following his command, the Ark Veritas and the four captured warships sped away from Impel Down, flying toward the Grand Line.
To buy time and create a distraction, Souta ordered Gecko Moria to leave behind several zombies on the prison's surface level, waving the blood-red dragon flag of the Kiryuu Pirates to taunt the incoming monster bird.
Among them was a fat zombie dressed in the attire of a Celestial Dragon.
Souta couldn't help but smirk—he wondered how furious Saint Marcus Mars would be when he saw that.
"Running away so quickly, huh? And here I thought you weren't afraid of the World Government," scoffed the three men left aboard the Ark Veritas: Red Earl Ledfield, Douglas Bullet, and World.
They had assumed that the man who dared slaughter so many Celestial Dragons—Souta Kiryuu—had enough power to stand against the Government itself.
Now, they realized they'd overestimated him.
"This is called a strategic retreat," Souta shot back sharply. "Or would you rather I copy you three and rot in prison for twenty or thirty years?"
Their expressions darkened. The remark hit home—and the sharpness of Souta's tongue made the sting worse.
Boa Hancock and Enel both glared at them with visible disdain, ready to cut them down at a single word from Souta.
"Hmph."
All three men snorted coldly, humiliated. Being reminded of their imprisonment was the greatest shame of their lives.
"In our hands, you have no other choice but to join us. Death isn't even an option anymore."
Souta chuckled, his tone calm but cold. His gaze drifted to Crocodile, once just as rebellious and prideful—but now, through his modifications, a loyal and battle-ready Pacifista.
"Kuma," Souta said after a pause, "you can send those two back now."
Once they'd escaped the windless zone near Impel Down, Souta ordered Bartholomew Kuma to return Ivankov and Inazuma—the Revolutionary Army's officers—to their base.
He had no intention of bringing those two troublemakers back to Skypiea.
"Understood."
Kuma nodded softly. He exchanged a few quiet words with Ivankov, handing over a special Den Den Mushi before saying goodbye.
Amid Ivankov's tearful protests and emotional farewell, Kuma pressed his massive paw forward, and with the power of his Paw-Paw Fruit, sent both Ivankov and Inazuma hurtling through the air—back to the Revolutionary Headquarters.
"You… you're Brook, the musician?"
Under Souta's arrangements, the skeletal musician finally came face-to-face with the now-aged Red Earl Ledfield. Neither had expected to see the other again after fifty years.
"Yohohohoho! Ledfield, my boy, how the times have changed! Who would've thought you'd grow into such a legendary figure? Truly, I envy you."
Brook let out his signature laugh, his bones rattling with each movement.
Back in the day, Ledfield had been a nobleman from the West Blue. Who would've imagined that same aristocrat would become one of the most feared pirates of the era—standing alongside the Pirate King and the Four Emperors?
Of course, in Brook's era, Roger had only just begun making a name for himself.
"Brook… your body…" Ledfield murmured, frowning.
"Yohohohoho! I ate the Revive-Revive Fruit. Came back from the dead as this handsome skeleton you see before you! Looks tragic, doesn't it? But Captain Souta says I might be a form of alternative immortality."
Brook spoke cheerfully, his optimism unshaken.
Life aboard Souta's ship was a paradise compared to the endless solitude of the Florian Triangle. No more decades of aimless drifting, no hunger, no thirst, no insanity—just music, laughter, and purpose.
Though his skeletal body didn't need food or water, it also couldn't grow stronger without nutrients or energy. That was why, despite decades of training, he'd never been able to defeat Moria back in the day.
But after joining Souta's crew, both Vegapunk and Souta helped him develop his Revive Fruit abilities further—creating nutritional infusions and fortified meals specially for him.
Now Brook had begun mastering his ghostly and icy techniques, growing stronger by the day.
"Alternative immortality?"
Ledfield's eyes narrowed. Bullet and World glanced over too. Was it truly possible—eternal life through a Devil Fruit?
But seeing Brook's bony form, it was hard to say whether that kind of "immortality" was worth having.
"Ledfield," Brook whispered carefully, leaning closer. "Captain Souta can be cruel to his enemies—but he's kind to those who serve him. For your own sake… don't refuse his offer."
Brook had seen what went on inside Vegapunk's laboratory. He understood all too well why Crocodile had become so obedient.
And he didn't want to watch another familiar face be turned into a tool like him.