Chapter 146: The Rescue Begins

After waiting for quite a long time and discussing a few more tactical details, the group saw only Inazuma returning alone.

"Where is Absalom?" Buffon asked.

Inazuma answered truthfully, "I don't know. He hasn't returned yet, but there are no unusual movements on Level 6 so far."

Hearing this, Ivankov glanced at Buffon, waiting for him to make the decision.

Buffon did not think twice. Regardless of Absalom's current situation, as long as chaos broke out on Level 5, the guards on Level 6 would definitely come to reinforce no matter what. As long as he could successfully stall Magellan, everything else would fall into place once they entered Level 6.

"Baggio, are you confident against those Level 6 guards?" Although Buffon was well aware of Baggio's combat power, he asked just to ensure nothing went wrong.

"Leave all the jailers to me!"

Hearing this, Buffon nodded and said, "Then let the operation begin!"

...

Inside the warden's office, Magellan, having finished dealing with his diarrhea, was pacing slowly, pondering the words Mr. 3 had said earlier.

His previous dismissal of Mr. 3's words as sheer nonsense was not actually his true thought; he had merely said that for the benefit of his subordinates. Ever since Buffon first arrived at Impel Down a few years ago, he had harbored a deep sense of caution toward him. Even Magellan himself did not understand why he had felt such intense hostility toward Buffon back then, when Buffon's combat power was virtually negligible, surpassing even his hostility toward the long-established Warlord of the Sea, Gecko Moria.

However, the current situation proved that his worries back then were not misplaced.

As for what Mr. 3 had said, he believed at least half of it was true. He certainly would not believe the claim that Crocodile had been killed in seconds. With his keen self-awareness, Magellan knew that Crocodile in the desert was not so easily defeated. Even if he were to make a move himself, dealing with a Logia user would require considerable effort. Thus, Buffon's victory over him probably hadn't been too easy either; Mr. 3 had likely exaggerated Buffon's combat power purely to cover up his own defeat.

As for the newspaper reports claiming that the Straw Hat brat had defeated Crocodile, Magellan wouldn't believe it even without internal intelligence reports confirming otherwise.

Regarding the current deployment within Impel Down, Magellan believed it was as solid as an iron bucket. Even without the intervention of the reinforcement forces stationed outside, he felt that relying solely on Impel Down's own strength, any intruder daring to come would be captured. After all, Impel Down was unlike the navy, which had to rely on the formidable warships and cannons on the sea. A place like Impel Down, which imprisoned criminals, prioritized survival above all else. Whether ordinary jailers or Guard Beasts, when compared at the same tier, they were vastly superior to the navy.

Facing these pirates who would stop at nothing to escape, the slightest carelessness could easily lead to capsizing in the gutter.

Years ago, Miss Valentine—no, Miss Alvida—wait, Miss Olivia had entered Impel Down for a physical examination, seduced Hannyabal with her beauty, knocked him out, changed into his clothes to escape the prison, and was ultimately defeated by the arriving Magellan. There was also Shiki the Golden Lion, who cut off his own legs shackled in Seastone, used two swords as feet, and used his Devil Fruit ability to escape Impel Down. These were all lessons from the past.

Moreover, the navy was a public force displayed by the World Government. While facing orders from the World Government, they also had to deal with public opinion pressure from people around the world, even though they never cared much about it.

Impel Down, however, only answered to the World Government and faced absolutely no external pressure from any other source. Therefore, when carrying out missions, the people of Impel Down had never shown any scruples. As long as the prisoners weren't allowed to escape, there would theoretically be no major problems.

Besides, fighting fiercely inside Impel Down meant there was no need to consider the safety of others at all. Aside from the jailers, everyone else was a prisoner. Whenever Magellan attacked, all the jailers in Impel Down would stay far away. As for those prisoners, if they died, they died.

This was the main reason Magellan was confident he could keep Buffon here.

Just at that moment, the poison-mask-wearing Den Den Mushi on Magellan's desk rang. He picked it up, listened to the report, and his expression instantly changed. He opened the door and strode toward Level 5.

Yet, the moment he stepped into the hallway, Buffon, clad in his battle gear, appeared before him and blocked his path.

The moment he saw Buffon, Magellan was greatly shocked. He simply could not fathom how Buffon had managed to get in. But this was not the time to dwell on that; since Buffon was already inside, figuring out the reason was of no use now.

Magellan said calmly, "Castor Buffon, I never expected you to actually come in person."

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Buffon's lips as he replied, "I am returning those exact words Moria said to you back then."

While Magellan was still recalling what Moria had said at the time, he heard Buffon slowly articulate, "As long as you dare lay a hand on Moria, I will risk my life to turn Impel Down upside down!"

Hearing this, the usually stern Magellan suddenly chuckled. "Hmph! A few years ago, I listened to those words as a joke. Hearing them come from your mouth now, I still consider them a joke."

With that, the fourth floor where the two stood began to fill with pale purple mist.

This was one of Magellan's large-scale lethal techniques—releasing a massive amount of poison gas from his body. Once it touched the body, the five senses would gradually fade.

Immediately, miserable screams began to echo from the cells within Level 4:

"Magellan, you bastard, what on earth are you doing?!"

"You beast, we've already been tortured beyond recognition, what are you..."

Hearing these miserable cries, Magellan let out a deep roar, "It seems you all really need me to remind you once again who is truly the boss of this Impel Down!"

...

Meanwhile, Level 5 had descended into complete chaos. The released pirates, boosted by Belo Betty's encouragement fruit, had forgotten the biting cold of the place. Facing packs of military wolves, they charged toward the Level 4 exit without any regard for their lives.

At the same time, swarms of "Great Gladiators" Bluegoris, under Saldeath's command, swung their giant axes at these pirates.

However, the pirates imprisoned on Level 5 possessed strength far beyond the weaklings of the upper levels. One could gauge their strength simply by the fact that even Mr. 1 was only imprisoned on Level 4. Even the weakest among them was superior to the top agents of Baroque Works.

Even the Bluegoris, who could easily hunt giant Sea Kings, showed signs of fatigue under the desperate, suicidal attacks of these pirates.

Witnessing this combat situation after catching a pirate in a net, Saldeath muttered in questioning doubt, "Why hasn't Warden Magellan come down yet? Could he have been blocked by some powerful pirate?"

However, carefully reviewing the roster of Level 5 pirates in his mind, aside from Roch Thompson and George Blake, there were no particularly formidable combatants in his memory. Yet even if those two joined forces, they apparently wouldn't be a match for Magellan.

Combining this with the inexplicable mass prison break of these inmates, he thought of the legend in Impel Down regarding the ghost-sleeved phantom.

"Could it be the work of that Okama King, Emporio Ivankov?"

Seeing the situation deteriorating step by step and lacking a Den Den Mushi to communicate, he sprinted toward Level 6.

At that moment, Hannyabal, who had been making heart eyes at Hina on the pirate platform, also received notification of the riot on Level 5. He put away his lecherous expression and hurriedly led his subordinates to reinforce.

Seeing Hannyabal's drastically altered expression and hurried departure, Hina deduced that something must have gone wrong inside Impel Down.

At that moment, a nearby marine reminded her, "Commander Hina, our mission is complete. We can sail back now."

Hina shook her head, however, and said, "No rush. It looks like something has happened in Impel Down. Report the situation to Marine Headquarters immediately. We'll wait right here. If nothing happens, we can leave later. If any pirates actually escape, Hina doesn't mind locking them back up and sending them back!"

Though she said that, her thoughts were different. Recalling the inexplicable sweet dreams on the way here, she felt this matter might be related to that fellow Buffon.

If so...

...

Inside a cell on Level 6, three tattered prisoners were shackled by Seastone cuffs to the three surrounding walls. Looking at the jailers frantically organizing defenses outside the cell, a slightly mocking voice rang out: "With Level 6 fortified like an iron bucket now, someone actually dares to break in. Moria, could that brat Buffon really be here to save you?"

The speaker was none other than Hannyabal—no, Hannyabal was upstairs—it was Shiliew. Ever since Moria had taken his shadow, he had grown much more depressed. However, just a few days ago, Moria had actually been captured and imprisoned in the same cell as him, instantly reigniting his hope. If he could find an opportunity for Moria to return his shadow, he would at least have a chance of walking out of this prison.

"Kishishishishi! You really know how to joke, Shiliew. I'd rather be locked up here for the rest of my life than see Buffon come to save me." Although Moria was covered in injuries, not a hint of despair could be heard in his voice. For the past few years, he had been coasting by in the Florian Triangle, but ever since his inner fighting spirit was rekindled by Buffon, his mindset was no longer one of mere resignation.

Even imprisoned, he was still contemplating whether he could find an opportunity to collect some powerful shadows here. If he truly had a chance to escape, it would undoubtedly provide immense help to Buffon.

However, deep down, he didn't want Buffon to rescue him right now, because...

...

Just then, another laugh interrupted Moria's thoughts.

"Hahaha! How laughable. The crew members on a ship are merely tools to be utilized. Little bat, you surely don't think that so-called companion of yours is actually going to come here and save you, do you?"

The speaker was George Blake, who had been sent in alongside Moria a few days ago. He had previously been imprisoned on Level 5 in a frozen, suspended-animation state for thirty years. He himself had no idea why the people of Impel Down had suddenly awakened him from that state and locked him in the same cell as these two.

Through his observations over the past few days, he knew there was considerable bad blood between these two, and the reason Level 6 was currently on high alert was entirely to guard against the person they called Buffon coming to rescue them.

Blake's brother had been sickly, and his dream was to travel the world with his brother, vowing to protect him. The two had gone to sea together, encountered disaster, and been forced to become pirates. Later, because they were forced to attack a Celestial Dragon's ship, they were besieged by the navy. The two sides were evenly matched until they were backstabbed by CP5, causing the crew to mutiny and attack him—making him believe that the officers he trusted deeply had also betrayed him.

That was why he now harbored a complete distrust of crew members, leading to his remarks just now.

"Kishishishishi! Old man Blake, you should harbor a bone-deep hatred for the World Government, shouldn't you? If Buffon really comes to rescue me, I'll have him take you along, and we can fight the World Government together once we're out!"

Hearing that Moria still had the mood to joke, Blake said with utter disdain, "You'd better spend your time figuring out how to deal with that woman's daily interrogation. To be honest, I never imagined a woman could be so devoid of any bottom line."

The woman Blake referred to was none other than Snow Colt, who had come here to lie in wait for Buffon. Hating Buffon to the core, she naturally vented all her anger onto Moria after arriving. Although she wasn't as brutally sadistic toward prisoners as Shiliew, visiting daily to torture Moria with "cherry blossoms" was an absolute routine.

Especially after Shiliew saw that she had appropriated his signature sword, Rain, his hatred for this woman was second only to his hatred for Moria.

"I wonder what Buffon did to that woman to make her harbor such intense hatred for him! She's also a member of the World Government's secret intelligence agency. Blake, I'm sure you don't have any fondness for her either."

Hearing the words "World Government secret intelligence agency," Blake's expression darkened once more.

At that moment, the sound of fighting echoed from outside. All three were startled. Could someone really have broken in?

They heard the sound of a cell door unlocking, and Snow Colt, dressed in white, walked in.

"Kishishishishi! It's not time yet today. Did your hands get itchy early?" Moria showed no fear, instead provoking Snow Colt.

However, Snow Colt did not "interrogate" Moria as she usually did. Instead, she walked straight up to Shiliew and unlocked the shackles on his body.

Then, she tossed the sword Rain into Shiliew's hands and said, "Though you are locked up here, your identity remains part of Impel Down. The prisoners on Level 5 are staging a mass prison break, and Magellan has been trapped on Level 4 by an unknown enemy. Go help Saldeath suppress those pirates on Level 5. If you perform well, I can directly intercede with the World Government on your behalf!"

"Hmph!" Shiliew sneered, catching his old partner Rain and walking out of the cell without a word.

In his eyes, this was merely another utilization. So what if the World Government released him? As long as Moria didn't return his shadow, leaving Impel Down was no different from staying in a cell.

Still, Rain, which hadn't tasted blood in a long time, managed to stir up a tiny bit of interest in him.

"Consider it warming up my body!" Thinking thus, Shiliew rushed rapidly toward Level 5.

After arranging for Shiliew, Snow Colt did not leave immediately. Instead, she turned to Moria and said, "Don't get your hopes up. That brat Buffon won't come to rescue you anytime soon."

Her judgment was based on the fact that after Magellan released the poison cloud on Level 4, no jailer dared to approach, and all surveillance Den Den Mushi had failed. Therefore, everyone up and down Impel Down attributed the cause to the ghost-sleeved phantom. Furthermore, within Level 5, after Belo Betty's brief appearance, the Revolutionary Army group continued to hide in Level 5.5 awaiting an opportunity. Thus, no other intruders had been discovered yet.

Moreover, the usually arrogant Snow Colt, having heard about Buffon causing a ruckus at Enies Lobby, judged that Buffon would not launch a rescue mission to Impel Down anytime soon.

"Kishishishishi! I hope he never comes. You dogs of the World Government only know how to lord it over others under the tyranny of the Celestial Dragons. I believe Buffon will completely overturn the World Government one day!"

Moria laughed wildly and arrogantly, as if he himself would be the one to accomplish all of this!