The opposite cell remained silent.
No response came from within.
Yet there was unquestionably someone imprisoned there.
The iron bars surrounding that particular cell were unlike the others.
Each bar was several times thicker than those used throughout the rest of Impel Down.
Heavy Kairoseki chains crisscrossed the interior like a giant web.
Within that prison sat a tall, gaunt old man.
His body was wrapped layer after layer in thick restraints.
Chains bound his arms.
Chains bound his legs.
Even his torso and neck were shackled with specially forged restraints.
His eyes remained tightly shut.
His breathing was so faint that it was nearly impossible to detect.
To most people, he would appear indistinguishable from a corpse.
"A king has descended upon Impel Down."
The voice came from the neighboring cell.
The speaker was the enormous old man frozen within the gigantic block of ice.
Byrnndi World.
The legendary pirate once feared across the seas.
"No… that aura doesn't belong to Garp."
World muttered to himself.
"That old bastard doesn't possess that kind of presence."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Could it be an unknown conqueror?"
"Or perhaps…"
A grin slowly spread across his frozen face.
"An intruder?"
"An intruder breaking into Impel Down?"
"Hehehehe…"
The thought amused him greatly.
After all, he had spent more than twenty years trapped in this frozen prison.
Anything capable of disrupting the monotony of his imprisonment was welcome.
Unfortunately, the gaunt old man in the neighboring cell showed no reaction.
World continued talking anyway.
He had not held a real conversation in decades.
The burst of Haoshoku Haki from above had awakened him from a state resembling hibernation.
Now that he was awake, he found himself unwilling to return to silence.
"Wald… what does it matter who came here?"
A raspy voice suddenly emerged from the neighboring cell.
World froze.
The old man had actually responded.
For a brief moment, genuine surprise appeared on his face.
"Whether it's a king or a god…"
"The outcome will remain the same."
"We'll eventually die in this prison."
The gaunt old man's voice was calm.
Indifferent.
Almost detached from the world.
World stared for several moments before bursting into laughter.
"Zehahaha!"
"You're still as gloomy as ever!"
The old pirate couldn't help feeling delighted.
After all, the person imprisoned beside him was every bit as infamous as he was.
A monster feared throughout the seas.
A man who once stood alone against countless enemies.
The legendary pirate known as the Lone Red.
Patrick Redfield.
The very fact that such a monster was rotting away beside him in Impel Down somehow made World feel better about his own circumstances.
"What's so funny?"
Redfield slowly opened one eye.
His gaze was cold.
"You aren't exactly living a glorious life yourself."
The old man slowly lifted a container made from scraps he had collected over the years.
Inside was water.
Every drop had been painstakingly gathered from condensation and moisture that accumulated around his cell.
Food was scarce in Level Six.
Water was strictly rationed.
Impel Down intentionally kept dangerous prisoners weak by carefully controlling what they consumed.
Redfield took a small sip.
World immediately stared.
His throat moved involuntarily.
"Leave some for me."
The request came shamelessly.
Redfield ignored him completely.
The silence lasted several seconds before World finally snorted.
"Hahaha!"
"The world-destroying monster who once terrified the World Government is now collecting droplets of water like a beggar."
"What an embarrassing sight."
Redfield remained expressionless.
World continued laughing.
Yet there was bitterness hidden beneath the laughter.
Because he knew the same truth.
They were both prisoners.
Legends of a bygone era.
Reduced to surviving one day at a time.
No matter how glorious their past had been, they were now nothing more than names forgotten by the world.
…
Meanwhile, far above Impel Down, the Marine warship carrying Saint Roselith Seraphina had already departed.
The prisoners had been successfully transferred.
Without hundreds of chained pirates occupying the lower decks, the vessel felt noticeably lighter.
A refreshing sea breeze swept across the deck.
"Adjust course."
Seraphina's voice carried across the ship.
The young Rear Admiral stood at the bow, her white Justice Coat fluttering in the wind.
The silver-haired noblewoman appeared calm and composed as always.
"We're heading to Alabasta."
Immediately, the Marines sprang into action.
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
"All personnel to your stations!"
"Set course for Alabasta!"
The helmsman adjusted the wheel.
The sails shifted.
The warship accelerated toward its destination.
…
Several days later.
The waters surrounding Alabasta.
A pirate ship bearing a black flag approached the kingdom's coastline.
The atmosphere aboard was filled with excitement.
Dozens of pirates drank alcohol and celebrated wildly.
"Men!"
A burly pirate captain stood atop a crate.
His massive frame towered over his crew.
"We're almost there!"
"The Kingdom of Alabasta is one of the richest nations in Paradise!"
"We'll take everything!"
"Gold!"
"Silver!"
"Women!"
"We'll take it all!"
The pirates erupted into cheers.
"Hehehe!"
"Burn everything!"
"Loot everything!"
"Kill anyone who gets in our way!"
The captain's words drove the crew into a frenzy.
One of the pirates suddenly shouted.
"Captain!"
"How are we dividing the women afterward?"
The captain laughed loudly.
"Whoever grabs them first keeps them!"
More cheers followed.
The pirate ship quickly approached the harbor.
Within minutes, it reached the coast.
Ahead stretched the vast Kingdom of Alabasta.
"Charge!"
The pirates poured onto the docks.
The harbor immediately descended into chaos.
Workers abandoned cargo.
Merchants fled in panic.
Boatmen scrambled away from the shoreline.
"Pirates!"
"It's a pirate attack!"
"Which crew is it?"
"Who cares?! Run!"
The port guards quickly mobilized.
The commander of the harbor defenses immediately ordered a distress signal sent toward Alubarna.
However, when he saw the pirate flag clearly, his expression turned pale.
The Steel Fang Pirates.
Their captain carried a bounty exceeding fifty million berries.
Among Paradise's pirate crews, they possessed considerable notoriety.
The harbor guards never stood a chance.
The pirates overwhelmed them almost instantly.
The difference in strength was simply too great.
"The kingdom army has fallen!"
"We can't stop them!"
"Run!"
"Everybody run!"
The harbor descended into complete panic.
Buildings were set ablaze.
Merchants lost their goods.
Families fled desperately inland.
The Steel Fang Pirates rampaged without restraint.
At their center stood Captain Varta.
A giant of a man standing nearly three meters tall.
His teeth were abnormally strong.
Legend claimed he could bite through iron bars and crush stone with his jaws alone.
As flames spread throughout the harbor, despair began to consume the civilians.
Then
A voice echoed from above.
"Pirates."
"Did no one tell you?"
The crowd looked upward.
One of the few intact buildings overlooking the harbor suddenly began to dissolve into sand.
Golden grains swirled through the air.
Gradually, a figure emerged.
Slicked-back black hair.
A long horizontal scar across his face.
A cigar hanging from his mouth.
And a massive golden hook replacing his left hand.
The moment he appeared, the atmosphere changed.
"Wait!"
"That's…"
"Crocodile!"
"Sir Crocodile!"
The civilians erupted with excitement.
Hope instantly returned to their eyes.
At this point in history, Crocodile was Alabasta's greatest hero.
The kingdom adored him.
The people worshipped him.
To them, he was the protector of the nation.
"We're saved!"
"It's Sir Crocodile!"
"One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
Cheers erupted throughout the harbor.
Standing atop the rooftop, Crocodile looked down at the pirates.
A faint smirk appeared on his face as he exhaled cigar smoke.
"How troublesome."
His tone was lazy.
Yet filled with confidence.
"Have you idiots chosen Alabasta as your graveyard?"
Captain Varta frowned.
He disliked looking up at anyone.
Especially someone acting so superior.
"Who the hell is that?"
One of his terrified subordinates hurriedly answered.
"Captain!"
"That's Sir Crocodile!"
"One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
"The Sand-Sand Fruit user!"
The subordinate practically screamed.
Varta laughed loudly.
"A government dog?"
"A pirate who sold his freedom?"
"What a joke!"
He cracked his knuckles.
"Men!"
"Kill him!"
"Show him the strength of the Steel Fang Pirates!"
Hundreds of pirates rushed forward.
Crocodile merely sighed.
"Ignorance."
The next moment, his body transformed into swirling sand.
The power of the Suna Suna no Mi erupted.
Golden sand spread outward.
The ground itself began to dry and crack.
"Anyone who values their life…"
Crocodile spoke calmly.
"Get down."
The civilians immediately obeyed.
The pirates hesitated.
That hesitation cost them everything.
A sandstorm exploded through the harbor.
The moisture inside the pirates' bodies was drained away in an instant.
One after another, they collapsed.
Their skin shriveled.
Their bodies withered.
Death came swiftly.
Crocodile stepped forward through the swirling sand.
The black coat draped over his shoulders fluttered dramatically.
"Pirates?"
He sneered.
"Don't compare me to trash like you."
His golden hook gleamed beneath the desert sun.
"What gave you the illusion that you could challenge me?"
Within moments, the Steel Fang Pirates were annihilated.
The stolen treasure was recovered.
The harbor was saved.
As Crocodile turned to leave, the civilians erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Sir Crocodile!"
"Hero of Alabasta!"
"Long live Sir Crocodile!"
"Long live the Desert King!"
Countless voices echoed across the harbor.
And standing amidst the cheers, Crocodile's smile deepened ever so slightly.
Everything was proceeding exactly according to plan.
WE ARE CURRENTLY ON CHAPTER 149 ON PATREON.
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