But even before entering Impel Down, sothing seed noisy. Ace also looked around and asked .
"Hmm? Sothing's noisy right after we arrived?"
"Right. Did they already notice we're here?"
Just then, a siren blared short and fast, and an announcent broadcast soone's escape.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
[Level 1, Jailbreak Zone 4 — the pirate 'Clown Buggy' who disappeared has been spotted in the hallway in front of Solitary Cell 22!! Capture him imdiately!!]
"Hahaha, that Clown Buggy is still the sa."
"Hmm? You know him?"
"Yes, he was a crew mber of the Pirate King and a rival of Shanks, but he's not very strong. Anyway, let's go in."
But Ace seed a bit tense at that. Maybe because it was his first ti here, he interpreted it differently.
"Is this what they an by Impel Down's infamous reputation? A Pirate King crew mber and Shanks' rival escaping — makes nervous sohow. Anyway, got it."
I had only said he was weak because he really is weak, but Ace was misunderstanding. Still, I wasn't sure. Maybe Buggy would awaken his [Chop-Chop Fruit] and beco strong. But before that, he'd die by my hand — because the [Chop-Chop Fruit] was also on my Devil Fruit acquisition list. I just hadn't gone after it yet because Buggy wasn't a threat, and I didn't want to kill the original's gag character too early.
In any case, we smashed through a nearby door and entered. As expected, surveillance Den Den Mushi were crawling all over Impel Down, broadcasting real-ti video to the monitoring room. I took out a few steel balls from my inventory, flicked them with my fingers, and precisely eliminated the surveillance snails one by one.
This infiltration was different from last ti. Back then, the World Governnt hadn't expected to be so strong, and they judged that Kizaru and Magellan would be enough, so they didn't deploy additional forces. But now was different.
If news got out that I had appeared at Impel Down, the Navy's strongest would all swarm here. Of course, I could escape anyti with teleportation, but since I was planning another mass breakout this ti, I had to complete it before the Navy arrived to prevent unnecessary casualties.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Pak! Puk! Pak!
"Hmm? What are you doing?"
"Taking out the surveillance snails. It's a sha, but it can't be helped. If they find out we're here, the Navy will swarm in. We need to buy ti."
"I see. But won't that actually make them notice faster?"
"It's better if they only know there's an intruder. If they realize it's us, they'll imdiately request Navy reinforcents."
"That's true."
I took two black hooded robes — robes that cover the head and body — from my inventory and handed one to Ace.
"Wear this. Further ahead are the prisoners' cells. We can't just kill them all."
"Got it."
We put on the robes and continued moving, trying to take the shortest route. Since everyone's attention was focused on Buggy's escape, I thought we might get through more easily. But unfortunately, Buggy was coming our way, blocking the path while leading a horde of 'Blue Gorillas' that Impel Down kept as guards.
"Kyaaa! Save !!"
Chop! Chop!
The funny part was that the Blue Gorillas were chasing Buggy while hacking at him with large double-bladed axes. But since Buggy had the [Chop-Chop Fruit], he kept getting chopped apart and reattaching, running away in that bizarre manner.
"Ugh! What is that guy!? A Devil Fruit ability?"
Ace frowned at Buggy's bizarre state.
Chop!
"Ugh… cut apart again."
We watched Buggy running away for a mont, amused. Buggy spotted us and shouted for help.
"Hey!!! You two, clearly suspicious!!! Don't just stand there — help !!!"
Ace looked at and asked, "What should we do?"
"What else? We push through."
At that, Ace smirked and took a stance. "I was waiting for you to say that!"
Ace jumped ahead and started taking down the Blue Gorillas. It had been a while since I'd seen him. His [Armant Haki] and [Observation Haki] had grown noticeably. His hand‑to‑hand combat skills had also improved to a considerable level. Fighting alongside him, I couldn't help but admire his remarkable growth.
Puk! Pak! Puk! Puk!
"Oh~ impressive. Looks like that second division commander position wasn't just for show. You've gotten a lot stronger."
"Of course!! I've worked hard to get this far."
It seed that starting without his Devil Fruit early on had been the right move for him. Gone was the reckless fighting style that relied solely on his fruit ability, like in the original. Now Ace had a much more balanced fighting style, and that felt refreshing.
"All done. Well, I suppose that was decent warm‑up."
Ace dusted off his hands as if it were nothing.
Once all those Blue Gorillas were quickly subdued, Buggy ca over rubbing his hands together.
"You guys are really strong! Don't you want to escape from here? I can guide you… Huh? Where have I seen you before… Gasp! An Emperor!!!"
Buggy realized who I was and looked shocked, his eyes practically popping out.
"Be quiet. You're too loud. You're the one who offered to lick my shoes last ti, weren't you? Buggy, was it?"
"Ye‑yes, sir! Shall I lick them now?"
Buggy actually started to prostrate himself to lick my shoes.
"Forget it. More importantly, you have such a good fruit, yet you can barely use it. Pathetic."
There was a reason I rated the [Chop-Chop Fruit] highly. Normally, when a Devil Fruit awakens, it can be used on objects. Right now, Buggy hadn't awakened it, so he could only use it on his own body. But if he could awaken it, I thought he could chop apart objects with a wave of his hand. In a way, the true value of the [Chop-Chop Fruit] only shows after awakening.
"W‑well… I'm incompetent, haha…"
"Co with us for now."
"Then I'll guide you to the upper exit…"
"No. We're going down."
Buggy was shocked. "W‑what!!! Why would you go down…"
"There's soone we need to rescue."
Watching this, Ace looked at Buggy with contempt. "Taejin, is this guy really a forr crewmate of Shanks and the Pirate King?"
Ace seed to find it ridiculous that he had been nervous because of soone like this.
"Yes, that's right. They were friends, I think. Not sure about now."
"Haha, I'd say rivals more than friends…"
Ace ignored that. He didn't seem interested in hearing it.
"Let's hurry. The guards might swarm because of this commotion."
"Right."
We started moving again. Buggy hurriedly followed — he must have judged that staying with us was safer than going up alone.
"I'll co too~!"
We headed quickly toward the center of Impel Down. Eventually we reached a dense forest area. This was no ordinary forest. The leaves were razor‑sharp, and the ground was covered in needle‑like stinging grass that pierced the body. This forest was a place where Level 1 prisoners suffered whenever they had the chance.
In the center of the forest was a passage leading down, but its end connected to Level 2, the Beast Hell, which was far more dangerous than Level 1. Most prisoners didn't try to escape that way. But we needed to go that way, so we had to pass through this forest.
When I had co alone before, I used the [Body Density Control] ability I obtained from Marvel to phase through the walls and skip this section. But this ti I had companions, so it wasn't so simple.
"Wow~ crossing this will be tough. Should I just burn it?"
"No, that'll draw too much attention. Don't do that. Grab onto . I'll jump across in one go."
"Huh? Is that possible? The hole in the center looks pretty far."
"Trust . I went down the sa way before."
"Alright."
Ace latched onto my shoulder. Buggy just stood there, so I looked at him. He looked embarrassed and said, "Ah, I'm a [Chop-Chop Fruit] user, so I'm fine."
"Really? Okay."
I stepped back, then ran and jumped. I cleared the forest covered in stinging grass in one bound and fell straight into the hole leading to Level 2. By bouncing off the walls here and there to control my speed, I landed safely on Level 2.
"Wow!!! Amazing! You really cleared it in one jump. An Emperor really is an Emperor."
As Ace marveled, I heard Buggy falling from above. He must have run hard to catch up.
"Waaaaah!"
THUD!!
"Ugh… my back…"
Ignoring Buggy, I explained Level 2 to Ace.
"I told you earlier, but this place is swarming with beasts. We'll have to fight our way through."
"Great! The last round was a little dull."
Ace pressed his fists together, looking forward to it.
We kept moving while taking out surveillance snails. Then my [Observation Haki] detected a giant monster, and I signaled Ace.
"There's a monster ahead."
"Finally."
Ace excitedly ran ahead and started fighting. I dealt with the remaining surveillance snails nearby and joined him. There really were a lot of snails planted around.
Level 2 had a wide variety of monsters — Basilisks, twenty ters tall with chicken‑like bodies and lizard faces; Puzzle Scorpions, where multiple individuals attached to each other like puzzle pieces to form giant centipedes; and Manticores, lions with human‑like faces.
Including the Blue Gorillas from Level 1, I had no idea how they brought and tad such beasts. The funny thing was — with Haki, they weren't even particularly difficult opponents. They were stuck in an awkward level of strength.
Puk! Puk! Puk!
"Kyaa!!"
"Kuak!!"
"Ah! I had my eye on that one, Taejin! That's cold."
"There's no 'calling dibs' here. Just take them down quickly."
"Fair enough."
While Ace and I were excitedly fighting the giant beasts of Level 2, Buggy was releasing the prisoners on Level 2.
"Thank , you idiots!!!"
"Waa~~!! Long live Captain Buggy!!!"
"Captain Buggy is our savior!!!"
"Captain Buggy!! I will never forget the debt I owe you!!!"
Buggy was thrilled by the prisoners' shouts.
"Muhahahahaha!! Yes, engrave that na on your hearts!!! Open every cell!!!"
Seeing Buggy do that, I asked incredulously, "What are you doing?"
"Well… I thought that if they cause a commotion, it might make it easier for us to move, haha…"
He sure made excuses well.
"Well, you're not wrong."
Just then, soone approached and spoke to us. It was Mr. 3, Galdino, from Level 2. He must have been freed at so point.
"If you're breaking out, I'll help, Buggy."
"We're going further down to rescue soone."
"What!? You're going further down? Who are you trying to rescue?"
Buggy glanced around cautiously, then respectfully gestured toward with both hands. "Well… because this man wants to…"
"Who is he that you're calling 'this man'… Gasp! You are…"
I put my finger to my lips and said, "Quiet. Unless you want to die right now."
"Ah… yes… I'll just stay here…"
That guy seed to have developed trauma about from the Alabasta incident. Ignoring that, I grabbed Galdino's head and read his mories.
"Gah! Why suddenly… don't tell you're going to kill now…"
"Stay still."
This guy gets a character arc in the original. I thought if he had improved, I might take him with .
"Hmm… you still haven't changed much. Well, I suppose being locked up here doesn't change a person's nature."
Unfortunately, reading his mories revealed that aside from being calr from being imprisoned, he hadn't really changed. Still, there was ti, so I decided to give him a chance. Maybe he'd co to his senses during the breakout, like in the original.
"I'll give you a chance. Help us, and I'll let you escape."
I released his head and spoke.
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Th‑then I'll do that."
With our new "companion(s)", we continued clearing out beasts and moving deeper. We reached the entrance leading down to Level 3, but in front of us stood a large human‑faced lion. This seed to be the final boss of Level 2 — a Sphinx.
"Gasp! What is that huge lion??"
"Oh no, I forgot! The Sphinx is guarding the entrance to Level 3!"
Buggy and Galdino said in shock.
The Sphinx was indeed a giant monster. It looked at least thirty ters tall. But again, Ace confidently stepped forward.
"Wait. I'll handle it quickly."
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