Late at night.
The sky was clear, with a full moon hanging high.
The heavily guarded Impel Down was unusually quiet.
At this moment,
a large shadow slowly appeared in the distant sky, rapidly approaching the prison. The moment the shadow's outline became clear, the watchmen at Impel Down, who were on high alert, noticed it.
After careful identification,
they realized the massive shadow was none other than Kaido, the captain of the Beasts Pirates and one of the Four Emperors of the New World!
The moment they recognized Kaido in his dragon form, the navy personnel responsible for spotting threats quickly sounded the alarm.
The sharp alarm broke the silence of the night, and the beams of searchlights illuminated the sky above the entire sea area.
"Enemy attack!"
Hearing the alarm, the guards stationed at Impel Down, who had already returned to their dorms to rest, hurriedly put on their uniforms, grabbed their weapons, and rushed to their defensive positions. When they reached the high walls of Impel Down and looked up at the giant dragon approaching from the sky, the older marines wore heavy expressions.
Impel Down had faced attacks from the outside world before, mainly because it imprisoned many criminals from the seas and certain prisoners with undisclosed reasons. People occasionally tried to break out certain individuals from the prison, but these attempts were all easily thwarted by the fortress-like defenses of Impel Down, and many attackers ended up being imprisoned themselves.
However, the current threat was not a small fry; it was Kaido, one of the Four Emperors of the New World.
The constant blaring of the alarm and the oppressive presence descending from the sky conveyed a clear threat, filling the guards with a creeping sense of unease.
Many turned to look at Impel Down itself.
Impel Down is essentially a tower that extends deep into the sea, with only its top exposed above the water. It is surrounded by a tall outer wall, with the only entrance being a drawbridge at the front. Inside the outer wall, there is an even taller inner wall that encloses the only entrance to the prison.
Despite the large size of Impel Down, the defensive force was not particularly large. The prisoners, after all, had mostly been subdued and were incapable of significant resistance. Even the most dangerous pirates from the seas were kept in Level 6 under strict guard, unable to stir up any trouble.
"Kaido..."
On the high wall, a beautiful woman with long, curly blonde hair, wearing a red-brown pair of glasses and a hat that covered one eye, looked up at the giant dragon heading towards the prison, her face serious.
"It's not just Kaido; the senior officers of the Beasts Pirates are all here too."
An elderly jailer, watching the figures on the dragon's back, spoke with a tone of despair. If it were just Kaido, the forces at Impel Down might be able to hold out until reinforcements from Marine Headquarters arrived, but with the entire Beasts Pirates, it seemed unlikely.
With Kaido and the main force of the Beasts Pirates arriving, Impel Down was facing an unprecedented crisis.
"If Kaido takes down Magellan, then I could become the Chief Warden," said a voice suddenly, drawing many heads in the direction of the speaker.
Hannyabal, realizing he had voiced his thoughts out loud, quickly covered his mouth, "Oops, I said that out loud."
But no one paid much attention to Hannyabal's words; after all, his ambition to replace Magellan as Chief Warden was an open secret at Impel Down.
"Is the Chief Warden still in the restroom? What a time to be unreliable. But I've never cut down a dragon before," said a man wearing an Impel Down hat along with a pilot's cap, smoking a cigar. As he approached, his eyes narrowed with a glint of coldness.
As this notorious warden approached, everyone, including Domino and Sadi, subtly distanced themselves from him. Even the outspoken Hannyabal preferred not to get too close.
Shiryu, noticing his colleagues' actions, said nothing. He was used to this sort of thing; if it weren't for the prisoners in Impel Down that he could use to feed his sword, he might have killed these weaklings long ago.
"Wo ro ro ro, let's have a great time, boys!"
Looking down at Impel Down, Kaido's massive dragon body began to shrink.
The senior officers of the Beasts Pirates on his back started dropping down towards the prison like raindrops.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each resounding crash, figures emerged from the dust clouds.
"Damn it, what are these guys planning?!"
Domino felt suffocated by the red eyes glowing in the smoke and the overwhelming auras emanating from them.
Shiryu, with a serious expression, drew his sword, "Rain," and faced the figure emerging from the smoke.
"Shiryu of the Rain?" the figure asked, drawing a long sword. "I can't let you disturb Big Brother Kaido."
"Interesting guy," Shiryu remarked, lunging forward to strike.
As Shiryu and King clashed, the battle between the Beasts Pirates and the Impel Down guards officially began.
"Wo ro ro ro, so this is Impel Down?"
As Kaido appeared, Shiryu flourished his sword in a graceful arc before sheathing it.
Why did he sheath his sword?
The action puzzled not only King but also many of the Impel Down guards.
Then, they saw Shiryu do something strange.
He stood in front of Kaido.
Kaido looked down at Shiryu and laughed, "Interesting guy. From now on, you're the Chief Enforcer of the Beasts Pirates."
Under the stunned gaze of the Impel Down personnel, Shiryu stood beside Kaido.
Seeing this, Domino and Sadi exchanged a glance before fleeing without hesitation. They knew Shiryu's terrifying nature all too well.
"Hey, Shiryu, are you betraying justice?" Hannyabal, wielding his sword, "Bloodsucker," stood against some of the Beasts Pirates officers after a brief clash.
"Justice? Do you think the World Government's justice is real justice? Stop deluding yourself. They keep all these criminals alive instead of executing them, and when I kill a few scumbags, they threaten to lock me up with them. Is that a justice worth sticking to?"
Shiryu scoffed.
"You!"
Bang, bang...!
Before Hannyabal could respond, Ulti, leaping through the air, headbutted him hard.
The impact sent Hannyabal flying, crashing into a wall of Impel Down.
The explosion from the impact, along with the rubble and dust, swallowed Hannyabal.
"Damn, this guy's head is tough," Ulti muttered, rubbing her now beastly forehead.
Seeing their leaders betray, flee, or get defeated, the morale of the Impel Down guards plummeted.
With the collapse of the guards' defense, Kaido boldly entered Impel Down.
Impel Down had been breached by the Beasts Pirates!