"Tsk, too many souls stored..."
Above the sea surrounding Impel Down, large warships burned fiercely, thick smoke billowing into the sky.
Wearing a Shinigami's mask, cloaked, and wielding a scythe, Gerd stood atop Thundercloud Zeus, accompanied by Sun Prometheus.
Despite her recent growth in strength, allowing her to store more than 30,000 souls, the sheer number of powerful individuals in Impel Down far exceeded what even an equivalent number of Navy elites could provide.
After creating tens of thousands of angelic Homies, most souls had to be temporarily stored within her creations, Thundercloud Zeus and Sun Prometheus.
Even after harvesting the souls of thousands of Navy personnel from the last warship, her capacity was maxed out.
The sheer scale of the haul from Impel Down and its surrounding forces was unimaginable.
"You two, we're moving out!" Gerd shouted into the sky.
"Got it!"
High above, two enormous ancient pterosaurs circled rapidly, their massive wings cutting through the air with tremendous force.
"Whoosh!"
Responding to Gerd's call, the pterosaurs descended, creating powerful gusts of wind that scattered ice and snow.
Transforming into their human forms, the brothers Gacw and Jace landed before Impel Down's gate.
"Mirror World... such a terrifyingly powerful ability!" the two giant brothers marveled, staring at the massive mirror before them.
Through its gleaming surface, countless angel soldiers marched in precise formation, disappearing into its reflective depths.
Beside them, hundreds of fierce-looking prisoners, now wearing Impel Down guard uniforms and heavily armed, cheered as they too entered the Mirror World.
Finally free of their hellish imprisonment, their faces were filled with excitement.
Even the sharp Bladed Tree Homies and Needle Grass Homies created by Gerd in the Crimson Hell, the Wild Beast Homies forged from the corpses of creatures in the Wild Beast Hell, and the formidable Blue Gorilla Homies entered in orderly fashion.
"Time to go!"
Standing tall, flames blazing behind his head, El smiled.
Having already been waiting with Moss and the others, he greeted the returning Gerd and the giant brothers, who had been busy destroying Navy warships and stretching their wings.
"These ships will do us no good," El said. "If the Navy can't have them, let them burn."
Even with the resources of the Underworld Hell Trading Company, which had been stockpiling ships on the Calm Belt for years, the Fallen Angel Pirates were far from lacking warships.
"Slash, slash..."
Wasting no time, El led the others into the Mirror World.
The giants bent low to pass through the mirror, which was just large enough to accommodate their massive frames.
"Crash!"
The mirror shattered into countless shards.
The remaining Homies tasked with overseeing Impel Down's 5.5th floor cleaned up the debris, scattering it into the sea.
Inside the Mirror World, tens of thousands of angelic Homies marched in formation.
Sally, Barry, Moss, and Ryan rode atop Sphinx Homies, created from Wild Beast Hell creatures, leading the way with commanding presence.
Not long after—
High above the seas, on Sky Island Birka, the vast Atlantis floated amidst the clouds.
Before a towering mirror forged from memory-shaped alloy, impervious to damage, a welcoming party waited in the forest: Tsuru, Linlin, Lily, Nef, Rock, Jien, Sak, Little Oars, and Stussy.
"They're here!"
As Barry touched the mirror, opening a passage between the Mirror World and reality, Uthan, Moss, Rock, and others emerged, riding Sphinx Homies.
Behind them marched an army of angel soldiers and newly recruited members of the Fallen Angel Pirates, still wearing their Impel Down guard uniforms.
The newcomers gawked at their surroundings in awe, their jaws dropping at the sight of Atlantis.
"Linlin—"
"El-oniichan! Gerd!!"
"Boss El!"
...
El and Gerd, along with their companions, approached Linlin and the others, greeting them warmly.
"El-oniichan, I'm sorry..." Linlin said apologetically. "Despite mobilizing all our forces and searching every corner of Birka, we still couldn't find the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
"It's fine," El replied with a casual smile. "Just leave a few Homies here to keep searching. For now, let's head back to the New World."
He wasn't overly concerned. With Ryan's Munch-Munch Fruit allowing them to reclaim Devil Fruits, even if the Rumble-Rumble Fruit ended up consumed by someone, El had no fear. Not everyone could unlock its full potential.
"Wow, Boss El, is this really a Sky Island?"
"It's incredible! Like something out of a fairy tale!"
The giant brothers Gace and Jace were mesmerized by the dreamy paradise around them, with floating bubbles and massive attractions. They stared in awe at the giant-sized Ferris wheel and carousel, custom-designed for beings of their size.
"They're so huge—"
"Even bigger than Gerd!"
"El, did you recruit more giants?"
Tsuru, Lily, Nef, Rock, Stussy, and Little Oars looked curiously at the two towering giants, both over 20 meters tall. Even Rufe, Sak, and Lillian couldn't help but gape, marveling at the brothers' enormous presence.
"Mama-mama-mama, so these are the giant warriors you rescued, El-oniichan?" Linlin asked, her interest piqued as she studied Gace and Jace.
She had heard that El gave them the 'Ancient Zoan: Quetzalcoatlus Pterosaur Form' and 'Pteranodon Form' fruits, two rare and powerful abilities reclaimed from Impel Down's prisoners. Their presence exuded strength, suggesting they were formidable warriors.
"Pfft, you really pulled off something incredible!"
Dr. Kureha approached, eyes gleaming with curiosity. She couldn't help but admire the sheer size of El's army of over 10,000 angelic Homies.
Over the past few days, Sak had been working tirelessly, crafting lifelike wax figures using his Wax-Wax Fruit, piling up tens of thousands of them in Atlantis. They were awaiting Gerd to return from Impel Down with the harvested souls to animate them into a massive Homie army.
The scale of their operation was staggering.
"Once these figures are brought to life, the Fallen Angel Pirates' power will reach unimaginable levels," Kureha remarked. "Even the Navy, the dominant force of the seas, might find themselves overwhelmed."
"Oh, it's nothing special. We just emptied out Impel Down," El joked with a mischievous grin.
"I bet the World Government and Marine Headquarters are losing their minds right now," Tsuru commented with a chuckle.
She noticed only a handful of prisoners had emerged from the Mirror World, suggesting El had been selective. Most were likely carefully screened individuals with significant strength but relatively clean records.
This brought a sense of relief to Tsuru.
Even after leaving the Navy, she had no desire to associate with irredeemable criminals. El's restraint reassured her that his ambitions didn't include aligning with lawless butchers and marauders.
If he had gone down that path, Tsuru, who still upheld her sense of justice, would have been deeply disappointed and unable to remain part of the Fallen Angel Pirates.
"Let's not dwell on that for now," El said, turning to Dr. Kureha with a smile. "I heard you and Linlin, along with Nef, have made some progress in your research?"
"Kuhihihi, so you've heard already?"
Dr. Kureha laughed softly, taking a small, marble-sized yellow pill from her pocket.
"Thanks to Nef's notes and her previous research in this field, I managed to skip a lot of the groundwork and came up with this!"
She held up the pill with pride.
"I call it the 'Rumble Ball'!"
"It can alter the transformation wavelengths of Zoan-type Devil Fruits. However," Kureha cautioned, her tone becoming serious, "strictly speaking, it's still a dangerous drug—a prototype with significant risks. It needs further optimization and refinement."
~~~
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