Magellan strode through the corridors with heavy, determined steps. The Chief Warden of Impel Down had already received the chaotic report from the monitoring room: Monkey D. Luffy was descending.
Descending.
To anyone in their right mind, that was absurd.
To Magellan, it was infuriating.
"Is this pirate an idiot, or was he simply born to give me headaches?" he thought, his venom bubbling beneath his skin.
The report said that Luffy had started by causing chaos on the 1st and 2nd floors, crossed the Hell of Hunger on the 3rd, and was now heading for the 4th, as if the prison were a playground. And worse: freeing criminals along the way. An affront to the pride of Impel Down... and a direct threat to world order.
Magellan gritted his teeth.
"Damn pirate... do you have any idea what would happen to the world outside if these monsters were released? The world is already upside down because of that damn Jason, and now you want to make everything worse?"
The poison hissed as it ran down his arms.
He swore he would crush Luffy the moment he had him in front of him.
No conversation. No mercy.
Magellan moved faster.
Meanwhile... at the top of the chain of command
The World Government was wounded, humiliated, ridiculed, and exposed before the whole world thanks to Jason's actions. And every second, the situation only got worse.
The humiliation on the big screens.
The attack on the admiral.
The destruction of the Tequila Wolf bridge.
The loss of authority.
The atmosphere at the Gorosei meetings was one of pure hatred and calculated despair.
They would not allow another embarrassment.
So when they received news of Whitebeard's movements and Luffy's infiltration, the World Government did not hesitate:
it was time to play their strongest cards.
The request was immediately sent to the highest military echelon available.
And so, a Knight of God, a true monster under the direct command of Imu-sama, was summoned.
Knight Shepherd Sommers, holder of the title of Holy Knight, accepted the mission without hesitation.
His orders were simple:
Escort Portgas D. Ace personally to Marineford.
Don't let the Navy fail.
Don't let Jason interfere again.
Don't let Whitebeard have the slightest chance.
Because if Ace fell...
if Whitebeard attacked Impel Down while the World Government was still reeling...
It would be total collapse.
And the affiliated countries would never trust them again.
Sommers had already arrived at Impel Down via the Abyss Mark, and a team of guards who had been warned of his arrival awaited him at the main entrance.
It was the first time many of them had seen a Knight of God in person—and the impact was immediate.
Reverence.
Fear.
Solemnity.
Everyone knew that Knights of God only move when the World Government is on the brink of disaster.
They were the final insurance, the insurmountable wall, the silent warning that failure was no longer an option.
There would be no more tolerance for mistakes.
There would be no room for improvisation.
This time, everything would have to be perfect.
The Den Den Mushi of one of the guards beside Magellan rang, interrupting his venomous march.
"Director Magellan!" the guard's trembling voice echoed. "The Knight of God Shepherd Sommers has arrived at the main entrance! He demands an escort to the prisoner Portgas D. Ace!"
Magellan stopped. Just for an instant.
He closed his eyes as if the very air caused him pain.
A Knight of God... for a simple transfer?
No.
It meant that the world was on the verge of collapse, and all thanks to Jason, a single man who managed to turn the World Government upside down.
"Tsk... just now."
His voice came out heavy, almost a growl.
"Send Domino and two elite guards to accompany him. Tell him I'm dealing with an internal emergency."
Magellan couldn't leave, not even for Sommers.
Not for anyone.
Luffy was freeing prisoners, destroying floors, and fueling a revolt that was spreading like wildfire.
And all of this was amplified by the damn screen connected to Jason, which showed the whole world the World Government being humiliated over and over again.
The Director finally reached the entrance to the Scorching Hell.
He saw Luffy.
He saw prisoners running toward the ice on the 5th floor.
And his blood, his poison, boiled.
Without thinking, Magellan leaped into the flaming sea of the 4th floor, determined to crush that insolent brat.
On the other side, in the same burning hell, Luffy and Bon Clay raced across the bridge toward the 5th floor.
"Mugi-chan, the entrance to the Frozen Hell is right there!" Bentham said as he ran with light steps but a heavy heart.
"Yosh! We're almost there to save Ace!"
Luffy smiled, full of fire and raw determination.
But Bon Clay wasn't so optimistic.
The riots, the corpses, the blood of the guards and prisoners staining the floor... all because of the big screen showing Jason's actions outside.
This time, Jason didn't kill anyone... but what he did was worse for the World Government.
He freed slaves.
He made them fight for their own lives.
And he destroyed a sacred bridge of the Government as if it were made of paper.
That act alone set Impel Down ablaze.
Prisoners fought like mad for freedom, guards fought to contain them, and the chaos had made even the frigid air on the fifth floor heavier.
And that would inevitably attract Magellan.
"Mugi-chan..." Bentham swallowed hard. "You said Jason is your friend... could he come and help you?"
"Jason already helped me a lot by putting me in here."
Luffy replied seriously, without smiling for a moment.
"I'm not going to ask for anything else. This is my chance. I'm going to save Ace by myself."
Bon Clay tried to insist:
"Mugi-cha—"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A colossal explosion shook everything, dust, rock, and magma flew everywhere.
Something, or someone, had fallen from the sky, landing right in front of the entrance to the Frozen Hell.
The explosion shook the entire scorching inferno as if the ground itself had been torn from its tracks. Dust and smoke engulfed the entrance to the fifth floor, and even the most frantic prisoners froze in place, paralyzed by their primitive instinct for survival.
When the dust began to settle, a silhouette stood out—two enormous demonic wings, spread like black blades against the infernal glow of the flames. The air grew heavier, toxic, as if breathing were a mistake.
And then, he appeared.
Magellan.
His body coated in boiling poison, dripping like purple magma. Demonic horns forming a monstrous shadow behind him. Narrow eyes, vibrating with murderous rage.
"You think you can invade my prison... and do whatever you want here?"
His voice fell like muffled thunder, laden with literal and metaphorical venom.
The prisoners froze. Some fell to their knees. Others began to cry. It wasn't fear—it was absolute terror.
"M-Magellan!!"
Even the criminals on the fourth and third floors, hardened by torture, trembled like children. The scorching hell became too small in his presence.
Only Luffy looked confused.
"Who are you?"
Bon Clay almost choked.
"He's Magellan, Mugi-chan! The warden of Impel Down! User of the Doku Doku no Mi! Fighting him is suicide! We need to escape now!"
Luffy kept his gaze steady and stubborn as Magellan took a step—and where he stepped, the ground melted like butter in the sun.
"I'll make you regret leaving your cells, you vermin."
Without any calm, without warning, without mercy...
Magellan unleashed a Poison Hydra.
The serpentine heads emerged from his body like living creatures, screaming, writhing, and attacking with voracious hunger. They lunged among the prisoners like living spears, crushing, swallowing, vomiting bodies that fell back to the ground writhing in agony.
"Run away!!! If his poison touches you, it's over!"
But running away from Magellan was like running on quicksand. The poisons spread too quickly, covering the floor, climbing up the walls, closing off paths.
Luffy watched the entrance to the fifth floor getting further and further away... as if Magellan were a living wall swallowing hope.
"Damn... if we keep running, no one will get through."
He clenched his fists.
"I have to fight."
"Don't do it, Mugi-chan!!"
Bon Clay grabbed his arm desperately.
"No one can beat Magellan! Not even you!"
But Luffy was no longer listening to him.
He took a step forward.
And Magellan looked at him with a serious gaze, seeing only a prisoner, and he an executioner who knows that the sentence has already been passed.
The poison began to advance, steaming, deadly.
Luffy clenched his fists, steam beginning to rise from his head. His veins bulged, his heart racing like an out-of-control engine.
"Gear... Second!"
The impact of pressurized blood echoed through the scorching hell. The ground cracked beneath his feet as Luffy shot forward, a red and gray blur. Even the prisoners who could barely stand felt the gale that passed through them.
But Magellan didn't even blink.
The warden simply raised his hand, and the poison rose up his arm like a living, pulsating, thick, almost solid cloak. When Luffy arrived with a Jet Pistol, his fist collided with the toxic wall...
...and it was like punching a sea of boiling acid.
CHRRRRRRRRRSH
"AAAAARGH!"
The pain was instantaneous, cruel. The skin on Luffy's hand burned at that very moment, blisters appearing and bursting in a second.
"Do you really believe... that speed solves everything?"
Magellan's voice was low, grave, almost disappointed.
Luffy recoiled from the force of the impact, still trying to ignore the pain, but Magellan didn't even let him breathe.
"Hydra."
The giant poisonous heads appeared behind the director like mythological monsters. But unlike the fight against Luffy in the original, Magellan wasn't there to test limits.
He wanted to finish Luffy NOW.
The Hydras advanced mercilessly, giving no chance for counterattack, no conversation, no messing around. Luffy dodged the first, the second, but the third hit him on the shoulder, eliciting a scream that he tried to swallow.
The flesh burned instantly, the steam from his Gear Second mixing with the poisonous stench.
Bon Clay cried out helplessly as he ran:
"MUGI-CHAAAN!!"
But he could do nothing but run for his own life.
Luffy tried to launch another Jet Bazooka, but his arm was already darkening, throbbing with unbearable pain. His strength was cut in half.
Magellan watched.
Coldly.
Clinically.
"You still don't understand your situation. Admirable ignorance."
He moved forward.
Without running.
Just walking.
And each step shook the ground more than Luffy's blows.
"... Ace."
Luffy muttered softly, almost too weak to speak, but Magellan did not slow his pace.
Before Luffy could react, Magellan was already on top of him, enveloping him in a vivid purple, viscous, lethal cloak.
"This is the end for you, Straw Hat... Hydra."
Luffy was swallowed up by the purple sea of poison, unable to scream. The steam from Gear Second dissipated immediately, suffocated, overcome, crushed.
When the poison receded, Luffy fell to the ground, convulsing, his entire body burning, throbbing, burning as if he were immersed in lava.
"... Poor thing. The pain must be unbearable."
Magellan muttered indifferently, already ordering one of the guards to take Luffy away into the freezing winter, since he didn't have much time left to live.
Magellan took one last look at the devastated field.
Contorted bodies covered in poison.
Partially melted walls.
The ground still bubbling where the acid had fallen.
No prisoners in sight. The few still alive were crawling, moaning softly, their muscles already collapsing from the toxin.
"Gather everything up," Magellan ordered, his voice impassive. "Those who survived... send them back to their cells."
There was no anger. There was no pride.
Just routine.
For him, this wasn't a battle—it was maintenance.
He turned without looking back, leaving the scorching hell as silent as a cemetery submerged in poison.
Meanwhile, in the elevator leading to the sixth floor—eternal hell—Domino and two elite guards descended with Shepherd Sommers.
The silence weighed like concrete.
No one dared look directly at him.
The presence of a Knight of God was suffocating, rigid, almost unnatural in that place already filled with monsters.
Sommers hadn't said a word since he entered.
He just walked, gave the order, and that was it.
They could feel his breath behind them—cold, calm, disciplined—and it was worse than any scream.
When the elevator made a small click, one of the guards almost jumped.
Domino swallowed hard and kept his eyes fixed on the panel in front of him.
Sommers stood completely still.
But his mind was not.
'A noble escorting a pirate... this is the height of humiliation.'
His gaze, hidden behind his mask, was one of pure contempt.
'If this brat weren't so essential to the old men's plan... I would tear him limb from limb.'
He wasn't stupid.
He knew exactly what his role was:
Ace was the detonator.
Without Ace, there would be no war.
Without war, the Government would lose its strategic advantage, its narrative, its absolute control.
Killing Ace would destroy the order carefully prepared by the Gorosei.
But nothing in the world prohibited suffering.
"Hm... physical torture would be a waste. He has the same blood as that man."
Sommers' fingers clenched softly.
"But the mind... the mind always breaks. And breaking the spirit of someone valuable always yields something entertaining."
The elevator continued to descend, creaking in the depths.
No one dared to speak.
No one dared to breathe loudly.
Sommers just waited.
He wanted to finish that annoying mission quickly...
...and start the fun part.