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Despite the danger posed by the prisoners in the sixth level of the prison, not everyone among them would necessarily want to join the Blackbeard Pirates. But Blackbeard believed there would still be a sufficient number of people who, for the sake of freedom, would be willing to temporarily join his crew.
As long as they were willing to join even temporarily, Blackbeard was confident they'd end up staying by his side permanently, thanks to the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit he'd finally obtained.
"Captain, the Gate of Justice has been opened. Our partner succeeded," a crew member said, suddenly rousing Blackbeard from his thoughts and pointing ahead with a look of surprise.
"Zehahaha, it worked! With the gate open, the Marines and Impel Down will likely get word soon. We need to get there before they realize what's happening. If we wait until they react and send reinforcements, we'll be in trouble. Though I doubt they can spare anyone at the moment, not with the war against the Whitebeard Pirates about to start, zehahaha."
Blackbeard laughed heartily, clutching his stomach, then turned serious in an instant.
"Men, are you ready to wreak havoc in Impel Down?"
"Don't worry, boss, we're all ready!" the pirates shouted back.
"In that case, let's set off at full speed. Target: Impel Down."
"Oooooo!!!" the crew roared, every last one of them swept up in the excitement.
Neither Blackbeard nor his men believed the Marines could send reinforcements to Impel Down in time. As Blackbeard himself had said, the Marines were tied up fighting the Whitebeard Pirates, the strongest of the Four Emperors, so how could they possibly spare troops elsewhere?
Even with the Marines' considerable strength and numbers, Whitebeard was said to be the strongest man alive, and the Marines still had to keep watch over the other Emperors and every other trouble brewing at sea besides. It would be strange if they could send reinforcements at all under those circumstances.
And even if they managed to scrape some together, those reinforcements would likely be too weak to matter, unable to catch up in time and unwilling to face the Blackbeard Pirates even if they did.
That was the Blackbeard Pirates' thinking, at least. But ideas don't always match reality. In fact, the Marines had done far more than simply send reinforcements. They'd dispatched a force of genuine strength, and the odds of it failing to catch up were lower than Blackbeard's men assumed.
After all, among the reinforcements the Marines sent to Impel Down were Gion and Astolfo, Ikki's partner. Astolfo, in particular, possessed the ability to cross the ocean at tremendous speed, which meant the two of them might well reach Impel Down before the Blackbeard Pirates even arrived, and simply wait for them there.
Out on the open sea, a massive Marine warship cut through the waves, its crew working diligently and methodically to keep it moving at speed. But every so often, as the sailors passed the ship's rail and caught sight of Astolfo lounging there, they'd stop mid-step without quite meaning to, catch themselves a moment later, and hurry off with reddened faces.
Astolfo seemed entirely unaware of the effect he was having, content to bask lazily in the sun and pay no attention to the murmuring among the crew. If anything, his calm only made the sailors watch him more openly. Before long, small clusters of them had started gathering to talk about him directly.
"Hey, isn't that young lady incredibly cute? I've never seen her before, is she a newcomer?"
"So cute. One look and my heart just melts."
"A new recruit? But why isn't she wearing a Marine uniform?"
"No uniform? Does that mean she's some kind of high-ranking officer?"
"Even high-ranking officers wear the cloak of justice, though."
"True... Should we just ask Vice Admiral Gion? She's the one who brought her aboard, isn't she?"
"Let's not. I don't want to get an earful from Vice Admiral Gion over something like this."
"Whatever the case, she's adorable. I'd honestly like to confess to her and ask her to be my girlfriend."
A cluster of male sailors had gathered to talk it over, which drew the attention of a few female sailors nearby. They wandered over, curious, and joined in.
"I heard Gion call her Astolfo, right? You boys have a point, she really is lovely. If I were a man, I'd probably fall for her too."
"Right? Her cuteness works on everyone, men and women alike, just like the Pirate Empress."
"You really think so? Let me let you in on a secret. Astolfo isn't a cute girl. He's a cute boy."
"Wait, seriously? That's not a joke I appreciate."
"I'm not joking. I overheard it myself, between Vice Admiral Gion and Astolfo. You think Vice Admiral Gion would lie about something like that?"
"How is that possible? I wanted to marry Astolfo. Why does he have to be a man?"
"So that explains it. I kept wondering why I, a girl, couldn't stop staring at him. Turns out he's a man. Well, that's actually great news."
"Wait, what exactly are you planning to do with that information?"
"What do you think? If the other person's a boy, then as a girl, I can pursue him properly, can't I?"
"..."
"What exactly are you all discussing?" Gion's voice cut through the murmurs.
"Vice Admiral Gion?!" Everyone startled at once, remembering all too suddenly that Astolfo had come aboard specifically because of her.
For a moment, the sailors who'd been chattering so freely just seconds earlier went completely silent, terrified of saying the wrong thing and setting her off.
Gion was still only an admiral candidate, technically, but everyone knew better than to treat her as anything less. With her current strength, she could rival Hawkeye Mihawk himself, the world's greatest swordsman, and it was only a matter of time before she became a Marine Admiral in truth. None of them wanted to be the one who offended a future Admiral.
"It's alright, don't look so nervous. I'm just here to chat," Gion said, smiling warmly at the group. "Though you might want to stop crowding around Astolfo like this. Barring anything unusual, I don't think he'll be marrying any of you."
None of them knew what Gion knew about Astolfo's circumstances. Astolfo was a Heroic Spirit summoned by Ikki through his sword, and his very existence was bound to Ikki in a way that could never truly be severed.
Even if Astolfo wanted to leave him, and he certainly wouldn't, it simply wasn't possible. That alone made marrying any of these sailors an impossibility from the start.
"Well, if Vice Admiral Gion says so, I suppose that settles it," one of the sailors said. "Alright, everyone, let's disperse."
With him leading the way, the rest of the crowd broke apart and went back to their duties. On the other side of the deck, Gion made her way over to Astolfo, who sat quietly lost in thought.