The colossal door, the stark demarcation between hell and hope, stared imposingly at the trio. Their lips curled into faint smiles as they remembered the fateful day they had been transported to this infernal prison.
"Let's go!"
With a resonant thud, the massive door began its slow, groaning ascent. Light pierced through the slight opening, causing them to wince and shield their eyes after weeks of oppressive gloom.
"I haven't seen sunlight for weeks now!"
"Damn, it's hard to believe!"
They surged from the oppressive shadows of hell into the blinding light of hope as the sun cascaded its brilliant radiance across the horizon. Reaching the precipice, they observed the grand fleet of sixteen Marine warships encircling the entirety of Impel Down in a formidable, disciplined formation.
"What the fuck? How are we gonna escape this?" Ryuken unsheathed his sword with a grin, his expression morphing into a defiant smirk.
"Hey Gojo, tell us you actually thought of a way outta this?" Jake drew his pistol, staring in trepidation at the huge cannons poised to blast them into oblivion.
Gojo's expression remained preternaturally calm. "Yeah, but it's kind of risky." He cracked his knuckles. "We're gonna hijack one of their ships and sail straight out of hell."
"But how?"
"I'm gonna blast the rest of them away, and we'll leave the navigation to Jake. Let's go."
Grabbing the collars of Jake and Ryuken with a faint, confident smile, Gojo closed his eyes and tossed them effortlessly toward the nearest warship before executing a powerful leap onto its deck. "We'll hijack this one. I'll leave the small fries for both of you to handle. I'll deal with the main force."
"Okay."
Buoyed by their absolute trust and confidence in their beloved captain, they obeyed without hesitation. Gojo exhaled slowly and outstretched his right hand sideways, aiming precisely at the line of Marine warships.
Sparks of immense energy began to generate and swirl violently in his palm as he conjured his attack, reversing his Lapse Blue to produce a cataclysmic blast of compressed space. "Red!"
A ferocious gust of wind erupted forth, his hair and shirt whipping violently from the concussive force of the building energy. The Marines watched, utterly bewildered by the incomprehensible power manifesting before them, just before he unleashed the attack.
Boom!
Red. Gojo unleashed the devastating attack at the warships arrayed in battle formation; all of them were instantly annihilated in a blinding flash. Not a single splinter of wood remained from their obliterated hulls.
The Marine warship to his left trembled in palpable fear. Is he a Pacifista? The Marines, including their Commodore, shared the same terrifying thought simultaneously. Then, in unified horror, they glanced at Gojo as he turned his gaze toward them.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Dive into the sea now!" They knew that even if they didn't dive, they would be instantly eradicated just like their comrades and their warships moments before. Yet, diving into the sea also meant a certain, gruesome death. They were acutely aware that monstrous Sea Kings camped beneath the water, for they were inside the treacherous Calm Belt, the infamous home of the most terrifying sea beasts.
Outstretching a single finger toward the remaining warships, Gojo conjured his Lapse Blue, firing it at the stunned remnants of the Marine fleet, which were instantly erased from existence. Not a single fragment of wood or metal remained to confirm a ship had ever been there.
The thunderous sound of the detonation echoed throughout the unnaturally silent Calm Belt and off the stark walls of Impel Down, the impact even causing a temporary whirlpool to form in the sea.
"Fuck!"
Gojo bit his lip, feeling momentarily drained from deploying two such massive attacks. He immediately utilized his Reverse Cursed Technique, renewing his depleted energy reserves and restoring himself to peak condition.
Witnessing this one-sided massacre caused by a single man, the few Marines standing at the entrance of Impel Down became completely paralyzed, their legs trembling uncontrollably as they dropped their guns and swords. How can one man possibly possess power rivaling a Yonko? They thought, utterly defeated.
Ryuken and Jake were flabbergasted; the tremors from both attacks had made the entire sea unstable, and they saw Sea Kings shrieking above the water before diving back into the depths in terror.
The sea was painted a sinister red; some Sea Kings swimming near the surface had been caught in the attack's periphery and were killed instantly, while others now fed on their carcasses alongside the soldiers who had chosen to dive into the water.
A complete massacre indeed.
Gojo's expression was plain and deadly serious; he was done playing petty games with the Marines, and he was finished being a prisoner. His audacious plan had worked flawlessly, and now it was about to shake the very foundations of the world.
"Ryuken! Jake! It's time we stop being small fish!" He muttered, a formidable grin finally surfacing on his face. He was eager to stand among the strongest. "What awaits us now is the Grand Line! Let's go!"
Impel Down was in complete chaos, gripped by rumble and destruction—all caused by a single, infamous pirate. Magellan lay utterly wounded and unconscious on the ruined Level 4, having taken two direct hits of Black Flash from Gojo; the entire level was now a horrible, devastated wasteland.
The prisoners confined down in Levels 6 and 5 had felt the tremendous rumblings and quakes from the destruction ravaging Level 4 and the cataclysmic use of Red and Blue outside Impel Down.
Every cell from Level 4 to Level 1 was completely broken open. The prisoners, freed by Gojo during his rampage through the levels, had overpowered the remaining guards—since Gojo had already dealt with ninety percent of them.
Prisoners now rampaging through Levels 1 to 3 wisely avoided descending to Level 4, knowing they would not survive a minute in the toxic, ruined environment below. Venom and magma filled most of the level, making it impossible for anyone to traverse without a specialized gas mask and a fireproof suit.
The Marines in the control room had watched the entire battle replay without skipping a second, before drafting yet another frantic report to Marineford.
Well, this report was likely to give Fleet Admiral Sengoku a heart attack.
Not only that, fifteen warships had been constantly erased into nothingness by a strange, inexplicable attack from him. What is he? They wondered. Definitely not human!
This was the unanimous conclusion of the Marines who had watched the scene unfold from the relative safety of the monitor room.
"Isn't it said a person cannot have more than one Devil Fruit?"
"Having more than one means instant death!"
"Then explain what I'm seeing right now! How can he use multiple powers? First, he controls the space around him; second, he's got those strange blue flames engulfing him; third, what's with that red laser? Fourth, what's with the blue laser he used to wipe away all the warships? And lastly, how the hell is he able to regenerate?" One of the officers was utterly dumbfounded, sweating profusely and swallowing hard.
"I really can't comprehend this shit! I'll go numb if I try!"
"And his bounty is only 35 million? What the hell!"
Nervous chatters erupted in the control room; dust and little debris shaken loose by the earlier earthquakes from the impact of Red and Blue fell from the roof.
"He's a monster!" One of the soldiers fell to his knees. "I'm done being a marine! I'm quitting right away!"
"I doubt even some of the Warlords could cause such a scene."
"He's a threat the Government must eliminate; he should be considered 'wanted dead only' because sending him back here in the future would sink this entire fortress into the depths of the sea."
"I'm scared just thinking about it!"
"Anyways, have you called Marineford?!"
"I'll contact them right away!"
"Shit! What the fuck are you waiting for?!"
"This isn't the time to play around! Impel Down is in ruins!"
Pere! Pere! Pere! Clank!
Dozens of Den Den Mushi instantly rang throughout the entire headquarters of Marineford to relay the catastrophic news.
…
[Marineford]
Hearing the reports, Sengoku staggered and crashed into his chair, his eyes widened in profound shock and disbelief, sweat streaming down his temples. Garp was uncharacteristically short of words, only clenching his fists in frustration, while Akainu's rage almost turned the office into a swirling swarm of magma.
The Admiral turned his hands into magma and crushed his desk in a fit of fury; Aokiji instantly reacted, freezing the wood that had already started to burn.
"That little scum! I'll kill him right now!" Akainu raged, biting through the cigar in his mouth, while the other Admirals listened to the news with a tense, calculated calm.
"A brat worth 35 million is the cause of all this? Interesting!" Kizaru adjusted his shades, his tone infuriatingly placid.
"This isn't the time for compliments, Kizaru! How is that brat able to turn Impel Down into ruins? And furthermore, how did he defeat Magellan?"
"Boahahaha!!" Garp burst into strained laughter before getting serious. "He's a threat we must stop before he gets further into the Grand Line." He clenched his fist hard.
Sengoku, hopping off the ground, held his face in his hands. "How the hell did he break out of Seastone cuffs, and how the hell is he able to use more than one power?"
The room became deathly silent all of a sudden, all of them now contemplating the terrifying implications. "He let himself get captured by Vice Admiral Murdock so he could reveal his true strength inside Impel Down?!"
"It seems like it! Put aside his crew, Jake and Ryuken. He's definitely a paramount threat, a threat worthy of eventually becoming a Yonko!"
"Cut that crap!" Akainu became furious upon hearing the word 'Yonko,' his body beginning to boil and smolder. "That brat is still hiding his true power, considering he's still operating in the East Blue!"
"That might be correct!" Garp concluded grimly. "Controlling the space around him, blue flames enveloping his body, shooting different beam-like attacks and lastly," he swallowed, trying hard not to believe the outcome, "regeneration… it sounds unbelievable!"
"Are you suggesting he's eaten multiple Devil Fruits?!"
"How the hell is that possible, Garp-san?!" Aokiji crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. "I think his regeneration is quite dangerous. And how is he able to do that in a split second?"
"I won't believe that crap!" Akainu snarled. "There is no known way for him to possess more than one Devil Fruit! He's definitely an anomaly, perhaps not even from this world!" The room loomed with a heavy, ominous silence once again.
"..."
"Is this an isekai?" Garp exclaimed, barely holding himself back from nervous laughter while in a dire situation.
"Call Mary Geoise! We must inform the Five Elders immediately! This is a crisis far beyond our authority to solve alone…
.....
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