Inside the Warden's office on the sea level of Impel Down.
Hannyabal watched his old superior sitting silently to the side, while the Warden's uniform he had always longed to wear hung conspicuously on the wall.
If it were any other time, Hannyabal would have 'accidentally' revealed his ambition to take over the position, then sneakily touched it to soothe his desire for promotion.
But now…
Even he genuinely felt a sense of humiliation, and the feeling of his beliefs being ruthlessly trampled.
The prisoners on Level 6 were almost completely wiped out, killed by the Warden himself, Magellan.
He naturally held no pity for the prisoners in his heart. What truly made Magellan unable to accept it was that he had acted like his colleague who was dismissed for indiscriminately killing prisoners… no, he had even surpassed him.
After all, how many prisoners could Shiryu kill with a sword compared to Magellan's deadly poison?
Although Magellan also believed criminals deserved death, that was only for those who hadn't been tried.
Prisoners who had been tried and sentenced to serve their time on Level 6 should bear their punishment, and even if they died, it should be according to the prison's system.
System, order… that was what Magellan believed in.
If there was no order, and prisoners could be killed arbitrarily, then what difference was there between him and those criminals?
Now, Level 6 had truly become hell.
This included his former colleague, Shiryu of the Rain, and also some ordinary prisoners who hadn't agreed to the government agents' deals. By now, they should all be mostly dead.
"Warden... That Blackbeard Teach just went to Level 3. It looks like he's going to rescue his companions."
Perhaps feeling the atmosphere in the room was too oppressive, Hannyabal proactively brought up a topic, trying to divert Magellan's attention.
"...Let him go."
Magellan's voice was very low, lacking much of the conviction it once held.
Just as Shamrock had promised, no one would stop Blackbeard.
At this moment, on the scorching hot Level 3, Blackbeard had already found his captured crew members.
Burgess, Van Augur, and Lafitte looked somewhat pale from dehydration. In contrast, the always sickly Doc Q maintained his initial appearance.
This actually made him seem more spirited.
"Cap... Captain!"
"Waaah… Captain, you finally came to save us!"
Upon seeing Blackbeard's figure, their faces couldn't help but show surprise and joy.
"Zehahahaha~ Of course! How could I let you guys die here?"
Blackbeard didn't waste time, decisively using the keys he obtained from the office to unlock their cell doors and shackles.
Other things aside, Blackbeard truly cherished crew members like Van Augur who had joined him during the founding period.
After all, like-minded companions weren't that easy to find.
"Cough... cough... Captain, the plan..."
The ship's doctor, Doc Q, asked slowly. Blackbeard's smile immediately faded a little.
"It went to the worst possible scenario... But it's fine. Now I also have the Warlord status. We're one step closer to our goal, Zehahahaha!"
As he spoke, he let out his signature laugh.
The others, after replenishing water and food, also laughed along with their captain.
Elsewhere, unlike Blackbeard and his crew, who had been temporarily placed on the prison system's 'whitelist', the escapees from Level 6 were currently dealing with the astonishing number of jailer beasts.
"Micro-Dust Slashing Speed Blades!"
Mr. 1's feet turned into blades, skating-like quickly across the stone floor.
Simultaneously, his arms spread wide, each finger gleaming with the cold light of metal blades.
A Blue Gorila, looking like a large blue snowman, tried to block him wielding a double-bladed axe.
But those axes, whether in sharpness or toughness, couldn't compare to Mr. 1 with his Supa Supa no Mi. (T/N: Dice-Dice Fruit.)
The jailer beasts, along with their weapons, were easily severed and cut apart by the blades extending from various parts of Mr. 1's body, quickly clearing a path wide enough to pass through.
"Desert Spada!"
Crocodile's arms transformed into giant sand blades. With a single strike, he cleaved open the chests of the Minotaurus and other monsters blocking their way.
These creatures, with upper bodies bearing features of different animals but appearing dull-witted, were the jailer beasts of Impel Down… Awakened Zoan Users completely consumed by their animal instincts.
Despite their foolish and silly appearance, their resistance to damage and physical attributes far surpassed ordinary Zoan Users.
Their Awakening was genuine, just at a great cost.
The Minotaurus, with a large gash cut into it by Crocodile, looked at its wound, snot still dripping down its face, seemingly unaware it was injured.
"Babies! Quick! Kill them!"
A whip suddenly lashed across the Minotaurus's back, and its gaze instantly locked onto Crocodile not far away.
The wound on its body only bled briefly before being plugged up by muscle.
Sadi-chan brandished her leather whip. Under her command, the idiotic jailer beasts immediately launched their attack.
Swoosh!
A Minozebra, wielding a spiked club, charged head-on through the incoming sand blade attack and directly smashed Crocodile's head.
Unfortunately, such an attack, lacking Haki and moisture, couldn't harm him.
Reforming his shape elsewhere, Crocodile simply plunged his arm into the Minozebra's wound, which seemed insignificant compared to its size.
"Desert Coffin!"
Instantly, the moisture and blood within the Minozebra were rapidly sucked out.
Because there was a wound, the lethality speed of this move was even faster than when he fought Luffy.
"Ah!! My baby!"
Watching the Minozebra turn into a zebra jerky, Sadi-chan let out a scream, simultaneously lashing her whip towards Crocodile.
Unfortunately, with the loyal Mr. 1 guarding him, Crocodile didn't even need to lift a finger, and the whip was severed mid-air.
These Awakened Zoan Users had terrifying physical attributes, but once a method to deal with them was found, they became extremely easy to handle.
They didn't know Haki, so their attacks posed no threat to Crocodile, who could elementalize. Simultaneously, they had no defense against Crocodile's absorption.
You could call it an attribute advantage.
After the last Awakened one was also drained, Sadi-chan was cut down by Mr. 1 with a single slash, her fate unknown.
He was an assassin, so you couldn't expect him to show mercy to women.
"We need to hurry. I have a bad feeling."
Crocodile knew the situation wasn't that simple.
With Magellan not taking action personally, Crocodile easily broke through the obstructions on the other levels and also reached Level 3.
They still needed to rescue another Baroque Works' member here.
Mr. 2, Bon Clay.
But instead of seeing Bon Clay's flamboyant figure, Crocodile saw Blackbeard's barrel-like silhouette.
"Marshall D. Teach."
Crocodile narrowed his eyes at Blackbeard, as he knew this guy.
Formerly a small fry under Whitebeard-
Also a deeply hidden traitor.
Even before he was imprisoned, he had heard the news of the other party's betrayal of Whitebeard.
Although he had some hatred with Whitebeard, it didn't mean Crocodile would approve of someone like Blackbeard.
On the other side, looking at Crocodile, who maintained his ruthless hero demeanor despite his tattered clothes, Blackbeard's face broke into a brilliant smile.
"Zehahahaha... Isn't this Crocodile? You escaped from downstairs too?"
Then he looked at the hallway behind Crocodile, where there was no one except Mr. 1, and thought to himself.
'He really killed them all... What a waste...'