And so…
The ranking video continued to play.
This round's rundown of the "Background King" still wasn't over yet.
Making trouble!
Breaking out of prison!
Afterward—inside Impel Down—thanks to the Okama King and Inazuma's help…
Luffy and the others wreaked havoc through the prison, leading hundreds—if not thousands—of Newkama from Newkama Land.
Not only did they take over Level 5!
They even triggered riots on the upper levels, and in the end…
it spread all the way to Level 6! They even rescued Jinbe and "Sir Crocodile"!
The result…
was that everyone broke out together.
After the escape of Golden Lion Shiki back then, this was yet another breakout from Impel Down Prison!
And this time, the scale was massive—an enormous number of inmates escaped!
A completely unprecedented mass jailbreak—something that had never happened before in all of history!
And once this entire sequence of footage was exposed—
broadcast through the ranking video and delivered into the real world—
because of the unexpected outcome,
and because it involved the legendary Level 6…
and two Warlords of the Sea…
it was only natural that it caused yet another shockwave.
The entire pirate world instantly became lively again, as viewers launched into another round of heated debate!!!
"???"
"No way… it's not just Straw Hat! Even Sir Crocodile and Jinbe actually became his accomplices?!"
"Add in all the other prisoners, and this crew's influence and combat power is no small threat!"
"Once they reach Marine Headquarters—on that battlefield—who knows… they might bring the Marines an enormous headache!"
"They might even tip the scales—forming the early shape of a force that could rewrite the world's balance of power!!!"
Stunned.
Shocked.
Only after watching the entire jailbreak from start to finish did the viewers of the pirate world finally realize it:
something regime-shaking had happened.
They had assumed that with just Luffy and the Okama King, never mind escaping—
even making it out of Impel Down alive would be questionable.
Whether they could defeat Magellan at all—how they'd deal with that man's purple, lethal poison—was already a problem!
But they never expected…
things to escalate to this extent!
After twenty long years, Impel Down had fallen again!
And—
most importantly—
at this point in time, in the future timeline, the war at Marine Headquarters had most likely already begun!
Which meant…
the Marines, currently battling the Whitebeard Pirates,
could, at any moment, also be forced to face a siege-like pressure—
three Warlord-level combatants, plus a swarm of criminal pirates!
For the Marines…
this was not good news.
It was a bolt from the blue!
Once again, it added a huge unknown variable to that future Paramount War!!!
—
"Hmph…"
"Sir Crocodile is one thing—right now he's already been captured and has been locked in Level 6 of Impel Down this whole time!"
"But… Jinbe? What is going on with him?! As a Warlord of the Sea, and without having his title stripped, he's still a symbolic representative of the Fish-Men!"
"So why would he be imprisoned for no reason… and even take part in this jailbreak?!"
At that moment—
inside the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters—
beneath the seagull cap, Sengoku's face darkened. He let out an irritated snort, his words full of confusion.
What the hell is going on?!
The Warlords were already a deeply unsettling bunch.
Every time Sengoku had to deal with them, he found it a headache, and the Marines as a whole didn't welcome these powerhouses either!
And yet—
for the sake of balancing power—
no matter how much they disliked it, the Marines still had to rely on the Warlords to hold the Grand Line in check, especially the first half!
But he never expected…
that Jinbe—who had always been the most obedient and well-behaved among the Warlords—
would also end up defecting in the future!
What exactly happened in the middle?
Was it because of Whitebeard?
In the past, Sengoku had heard rumors that Jinbe, a man of loyalty and righteousness, had a decent private relationship with Whitebeard and members of the Whitebeard Pirates.
But…
Sengoku had never taken that small matter to heart.
He never imagined it would become a planted thread—
indirectly turning into one of the factors that could rewrite the Paramount War!
Truly unexpected!!!
"Oooh…"
"Jinbe, Sir Crocodile, the Okama King… several heavy hitters joining forces to help Straw Hat break out, huh?"
"This kid's 'background' has, without him even noticing, grown bigger and bigger… to a truly overwhelming extent!!!"
To the left of the conference table,
Kizaru lounged with one leg crossed over the other. In his usual trademark drawl, he deliberately sounded weak as he spoke.
As a Marine Admiral—
one of the greatest top-tier forces on the sea—
Kizaru naturally wouldn't fear the Warlords. Even one-versus-three, he could crush them with casual ease!
But…
from Luffy's perspective—
reviving on the brink of death, benefactors arriving, successfully escaping prison—
every single one of those things happening inside Impel Down could be called a miracle.
And yet Luffy encountered all of them—
and the whole process even looked rather easy!
That was what made it hard for people to accept!!!
"Hmph."
"A jailbreak? So what?" Akainu, another of the three Admirals, held the opposite attitude. He snorted with disdain. "No matter how many people you count, it won't make up the gap."
"Even if he has Jinbe and Sir Crocodile helping him—once he steps onto the battlefield, Straw Hat will only be delivering himself to his own death!"
Arrogant contempt.
Murderous intent surfaced in Akainu's eyes as he spoke bluntly.
In his view—
even Warlords couldn't withstand his magma fists.
Jinbe, Sir Crocodile… the sort he could drop with one punch each.
So—
even if they successfully escaped as a group,
and even if everyone later really did reach the battlefield at Marineford…
as long as he, Akainu, was there, and hadn't fallen—
then every last escaped pirate would be personally and individually purged by him!
"Akainu, you…"
Across from him, Garp's expression quickly turned grim.
He stopped eating his rice crackers, glared at Akainu, and shot back:
"And likewise—so long as I'm here, in the war to come, you won't lay a single finger on Luffy!"
Even as the Hero of the Marines—one of the uppermost pillars of Marine combat power—
Garp bore a double burden.
He should, first and foremost, unite against the enemy and suppress pirates.
But…
Luffy was his grandson.
The bloodline of the Monkey family.
So whether out of selfishness, or out of the instinct to protect one's kin—
no matter what…
Garp would never allow it.
In the future, on the battlefield of the Paramount War—
if Akainu dared to strike at Luffy…
Garp would stake his life to stop him—
and declare war on Akainu himself!
And so—
because of Akainu and Garp's words, and the way they targeted each other—
the atmosphere in the office instantly shifted.
From surprise, it turned heavy—
thick with the smell of gunpowder.
At that,
no one else spoke.
Clearly, they didn't want to get involved, or take sides.
And so—
under that atmosphere—
everyone's eyes soon returned to the screen.
And at this moment…
upon the transparent light-curtain—
the new ranking video continued, still exposing more of the story!!!
(End of Chapter)
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