"Aren't you going to kill him?"
The battle had ended. Redyat and Nelson, who had been observing from a distance, stepped forward to Teach's side.
Teach stood before the embedded figure of Acel, who was pinned deep into the cracked perimeter wall of Impel Down.
In truth, Teach could have killed him just now and taken his Devil Fruit.
Even with that final claw strike, if Teach had wished it, Acel would not have been able to shift his body in time. The heart had been within reach.
Teach had allowed it.
"No need," Teach said calmly. "If someone like him dies, the Marines will lose their minds. Besides, his survival does not change anything for us."
He glanced at the broken prison.
"But this means Impel Down has truly fallen."
Redyat was still inwardly astonished.
At their level, battles between top tiers usually lasted at least a full day and night. Even with a gap in strength, it was rarely so decisive.
Yet Teach had defeated Acel in barely two hours.
It was not just brute force.
It was structure.
Dark Water dragged the opponent in.
Dark Shackles bound and suppressed.
The Dark-Dark Fruit nullified the ability.
Then came the killing strike.
Each step flowed into the next, dismantling resistance piece by piece.
Against most Devil Fruit users, it was a death sentence.
Dark Water's suppression was nearly irresistible. Even Redyat, confident in his own abilities, would have to retreat into the shadows to avoid its lock.
Teach's arsenal was terrifyingly complete.
Dark Devour swallowed everything.
Black Hole absorbed attacks.
Dark Jade defended.
Star of Destruction annihilated.
And now, with Conqueror's Haki coating, he finally possessed overwhelming single-target lethality.
Redyat had researched previous users of the Dark-Dark Fruit. None had pushed it this far.
Perhaps, as Teach had once joked, the fruit had been waiting for him.
"Let's go," Teach said, turning away. "There's nothing worth staying for in Impel Down."
Their battle had ravaged Freezing Hell. The icy landscape was scarred with craters and fractures. In the distance, the massive circular hole connecting to Blazing Hell vented waves of rising heat.
Despite the destruction, the environment began stabilizing. Ice slowly re-formed across exposed stone. The prison's climate systems were still functioning.
Unconscious prisoners had begun to stir, confused and disoriented.
As Teach walked, he suddenly stopped.
He turned his head slightly to the right.
"Come out," he said lightly. "Do I need to invite you personally?"
Redyat showed no surprise. He had sensed it as well.
Nelson blinked, startled. He had noticed nothing.
A figure hidden within the shadows stiffened.
He had not expected to be discovered.
For a brief moment, Teach's final claw strike replayed in his mind. The image of Acel being crushed was unforgettable.
Then the hidden man relaxed.
There was no reason to hide anymore.
He stepped forward, lowering his head slightly. From his pocket, he drew a thick cigar and placed it between his teeth. A lighter flicked.
Sizzle.
A small flame bloomed in the cold air.
Smoke drifted upward as he took a deep drag.
The chill around him dispersed slightly under the pressure of his aura.
Shiryu of the Rain emerged fully.
The former head jailer of Impel Down.
He had been absent throughout the prison's chaos. Before arriving, he had already cut down several unlucky prisoners. Afterward, he had hidden in the shadows, silently observing the duel between Teach and Acel.
It had been… enlightening.
"Heh," Shiryu chuckled. "So I was discovered after all."
One hand rested loosely on the hilt of his sword, Raiu. Not in hostility, but in habit.
"What?" Teach smiled. "You're not going to stop me?"
"Stop you?" Shiryu laughed openly. "Spare me. I have no desire to fight a monster like you."
He was not foolish.
Acel's fate was proof enough.
And besides Teach, there was Redyat, whose depth he could not measure, and Nelson, whose presence felt equally unusual.
Charging forward would be suicide.
Teach studied him.
There was fresh blood in Shiryu's aura.
He had been busy.
"Do you know King?" Teach suddenly asked.
Shiryu's eyes flickered.
"I've heard he joined the Beast Pirates," Teach continued. "How about you? Interested in joining us?"
"I am the head jailer of Impel Down," Shiryu replied with a faint smile. "Isn't it a bit absurd to recruit me?"
His tone carried no loyalty toward the prison.
Redyat's smile deepened. He could already see the answer forming.
"I know you, Shiryu of the Rain," Teach said steadily. "A man like you does not belong chained to a dungeon. Impel Down is not a future. It's a cage."
He stepped closer.
"The sea is where you belong."
Shiryu's fingers tightened slightly around his cigar.
"Magellan will become Warden," Teach added. "You know him. You want to serve under him?"
That struck cleanly.
Shiryu despised Magellan. In the confined corridors of Impel Down, poison neutralized even the sharpest blade. No matter how cleanly he cut, he would always be at a disadvantage.
On open seas, things would be different.
Here, he was restricted.
"After King left," Shiryu said slowly, exhaling smoke, "the security tightened. No one leaves without reason."
He looked up at Teach.
"So I waited."
"Waited for someone who could take me out."
A small grin formed on his lips.
"And now, I think I've found him."
He stepped forward and released his grip from Raiu's hilt.
"Let me join you, Captain Teach."
Nelson's eyes widened slightly.
Another monster.
Teach laughed heartily.
"Then welcome aboard, Shiryu."
The answer also cleared a doubt in Teach's mind. It was not that Shiryu had lacked the desire to leave.
It was that he had lacked the means.
The Calm Belt surrounded Impel Down. Sea Kings filled its waters. The only safe routes were the sky or the Gates of Justice.
Leaving alone would trigger pursuit from Marine Headquarters and possibly the World Government itself.
Without a faction to anchor to, Shiryu would be hunted endlessly.
Now he had one.
"Let's head back to Water 7," Teach said. "We'll leave the cleanup to the Marines."
He could already imagine tomorrow's headlines.
News Coo circled high in the skies. Morgans never missed a story like this.
Elsewhere, Patrick Redfield remained near the island's edge. Sensing Acel's defeat, he smiled faintly.
Everything was settled.
He leapt into the Calm Belt and began swimming.
Like Silvers Rayleigh, he had the strength to cross these waters unaided.
A massive Sea King surfaced, nearly a thousand meters long, casting a colossal shadow.
Its giant pupil fixed on Redfield.
Bored. Curious.
Redfield smiled.
"Give me a ride."
The Sea King roared, thrashing the waters into chaos.
Then—
It froze.
A crushing wave of Conqueror's Haki overwhelmed it.
Redfield stepped lightly onto its head.
"Take me out of this sea area," he said calmly. "Then you can go."
The Sea King nodded stiffly and obeyed.
Back inside Impel Down, Teach and the others reached Level One.
Magellan lay there, barely alive.
His body was torn and soaked in blood. Consciousness flickered stubbornly in his eyes. Several prisoners had inflicted additional damage after his defeat.
He saw them approach.
Teach.
Redyat.
Nelson.
And—
Shiryu.
Magellan's gaze sharpened in disbelief.
Shiryu?
Why was he behind Teach?
A terrible realization dawned.
Where was Warden Acel?
Why had he not returned?
The answer was obvious.
Magellan's body could not move. Even breathing was agony.
Shiryu glanced down at him and smiled faintly.
Then he walked past.
Magellan's vision blurred.
The fortress had fallen.
Teach and his crew stepped out of Impel Down and into the open air.