Chapter 294: The Fall of Impel Down
At the edge of the Red Line, Louis sensed the defenses of Mary Geoise intensifying, and he frowned.
"Too slow."
He didn't know if the Golden Lion was slacking off or if the Float-Float Fruit simply wasn't powerful enough to move the massive prison quickly. The battle at Marine Headquarters had already begun, and Mary Geoise was on high alert, but Impel Down was still nowhere in sight.
"In the end, I have to do it myself."
Louis mentally commanded Avant Heim, hidden in the sky, to drop a coordinate crystal on the Red Line. He then opened a portal and flew through.
Seconds later, Avant Heim used the crystals carried by the Ex-Machina (who were with Shiki) as a new coordinate, teleporting to the airspace above Impel Down. A gate, large enough for the entire prison, instantly opened in its flight path, swallowing the fortress whole.
Deep in Level 6, Ochoku and Shiki felt the spatial shift and frowned. Just as quickly, everything returned to normal. Before they could investigate, a new figure appeared before them—clad in gold and red armor, with flawless white wings.
"Louis?!" Shiki and Ochoku raised their eyebrows. "According to the plan, weren't you supposed to be waiting for us at the Red Line?"
"Don't you think you're a little slow?" Louis shot Shiki an expressionless glance. "Mary Geoise is already on high alert."
Shiki understood. Their slow pace had tipped off the World Government. But...
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Shiki lit a cigar, crossing his arms, his voice full of justification. "Do you have any idea how much stamina it takes to fly Impel Down at full speed? If I arrive at Mary Geoise half-exhausted, how am I supposed to get out?"
He was here to repay a favor, not to get himself killed. As a survivor of the God Valley Incident, he knew exactly how powerful the Five Elders and the God's Knights were, not to mention their bizarre, unkillable bodies. Even if the God's Knights were down to two members, the Five Elders were all still alive.
Shiki had no desire to fight five monsters who had Conqueror's Coating, Awakened Mythical Zoans, and immortality. He prided himself on being near Louis's level, but he knew he didn't have Louis's quick-kill abilities. If he got surrounded, he was dead.
"You're saying their defenses are up?" Ochoku asked, his face grim. If that was true, the plan might fail. The prison might be shot down before it even arrived.
"That's right. Mary Geoise is locked down. Kong is in charge, supported by a few retired old-timers and CP agents."
Louis quickly briefed the three of them on the situation.
As the prisoners in Level 6 listened, they, who had been curious about the young, winged man standing with Shiki, finally understood what was being said. The moment they realized they were being used as a "knife," the level exploded.
"Hey, hey, what the hell is he talking about?!"
"Golden Lion, you bastard! Are you really dropping us on Mary Geoise?!"
"Damn you! Who do you think you are, using me as a weapon?!"
"F—"
A torrent of profanity and enraged roaring echoed through Level 6. All of them glared at the four in the passageway.
In their cells, the powerful individuals Shiki and Ochoku had been trying to recruit had strange expressions.
"So that was Shiki's plan?"
"This doesn't seem like something Shiki would come up with. That winged brat must be the real mastermind."
"What kind of power does he have, to make even a monster like Shiki cooperate?"
Beside them, Bullet, who had been sitting, slowly stood up, his eyes fixed on Louis, a strange smile on his scarred face.
In another cell, an old man with long silver hair also stared at Louis, his eyes glinting.
"So noisy..." Ace muttered, sticking a finger in his ear.
Louis and Shiki ignored the prisoners' dying screams. "Shiki, if you're going to recruit new members, do it. You don't have much time." Louis's gaze swept over the cells, assessing the prisoners' strength.
"Don't have much time?" Shiki's eyes widened. "You... you didn't... you teleported Impel Down to the Red Line, didn't you?"
"..." Ochoku said nothing. After seeing Louis teleport an army to Marineford, nothing surprised him anymore.
"Correct." Louis nodded. They were already in the airspace above the Red Line, far too high to be seen. They would be over Mary Geoise in minutes.
Shiki and Ochoku exchanged a glance, then immediately rushed off to make their final offers to their chosen recruits.
Louis turned his gaze to Ace, specifically to the sword at his waist. "They actually taught you how to use that?"
He was surprised. He had thought trying to teach the adult Ace would mess up his fighting style, but judging by his amplified Haki and improved physique, his previous judgment had been wrong.
"Oh, this?" Ace grinned. "Ochoku-senpai and that crazy old-timer are amazing swordsmen. Even I, who'd never touched a sword, managed to learn a few things."
As he spoke, Shiki, who had been talking to the silver-haired old man, went pale with rage.
"BAM!"
In a flash, he was back, punching Ace square on the head.
"Ow! Crazy old-timer, what was that for?!" Ace yelled, rubbing his head.
"I told you," Shiki roared, "not to tell anyone I taught you! I'm too old for this embarrassment!"
"Tch! Who on Hachinosu doesn't know?" Ace shot back.
"You still can't say it out loud!"
"I'll say it!"
"BAM!"
Louis watched the scene with a strange, disconnected feeling. Ochoku just sighed. This was his retirement: stuck with two lunatics.
"It seems," Louis said, "that none of the famous pirates were willing to join your alliance."
Shiki and Ochoku didn't reply. It was true. Bullet, the Red Count, and the World Destroyer had all refused them.
"..."
Louis didn't press. Impel Down was in position. He had the Ex-Machina toss the cell keys to every prisoner.
Then he looked at Shiki. "Drop it."
Shiki didn't hesitate. He released his control.
The city-sized prison began to free-fall.
Inside, everyone was instantly weightless, crashing into each other in the narrow corridors. Desperate screams filled the air.
"How are we getting out?" Ochoku asked, his face impassive.
"We're dead!" Ace laughed.
"What's the big deal?" Shiki lit a cigar. "Louis is still here, isn't he?"
"..."
"...He seems to be gone, Shiki."
"So are the robots."
"WHAT?!" Shiki panicked, about to reactivate his power, when he felt a strange, spatial ripple. He relaxed, letting the teleportation take him, Ochoku, and Ace away.
Meanwhile, at the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
In the Flower Room, the slender, dark shadow (Imu) stood among the blue flowers, a blue butterfly resting on a delicate finger.
The shadow stiffened, sensing an unusual aura. Its crimson-ringed eyes flashed.
It looked up, its gaze piercing through the stone of Pangea Castle, seeing the city-sized shadow falling from the sky.
"Impel Down..."
In the next instant, a voice echoed in the minds of the Five Elders in the Room of Authority, and in the minds of Shamrock and Junko on the training grounds.
"Someone has dropped Impel Down on the Holy Land. Stop it."
"!!!"
The Five Elders and Shamrock, already on edge, looked up.
"Impel Down?!"
A black speck in the sky was growing larger by the second. They recognized it.
"Roar!"
The Room of Authority exploded. A colossal, monstrous bird (Marcus Mars) burst from the rubble, its wingspan blotting out the sky, and shot upward. The other four Elders were on its back.
From the ground, a black, vine-like arrow (Ju Peter) shot up, catching up to the bird. On its tip stood the Commander of the God's Knights (Shamrock) and Junko.
They ascended, meeting the terrible roar and heat of the falling prison. They transformed into their most powerful forms, preparing a combined, all-out attack to annihilate it.
In Mary Geoise, Commander-in-Chief Kong ran out, staring in horror. "Is that... Impel Down?!"
A storm of black and red Conqueror's Haki from the different top-tiers ripped the sky apart, turning the world a hellish red. Their combined attack shot forward, leaving a vacuum in the atmosphere.
"Looks like it'll be shattered," Shiki, watching from afar, tossed his cigar. "Not my fault. I did my part."
"It doesn't matter," Louis said.
High above, Avant Heim pulsed. Louis, controlling it, teleported every prisoner out of the falling prison just an instant before impact.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The attack from the Five Elders and the God's Knights struck Impel Down. The sky exploded.
But as the smoke cleared, the Elders' faces turned to horror.
"How?! It should have been annihilated! Why are there such large fragments?!"
Mountain-sized chunks of the prison were now raining down on Mary Geoise. They were still large enough to destroy the Holy Land. The Elders and Knights scrambled, desperately trying to destroy the debris.
But Imu's voice, ice-cold and furious, filled their minds.
"What are you doing? Why did you let the ants into the Holy Land?"
"Ants...?" The Elders looked down.
The grounds of Mary Geoise were swarming with thousands of figures in prison uniforms.
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!