At the staircase leading from Level 2's Hunger Hell to Level 3, several figures dressed in prisoner uniforms came flying out in panic as Jerry's group slowly emerged from the shadows.
"Hey! Who are you people? You're not prison guards! Why are you blocking our escape?!"
A group of criminals had been rushing toward Level 2 when they were brutally beaten back by Jerry's team, forced to retreat all the way up the stairs to Level 3.
"You scum are blocking our path forward!" Sanji stepped out first, his face dark with anger despite his slightly flamboyant disguise.
He clenched his fists and roared internally, Damn it! Miss Nami and Miss Carina are following that lazy fisherman so devotedly without even glancing my way!
After officially entering the prison levels of Impel Down, Nami and Carina had stayed close behind Jerry, and when Usopp noticed their strategy, he cleverly joined their protective formation.
As it turned out, their choice had been absolutely correct.
Throughout their journey, no prisoner had managed to get within ten meters of Jerry.
This was partly due to Brook, Sanji, and Chopper attacking enemies on all sides, but there were always some escapees who slipped through their defensive perimeter.
However, those prisoners who were focused solely on escaping Impel Down and were drunk on bloodlust would immediately collapse when they approached Jerry—either suffering multiple mysterious cuts or foaming at the mouth with no visible external injuries.
"Oh? You're the Black Star Pirates led by Leviathan Jerry? What brings you here?"
Behind the chaotic group of fleeing prisoners, a voice that sounded like it was trying to maintain composure suddenly rang out.
When the prisoners heard this voice, they immediately panicked further, as if there were tigers in front and wolves behind. They instinctively scattered in all directions.
Jerry and his team stopped their advance and turned to look toward the source of the voice.
"You're... from this place..." Jerry said uncertainly, staring at the speaker—a man wearing a yellow and green pharaoh-style headdress who looked like a bizarre combination of demon and ancient Egyptian ruler.
"That's correct! This is my prison, and I am the warden here—Hannibal!" The man waved the long-handled naginata in his hand and responded loudly.
"You've exposed your true ambition," Deputy Warden Domino, standing beside him, reminded him calmly.
Hannibal remained completely unbothered and said confidently, "What does it matter? We're all outsiders here, so it's fine if I reveal my ambitions appropriately, right?"
Seeing Hannibal finally focus his attention on him, Jerry nodded with deep conviction. "Absolutely right! Don't worry—I'm not particularly familiar with your Warden Magellan anyway. I'll definitely mention this to him."
"Wait, you're not going to tell him, or you are going to tell him?" Chopper seemed confused and murmured uncertainly.
"Haha, excellent! Now tell me, what exactly are you doing here? And these two beautiful ladies..." Hannibal stared directly at Nami and Carina. "Ah! My ambition is showing again."
Noticing Sanji's eyes practically shooting flames in Hannibal's direction, Chopper hurriedly grabbed the cook's legs. "Sanji... I mean, Cavendish! Don't do anything rash!"
"Haha, don't mind them—they're usually this lively," Jerry waved dismissively, drawing Hannibal's attention back to himself. "The higher-ups sent me here to accomplish three things: provide support, provide support, and provide more support!"
Hannibal looked back at Domino, scratched his head, and asked uncertainly, "The higher-ups? Really?"
"Absolutely! As real as genuine pearls!" Jerry nodded emphatically.
At this moment, Carina and Nami exchanged meaningful glances and smirked, a sly gleam appearing in their eyes.
Under everyone's puzzled stares, the two women walked straight forward and winked flirtatiously at Hannibal. "Warden Hannibal, instead of wasting time standing around here, why don't you come with us and work together?"
Carina's sudden initiative caught everyone present completely off guard.
Sanji and the others were surprised since this wasn't part of their original plan—though admittedly, their original plan had been scrapped long ago.
Jerry's eyes flashed with understanding, as if he had grasped Carina's strategy, so he remained silent and let her handle the situation.
Hannibal's eyes widened as he watched Carina and Nami slowly approach him with graceful steps. He became so excited he nearly drooled, his posture straightening unconsciously.
He nodded eagerly in agreement. "Yes, that's an excellent idea!"
Hannibal turned to address Domino when a rumbling commotion erupted from their side.
"Huh? Why are there so many people here?" A blue-haired clown with a distinctive red nose led a small group of prisoners in panicked flight while several strange-looking creatures pursued them. The scene was absolute chaos.
"Oh! Aren't you that pirate with the big red nose?" Jerry whispered in surprise.
Sanji, Nami, and Usopp looked over when they heard this, and question marks immediately appeared above their heads. "Buggy?"
"Who said anything about a red nose?! Remember this face!" Buggy suddenly spun around mid-sprint and let out a deafening roar.
In the blink of an eye, Buggy and the people and animals chasing him disappeared around the corner.
Witnessing this spectacle, Hannibal turned to his subordinate. "Domino, you and the others focus on clearing this floor first and deploy some forces on the upper levels. I'll head down with these reinforcements."
Perhaps because he had complete confidence in the prison's tight security and surveillance systems, Domino glanced at Jerry's group with obvious indifference, nodded slightly, and led her subordinates away in another direction.
"Warden Hannibal, we've heard that Level 4 is called Blazing Hell and contains many important facilities. Could you give us a detailed tour? That way we won't end up in the wrong place when we take action later," Carina said while throwing a coquettish glance at Hannibal.
Hannibal raised his weapon and swung it vigorously, grinning broadly. "Simple! Let me explain everything to you!"
By the time everyone had reached Level 4 without encountering any obstacles, Jerry's team had gained a comprehensive understanding of this floor's functional layout.
This level served as Impel Down's operational center, housing Warden Magellan's office as well as the kitchen and food storage areas.
Additionally, the entire floor maintained an extremely high temperature, as if they were inside a massive cauldron filled with boiling blood and seas of fire. All prisoners underwent burning sterilization on this level before being processed into the prison system.
"Alright, as we discussed, you should go clear out the escaped prisoners on this floor first," Hannibal instructed Jerry's group.
Jerry nodded slightly. "Understood. Let's move out."
After saying this, everyone except Carina, Nami, and Chopper departed together.
Early in their descent, Jerry had guided the group's strategy through careful conversation.
Under Hannibal's excited observation, Jerry had proposed a divide-and-conquer approach.
Specifically, Jerry would take several people to suppress the riots while Hannibal coordinated the overall situation with Carina as support.
For Hannibal, who always maintained a casual and lazy attitude toward his duties, this proposal was exactly what he wanted. Unless the situation became desperately urgent, he was unlikely to work seriously or take personal action.
"Well, now that the troublesome people are gone, my beautiful ladies..." Hannibal paused and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, my ambition is showing again. How about we go to the monitoring room and sit for a while?"
Carina and Nami exchanged glances, slight smiles playing at the corners of their mouths as they accepted his invitation.
Although this wasn't a step they had originally planned, it connected perfectly to a crucial objective—obtaining the key to Zoro's prison cell and the shackles binding him.
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