Impel Down.
Inside the mess hall.
The air was thick with the rich aroma of food.
To guarantee the quality of logistics, Sanji had unceremoniously taken over the prison's kitchen.
Under his command, one dish after another—both nutritious and delicious—was carried to the tables.
"Eat to your heart's content!"
"Fill up! Only then will you have the strength for special training!"
"Yes, Head Chef Sanji!"
The Marines of G-3 Base devoured their meals ravenously, their metal trays scraping with sharp "zizi" sounds.
They knew well that an unprecedentedly brutal trial was about to begin.
At the main table.
Hawke sliced into the roasted Sea King meat on his plate, with Magellan and Hannyabal seated at either side.
"Hawke-san!"
Hannyabal, his belly protruding, flailed his arms dramatically as he introduced Impel Down to Hawke.
"Impel Down has six levels! Each level imprisons criminals of different ranks!"
"From the Crimson Hell of Level 1 all the way down to the Eternal Hell at the very bottom! We..."
"Hm."
Hawke listened patiently, nodding from time to time.
Beside him, Magellan silently raised food to his mouth with specially made utensils.
But in his mind still echoed the call he had received from Fleet Admiral Sengoku just a few days prior.
The voice on the line had been heavier than ever.
"Magellan, listen carefully."
"Rear Admiral Rayne Hawke will lead his G-3 Base in a two-month-long combat drill inside Impel Down."
"A drill?"
Magellan had frowned on the spot. "Impel Down is not a training ground."
"I know."
Sengoku's voice was firm as steel.
"But, by the authority of the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, I hereby grant Rear Admiral Hawke the power to execute any prisoner on the spot inside Impel Down!"
"Execute...? Even those in LEVEL 6—the Eternal Hell...?"
"Including them!!!"
"...!"
"!!!"
Magellan's heart had taken a heavy blow in that moment.
Impel Down, together with Marine Headquarters and Enies Lobby, were in name the three great institutions of the World Government, independent of one another.
But everyone knew that Enies Lobby was the CP's private garden.
And this deep-sea prison, in essence, was the Marines' backyard.
It was guarded by a Marine fleet.
The overwhelming majority of the criminals here were pirates captured by the Marines.
Strictly speaking, Impel Down was the Marines' cage.
And now, Fleet Admiral Sengoku intended to hand the key to this cage to a young Rear Admiral.
Magellan instinctively wanted to refuse...
But Sengoku's final words had struck like a thunderclap:
"Magellan, the era has changed..."
"The Marines are changing too."
"Hawke represents the future of the Marines. The men under his command embody what Justice should look like."
"You know well that even as Fleet Admiral..."
"I cannot fully command those three men with their own agendas..."
"But..."
"Hawke carries with him..."
"Four Buster Calls!"
Four!!!
Magellan's pupils had shrunk to the size of needlepoints.
Four Buster Calls...
One from Admiral Akainu, one from Admiral Aokiji, one from Admiral Kizaru, and one... from Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself!
This was no mere authorization.
This was the highest echelon of the Marines placing their complete trust and responsibility on him!
"..."
Magellan's gaze shifted to the ever-babbling Hannyabal.
Ever since learning of Rear Admiral Hawke's deeds...
This man he had once considered his successor had changed completely.
Though still ambitious to replace him...
He was no longer the slacking, corner-cutting idler he once was.
He had begun volunteering for overtime, reorganizing and classifying prisoner records that had been backlogged for years, even researching the prison's defensive vulnerabilities...
He had begun dieting, exercising, trying to train his body—though every time, because of his inability to control his appetite, his weight rebounded even worse.
His desk was piled high with reports requested from Marine Headquarters about Rear Admiral Hawke.
And in his eyes... there was now a light Magellan had never seen before.
A light called "faith."
So this was the power of an idol...
Magellan felt unexpectedly moved.
The future... should be entrusted to these energetic young men!
At that thought, the last trace of doubt in his heart dissolved completely.
"Zhnng—"
The scrape of a chair against the floor. Magellan slowly stood.
He straightened the collar on his chest, then saluted Hawke.
"Rear Admiral Hawke."
"Hannyabal, I leave it to you."
His voice echoed through the mess hall.
Then Magellan dropped his hand and lightly patted Hannyabal.
"Hannyabal..."
"Ah? Y-Yes! I'm here!"
Hannyabal snapped to attention, standing stiffly.
"My stomach is acting up again..."
"So, for the next two months, you will act as Chief Warden in my place."
"All affairs of Impel Down are under your full authority."
"Make sure you fully assist Rear Admiral Hawke."
"I need to... recuperate properly..."
With that, Magellan clutched his stomach and strode quickly toward the toilets, leaving behind a decisive silhouette.
"..."
Hannyabal's mind went completely blank.
Acting Warden?
Me?!
This happiness... came far too suddenly!
"Scrch—"
Hawke slowly rose, saluting Magellan's slightly hasty back.
He understood.
The "strongest man in the prison" had, in his own way, acknowledged everything that was about to unfold.
The world's greatest prison had now opened its gates completely—for him, and for G-3 Base.
Hawke turned, his gaze sweeping over the Marines who stood to attention with him.
"Have you all eaten your fill?"
"Eaten!!!"
Thousands of Marine soldiers roared in unison.
In their eyes burned the hunger for strength.
"Good. Then..."
"Today, we trample LEVEL 1—Crimson Hell!"
"Yes!"
The moment Hawke's words fell, the atmosphere in the mess hall shifted from fervent to grim.
Straightening his uniform, he strode step by step toward Hannyabal, who was still drowning in immense joy.
"Warden Hannyabal, are you ready?"
"Ah?!"
Jolted awake, Hannyabal instinctively straightened his posture.
"Yes! Ready, Rear Admiral Hawke!"
He drew in a deep breath. "Pass on my command!"
"Open every cell door in LEVEL 1, Crimson Hell!"
"Yes!"
From deep within Impel Down came the grinding shriek of heavy metal.
"Screech—graaank—"
One by one, the thick cell doors creaked open.
Countless pairs of eyes, long steeped in darkness, brimming with violence and madness, all swiveled toward the light spilling in from outside.
They... smelled freedom.
"Kill!"
Hawke's icy voice fell like the decree of the Grim Reaper.
Zoro and Sanji leapt ahead, their bodies vanishing into two afterimages, rushing into the hellscape of Crimson Hell.
Behind them surged thousands of ferocious G-3 Marines.
"Roarrr—!"
"Marines?! Here to die?!"
A pirate fresh from his cell bellowed.
"Swish—"
A flash of cold steel.
His head... flew skyward!
[Ding!]
[A soldier under the host's command has slain one Crimson Hell pirate.]
[Gained 500 Justice Points...]
[Ding!]
[Kill...]
[Gained...]
[Ding...!!!]
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