Main Monitoring Room, Impel Down.
Time: A few minutes before Zino released Ace.
The primary monitoring room for Impel Down was a place of perpetual gray light and monotonous quiet. Two guards sat slumped at a long console of monitors, occasionally stifling yawns as they watched the static, silent feeds of the lower levels.
The screen dedicated to Level 6: Eternal Hell was particularly dull, showing the same three powerful prisoners in their respective cells—Ace, Jinbe, and Crocodile—motionless as statues.
"Any movement?" the older guard, Golem, asked, not taking his eyes off a report he was signing.
"Same as the last twelve hours," the younger guard, named Ken, muttered. "The Fire Fist is asleep, the Fish-Man is meditating, and Crocodile is staring at the ceiling."
Golem grunted his approval. "Good. The only thing you ever need to worry about down there is your own sanity."
Suddenly, Ken leaned forward. "Wait. The feed is flickering."
On the central console, the large projector snail for Level 6 began to sputter. The clear, gray image of Ace's cell block warbled. The feed didn't cut to black immediately; it dissolved into a cloud of static, then sputtered back to life, showing only vague, icy streaks across the lens.
"It must be the transmission filter acting up again," Golem sighed, finally looking over. "Just toggle the main relay power in the back room. They probably just need a reset."
"Right, sir." Ken nervously dashed to the back of the room.
But Golem continued to watch the static-filled screen. The other screens began to blur, thick fog and dust obscuring the feed. He zoomed in on the Level 6 feed, adjusting the focus knob violently.
"Ken, forget the relay, something's wrong with the snails themselves!" Golem yelled, his calm demeanor evaporating as a sense of dread washed over him. The image on the screen solidified for a split second before dying completely, leaving the central monitor blank and dead. "We have a system failure across the entire floor!"
Ken rushed back into the room, face pale. "The relay power is fine, but every single monitor is out cold."
A silent alarm began to beep on Golem's console, a secondary system that triggered when all primary communication with a level was severed simultaneously. Golem smashed his fist onto the general alarm button.
"Warden Magellan!" he shouted into the Den Den Mushi receiver, the sirens now blaring throughout the top floors of the prison.
"We have an outage! Level 6 is dark! Repeat, the Eternal Hell has gone dark!"
Golem's shout was swallowed by the sudden, deafening wail of every siren in the fortress. The secondary alarm, previously a mere beep, now flashed a stark, blood-red warning across his console: LEVEL 6 - COMPLETE BLACKOUT.
A crackle of static erupted from the Den Den Mushi receiver in his hand. A groggy, pained voice cut through the chaos.
"What in the seven hells is it now?" Magellan's voice was sharp with irritation and stomach cramps.
"W-warden! The monitor feed for Level 6 is completely dark! All camera snails are unresponsive!" Golem stammered, his body rigid with fear.
A pause on the other end. "A system failure, you dolt? Send the tech. I am indisposed."
"It's not a failure, sir!" Ken shouted, his voice high and tight with panic. "The auxiliary alarm just triggered! Communication has been severed! Someone physically broke the feed!"
A long, chilling silence stretched from the Den Den Mushi. The sirens seemed to grow louder. When Magellan finally spoke, his voice was no longer pained or irritated; it was cold, lethal, and sober.
"Lock down all exits," Magellan commanded, his authority cutting through the noise. "I'm on my way to Level 6 myself. Inform Chief Guard Hannyabal and the Jailer Beasts. Tell Sadi to mobilize all forces to the central shaft."
Magellan hung up with a sharp click.
In the monitoring room, Golem and Ken stared at the black screen, the silence of the monitoring room now replaced by the thunderous sirens and the sound of their own racing hearts. The impossible had happened. Something, or someone, had slipped past them and was now loose in the Eternal Hell.
...
Meanwhile, Inside a Private Restroom, Level 4
The Den Den Mushi receiver clicked dead in Magellan's hand. He stood in the sterile confines of his private bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. The face looking back was no longer a sickly pale green; it was a mask of cold fury.
Indisposed, he thought, his stomach cramps forgotten in an instant. The secondary alarm system for Level 6 was never supposed to activate. It was designed only for the impossible scenario—total communication isolation and physical penetration of the deepest level's security.
"They've gone too far this time." Magellan's voice was a low rumble, the toxic gas of his Devil Fruit ability already starting to leak from his pores, filling the room with a pungent smell.
He threw on his black chief warden's coat over his suit. He then burst out of his bathroom and sprinted down the administrative hallway toward the main elevator platform of Level 4.
Guards were already running around, confused by the blaring sirens overhead. Magellan shoved them aside with raw strength.
"The central shaft," he commanded a nearby guard, his voice dripping with venom. "To Level 6. Now."
He stepped into the massive elevator cage, his body already beginning to secrete massive amounts of his venomous liquid. The doors closed behind him.
As the platform began its rapid descent into the silent, frozen depths of Level 5, and then the utter darkness of Level 6, Magellan slowly activated his power. In just a few seconds, his form coalescing into the shape of a colossal, three-headed purple dragon made of pure, lethal poison.
"Whoever you are," he muttered coldly, "You have sealed your fate. No one leaves the Eternal Hell."
...
Level 6, Impel Down.
"Finally," Crocodile said, getting out of his cell. "I am finally out."
He then turned to glance at Zino, "I'll join your crew. But only for a temporary stay."
"Fine by me," Zino replied. "We don't have much time; Magellan is aware of the breach and on his way down."
He knew this from his strong senses. The blaring alarm also signify the urgency to leave.
He then pointed up toward the solid stone ceiling of Level 6. "Crocodile, I need your Suna Suna no Mi power. Turn the ceiling into sand."
Crocodile smirked, adjusting his coat. "It's been too long since I've practiced my landscaping." He lifted his right hand, the golden hook glinting in the dim light.
"Desert Spada!"
Crocodile drove his hook into the stone floor, channeling his Devil Fruit power. The concrete immediately began to desiccate and crumble, turning into a spiral of dust and fine sand that flew upward to the ceiling. He moved rapidly, tracing a massive circle on the ceiling above them.
The ancient stone structure groaned under the unnatural force, turning to dust. With a final push, the entire circular section of the ceiling collapsed upward into a funnel of cascading sand, revealing a large, dark chamber above them.
"Let's go," Zino said.
He then turned into wind, and pulled Jinbe along, flying up into the chamber above.
Ace burst into a pillar of pure, blazing fire, and shot straight up, following the two into the cavern above, vanishing into the darkness of Level 5.5 in seconds.
Crocodile paused for a moment, glancing for one last time at the cell where he was locked before. While he did that, some prisoners called to him.
"Hey, you are out of your cell. Help us escape too."
"Yeah. If you let us go, we can help you escape. You will need help from us."
"Please let us out. We don't want to stay here anymore."
Crocodile smirked. "It's my fate to be released. You guys should just wait for your fated release. Quietly."
Saying so, he turned into a vortex of sand and flew upward, entering the hole he created.
Inside the chamber, Crocodile landed in a massive, dimly lit cavern. The air was cool and filled with the murmur of unseen occupants. Zino, Ace, and Jinbe are already there, glancing at the hole where they had come up from.
Crocodile then stretched his hand on hole that he created.
"Sables: Compression!"
The loose dust and sand instantly coalesced, flying upward and packing tightly into the circular gap like a bullet hitting a wall of concrete. The sand compressed instantly into a solid, heavy plug, and effectively sealing the hole.
"This should delay that poisonous guy for some time." he said.
At this time, dozens of figures emerged, their faces a mix of curiosity and caution. These were the "demoned-away" prisoners, the silent residents of Newkama Land.
Ace looked around the bizarre gathering, his brow furrowed. "Zino... what is this place?"
"This," Zino replied, keeping his Haki sharp as he scanned the room for threats, "is our shortcut out."
He sensed a powerful presence moving toward them from the main area of the cavern—a large individual with a boisterous, overwhelming aura.
"It seems our host is here to greet us." Zino said.
Striding toward them was a massive individual with an enormous afro, disproportionate eyelashes, and an unmistakable aura of flamboyant power.
"Well, well, well! A surprise party in the middle of a Marine raid!" the figure declared, his voice a booming, charismatic performance.
It was Emporio Ivankov, the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom and a high-ranking officer in the Revolutionary Army.
"And look who the tide dragged in: the infamous Fire Fist Ace and the Knight of the Sea, Jinbe! How fabulous!"
Ivankov's eyes landed on Zino, who had a look of calm appraisal on his face. Ivankov paused, tilting his massive head. His Haki, a formidable force in its own right, locked onto Zino's complex, multifaceted aura.
"And who might you be, darling?" Ivankov asked, a slight shift in tone hinting at the sudden seriousness beneath the flare. "You came in unannounced, yet you managed to break in unnoticed. Even our spy on every floor didn't realize your arrival."
Zino met his gaze evenly. "I'm Zino. I'm here to ensure they don't ring the execution bell for my friend." He nodded toward Ace.
"Hee Haw!" Ivankov laughed heartily, a booming sound that shook the cavern. "An escape on my turf! How invigorating! And you actually managed to fool Magellan? That man is a buzzkill."
He snapped his fingers, his large hands forming a diamond shape.
"Emporio Healing Hormones!"
A clear liquid injected into Ivankov's own body, and his posture instantly became more energetic and alert.
"Alright, revolutionaries, prisoners, okama! We have a chance to escape!" Ivankov declared to the crowd, who cheered wildly. "The Marines are distracted at the moment, and our new 'Logia' friend here has created quite the ruckus. The world outside is waiting for us!"
Instantly, people in the chamber cheered in excitement and anticipation. Jinbe on the other hand, turned to Zino.
"So, about that shortcut you mentioned earlier," he said. "Where exactly is it?"
"Maybe what Zino meant," Ace cut in with a grin, "was to punch through all the floors from here straight to the surface of the sea?"
Crocodile gave him a sideways glance and scoffed. "That sounds simple... and incredibly stupid. You'll flood the entire prison and kill half the inmates before you reach the top."
Ace frowned, slightly annoyed. "Well, got any better ideas, genius?"
Crocodile didn't reply, just stayed quiet, also thinking of a better ways to escape.
Zino on the other hand turned towards Ivankov. "Iva-san, do you know of any secret tunnels or escape routes out of here?"
"Sorry, darling," Ivankov replied, shaking his oversized head. "We did find a tunnel some time ago, but it leads downward—toward the sea floor. Unfortunately, it's completely blocked off now. As for any other shortcuts, the only one we ever used went up to Level 3. Beyond that, it's all brute force and luck."
"A tunnel going downward to the sea floor?" Zino muttered, his eyes narrowing, then they brightened with a flash of light. A smile formed on his face.
"I think we found the shortcut to escape undetected."