"The people imprisoned on Level Six are all extremely dangerous. They cannot be released casually. I'll go there personally to judge them."
"Why?!" Both Buggy and Mr. 3 looked confused. Only Monkey D. Luffy remained calm since he understood the reason.
"And another thing. My name is Mr. 3, not Candle Man."
Mr. 3 protested for a moment. But the instant he saw Renji's gaze, he immediately forced a flattering smile.
"Actually, calling me Candle Man isn't wrong either. I do use candle powers after all. Haha… haha…"
"If I don't explain it to you, you two probably won't work seriously."
Renji looked at Buggy and Mr. 3 with slight helplessness before continuing.
"There are more than thirty thousand guards inside Impel Down. There are also quite a few fighters at Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral level. On top of that, the prison is guarded by someone as strong as an Admiral."
"Magellan."
"Do you really think we can escape easily?"
"I see."
Mr. 3 might act foolish sometimes, but he used to work with intelligence networks. His mind was still sharp.
Buggy was still confused, but Renji's words immediately made Mr. 3 understand.
"You plan to use the prisoners to create chaos and escape during the confusion, right?"
"More or less."
Renji nodded.
Then he grabbed Mr. 3 by the collar.
"I'll go down with Candle Man. You two start releasing the prisoners."
"Got it!" Buggy and Luffy immediately agreed.
Level Six of Impel Down
Unlike the upper five levels filled with guards, Level Six had none in sight.
Darkness defined this place.
"An intruder?"
A voice suddenly echoed through the corridor.
Following the sound, Renji saw a man calmly smoking a cigar. He looked nothing like a prisoner.
"Shiryu."
Renji recognized him immediately.
Before coming here, he had investigated every powerful figure related to Impel Down.
Among them, only two truly required attention.
Magellan and Shiryu.
With the information he received from Silvers Rayleigh, Renji had memorized Shiryu's appearance countless times.
"How convenient."
Renji nodded while looking at him.
"Even though you're imprisoned, you were once one of the high-ranking officers here."
"So answer a question for me."
"Where is Ace?"
"Ace?"
A mocking smile appeared on Shiryu's face.
He was about to toy with Renji.
But in the next moment, an overwhelming aura erupted from Renji's body.
The pressure filling the room was Conqueror's Haki. Renji was releasing it with full force.
"Damn… no wonder you made it to Level Six."
Feeling the overwhelming aura coming from Renji, Shiryu immediately raised his hands.
"I surrender. Stop the pressure."
"I don't want the humiliation of fainting from someone else's Conqueror's Haki."
"As for Ace, he was taken away long ago."
Renji looked at him and frowned slightly.
Shiryu was not exactly someone whose words could be trusted.
At that moment, another voice sounded.
"What he said is correct. I am willing to vouch for that information."
A blue fish-man stepped forward inside one of the cells.
It was Jinbe.
"Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea."
Renji shifted his gaze and noticed another figure not far from Jinbe.
The former Warlord, defeated earlier by Luffy.
Crocodile.
"That's right," Jinbe nodded.
"You must be the 'Instructor of the Whitebeard Pirates'."
"I once thought that title was just something Edward Newgate created to boost morale."
"But seeing you now, your strength is clearly not simple."
"No need for flattery."
Renji walked up to the cell and tossed Mr. 3 toward the door.
"I'm here to take you out."
"Candle Man, open Jinbe's and Crocodile's cells."
Mr. 3 quickly began forming wax keys.
Renji then scanned the surrounding cells.
Level Six was filled with terrifying criminals.
After witnessing the Conqueror's Haki he had just released, none of them dared to speak casually.
Renji slowly shook his head.
Many of these prisoners were extremely powerful.
Some were even close to Yonko commander level.
But they were not people he could control.
Among everyone here, only Jinbe was someone whose character was trustworthy. Crocodile, on the other hand, was arrogant but could be temporarily relied upon through negotiation.
Renji looked at them both.
"Jinbe. Crocodile."
"If Ace has already been taken away, then my rescue came too late."
"The reason I'm freeing you is because I want you to follow me to the war at Marineford."
"Give me a direct answer. Are you joining or not?"
Jinbe agreed immediately.
The reason he had been imprisoned here in the first place was because he refused to support the war.
Now he had the chance to join the battle and leave Impel Down. There was no reason to refuse.
Crocodile, however, looked thoughtful.
"I've heard about this war as well."
"Whitebeard is undeniably terrifying."
"But I don't believe he can defeat the Marines when they are fighting with their full strength."
"That's not something you need to worry about," Renji replied calmly.
Renji did not respond to Crocodile's remark.
He looked at Crocodile with a serious expression.
"Right now, I'm only giving you two choices."
"First, stay here and wait to die."
"Second, come with me to the war at Marineford. We'll cause chaos. If we win, you can leave afterward and I won't stop you. If we lose, the worst that happens is you get captured again."
Crocodile fell silent.
As the former mastermind behind Baroque Works, his negotiation skills were extremely sharp. But when Renji laid out the pros and cons so bluntly, Crocodile found himself without a counter.
"If you're not interested, then Jinbe, Candle Man, let's go."
Renji turned and prepared to leave with Jinbe and Mr. 3.
"Wait!"
Seeing how decisive Renji was, Crocodile immediately panicked.
"Fine. I accept."
Renji brought Jinbe and Crocodile out of Impel Down's sixth level.
But the moment they reached Level Five, the calm atmosphere from earlier had completely vanished.
The entire floor was in chaos.
Guards were running everywhere, alarms were sounding, and the air was filled with tension.
Renji's mouth twitched.
"I told those two idiots to be careful and stay quiet."
Inside the warden's office.
Magellan stood up immediately after hearing the report from his subordinate.
Then he sat back down again.
There was nothing he could do. He hadn't finished dealing with his current situation.
"Prisoners from the fourth and fifth floors have all escaped?"
"And they've even started freeing prisoners from the third floor?"
The guard endured the overwhelming stench in the room as he reported.
"Yes, Warden."
Magellan closed his eyes and processed the information.
A moment later he opened them again.
"Mobilize everyone we can contact."
"Have them all head to the main gate on Level One and hold that position."
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