Chapter 493: The Fiery Depths and the Frozen Abyss

“Out of my way, you nuisances!”

Luffy stepped forward, his right eye glinting as Conqueror’s Haki burst forth. Instantly, the two approaching guards rolled their eyes back and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“Move!”

Franky strode up and, with his mechanical arm, wrenched the iron gate open. The group hurried in and pressed the button.

“This elevator should only go to the Fourth Floor.”

“According to the intel Robin gave us, the elevator to the Fifth Floor is directly opposite on the Fourth. So once we’re down, we’ve got to run straight ahead.”

Franky opened a hatch on his chest and pulled out a piece of white paper, checking the map sketched on it.

Clang!

Just as he finished speaking, the elevator halted on the Fourth Floor.

“Collier!”

“One Sword Style—Lion Song!”

Zoro and Sanji charged out first, each taking down a guard who was stationed by the elevator.

“It’s even hotter here.”

“Let’s hurry and find the way to the Fifth Floor.”

Chopper crouched atop Franky’s shoulder, sticking out his tongue and wiping sweat from his face.

The Fourth Floor, Blazing Hell, was sweltering hot—like a giant iron cauldron filled with boiling blood and seas of fire. The temperature here far exceeded the Third Floor’s, several times over. It also served as a place of trial for pirates before they entered the prison.

“Seriously, with temps this high, if you stay too long, you’d probably get dehydrated and drenched. I mean, I’m just bones so I don’t sweat, yohohoho!”

“Franky said the path to the Fifth Floor is straight ahead, right?”

“Then let’s go.”

Zoro led the charge forward but after just five steps, veered off to the right.

“Hey, Mosshead, are you sure it’s this way?”

A vein pulsed on Sanji’s forehead as his eyes practically shot flames. He stormed up, grabbed Zoro by the collar, and yanked him back to the right path.

“Shut up, curly-brow.”

“Cut it out, you two. Getting to the Fifth Floor is what matters.”

Once again, Franky played the peacemaker, though the routine was familiar. Chopper, still perched on Franky’s shoulder, pointed at the path where Luffy was already dashing deeper inside.

“Um, Luffy…”

“Damn it!”

Zoro and Sanji locked eyes, as if swearing their rivalry would carry on till next time, then quickly hurried after Luffy.

Because of the intense heat, guards rarely patrolled the Fourth Floor—and with so many posted above, only two guards remained on duty.

Once those two fell, the Fourth Floor was basically left unguarded.

“Am I seeing things?”

“Was that Luffy?”

“Maybe it’s just some dying hallucination.”

On the Fourth Floor, tormented pirates died in droves every day. Those who survived rarely spoke, saving their strength.

And so, with nothing blocking their way, Luffy and the others reached the elevator leading down to the Fifth Floor.

They took the empty elevator and arrived at the Fifth Floor of Impel Down—the Freezing Hell!

“Brr!”

“It’s freezing!”

The moment the elevator stopped, a bone-chilling cold swept over them. Prisoners trapped here, surrounded by air colder than any ice chamber, were often frostbitten to death. Because of the frigid temperature, there weren’t even any Transponder Snails installed on this floor.

The instant Luffy and company vanished from the Fourth Floor, a surveillance Transponder Snail sent an alarm to the control room and transmitted a snapshot.

In the monitoring room on the First Floor, guards distracted by the commotion outside suddenly heard the fax machine and control panel blaring warnings.

“Something’s happening inside the prison?”

“What’s this?”

Staring closely at the latest photo sent by the Visual Transponder Snail, the guard’s eyes went wide.

“No way. There’s just no way!”

“How could Luffy and the others have broken into the main prison?”

But as he looked at the photo that had just printed out, the guard had no choice but to accept the shocking truth. Right now, their warden Magellan was still fending off attacks in the First Floor lobby. So how did Luffy’s group get in?

“Hey, Livia—what’s going on?”

Another guard manning the monitors saw Livia’s panicked expression and quickly stood up to rush over.

“Go, report to Director Magellan—Impel Down has been breached!”

“What?!”

……

Outside Impel Down, Usopp and Magellan exchanged fierce blows. As warden, Magellan’s job was to guard Impel Down—he couldn’t leave.

He could only order Hannyabal to lead the guards and the Navy garrison keeping watch over Impel Down to man the warships and head toward the Gate of Justice.

“Poison Dragon Drill!”

“Exploding Star!”

Their attacks often clashed midair, sparks flying everywhere. Sometimes, stray shots would slam against either Impel Down or the Gate of Justice between the two fighters.

“Warden, bad news! Luffy has broken into Impel Down and already made it to the Fifth Floor!”

Magellan saw Hannyabal and the others nearing the Gate of Justice. Suddenly a voice from behind made him freeze, the Poison Dragon Drill in his hand pausing mid-throw.

Bang!

A bullet whizzed past Magellan and struck a guard running toward him. The guard exploded in the next instant, leaving only a few blood-spattered photos twirling in the air.

“So this was your plan?”

“Fine, fine!”

Magellan rushed forward and grabbed the bloodstained photos. Seeing Luffy’s face on them, he instantly realized he’d been tricked.

Furious, his right hand turned purple as thick poisonous fumes oozed out, dissolving the photos into nothing.

“Poison Dragon!”

Suddenly, a cloud of purple toxin erupted from Magellan, forming a dragon over ten meters long that soared toward the Gate of Justice.

As for Magellan himself, he spun around and charged back into Impel Down. No way would he let anyone steal prisoners under his nose.

“Hurry, run!”

Usopp, peering through his telescope, spotted the gigantic Poison Dragon at once and shouted for everyone to retreat. The dragon seemed to have a mind of its own, chasing them relentlessly.

Johnny and Yosaku froze in their tracks at the sight.

“One Sword Style—Lion Song!”

“One-Sword Style—Dragon Slash!”

Gin dragged Usopp out of the Poison Dragon’s range, then coated his weapon in Armament Haki and charged right back in.

“You can do this, Usopp! There has to be another way…”

“Jump!”

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck Usopp. None of them had eaten Devil Fruit. If they just dove into the sea, they could shake off the Poison Dragon’s pursuit.

The other three hadn’t thought of that, but when they saw Usopp leap into the ocean, they followed right behind.

The Poison Dragon refused to give up and gave chase, but the moment they hit the water, it couldn’t stop in time and slammed into the waves, dissipating into violet mist beneath the night sky.

“Something happened to Usopp’s group—let’s hurry over there!”

Nami kept a close eye on Usopp and the others and, upon seeing them jump into the sea, immediately directed Merry to set sail toward them.