Chapter 494: Blackbeard’s Gambit: The Invasion of Impel Down

“Zehahaha! What a stroke of luck! This is our chance to expand the pirate crew. Let’s move!”

Hidden to the side, Blackbeard burst into uncontrollable laughter as he saw Magellan leaving the prison gate. He had finally waited for his perfect moment.

With Magellan heading back to Impel Down, only his second-in-command Hannyabal was left, and he’d sailed out to hunt down Usopp. There was no way he’d be back at the gate anytime soon.

Right now, that gate’s as defenseless as a woman stripped bare. Anyone could do as they pleased.

“Captain, what if someone doesn’t want to join us?” Lafitte stood beside Teach, a smile playing on his lips.

“Zehahaha! It’s not about what they want—it’s about what I say. If they listen, they can stay. If not, they’re dead.”

“Can’t say I’m not eager,” Burgess grinned, cracking his knuckles as he stared at the gate. “This place is downright creepy, though.”

“Hahaha, of course! After all, I’m on the government’s side—on the surface, anyway.”

Teach swung a massive arm, then jumped from the Gate of Justice, using Moonwalk to race toward the entrance of Impel Down. The others quickly fell in behind him.

One of the guards hiding behind the gate immediately called Hannyabal out at sea.

“Vice Warden Hannyabal! The main prison gate is under attack! The intruder is none other than the new Warlord, Blackbeard Teach!”

“Na… What?!”

“It’s over. My life’s over.”

“No, wait—this is just the beginning. My long, dark days as someone who will never be warden have just begun.”

The moment Hannyabal got the news, his head spun. It was like he could see a long road of misery ahead—if this kept up, he’d never be warden.

“Vice Warden, pull yourself together! Stay with us!”

On the ship, the guards rushed to steady a wobbling Hannyabal before he could collapse.

“What am I supposed to do in a situation like this?” Hannyabal snapped out of his funk, sighing in defeat. “Maybe I should just go back to Impel Down and eat some persimmon cakes.”

Sweating bullets, the guards on either side pleaded, “Come on, Vice Warden! Get it together! We’ve got to protect Impel Down!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Jets of water exploded around them, spraying their faces.

“Easy for you to say—you’ve got no responsibility! You just want my spot as vice warden, don’t you?” Hannyabal shoved his big face close, his breath anything but pleasant.

The guard simply held out his left hand, revealing a Den Den Mushi. “Hey, hey! Hannyabal, do you read me?”

In a flash, Hannyabal shrugged off his anger and calmed down, replying as soon as he heard the voice from the Transponder Snail. “Is… is that you, Warden Magellan?”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m on the second basement level. Just finished dealing with this group of rampaging idiots.” Magellan held up a pirate, drenched in purple poison. Pirates covered every inch of the corridor at his feet, turning the air itself a sickly shade of violet.

“I’ve also sealed off the exits on this floor. Soon, no one’s getting out.”

The real cause of the pirate uprising was Ye Fan—Karl’s clone—who’d ordered Buggy to stir things up inside the prison. With Mr. 2’s wax-wax powers, he’d let out all the pirates on every level, buying time for Magellan to be delayed while his real body finished the job.

“I don’t know why Blackbeard’s attacking, but I’m ready for him. Desperate times call for desperate measures—even if it means selling myself short.”

“Selling yourself short?”

“Yeah. It’s not what I want, but I’ve decided to release Shiryu.”

Hannyabal’s jaw practically hit the floor—he’d only become vice warden after replacing Shiryu of the Rain in the first place.

If Shiryu gets out, there goes his shot at becoming warden.

But neither of them realized that on the Fourth and Fifth Floors, all the guards had already been wiped out by Luffy. There was probably nobody left who could actually release Shiryu now.

“Any hope of backup from Marine Headquarters is out of the question. We’re on our own.”

Magellan made it to the first basement floor—only to realize everything was way out of hand.

After taking down the last pirates on Level 1 and heading to Level 2, he was shocked to find pirates from not just the third, but even the fourth floors.

The chaos told him right away: a full-scale prison riot was underway. He didn’t know who started it, but if the pirates on the sixth level got out, even he might not be able to handle it.

The Den Den Mushi’s first call went to the Navy, but they were busy with a secret operation and didn’t have any extra men to send to Impel Down. They just told Magellan to hold the line.

“Quit running circles with that pirate outside! For all you know, they’re bait! Get back here and secure the top two levels!”

“I’m going deeper. I’m not stopping until I’ve dealt with every pirate down here.”

“Warden! Warden!”

Hannyabal broke out into a gleeful little jig right on the spot—if Magellan did this, it would save his vice warden job, and maybe even end this crisis easily.

“Let’s go! Back to the prison!”

Hannyabal ended his impromptu dance and immediately ordered the ship back toward Impel Down, ignoring Usopp and the others still pestering them from afar.

“Uh-oh, did they spot us?”

“Looks like it. They’re heading straight for Impel Down, and Magellan hasn’t shown up in ages.” Atop the lookout, Gin peered through the telescope at the flickering lights by the prison gate—there wasn’t a soul to be seen.

“So that’s how it is. But we can’t let them just waltz back so easily.”

“Special attack: Exploding Star!”

Usopp set his rifle against the rails, aimed at the ship’s mast. “Boom!”

A deep thud rang out, snapping the main mast of the warship clean in two!

Crack!

“Vice Warden Hannyabal! The ship’s been hit! The main mast is broken—there’s no way to fix it!”

The guards reported quickly to Hannyabal. Luckily, Navy ships came with a pair of backup masts in addition to the main.

“Don’t worry about it. Our job now is to get back to Impel Down as fast as possible.”

They hadn’t strayed far from the prison anyway—a ten-minute trip, tops. With the first-floor gate right there, even if they lost the last two masts, they could row back using oars.

“Damn it, no way to stop them from getting back now. What do we do next?”

“Follow them in.”

“No—we wait outside,” Robin said calmly.

“Trust Luffy. He’ll get everyone out. But if we go in, there’ll be nobody to cover their retreat.”

She knew exactly what Luffy and the others needed most—a way out.

They were still inside the Gate of Justice. Without the Thousand Sunny standing by, escape was impossible; even if they rescued everyone, they’d be trapped and picked off. Guarding the ship was their highest priority.

So, all they could do was watch as Hannyabal and his men sailed back to the prison, slamming the gate shut behind them.