Chapter 500: Escape from Impel Down: The Crossroads of Destiny

In the end, under Luffy’s command, only Jinbei and Crocodile were rescued from the Sixth Floor of Impel Down.

As everyone rode the lift back up to the Fifth Floor, an enraged Magellan swept poison gas through the corridors, knocking out the escaping pirates one by one.

“Straw Hat Luffy! This is all your fault! You’re the reason for the chaos in Impel Down! Pirates like you are absolutely unforgivable!”

“Poison Dragon Drill!”

A javelin formed of thick poison hurtled straight for Luffy.

Clang!

“You really think we’ll just let you get to our captain as soon as you show up? Not a chance!”

Zoro stood in front of everyone, gripping the black blade Shusui, his eyes electric with fighting spirit as he launched himself at Magellan.

“Captain Buggy, look, isn’t that Luffy over there?”

Galdino pointed toward Luffy, who looked completely lost. The moment he saw who was standing next to Luffy, Galdino’s face went pale. He ducked behind Buggy. “Oh no, oh no!”

“Why’s the boss here too?”

“Yohohoho! Luffy, we’ve got them out. Priority now is to get back to the surface, or we might not make it in time to save Ace.”

“You’re right, let’s go!”

Sanji kept close to Luffy’s right, eyes sharp for any sudden attacks. Brook followed right behind him, while Chopper perched on Franky’s shoulder.

Ivankov wove through crowds searching for Molly, but couldn’t spot him anywhere.

“Out of the way!”

“Gum-Gum Gatling!”

Magellan wasn’t alone—behind him a swarm of jailers filled the entire passage, blocking the way.

Luffy’s fists blurred as he cleared a path through their ranks, giving the trapped pirates a way forward.

“Captain Buggy, there’s a way out over there! Hurry!” Galdino turned to alert Buggy, but when he looked back the giant was already gone.

Looking up, he realized Buggy was already airborne, flying toward the Fourth Floor lift.

“Come on, keep up with Captain Buggy!”

Galdino muttered curses at Buggy running off alone, but he sure wasn’t bold enough to go alone himself. He rallied the nearby pirates to move together, wedging himself safely in the crowd.

“If I let you all escape, my reputation’s finished!”

“Poison Dragon!”

Seizing the brief gap as he and Zoro split apart, Magellan unleashed several ten-meter-long purple poison dragons straight at the direction of the lift, leaving a trail of toxic mist that felled a swarm of pirates.

“Yohohoho! Soul Solid: Blizzard Slash!”

Brook, nimble as ever, leaped into the air. Streaks of chilling light flashed as he slashed, but the poison dragons still surged onward.

Landing, Brook sheathed his longsword. The poison dragons suddenly froze in mid-air, turning into icy serpents that shattered to pieces on the cold stone below.

“Super!”

“That move never stops being cool.”

“Brook, you’re the best!”

“Yohohoho! Thank you for the compliments!”

With danger ahead swept aside, the group charged forward. Only Zoro stayed behind to hold Magellan at bay.

“Zehahaha!”

“How could I miss out on such a glorious scene?”

“Blackbeard Teach!”

Luffy abruptly stopped, eyes filled with rage as Blackbeard appeared right in front of him.

If it hadn’t been for Teach, Ace wouldn’t have been caught. Maybe they wouldn’t even need to go to Marineford at all.

“Zehahaha! Luffy, don’t glare at me like that. If you guys hadn’t flown off to Skypiea first, maybe you would have gotten caught instead of Ace.”

“Yeah, shouldn’t you be grateful to our captain for saving your hide?” Lafitte chimed in, looking down at Luffy’s crew with open mockery.

“So, are we fighting or what?”

Burgess cracked his fists with anticipation, looking thrilled at the thought of facing Luffy.

With Luffy’s bounty at five hundred million berries now, he was an irresistible prize.

“Well, he’s not our real objective—no need to make this messier. While Magellan’s held up, let’s go for the Sixth Floor.”

“Luffy, focus! Ace is still waiting for us to rescue him.”

Sanji’s words calmed Luffy just enough to unclench his fists. “We’ll settle things between us another day.”

With that said, Luffy dashed onward.

“Zehahaha! I’ll be waiting! Move out, boys!”

So Luffy’s group and Blackbeard’s crew brushed right past each other. At the Fourth Floor lift, Ye Fan looked back and shouted toward Zoro, who was busy blocking Magellan further away.

“That’ll do. Forget about him—let Blackbeard deal with it now.”

“One Great—Three Thousand—Grand World!”

Hearing the signal, Zoro unleashed a massive technique. The air trembled, stones and ice flying everywhere.

Magellan braced himself against the force, tension etched into his face. Suddenly a savage gust hit, and everything before him faded into a blinding whiteness.

While Magellan was anxiously on guard against Zoro’s assault, Zoro had already regrouped with Luffy’s crew and taken the lift—the last to escape the Fifth Floor.

Blackbeard took advantage of the chaos, using the lift to reach the Sixth Floor and free the infamous criminals locked there.

In the end, both sides achieved what they came for.

No one noticed—the tremors from the depths of the sea had vanished without a trace.

Jail Island was Isaac’s home, and the only exit from the mysterious Seventh Floor of Impel Down.

Karl’s halberd pressed down on Isaac’s battered body, his face bloodied, iron skin shattered, barely hanging on to life.

Crackle, crackle, crackle…

A group of elderly men and women with snowy hair gathered around a Sea King roasting on a spit.

“This smells amazing.”

“Yeah, it’s been ages since we had grilled meat like this.”

“We’ve been locked up for centuries—my taste buds have almost forgotten what flavor is!”

From earlier conversation, Karl had confirmed a few things. First, these people truly were from 800 years ago—they were one of the forces that toppled the Great Kingdom.

Unfortunately, they’d been betrayed and ended up imprisoned here.

The second question: why were they locked up?

Because their faction had developed gene technology to its limit, fully unveiling the secret of the Ope-Ope Fruit’s immortality operation.

Thanks to that, immortality surgery no longer required sacrificing the user’s life. With this power in their hands, many top leaders gained eternal life.

But that secret leaked, sealing their fate. After the immense war, at a celebratory banquet, they were all set up and captured.

Years of brutal torture followed, and most of them died.

Only the most tight-lipped survived. Left alive to force out their secret, but across centuries, not a single one cracked. Of the original ninety-nine, just twenty-three remain.