The gap was too huge!
Every time Silas acted, Rocks deeply felt the difference between himself and Silas.
Dean, himself, Newgate, and Linlin. Four people attacking the lanternfish for over ten minutes had only inflicted minor, insignificant injuries.
If they wanted to take down the lanternfish, even with sufficient air in their bubble films and going all out, it might take several days.
But Silas only needed ten seconds!
However, Silas was not as relaxed as Rocks imagined.
Devil Fruit abilities' strength was influenced by their users.
As cellular activity strengthened and Silas's physique continuously improved, the attribute abilities he gained from his fruit power were also constantly enhanced.
Even so, freezing the lanternfish had taken him ten seconds.
First using Conqueror's Haki to intimidate, then using the devil fruit ability to freeze.
If using only the devil fruit ability, there might have been a risk of the lanternfish breaking free and escaping.
After all, this was underwater.
After touching seawater, his abilities were weakened.
And freezing attributes was not his primary ability.
"Back to the ship!"
After Conqueror's Haki improved to a certain level, Silas could even communicate with Dean, Rocks, and others through seawater across distances.
After direct freezing, there was no need for Ripley to use abilities in the deep sea. The frozen lanternfish would be carried to the surface by the ice.
"We are surfacing!"
Capturing the lanternfish meant their voyage mission was perfectly complete.
Simpler than imagined.
After all, the intelligence had rated this as medium difficulty. Even if capture failed, with Rocks and the others' strength, they could all escape unharmed from the lanternfish's attacks.
The only problem was those super-giant Sea Kings in the Calm Belt.
Silas could feel it.
Those super-giant Sea Kings were watching them!
They seem to have taken the lanternfish!
Should we fight them?
Forget it. That human is not easy to mess with. I do not want to become food.
Super-giant Sea Kings exceeding 5,000 meters had certain intelligence. Though individually powerful, their connections were not tight.
Silas believed that to unite them required two methods.
Either their "king" issued commands, or they faced a great crisis that could lead to species extinction.
Having one "fellow creature" captured was not worth uniting over.
So they only watched as the White Wolf Pirates took the lanternfish, the ship continuously surfacing until disappearing from their sight.
"They actually succeeded!"
When the Millennium Falcon surfaced with a massive ice sculpture like an island, Kozuki Toki realized what the White Wolf Pirates had just accomplished.
They had attacked a giant Sea King exceeding 3,000 meters in the deep sea and successfully captured it?
"Ripley, use your ability to shrink the ice floe a bit."
"Leave it to me!"
Shrinking creatures of this size was not easy even for Ripley. It required considerable time.
Meanwhile, Silas reconfirmed their location.
"Impel Down?"
No wonder Silas immediately identified their current position. That massive steel gate standing on the sea surface, bearing the World Government symbol, was too conspicuous.
Now the Millennium Falcon, including the ice floe with the frozen lanternfish, were in a huge whirlpool. The currents this whirlpool generated continuously pushed ships toward the next destination.
But where was the next destination?
Marineford!
Current Marine Headquarters!
"My oversight here. Because water flow speed gradually slows from surface to depths, and deep-sea current speeds are not fast, I did not notice the ship had already entered Marine territory."
The White Wolf Pirates were now in whirlpool waters enclosed by three important Marine institutions: Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Marineford.
Because current directions were fixed, ships could only move with the flow.
But Silas was not anxious.
After all, he did not really want to attack Marineford. He had just accidentally entered. At worst, they would just leave.
Ordinary pirates lacked the ability to escape currents.
How hard could it be for them?
Have Dean, Rocks, and Newgate go down and push the ship. Problem solved!
Mere currents... How could they compare to three top-tier human engines?
Most importantly now was containing the lanternfish!
Marines, Gate of Justice.
Almost simultaneously with the massive disturbance in the whirlpool waters, Marines guarding the gate discovered it and immediately notified Impel Down's current Chief Warden, Diodosius.
This was a middle-aged man around fifty. Though not Admiral-level, within Impel Down, even Admiral-level fighters could not easily break through his defenses.
"What happened?"
"Our monitoring inside the Gate of Justice detected a huge object surfacing from the seabed. Through telescopes, we found it is a massive ice floe."
"Ice floe?"
Diodosius frowned. As warden of the great prison where Marines imprisoned pirates, he knew his heavy responsibility. Countless pirates wanted to escape from Impel Down, and countless pirate crew remnants wanted to rescue their companions.
But in these eight hundred years, none had succeeded!
However, Impel Down's natural advantages were not a reason for complacency. He had to take any anomaly in these waters seriously.
"Send people to investigate."
Diodosius did not plan to launch an active attack. He was strongest when positioned inside Impel Down. Otherwise, with his ability's limited mobility, actively attacking might let enemies circle around for a direct assault.
"Discovery made!"
Suddenly, a Marine soldier's voice rang out.
"The ice floe is shrinking! We see a ship around the ice floe!"
"It is a pirate ship!"
Indeed, it was those pirates' conspiracy!
Just as Diodosius congratulated himself for not attacking actively, he saw the observing Marine soldier's face suddenly turn terrified, cold sweat streaming.
"Tell me what you saw!"
Diodosius shouted, awakening the Marine soldier, who looked at him with terror.
"It is... it is the White Wolf Pirates' flag!"
At this voice, all present Marine soldiers immediately changed color.
For this era's Marines, the White Wolf Pirates were undoubtedly their inescapable nightmare.
The failure at Sphinx, the setback at Elbaf... all proclaimed that the Marines' era of dominating these seas had passed.
In this era, someone feared not their authority!
"Why would the White Wolf Pirates be here?"
"Are they planning to invade Impel Down?"
"Quick, request headquarters reinforcement!"
The entire war room became chaotic. A person's reputation was like a tree's shadow. Though Marines stationed at Impel Down had not seen Silas, he was a formidable enemy even Marine Admirals could not handle!
"Everyone calm down!"
Diodosius's voice directly overwhelmed the war room's noise.
"Look at yourselves! Are you still Marine soldiers? It is just one pirate crew! We are guarding a great prison that no one has escaped from in eight hundred years. It was true before today, and it will be true after!"
"From now on, all personnel retreat to Impel Down!"
"Contact headquarters immediately! As long as we hold for half a day, headquarters' powerhouses will arrive. If the White Wolf Pirates still dare to stay at Impel Down, then this will be their burial ground!"
Diodosius's vigorous voice gradually calmed the Marines.
Right, this was Impel Down.
No matter how strong Silas was, breaking into Impel Down was easy, but getting out would not be so simple.
Impel Down prison formed a strategic triangle with Enies Lobby and Marine Headquarters.
Once reinforcement signals were sent, through whirlpool currents, headquarters support could arrive within half a day.
They only needed to hold for half a day!
Marines in Impel Down prepared for battle. When news reached Marine Headquarters, it caused even greater uproar, with Marines unable to believe it.
"What? White Wolf Silas wants to invade Impel Down?"
"It has only been a year, right? Is this the White Wolf Pirates' revenge?"
"We should have been prepared!"
Emergency assembly of Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals and above; Fleet Admiral Elephant Yama had a massive headache. Though he had anticipated Silas's audacity, he had not expected an attack on Impel Down.
"The urgent matter is sending reinforcements. Though Diodosius guards Impel Down, his enemy is White Wolf Silas!"
Marine Chief of Staff Portman Nisen said gravely.
"Send Kong and Siven. Then recall Rona from the New World. It is the World Council period; someone must guard Mariejois."
"Sigh, that is the only way."
Elephant Yama nodded. Though both he and Nisen retained Admiral-level combat power, due to age, their stamina had declined. In the short term, they might be stronger than young Admiral-level fighters like Kong and Rona.
But long-term, victory was uncertain.
Currently, the Marines' strongest is Admiral Ortega Siven. Fifty-nine years old, strength at its peak, stamina not yet declined.
Truly in prime years.
Ortega Siven had always been stationed at Marine Headquarters, only participating in major events.
Elephant Yama sending Siven to support Impel Down wanted to see what level Silas's strength had reached. Whether the Marines still had capital to capture him decisively.
If Silas's strength had not grown this year, Elephant Yama's eyes flashed coldly. Even paying some sacrifices, he would capture Silas.
For a hundred years, no pirate had dared challenge the Marines like this!
"Also, tell Rona not to be temperamental. She is not some little girl anymore. Sending her to Mariejois is to protect those member nation kings. If she encounters Celestial Dragons, have her endure!"
All along, Elephant Yama had chosen the strongest Siven to guard headquarters to avoid conflicts between Rona and Celestial Dragons.
But now, he could not care about such details.
Anyway, Rona was not young anymore. She should learn to follow his Fleet Admiral orders. Protecting civilians was the Marines' duty, and Celestial Dragons were this world's nobility.
Protecting them was naturally right!
Acropolis Port.
Receiving Marine orders, Rona's face showed no expression.
"So it has become like this in the end?"
Though she had told Silas about going to Mariejois to liberate slaves under Celestial Dragon oppression, what reason she would use to go there was a problem.
Now perfect. Elephant Yama had given her the reason.
Replace Admiral Siven guarding Mariejois, protecting member nation kings attending the World Council.
Then she would be the only Marine Admiral in all of Mariejois.
She could do whatever she wanted!
"Really, I do not know how that bastard thought of invading Impel Down. Now Marine Headquarters cannot sit still."
Whirlpool Waters, before the Gate of Justice.
Of course Silas had not expected that just showing his face before Impel Down would panic the entire Marines, forcing Admiral-level personnel adjustments to test his current strength.
They were right before the steel gate bearing the World Government symbol.
Motionless.
They did not move, and Marines guarding Impel Down dared not move either.
Fearing the White Wolf Pirates had some conspiracy.
But there was no conspiracy. Ripley was just too weak.
She had said she could directly shrink the lanternfish.
But after over an hour, Ripley had only shrunk the entire ice sculpture to house-size, requiring a large pool to contain it.
"Captain, this really is not my fault! Who knew shrinking creatures this size would be so exhausting? I am almost at fruit awakening!"
Ripley shrugged.
"You said you were almost at fruit awakening last month. By giant time concepts, this 'soon' probably means next year!"
Silas said irritably.
"Hehe, Captain really understands me!"
Ripley hugged Silas's arm, grinning shamelessly.
Ripley's Mini-Mini Fruit could only shrink creatures' size but could not change their strength. So the 3,000-meter lanternfish, after becoming 30 meters, not only was not weaker but also became more terrifying.
Vaguely, Silas felt his freezing ability could barely control it.
So before that happened!
Silas directly released control over the lanternfish, then pressed his sword to its head.
"Now I will give you two choices!"
"First choice: Submit to me. I will provide sufficient food, but you must contribute some Pure Gold."
"Second choice: I will kill you. My crew has been craving your meat for a long time."
Under the lanternfish's terrified gaze, Silas showed a kind smile.
"Which do you choose?"