Purupurupuru...
Just as Luffy walked up to the den den mushi, its ringing sound followed.
He connected the den den mushi with doubt in his heart.
A grim and indifferent voice immediately came from inside.
"I am Sengoku!"
"I didn't expect our first conversation to be under such circumstances!"
"Monkey D. Luffy!"
Luffy didn't say any unnecessary words but went straight to the point, asking indifferently,
"Do you need me for something?"
Sengoku snorted angrily upon hearing this.
"Hmph! Ill-mannered brat!"
"Just like your grandfather!"
After complaining about Luffy's indifferent attitude, Sengoku turned to the main topic and said,
"I want to make a deal with you!"
Luffy was stunned, confusion in his eyes.
He asked in surprise,
"A deal?!"
"Our positions are different, there shouldn't be any deal to be made, right?!"
And Sengoku, upon hearing Luffy's words, immediately became filled with anger, gritting his teeth and saying in a deep voice,
"Do you think I want to make a deal with you?"
"If it weren't for you, brat, repeatedly causing me trouble, how could I possibly choose to make a deal with a pirate?!"
Hearing Sengoku's angry complaints, Luffy seemed to feel his deep anger and helplessness.
He asked in confusion,
"What deal do you want to make?"
Sengoku took a deep breath, his tone suddenly becoming serious, and said,
"You broke into Impel Down to save Ace, didn't you?!"
Luffy did not answer the question.
The answer could be yes, or it could be no.
But the ultimate goal was indeed for Ace.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku also seemed to have no intention of waiting for Luffy's answer.
He had already determined that Luffy was definitely here for Ace.
Then he continued, "Ace is not in Impel Down right now."
"We already transferred him to Marineford."
"In a few more hours, he will be sent to the execution platform!"
Luffy frowned upon hearing this.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku kept bringing up Ace's matter, which made him involuntarily connect Fleet Admiral Sengoku's proposed deal to Ace.
He asked in a deep voice, "What exactly do you want to say?"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku said in an extremely serious tone, "Impel Down cannot be left unguarded!"
"I received intelligence that the Shichibukai Blackbeard is currently sailing there on a Marine battleship without receiving any orders."
"I have deemed this behavior as an act of rebellion."
"This man is extremely dangerous."
"I am worried that he will do something irreversible there. 340"
"If the criminals imprisoned there are released, it will bring unimaginable disaster to this world."
"So I want you to stop attacking any more guards!"
"I will also order them to let you leave."
"Aren't you here to save Ace?!"
"Then come to Marineford!"
"Stop messing around in Impel Down!"
Although the Straw Hat made Fleet Admiral Sengoku extremely vexed.
But just as Garp often said to Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Luffy is not someone who would do evil without reason.
So he was willing to believe Garp's words and also believed that Luffy would not release those criminals.
However, although Blackbeard's superficial threat was not as great as Luffy's.
But after carefully investigating Blackbeard's actions, Fleet Admiral Sengoku found that this man was a deeply cunning and extremely dangerous individual.
Therefore, he was very worried that after Blackbeard and his crew arrived at Deep Sea Great Prison, they would release countless heinous criminals due to the absence of any guards to stop them.
Hearing Fleet Admiral Sengoku's words, Luffy was momentarily stunned.
Blackbeard and his crew were indeed coming here.
However, he temporarily didn't think too much about Blackbeard's matter, but instead focused on the deal Fleet Admiral Sengoku proposed.
Although this deal was optional for Luffy, after all, it would be too simple to deal with the remaining guards.
But he also didn't want to see these criminals released.
Moreover, being able to move without being obstructed by these guards would indeed make their actions more convenient.
So he agreed.
"Alright!"
"I accept this deal!"
With that, Luffy hung up the den den mushi.
On Fleet Admiral Sengoku's side, after resolving the trouble with Luffy, he immediately said to Hannyabal, who had not ended the call, "How is Warden Magellan's injury?"
"Quickly report the casualties of the jailers to me!"
As early as when he contacted Luffy, Fleet Admiral Sengoku had already sent Hannyabal to do these things.
Now, upon hearing Fleet Admiral Sengoku's question, Hannyabal immediately reported, "I just contacted a doctor to perform an emergency examination on Warden Magellan."
"The examination results show that Warden Magellan's injuries are mostly external."
"But there are too many wounds, especially on his chest."
"It will take at least about an hour for emergency treatment until he wakes up!"
"The casualties among the other jailers are also mostly external injuries."
"For some unknown reason, the Straw Hat did not really try to kill anyone."
"The prison's defense force has not been significantly reduced."
"As long as Warden Magellan wakes up, the defense force can basically recover to eighty percent of its normal level."
Upon hearing Hannyabal's report, Fleet Admiral Sengoku immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he didn't know if the Straw Hat didn't strike hard because they wanted to conserve their strength, he couldn't afford to consider that much at the moment.
Instead, he immediately said to Hannyabal, "Quickly concentrate all resources on treating Magellan and the injured, and let them recover as soon as possible."
"It should still take some time for Blackbeard and his crew to get there, enough time for Magellan to wake up!"
"As for the Straw Hat, just as I said, don't worry about them for now, let them leave!"
"Marineford simply cannot spare any forces to support."
"This is already the last resort!"
When Fleet Admiral Sengoku spoke the last few sentences, his tone was full of helplessness.
When he learned that Luffy had appeared with the Straw Hat and two Shichibukai, he was already having a headache about how to face two Emperor crews at the same time!
Yes!
Now, in the eyes of Fleet Admiral Sengoku and other high-ranking officials, the Straw Hat has clearly been regarded as a true Emperor crew.
Hannyabal immediately replied upon hearing Fleet Admiral Sengoku's order, "Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
However, after answering, Hannyabal hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku! What about Shiliew?"
"He's still outside the prison, whereabouts unknown!"
This sentence forcibly pulled Fleet Admiral Sengoku's thoughts back.
As for Shiliew, Fleet Admiral Sengoku temporarily couldn't think of an effective solution.
After a brief thought, he said, "Let's not worry about him for now!"
"We don't have that much energy anymore."
"Shiliew was once the head jailer of Impel Down, and the criminals there disliked him no less than Magellan."
"Moreover, he often massacres criminals, so he shouldn't be foolish enough to release them."
"Otherwise, those criminals would probably attack him first."
"Just wait until Magellan wakes up and let him deal with it!"
Upon hearing Fleet Admiral Sengoku's words, Hannyabal could only nod in agreement.
"Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
After that, they hung up the den den mushi and quickly went about their respective tasks.
And the moment Fleet Admiral Sengoku hung up the den den mushi, he immediately shouted orders to the people in the conference room.
"Notify everyone to immediately gather in front of the execution plaza and prepare for battle."
"Yes!"
A neat and resounding affirmative response echoed back to him.
Then, a group of people dispersed and quickly left the conference room!
...
Luffy's side!
After ending the call with Fleet Admiral Sengoku, he told the others about the deal.
Kuma was the first to understand why Fleet Admiral Sengoku would do this.
"The Marine can no longer spare any extra forces to attend to this side!"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku had no choice but to come up with this method."
The Straw Hat crew all understood upon hearing this.
But no matter what, being able to alleviate their pressure was always a good thing.
Then, they discussed and split into groups.
Following the characteristics described by Kuma, they simultaneously searched for Ivankov on the fifth and sixth levels.
Ivankov's bounty was over 100 million, and he was also a high-ranking officer of the Revolutionary Army.
Kuma wasn't sure if he would be imprisoned on the fifth or sixth level, so they decided to search both levels at once.
And Luffy had originally planned to go to the sixth level.
So, taking the opportunity to search for Ivankov, he chose the sixth level.
Teaming up with him was Mr. 3, whom he had specifically brought along, ready to be used as a lock-picking tool at any time.
Because he would need to find Jinbe and Bullet later, and to avoid explanations, Luffy did not choose to bring anyone else.
...
Hannyabal had originally intended to temporarily focus all his attention on treating the injured.
However, he soon received a report from the guards on the fifth level, learning that the Straw Hat had not left but had scattered within the prison.
Upon hearing this news, Hannyabal immediately rushed back into the monitoring room.
Seeing the Straw Hat crew appearing on several screens simultaneously, Hannyabal was incredibly panicked and filled with questions.
After quickly finding Luffy's figure in the surveillance, he contacted the guard who had just reported and had the den den mushi sent over.
...
After forming groups, the Straw Hat crew quickly dispersed.
Just as Luffy was about to leave, he saw a guard quickly running from nearby.
The guard's face was panicked, and he looked at Luffy with immense fear.
But with orders in hand, he gritted his teeth, mustered his courage, and held a den den mushi in front of Luffy, saying, "Straw... Straw Hat! Vice-Warden Hannyabal wants to speak with you!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Hannyabal's panicked and confused voice came from the den den mushi.
"Didn't you already agree to Fleet Admiral Sengoku to leave?"
"Why are you breaking the agreement and letting your people spread out in the prison?"
Luffy said indifferently, "Don't get it wrong!"
"Our agreement is that I won't attack your guards, and you won't attack us."
"I'm not breaking the agreement right now."
Upon hearing Monkey D. Luffy's words, Hannyabal was stunned.
It seemed to be true!
But soon, he became flustered and worried again.
If the Straw Hat ran wild inside the prison and released all the criminals, wouldn't that also not violate the agreement?
Thinking of this possibility, Hannyabal immediately asked in a panic,
"What else do you want to do?"
"Didn't Fleet Admiral Sengoku say Ace isn't in prison right now?"
"Do you intend to release other criminals?"
Monkey D. Luffy said indifferently upon hearing this,
"I'm not interested in releasing other criminals."
"However, we are indeed looking for someone imprisoned here."
"His name is Ivankov, a Revolutionary Army executive."
"As soon as we find him, we will leave."
Speaking of this, Monkey D. Luffy suddenly thought of something and said,
"Why don't you help us find this person, and we won't stay here anymore."
"That would be good for both of us, wouldn't it?"
Hannyabal gnashed his teeth in hatred upon hearing Monkey D. Luffy's words.
This was already them standing on their heads and openly demanding to take a criminal from here.
But even so, he still had no solution.
He already knew that Sengoku's side would not send anyone to support them.
Now, all troubles could only be solved by themselves.
And what he could do now was only agree to Monkey D. Luffy's conditions and get this group of guys to leave their place as soon as possible.
However, just as Hannyabal was about to hand over the person Monkey D. Luffy mentioned, he suddenly realized who this person was.
He briefly recalled matters concerning Ivankov, then replied,
"This person has been missing from the prison for several years."
"Even we haven't found any trace of him."
Monkey D. Luffy didn't seem surprised by this.
Instead, he continued,
"Don't you have surveillance?"
"If you find his trace on the surveillance, just tell our people."
Upon hearing Monkey D. Luffy's words, Hannyabal was almost fuming.
He never thought he would one day have to listen to a group of pirates!
Yet now, he had no other choice.
As long as Monkey D. Luffy wasn't trying to release all criminals, they could still afford this loss.
Hannyabal intended to propose another deal with Monkey D. Luffy, saying,
"We can help you find this person, but after finding him, you must leave immediately!"
Monkey D. Luffy thought for a moment.
According to his memory, the prisons on the sixth floor were basically cage-style.
All criminals were basically confined in a relatively concentrated area.
It was still relatively easy to find someone.
And Ivankov was still nowhere to be found!
Presumably, before finding him, he would be able to finish what he wanted to do, so he agreed.
"Alright! I accept!"
...
After reaching another agreement with Hannyabal, Monkey D. Luffy no longer lingered and went directly to the sixth floor with Mr. 3.
They came down via the stairs.
And after coming down the stairs,
Two long rows of cages came into their view.
This place was filled with an evil and corrupt aura, with all the worst criminals gathered together, turning it into a hell that would make countless normal people feel terrified.
The moment they appeared here, the overwhelming oppressive atmosphere and evil aura made Mr. 3 extremely terrified, shrinking into a ball.
"I didn't expect this Deep Sea Great Prison to have a sixth floor."
"This place is too terrifying!"
"Straw Hat, can I wait for you here?"
"When you need me to unlock something, I'll come over."
Mr. 3 said to Monkey D. Luffy in extreme fear, so scared that he dared not move forward for a moment.
Monkey D. Luffy thought about it, and it wasn't a bad idea.
He could directly look for his target without having to worry about Mr. 3's confusion or suspicion.
"Alright!"
"You wait for me here."
"Don't think about escaping, otherwise you know the consequences."
Upon hearing Monkey D. Luffy's final warning, Mr. 3 shook his head repeatedly, assuring him,
"Don't worry! I won't run away!"
While saying this, Mr. 3 thought to himself,
"I wish I could escape!"
"But you can even make the jailers listen to you, so can I escape?"
Monkey D. Luffy thought Mr. 3 was a smart person, so he left him there and walked alone towards the cages.
When he reached the first cage,
Monkey D. Luffy looked inside, but found it extremely dark, with only the criminals lying on the edge of the cage allowing him to see their faces clearly.
And as he observed the criminals, the criminals also saw him.
The entire prison instantly became incredibly noisy and boisterous.
The prison doors rattled as they were pounded.
Strange cries and howls constantly echoed.
"Waaah..."
"Woooh..."
"Hey! Are you an intruder? Can you let me out?"
"Let me out! I have a huge treasure buried somewhere. As long as you let me out, I'll give you all that treasure."
"Are you new? I'm famous in the New World. If you let me out, I can take you as my subordinate."
The moment Monkey D. Luffy appeared, all these pirates said various things, trying to make Monkey D. Luffy release them.
However, Monkey D. Luffy completely ignored them, just walking slowly, searching for the person he wanted to find.
It wasn't until he passed a certain cage that a voice from inside made Monkey D. Luffy stop.