The roots of the Yarukiman Mangrove exuded a special natural resin through respiration. Once the resin came into contact with air, it expanded into bubbles that floated up into the sky.
These bubbles could carry people and cargo, and were used to make all kinds of astonishing contraptions…
You could say these bubbles were the greatest hallmark of the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Uwaaa!! It's so pretty!"
The moment Rebecca and the others stepped onto the islands and saw the bubble cars, the bubble Ferris wheel, and the houses built atop bubbles drifting in the air, their eyes lit up.
It was like stepping into a storybook kingdom.
"It really is beautiful," Nico Robin said with a smile.
For them, Sabaody was entirely new. None of them had been here before.
But for Baby-5, Monet, and the others who'd come from the New World, Sabaody wasn't particularly novel.
"You girls can move around freely. I've got something important to take care of."
After leaving that one instruction, Whiteflame's body flickered and vanished.
The moment they heard "free to move," the women brightened immediately and rushed off toward Sabaody's shopping district.
In an empty room of a nearby hotel, Whiteflame's figure quietly appeared.
Through the window, he could see half of the Sabaody Archipelago spread beneath him.
"It's about time… to start preparing for my war."
Behind him, a cluster of invisible IBMs emerged.
The room was too narrow, and many of them had to crouch on the ceiling or cling to the walls… but in their invisible state, no one would see them.
"Immediate deployment. Head to Impel Down."
At Whiteflame's command, every IBM leaped out of the window, slipped past the edges of the archipelago, and dove into the sea.
This had been his plan from the start.
The "small-scale Marineford" he'd mentioned—
Was none other than the prison known as the world's greatest: Impel Down.
Impel Down lay in the Calm Belt of the first half of the Grand Line. Security there was extremely tight. The prison was dark and terrifying, filled with monstrous jailers and monitored by Den Den Mushi.
Outside the prison, the deep sea was crawling with massive Sea Kings.
Because of this, Impel Down was known as a fortress of steel.
The prison had six levels—but only a handful of people even knew the sixth level existed.
Level 6 – Eternal Hell.
Those held there were all monsters with sky-high bounties and heinous crimes to their name. Each one had once shaken the seas and committed atrocities that people still whispered about.
For that reason, anyone thrown into Eternal Hell had only two outcomes:
Execution—or life imprisonment.
There was no third option.
"I can feel Impel Down," Whiteflame murmured.
"But there's too much concentrated killing intent and aura inside. It's distorting my perception. I can only see the exterior; my Observation Haki can't penetrate the interior."
Sabaody sat not far from Marineford—and, by extension, not far from Impel Down.
With Whiteflame's current Observation Haki, he could easily stretch it across the sea and reach the prison's general area.
But slipping his perception into its interior…
Was an entirely different story.
There were far too many powerful presences inside. They scrambled the "signal" of his Haki.
On top of that, the distance diluted his perception, making it impossible to clearly sense anything within the prison.
Whiteflame had expected as much.
Impel Down wasn't just any place.
It was built specifically to hold the most dangerous criminals in the world.
Anyone picked at random from those cells would have a terrifying bounty—and not a single one would be weak.
If a prison like that didn't have airtight defenses, how could it call itself the greatest prison in the world?
How could it contain those monsters?
"Fine. From the seabed, then."
Faced with this situation, Whiteflame decided the IBMs should infiltrate from underwater.
They didn't need to breathe.
They weren't threatened by seawater.
The only catch… was that in the ocean, they couldn't turn invisible.
Even so, they could still use the vastness of the sea itself for cover and get close enough to Impel Down.
The IBMs moved swiftly.
Even underwater, after devouring so many strong enemies, they'd evolved to move at high speed through the sea.
From Sabaody to Impel Down, the fastest Marine warship needed about thirty minutes. A normal pirate ship would take much longer.
The IBMs weren't as fast as warships, but they moved at about the speed of an average pirate vessel.
Two hours later, they arrived.
"Impel Down…"
Through the IBMs' eyes, Whiteflame saw the world's greatest prison from beneath the sea.
The structure rose like an iron tower, stacked layer upon layer—a colossal edifice jutting into the depths like a stone city planted in the ocean itself.
Surrounding it were numerous giant Sea Kings, circling and lurking.
They eyed the life within the prison greedily, while simultaneously forming a natural barrier that prevented outsiders from approaching.
On top of that, many strange creatures in uniform, wielding axes, moved through the waters on patrol.
These were Blue Gorillas—Impel Down's ocean patrol guards.
Each one was quite strong. If they discovered anyone nearby, that intruder would face annihilation.
"Looks like breaking in from the seabed isn't going to be as easy as I thought."
"Especially if I want to avoid setting off any alarms."
Whiteflame frowned.
Impel Down's level of security far exceeded his expectations.
The Navy's guard over the prison was far tighter than he'd imagined.
If the IBMs could remain invisible underwater, they could slip in without effort—no tricks needed.
But in seawater, their bodies were fully visible.
And with their towering size, you'd have to be blind not to see them.
"Hooh hooh hooh…"
Just then, one of the Blue Gorillas seemed to notice something and began swimming toward the IBMs.
"Hide."
At Whiteflame's order, all the IBMs immediately ducked behind large sea creatures, using their bodies as cover.
The Blue Gorilla clearly wasn't ready to give up. It swam in their direction, peering around as it searched.
As it drifted past a coral outcrop—
A massive hand shot out and clamped down over its head, yanking it downward.
Then: a twist.
Crack.
Its neck snapped instantly.
They didn't decapitate it—because in the sea, blood would spread quickly and give their location away.
"Hooh—hooh—hooh—"
But the moment that one died, the other Blue Gorillas seemed to sense something.
Many of them started swimming toward the same area.
And yet, even with many converging, plenty more still patrolled close to the prison.
Any creature that approached would be spotted at once.
"Getting close without being noticed still isn't happening," Whiteflame thought.
"If they see anything and sound the alarm, Impel Down will go on high alert immediately… and both Magellan and Marine HQ will know at once."
"If I can't brute-force it quietly… pull back."
Seeing that infiltrating from below wouldn't work, he chose to withdraw.
The IBMs dispersed quietly and slipped away.
Whiteflame opened his eyes, deep in thought.
His target was Impel Down.
And he wanted to reach the deepest level—Eternal Hell—without anyone realizing he'd ever been there.
Only then could he truly enjoy a "small-scale Marineford" with no outside interference.
At his current level, very few things could still entertain him.
If he lost this one chance at a miniature top war…
It would be a real loss.
"Seems I'll have to find another way in."
Giving up on the seabed infiltration, Whiteflame's figure flickered and vanished from the room.
Whiteflame and the others stayed in the Sabaody Archipelago for several days.
Rebecca and the rest had the time of their lives.
As the gateway to the New World, Sabaody had every kind of entertainment and facility you could think of—enough to keep them busy for a long, long time.
During that time, Whiteflame was constantly thinking of ways to slip into Impel Down unnoticed.
Between Impel Down, Marineford, and Enies Lobby, there was a triangular current system.
Only Navy warships could safely navigate it.
Any other ship entering that triangle would immediately be surrounded by the Navy—with nowhere to run.
Whiteflame wasn't afraid of the Marines.
He just didn't want them to know he was targeting Impel Down.
Blindly steering a ship toward the prison was, obviously, not wise.
As for flying over—
He might be able to sneak in with the speed of the Lightning and Light Fruits, but once inside, he didn't know the layout.
If he had to stop and search, alarms would go off right away.
He'd considered all kinds of methods.
None seemed right.
Just then, noisy chatter drifted into the tavern from outside.
"Hey, look! Isn't that one of this year's Eleven Supernovas—'Red Flag' X Drake? Judging by the look of it, they're about to set sail for the New World."
"A couple days ago, 'Sea Roar' Scratchmen Apoo showed up. Yesterday, 'Gluttonous Woman' Jewelry Bonney appeared. And today it's 'Red Flag' X Drake… Looks like Sabaody's not gonna be peaceful these next few days."
"And it's not just them. 'Captain' Eustass Kid, 'Massacre Soldier' Killer, 'Magician' Basil Hawkins, 'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law—they're all said to be on their way. It won't be long before they hit Sabaody too."
"This year's Supernovas are all monsters. Each one is ridiculously strong. Even that newly-risen Straw Hat Luffy already has a bounty of 300 million Berries."
"Straw Hat Luffy? You mean the guy who beat the Warlord Gecko Moria?"
"You've heard about that too?"
"Of course. Word's already all over the underworld. A Warlord of the Sea like Moria getting beaten by some rookie… Once that spreads, the whole world's going to be laughing, hahahaha!"
"…"
Listening to this, Whiteflame's eyes flashed with surprise.
He'd only been in this world for a little over half a year.
And yet, Luffy had already caught up—
Just like in the original story, even without storming Enies Lobby, he'd still earned a 300 million bounty.
Clearly—
When one obstacle disappears…
Another one naturally rises to take its place.
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