Dimensional Chat Group: Speed-o'-Light

"Speed is weight. Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"

Before he could react, a size 48 boot crashed straight into his face.

BANG! … BOOM!

Redfield was sent flying, like a ragdoll caught in a hurricane.

He soared across half of Level 5, before finally slamming into the frozen walls of Level 6—embedding himself deep into the ice.

—

Against that overwhelming power, Redfield's once-proud strength now seemed utterly… insignificant.

Even after being buried in the wall, he was still in shock.

Before, he could blame his old age.

But now?

Now, he was in his prime—as strong as he had ever been.

And yet, Kizaru had defeated him in an instant.

—

LEVEL 4 – BLAZING HELL

"It's been quiet for too long… Admiral Kizaru might have already suppressed the escapees. We should check below—I promise I won't interfere with him!"

Magellan had tried multiple times to head down, only to be blocked by Gion. But after witnessing the terrifying golden light that had pierced through all of Impel Down, he finally realized—

Kizaru was far stronger than he had ever imagined.

But after so much silence, Magellan grew uneasy again. He turned to Gion, attempting to persuade her.

"…Fine. But unless Kizaru gives permission, you are absolutely forbidden from interfering!"

Gion pondered for a long time before finally accepting Magellan's proposal. She was also curious—just how strong was Borsalino now? And besides, the prisoners in Level 6—Eternal Hell would make for excellent sparring partners. No matter how much she trained, nothing compared to real combat, especially since she spent most of her time at the Naval Academy, with few real battle opportunities.

"You all stay here! No one follows without my orders!" Magellan, overjoyed, gave a strict command to the guards before descending with Gion to Level 5—Freezing Hell. Even for him, the prisoners in Eternal Hell were dangerous. Some of them were just as strong as he was. If a real fight broke out, he couldn't guarantee the guards' safety.

"Understood!" Sadi-chan and Domino didn't protest. The criminals gathered in Level 5 were far from the usual riffraff they could easily suppress. These were monsters, the kind that even Magellan had to handle with utmost caution, or risk losing his life.

Fully alert, Gion and Magellan stepped into Level 5, only to be completely stunned. The battle in Freezing Hell was already over. Borsalino was lounging on an ice block—one that the prisoners themselves had carried over for him. And right now? He was enthusiastically commanding the escapees to run laps along the walls of Level 5. Trailing behind them at a leisurely pace was a massive snake, missing one of its horns. Every time Borsalino spoke, it swallowed the slowest runner.

Meanwhile, the prisoners Magellan had feared the most—Shiryu, World, Redfield, Crescent Moon Hunter, and Heavy Drinker—were all neatly lined up. Some were badly injured and unconscious. Some had their eyes wide open, yet lay completely still—as if their will to fight had been crushed.

"Magellan! It's Magellan!" "Please have mercy! I swear I'll never try to escape again!" "Warden Magellan, just lock me back in Eternal Hell already!" The prisoners screamed in both terror and relief. Unfortunately for a few unlucky ones—who were so exhausted they slowed down while yelling—Manda noticed. And before they could react, they were swallowed whole.

"Hisss… Such sweet, delicious blood!" Having eaten so many, Manda was starting to savor the taste instead of devouring blindly. Though powerful ninjas tasted even better than these prisoners, they were also far harder to catch. And Orochimaru? He never offered Manda such high-quality sacrifices. At most, a few strong experimental subjects—but never for Manda to eat.

But just as Manda was about to indulge further—A fist-sized rock came flying from nowhere, smashing its head aside. The prisoner, who had been seconds away from death, fled for his life, wishing he had two more legs to run even faster.

"WHO DARES ATTACK ME?!" Manda hissed furiously, shaking its head.

"Me." Borsalino lazily tossed another stone in his hand, looking thoroughly unimpressed. "You've eaten enough, haven't you? Time to head back. If you keep eating, I'll have to bill Orochimaru for your meals."

Prisoners were cheap. No one cared how many died. But Level 6 prisoners? That was a different story. Even Borsalino couldn't afford too many casualties. After all, a high percentage of them were Devil Fruit users. The more that died, the more Devil Fruits would respawn in the world—meaning more powerful enemies in the future.

"Hisss… If you can provide me with five—no, ten—of these 'blood meals' every month…" Manda flicked its tongue, testing the waters. "I might consider signing a summoning contract with you." Compared to Orochimaru's meager sacrifices, Level 6 prisoners were a delicacy. Sure, Borsalino's attitude sucked, even worse than Orochimaru's. But for food this good? Manda could tolerate it.

"GET LOST!" Borsalino immediately dismissed Manda back to Orochimaru. This greedy snake had already eaten plenty, and now it wanted to turn him into a permanent meal ticket? Manda's strength wasn't bad. Durable, tough-skinned—probably a match for the weakest of the Seven Warlords. But its appetite was insane. Sure, Impel Down had plenty of prisoners to feed it. But out in the open sea? Even if Borsalino worked overtime, he wouldn't be able to capture enough pirates to keep Manda satisfied. The ordinary prisoners in Level 6 were at least Supernova-level. And this stupid snake wanted to eat several of them a month? No way.

"Incredible. Truly worthy of an Admiral." Magellan marveled at the scene before him. These once fearsome criminals—now obediently running laps at Borsalino's command. The only thing he couldn't quite figure out…Where had that giant snake come from? And how had it vanished so suddenly? But since Borsalino clearly had no intention of explaining, Magellan didn't ask.

"They're just a bunch of small-time thugs—not worth worrying about." Borsalino shrugged, then turned to the near-exhausted prisoners. "What, still here? You wanna feed the snake?" Instantly, the prisoners scrambled to carry the unconscious Redfield and World back to Eternal Hell. They had been completely broken. Especially those who had already been imprisoned here once before, thanks to Borsalino. They were so terrified, they didn't even dare meet his gaze.

"I'll do my best to capture the rest of the escapees." Gion looked around at the devastated battlefield of Freezing Hell, a fighting spirit burning within her. The escapees might not be as strong as Level 6 prisoners, but if the Revolutionary Army had their eyes on them…They couldn't be too weak, either.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Vice Admiral Gion."

Magellan bowed his head sincerely. If possible, as the Warden of Impel Down, he naturally wanted to personally capture all the escaped prisoners.

But his abilities had severe side effects. If he went out to sea with the fleet, the prisoners might not even be caught before the Marines on board suffered multiple cases of mass poisoning.

"This sword is for you."

Before Gion could even respond, Borsalino casually tossed a long sword toward her.

The sword had a crimson hilt and scabbard, a golden guard, and a square-shaped golden tsuba.

The moment it landed in her hands, Gion's eyes lit up. For a swordsman—especially one at the level of a master swordsman or even a great swordsman—the quality of a blade could be judged the moment it was grasped.

And when she drew it, seeing the crimson blood-like glow shimmering along the edge, she couldn't help but smile in delight.

Famed Blade—Raiju!

Even though she already wielded Kompira, one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades, no swordsman could refuse a Great Grade Blade of such high caliber.

"A magnificent sword!"

Gion couldn't help but praise it. A swordsman's fascination with legendary blades was no less than Borsalino's obsession with beautiful women.

Though she would never abandon hers, Raiju was definitely worthy of her collection.

"Huh? Wait… isn't that Shiryu's—"

Magellan instinctively glanced at the sword, then froze. He distinctly remembered how Shiryu had treated this sword—like a precious treasure, never parting from it, even in sleep.

Even after being locked up in Eternal Hell, Shiryu had begged Magellan to personally safeguard his blade, even assigning someone to regularly maintain and polish it.

"Ahem. You mean that big-chinned guy?" Borsalino cleared his throat, briefly organizing his words before speaking with a straight face.

"He was overwhelmed with guilt for leading the prison break. So, he decided to spend the rest of his life in Eternal Hell. Before his death, he entrusted me to find a worthy successor for his sword. And, well—I figured Gion was a perfect fit."

If it weren't for Magellan's presence, Borsalino wouldn't have bothered explaining. After all—what was the big deal about an Admiral taking a sword? Shiryu was already a criminal. Even when he was still the Chief Guard of Impel Down, his words didn't carry much weight before an Admiral.

"I see… I tried persuading him many times, but he never repented… What a pity—it's too late now."

Magellan sighed regretfully.

Hannyabal had the ambition and willpower to become Warden, but lacked the strength. If Shiryu had remained as his subordinate, Magellan wouldn't have to worry about finding a worthy successor after his inevitable demise.

But Shiryu had gone too far. Magellan had once considered letting him atone for his sins. But now? No matter what Shiryu said, Magellan would never let him out.

A single Level 6 prisoner escaping was already an unforgivable crime. But Shiryu? He had released every single one of them.

Even in the most optimistic scenario, Shiryu's minimum sentence was still four digits long. If someone had committed the same crime back when the World Government was founded, they would still have over 200 years left to serve.

"Well then, I'll leave the aftermath to you. I need to return to Marine Headquarters immediately. Oh—Strawberry should stay behind in Impel Down for now. Things might not be too safe at HQ in the coming days."

Borsalino had no intention of lingering in this underwater prison. Sure, he loved slacking off, but Impel Down was definitely not the place for that.

"Understood! Wishing you victory in battle!"

Magellan respectfully saluted.

Both Borsalino's strength and achievements were worthy of his utmost respect.

More importantly, without Borsalino, the escaped prisoners Shiryu had released would have completely destroyed Impel Down.

"Well then, that's settled. Gion, be careful when hunting down those escapees. You might run into some truly dangerous opponents."

Borsalino waved at Magellan and turned to leave, casually reminding Gion one last time.

---

This was just a routine reminder. With Gion's strength, as long as she didn't unluckily run into the Revolutionary Army with Dragon personally present, there wouldn't be any problems.

Even if she were unlucky enough for that to happen, she could always abandon the mission and retreat.

In this world, the number of people who could stop Gion if she was determined to flee wouldn't exceed five—and Dragon wasn't one of them.

Just as Borsalino was about to leave, the second wave of Marine reinforcements finally arrived.

After leaving behind some troops to assist in rebuilding Impel Down, the rest of the fleet escorted Borsalino back to Marine Headquarters.

"Moshi moshi, this is Borsalino."

Not long after leaving Impel Down, his transponder snail started ringing.

"I've already arrived at Marineford! Borsalino-sama, where are you~?"

The moment the call connected, Hancock's excited voice burst through.

Her overwhelming affection was so intense that even the transponder snail's eyes turned into heart shapes.

"Ah, I'm still on my way back. It'll take a few more hours."

Borsalino scratched his cheek, speaking with a hint of helplessness.

Knowing Hancock's temperament, if she couldn't see him immediately, she might cause a huge scene.

"Ehh~? Why is it taking so long~?"

Hancock sounded extremely disappointed. She had been longing to see Borsalino for so long.

"Just be patient a little longer. I'll be back soon. And remember—not to cause any trouble with the others."

After considering his options, Borsalino decided against using his light-speed abilities to instantly return to Marineford.

After all, it was still a strategic trump card. Revealing it just to see Hancock a few hours sooner felt like a waste.

"Fine… Oh! Borsalino-sama, I also brought that Rock person along!"

Hancock lowered her voice, sounding proud of herself, as if expecting praise.

She didn't quite understand why Borsalino had spared that weakling, but since he had specifically kept them alive, they must have some use.

So, she had taken special care to bring them along.

"Huh? Rock who?"

Borsalino paused, needing a few seconds to recall that unlucky soul—the one who had been turned into a woman by Ivankov's hormones.

Had Hancock not mentioned them, he might've completely forgotten their existence.

°°°

A/N: 200 stones and we'll have a double chapter tomorrow

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