Chapter 530: The Choice
"That Hannibal fool!"
Magellan had no idea that Hannibal had already been killed, but he was equally furious, cursing inwardly. How could he have taken it upon himself to release Shiryu of the Rain!?
However, the reason Magellan's gaze toward Shiryu was so complicated was that if it had been him, he might have chosen to release Shiryu as well...
There was no other reason—Magellan now needed Shiryu's strength!
After clashing with Ian, Magellan realized that while his power might be enough to suppress the other Supernova pirates, he had no effective way to deal with Ian himself.
If the mastermind wasn't eliminated, what use was it to suppress the accomplices?
Ian alone was already this powerful. If he actually managed to break through to the sixth level and rescue Sea Knight Jinbe and Sand Crocodile Crocodile, then with three Warlords joining forces, Magellan would be even less able to stop them!
Magellan finally understood why Fleet Admiral Sengoku's orders had only told him to hold Ian off until Vice Admiral Momousagi arrived. The reason was that, in Sengoku's view, Magellan simply couldn't suppress Ian...
With that in mind, Magellan's earlier thoughts had been rather laughable...
"Fine, I can grant you a special pardon!" Magellan struggled to his feet from the ground and said to Shiryu, "Join me in killing the Warlord Black Dragon Ian, and I will apply to the World Government for your release on parole!"
While Magellan was speaking to Shiryu, Ian didn't act but instead watched with interest.
He was very curious to see what choice Shiryu would make.
Shiryu of the Rain was originally the head jailer of Impel Down, possessing strength nearly equal to that of Warden Magellan. Because of these two aces, the prison was known as the "Iron Wall." But unlike Magellan, Shiryu was a bloodthirsty killer who often murdered prisoners without reason, his personality twisted to the extreme. Even wearing the skin of a prison guard, he couldn't hide the fact that he was a thorough villain.
It was precisely because he had witnessed Shiryu's indiscriminate killings firsthand that Magellan had been forced to arrest him. For Magellan, while the prisoners in the jail were all deserving of death, as long as they followed the prison's rules, the guards had no need to execute them. Shiryu's actions had gone too far.
Now, under Ian's pressure, Magellan had no choice but to join forces with Shiryu. Moreover, Shiryu's earlier sword slash had indeed saved him once, and Magellan naturally acknowledged that debt.
But just because Magellan thought this way didn't mean Shiryu would think the same. Ian was eager to see what choice Shiryu would make after being imprisoned by Magellan in the sixth level for so long. Especially now that Blackbeard Teach hadn't appeared in Impel Down, Shiryu's decision was even more intriguing...
So Ian didn't interrupt, simply watching...
In response to Magellan's words, Shiryu didn't answer directly but instead asked, "Can you retract your poison gas? Wearing this gas mask, I can't even smoke my beloved cigar!"
Magellan looked at the prisoners and Supernovas who had been knocked out by the poison cloud behind him, then glanced at Ian. Without a word, he opened his mouth and inhaled, his chest swelling high. The remaining poison cloud was completely sucked back into his body.
At this point, on the fourth level of the prison, aside from Ian, Magellan, and Shiryu, no one else was standing. Even the prison guards had all been knocked out by Magellan's poison.
Of course, although only three people remained on the scene, in the monitoring room of Impel Down, many guards were nervously watching the standoff through the screens, quietly swallowing their saliva.
It wasn't just the guards in the monitoring room. Elsewhere in the prison, others were also paying close attention to the situation—prisoners who had secretly obtained black Den Den Mushi for eavesdropping, or... the Newkama Land hidden in the unknown depths of Impel Down!
When Ian and his group had stormed into Impel Down and triggered a prisoner riot on the first level, someone in Newkama Land had already noticed their situation.
Entering through the sewers of Impel Down and traversing the "impossible path," one could reach the secret paradise of the prisoners, known as the 5.5th level of Impel Down. Over the years, many prisoners who had mysteriously disappeared due to the so-called "Devil's Invitation" had all ended up here. This was the secret society run by Emporio Ivankov.
After being arrested by the World Government on trumped-up charges, Ivankov had actually already escaped, but he hadn't fled. Instead, he chose to stay in Impel Down, recruiting prisoners to secretly develop the Revolutionary Army's strength.
Years had passed, and Newkama Land had become a sizable secret organization. Although they remained inside Impel Down, they were fully aware of everything happening in the prison. What the guards knew, they knew; what the guards didn't know, they also knew!
So when the riot broke out in Impel Down, they immediately saw it through the surveillance footage.
At first, they were just watching the spectacle with amusement, enjoying the unfolding events. At that time, they didn't think these intruders would end well, after all, Magellan's presence was an insurmountable obstacle.
However, when Ian and his group charged through to the third level with unstoppable momentum, the Newkama couldn't stay calm anymore. The jailbreakers' strength far exceeded their imagination...
They immediately notified Emporio Ivankov.
When Ivankov first arrived at the Newkama Land monitoring room, he didn't pay much attention. He just thought that the intruders wearing Marine uniforms was a clever trick.
By eavesdropping on the guards' conversations, Ivankov and his people learned the intruders' identities—it was the Warlord Black Dragon Ian.
When Ivankov first heard Ian's name, he didn't feel much. He had been imprisoned for a long time, and while the name Ian seemed vaguely familiar, he didn't connect it to the child he had met in Shimotsuki Village in the East Blue back then.
Although the people in Newkama Land could steal discarded newspapers from the trash to learn about the outside world, they couldn't get every issue. They had missed the issue where Ian's photo was published, so while they knew a new Warlord named Ian had appeared, they didn't know what he looked like.
Until... until Ian and his group entered the fourth level, took off their Marine uniforms because of the heat, and put on that bear-eared hat...
"Th... that's not Kuma's hat!?" Ivankov's eyes nearly popped out when he saw Ian's hat on the monitor, but the person on screen wasn't Bartholomew Kuma—it was an unfamiliar young man. Ivankov instantly recalled that Kuma had once given away a hat...
"He... he's Ian!? The kid we met in Shimotsuki Village!?" Ivankov stared at Ian on the screen in disbelief. "He... he's already a Warlord!? The Black Dragon Ian they're talking about is really him!?"
In that moment, Ivankov felt like time was a butcher's knife...
In the blink of an eye, that genius child had grown up and reached such heights?
When he saw Ian cutting Magellan with his sword, making him bleed profusely, Ivankov was even more certain that the person on screen was that child. After all, that kid had been learning swordsmanship at the dojo back then...
"Eeeeh!!" Ivankov couldn't help but spin around in place, then happily put his hands on his hips and laughed up at the sky. "A miracle! This is a miracle! That guy Kuma really has an eye for people!"
After stopping, Ivankov immediately realized that this was a perfect opportunity to leave Impel Down. He quickly shouted, "Sweethearts! Prepare your weapons—we need to support Ian boy!"
Seeing Ian's companions knocked out by Magellan's poison mist on the screen, Ivankov thought Ian might need his help. He didn't know Ian's current abilities, so he decided to support him and, taking advantage of Ian's jailbreak, lead the prisoners of Newkama Land out of this damn place.
However, just as the Newkama prisoners were about to respond to Ivankov's call, a new change appeared on the monitor.
After Magellan retracted his poison gas, Shiryu took off his gas mask, revealing a sinister smiling face. He took out a cigar, put it in his mouth, took a satisfying puff, and slowly exhaled smoke. "Endless boredom makes one want to die from loneliness. So, Magellan, I hope you'll keep your word!"
In other words, he agreed to Magellan's deal.
"Hmph, don't let it happen again!" Magellan snorted coldly, turned around, and looked at Ian.
But before he could speak, his body suddenly jolted, and a sharp pain hit him. Looking down, he saw a blade tip piercing through his right abdomen, protruding from the front!
On the blade tip, there was still crimson blood...
"You...!" Magellan turned his head in disbelief, staring at Shiryu, who had stabbed him from behind...