Chapter 531: Ian's Thigh
Watching this scene through the surveillance monitors, the guards of Impel Down prison, as well as the prisoners in the Newcomer Paradise, were all stunned.
This... what... is happening?
The thrust of the sword by Shiliew of the Rain not only caught Magellan off guard but also surprised Ian!
Ian had considered that Shiliew might help Magellan deal with him, or perhaps take the opportunity to escape while Magellan was occupied, breaking free from Impel Down.
But he truly never expected that Shiliew would strike from behind, stabbing Magellan with his sword...
Magellan had let his guard down. Perhaps after Shiliew's earlier sword slash helped him out of a tight spot, Magellan assumed Shiliew was definitely on his side, so he had no defenses against him at all.
"Ugh... ah..." As Shiliew slowly pulled the sword out of Magellan's body, it triggered intense pain in Magellan, causing him to scream again.
Magellan fell to his knees, one hand on the ground and the other clutching the wound on his abdomen, glaring hatefully at Shiliew of the Rain, and said, "Assassinating me? Have you considered the consequences of doing this?"
Shiliew of the Rain, a cigar dangling from his mouth, was wiping the bloodstains off his red-glowing blade with a handkerchief. At this, he lifted his chin and said, "Of course I know. At worst, I'll be thrown back into the ranks of criminals."
"This time, you'll be locked up until you die of old age, never eligible for parole!" Magellan gritted his teeth.
"That's not certain!" Shiliew sneered. "When I came out of that cell, I swore to myself that I would never go back!"
"You can't escape!" Magellan said. "Your betrayal will be reported to Marine Headquarters. The Gate of Justice will never open for you!"
"But I never planned to leave alone!" Shiliew laughed darkly, then looked at Ian across from him and said, "Black Dragon Ian of the Seven Warlords, am I right in what I'm saying?"
Ian had been enjoying the drama of the two of them turning on each other, but he didn't expect Shiliew to suddenly drag him into it. He frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I've been waiting to meet a man as strong as you!" Shiliew flicked his hand, sheathing his sword, and said, "Staying in Impel Down any longer, I'll never see the light of day. Even if I helped Magellan this time, given my nature, he'd probably lock me up again. So I might as well take a gamble and then be free as the sky and sea... You brought people to storm Impel Down head-on, so you must have an escape route planned, right? Can you take me with you?"
Ian was incredulous and pointed at himself, saying, "You... you mean you want to join me?"
"That's right!" Shiliew laughed heartily. "I believe we'll become good partners..."
Ian's expression was extremely strange at this moment. He really hadn't expected Shiliew to pull such a move, wanting to defect to him to escape Impel Down.
Ian now wanted to ask him: Are you stupid? Shouldn't you be joining a villain like Blackbeard Teach?
Looking at Magellan, who was sweating profusely while clutching his wound, Ian finally understood why Shiliew had suddenly stabbed Magellan like that. This guy was basically offering a "pledge of allegiance" right in front of him...
Thinking it over carefully, Ian seemed to guess a bit of Shiliew's reasoning.
Shiliew of the Rain had always taken pleasure in killing. When he first joined Impel Down and became the Head Jailer, it might not have been out of loyalty to the World Government and the Marines, but purely to be able to torture prisoners without being punished. Unfortunately, Magellan had a conflict of ideals with him, found his behavior repulsive, and arrested him.
This made Shiliew realize that staying in Impel Down was pointless. Magellan could catch him once, and he could catch him a second or third time. Finding his hobbies and freedom restricted, Shiliew began to think about leaving Impel Down.
Originally, without Ian, Shiliew would have become Teach's companion when Blackbeard Teach arrived at Impel Down and escaped with him. But now the situation had completely changed. Ian was here, showing immense strength, and even Magellan, the Warden, couldn't handle him.
This made Shiliew set his sights on Ian.
Following a strong man would make killing even more satisfying and unrestrained, right?
Such thinking was normal for Shiliew, but he forgot one thing: he didn't know Ian's character at all!
Shiliew only saw Ian leading people to break into Impel Down to free prisoners, completely disregarding the World Government and the Marines, and so he arrogantly assumed that Ian was also a ruthless pirate who did all kinds of evil.
It wasn't his fault for thinking that way. Back when they held the title of Seven Warlords, weren't they all infamous pirates? They were just eventually co-opted by the World Government and the Marines...
Plus, being locked up on the sixth floor for so long, Shiliew had no access to outside information, so he had no idea how Ian had earned his title as a Warlord.
Ian was different from other pirates. His infamy didn't come from randomly killing innocent civilians, but from killing Celestial Dragons and confronting Marine Admirals. Even though he was now at odds with the Marines, even Sengoku had to admit that among the Seven Warlords, Ian had a good reputation!
If it weren't for that, do you think Ian would have friends in the Marines? People like Garp, Tina, and Smoker—if Ian were truly evil, would they treat him so calmly?
In other words, Shiliew of the Rain trying to join Ian was completely barking up the wrong tree!
So Ian's expression was strange because this was the first time a truly evil person had tried to latch onto him...
Was this making his fame bigger or worse?
Especially since, in the original timeline, Shiliew ended up as Teach's partner. This made Ian feel like he'd swallowed a fly... If he accepted this guy's defection, should he change his nickname to "Beardless"?
Ian could accept Enel, he could accept Trafalgar Law, because in Ian's view, these two could still be reformed—they weren't irredeemably evil. But Shiliew... Ian didn't know if this guy could be reformed at all.
And what made Ian most unacceptable was that Magellan had once been Shiliew's superior, his boss, yet Shiliew still stabbed him in the back without hesitation. Could such a person be trusted? Who knew if, at some point, he'd treat Ian, his "defection target," the same way?
So Ian quickly made up his mind, but he didn't refuse immediately. His eyes rolled, and he burst into loud laughter, clapping as he said, "Nice! Nice performance! But it doesn't seem like enough!"
"Oh?" Shiliew said in surprise. "What else do you want me to do?"
"Take me to the sixth level of the prison!" Ian said coldly and arrogantly. "Also, my people are poisoned. Since you were once Magellan's subordinate, you might know where the antidote is. Go get it for me!"
"..." Shiliew was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, wait for me."
With that, he turned and left, heading to Magellan's office, presumably where the antidote was.
Once Shiliew had left, Ian approached Magellan, frowning at the bleeding wound that went straight through him, and asked, "Is his sword that powerful?"
Ian had also cut three wounds on Magellan earlier, but from his observation, those wounds had quickly stopped bleeding. Magellan's body was remarkably resilient, but the wound Shiliew had caused was still bleeding profusely.
Ian didn't think it was just because the wound was deep, so he asked.
Magellan remained calm and snorted, "Shiliew's sword is the Second Generation Kitetsu, a cursed blade! Wounds caused by this cursed sword cannot heal and will bleed continuously, unless one has an incredibly strong self-healing ability. Otherwise, you can only wait to slowly bleed to death..."
As he spoke, Magellan struggled to get up, saying, "Even so, you and Shiliew won't be able to reach the sixth level! Guarding these prisoners is my duty as Warden. You'll have to step over my corpse if you want to go any further!"
With that, Magellan straightened up, his left hand still clutching the wound on his abdomen, and raised his right hand, roaring, "Venom Demon: Hell's Judgment!"
With his roar, the poison on Magellan's body expanded countless times, and a giant humanoid demon formed from poison appeared behind him!
Unlike the deep purple poison dragons before, this humanoid demon formed from poison was a bloody red color!
He was using his ultimate move, showing that Magellan was ready to fight to the death...