Chapter 535: Level Six
It took Ivankov quite a while to fully digest this news.
"Then... does that mean you came here because Dragon sent you?" Ivankov asked. "After all, right now only Dragon knows that I'm still alive..."
Back when Ivankov first arrived at the New Kama Land, he had managed to send a message to Dragon outside. Among the Revolutionary Army, only Dragon knew that Ivankov was still alive and recruiting members for the organization.
Now that Ian had become a member of the Revolutionary Army and suddenly appeared in Impel Down, Ivankov's thoughts immediately went in that direction.
"No, I came for Sea Knight Jinbe!" Ian shook his head. "The war between Whitebeard and the Marines is about to start. Jinbe will be a great help. But Ivankov, since the opportunity is here, come with me!"
"Alright, I was actually thinking the same thing!" Ivankov nodded. "I haven't seen Dragon in a long time. Maybe it's time to go out and see how things are."
Hearing Ian and Ivankov mention Dragon's name repeatedly, Luffy rubbed his nose irritably and asked, "Why do you guys keep talking about my old man? Where is he now?"
"Huh? Your old man?" Ivankov was startled when he heard Luffy interrupt.
Ian was also surprised, but then he remembered that Luffy had probably met Vice Admiral Garp at Water Seven and learned about his father from him. Ian slapped his forehead and introduced Luffy to Ivankov: "By the way, Ivankov, this is Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He's Sabo's sworn little brother and also Dragon's son!"
"Oh! So his old man is Dragon!"
Ivankov nodded in understanding, but then the realization hit him, and he jumped up: "Wait!!?? Dragon's son!?"
Pfft! Not just Ivankov, but Lightning and the other Revolutionary Army members, as well as the pirates and prisoners behind Ian, all sprayed out simultaneously!
"Th-the son of Revolutionary Dragon!?" Buggy stared at Luffy, almost dropping to his knees on the spot!
Damn it! That Straw Hat kid he almost beheaded back in Loguetown—his old man was actually the most dangerous criminal in history, Dragon!?
"C-captain..." Cabaji whispered tremblingly to Buggy, "Do you think we'll be hunted down by the Revolutionary Army in the future?"
"I-it shouldn't be that bad..." Buggy replied without much confidence. "What do you think? If we suck up to the Straw Hat kid now, would it help?"
Everyone was completely stunned, feeling that the shocking news they'd heard today surpassed everything they'd learned in decades combined.
Nami and the others were fine; they'd already been shocked at Water Seven. Zoro quietly tugged at Ian's sleeve and asked, "Is this Okama King also a Revolutionary Army officer?"
Ian nodded, leaving Zoro speechless. He felt that this whole situation was too chaotic—if news of this got out, the entire world would be shaken...
A group of pirates, plus a group of Revolutionary Army members, with a Warlord of the Sea involved, had sparked an unprecedented riot in Impel Down, freeing a large number of prisoners. No matter how you looked at it, this was way too big...
"It's too cold here. Let's head to Level Six first!" Lightning, the Revolutionary from the South Blue, pushed up his sunglasses and said to Ian.
"Alright!" Ian nodded. This Frozen Hell was indeed no place for catching up.
Level Six of the prison was not publicly known to the outside world. While ordinary civilians knew the name Impel Down, they only knew it had five levels. As the place for holding the most dangerous criminals, Level Six was kept secret by the World Government. But there were no impermeable walls in this world—inside Impel Down, Level Six was no secret; many prisoners knew about it.
However, knowing about it and knowing how to get there were two different things. Only Rain Shigure and Ivankov, as locals, understood the way.
Under Ivankov's lead, Ian and the others found a hidden underground passage buried in the snow of Level Five's Frozen Hell. Following this passage downward through a winding spiral staircase, they finally arrived at Level Six.
After seeing the unique environments of Levels One through Five, Ian had expected Level Six to be even harsher. But when he arrived, he found it surprisingly ordinary.
Exiting the spiral staircase, they were greeted by rows of cells that looked quite normal.
What Ian didn't know was that Level Six was almost entirely made of Seastone.
When prisoners entered Impel Down, they had to wear Seastone shackles. In Level Six, not only did prisoners face Seastone cuffs, but the bars of their cells were also Seastone, and even the bricks forming their cells contained Seastone components.
Almost all prisoners thrown into Level Six were Devil Fruit users. Every surface they touched would drain their strength, stripping them of their abilities to the maximum extent.
The guards here were all awakened Zoan Devil Fruit users—Minotaur, Zebra, Rhinoceros—fierce beasts with the authority to execute prisoners at any time. Any resistance would result in a beating. The entire Level Six was sealed off, and if things went wrong, the monitoring room could release poison gas at any moment to kill all the inmates.
Most importantly, being at the very bottom of the prison meant that even if prisoners escaped their cells, they still had to go through five levels to get out, giving the prison forces plenty of time to deal with them.
That was exactly the situation now. When Ian and the others arrived at Level Six, they found the guards' elevator blocked off, and even the spiral staircase they'd come down had been sealed behind them.
Needless to say, this was the work of the guards in the monitoring room. Although Magellan's fate was unknown, they hadn't given up on stopping Ian and his group.
Ian looked around and noticed there were no guards present. He was just wondering about this when a cloud of purple smoke drifted down from the staircase above.
"They're releasing poison gas!" Ivankov realized immediately.
After Ian and the others had rushed down, they'd attracted the attention of the prisoners here. As soon as the poisonous smoke appeared, a voice came from a nearby cell: "Hey hey! Who are you people? A bunch of idiots—don't drag us down with you!"
"Shut up, Level Six scum!" Ivankov shouted back at the cell.
"Not good, this seems to be sleeping gas!" A prisoner near the staircase caught a whiff of the gas and immediately felt dizzy, a strong drowsiness overwhelming him. He barely managed to warn everyone before collapsing.
Panic spread through the crowd. Ian kept a close eye on Rain Shigure, noticing him quietly moving toward the guards' elevator. Ian's voice turned cold: "Shigure, where do you think you're going?"
Rain Shigure stopped in his tracks, a sinister glint flashing beneath the brim of his hat.
Even in this chaos, Ian was still watching him. What did that mean? Shigure had a bad feeling about this.
After learning that Ian was a member of the Revolutionary Army, Shigure knew they weren't on the same side. But he'd still followed Ian to Level Six because, after stabbing Magellan, there was no turning back. The guards had seen his betrayal through the surveillance cameras, so he needed Ian's ship to escape.
Once they got out, he could find a way to slip away.
But the sleeping gas released by the guards made him realize that staying with this group wasn't safe yet.
Ian might not fear poison, but that didn't mean he was immune to sleeping gas. If everyone here got knocked out, they'd be caught in one fell swoop. Shigure didn't want to die with Ian, so he approached the elevator, hoping to find a way out. He remembered that after cutting down Hannyabal, he'd hidden the body near the elevator. Maybe Hannyabal had a gas mask or something...
But the moment he moved, Ian caught him.
Amid the chaos, Ian stared coldly at Shigure, his hand resting on his sword hilt.
Under Ian's gaze, Shigure took a couple of puffs from his cigar and finally raised his hands, signaling that he wouldn't act rashly.
He figured that his defection hadn't yet dispelled Ian's suspicions, which was why Ian was so vigilant. For now, it was better to go along with his orders and avoid any extra moves.
Sure enough, seeing his gesture, Ian snorted and released his grip on the sword.
The prisoners were now trying to save themselves. They secretly regretted not bringing gas masks—after seeing Magellan taken down by Ian, they'd thought the masks wouldn't be needed. But now they were facing sleeping gas again.
Fortunately, Ivankov reacted quickly: "Lightning, help!"
Lightning was a Snip-Snip Fruit user. At Ivankov's command, her hands transformed into two large scissors. She began cutting the ground, slicing through it as if it were cloth.
"Go!" With a flick of her hands, Lightning lifted the cut sections of floor and wrapped them tightly around the spiral staircase.
The sleeping gas stopped spreading, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The prisoners in Level Six watched from their cells, astonished.
Just then, everyone heard Ian shout at the top of his lungs: "Jinbe!!!"
In one of the cells, Sea Knight Jinbe, who had been chained to the wall with his head down, ignoring the commotion outside, looked up in shock at the sound of that voice.
"That voice is so familiar..." Jinbe's face showed disbelief. "Is that... Ian!?"
The next moment, Jinbe shouted back from his cell: "Brother Ian! I'm right here!!"