Chapter Eleven: Turmoil in the Advancing City—Is History Truly Immutable?

Hannibal and Aozora returned to the Frozen Hell, striding quickly toward the main gate.

“Open up! Hurry, open the door!” Hannibal shouted anxiously, gripping his broadsword tightly. It was clear he was genuinely panicked.

If anything happened to the prison, he would be tormented by guilt for the rest of his life.

He was a responsible naval officer.

Although he harbored ambitious desires for higher ranks, that did not diminish his resolve to raise his blade against pirates.

The gate swung open, and a guard hurried over, exclaiming in surprise, “Deputy Warden! Are you all right? Do you still need reinforcements?”

Hannibal demanded, “Did two people in winter coats just leave? One tall, one short, the short one with an especially large head.”

The guard replied, “Yes, they said the Deputy Warden needed assistance. I’ve already notified the other floors.”

Hannibal relaxed a little. Since their targets had been identified, capturing them would not be particularly difficult. He was about to get on the lift when the phone in the guard’s hand blared a warning.

Hannibal’s face instantly turned ashen. “How could this be? This is bad!”

“Go, alert everyone! Release all the Jailer Beasts! Capture the escaping pirates or execute them on the spot!”

“Yes, sir!”

The guard, realizing something was wrong, immediately used the den-den mushi to contact the broadcast room.

Hannibal boarded the elevator and ascended, leaving Aozora and the others behind, too furious to care. Rage clouded his judgment as he muttered over and over, “It’s over, it’s over.”

His mind was full of thoughts about being demoted. Just thinking of Ivankov and Lightning’s infuriating faces made him stomp the floor in anger.

Aozora and Izuna Mizuno boarded another elevator.

Listening to the chaos in the prison, Aozora couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: Could it be that history is truly unchangeable? All this meddling seems to have made things even more chaotic.

To be honest, Aozora had overestimated his own strength and underestimated Ivankov’s. From the North Sea all the way to the Grand Line, he had suffered hardly any setbacks.

His undefeated record had indeed made him somewhat arrogant.

“I was too careless,” he admitted. “In a moment, watch out for yourselves. Help capture pirates, but only if you can ensure your own safety.”

“Tanaka, take Izuna and the others to the second basement floor to assist with the capture.”

Izuna asked worriedly, “What about you? Aren’t you coming with us?”

Aozora replied, “I’ll help on the third and fourth basement floors. Don’t worry about me. Take care.”

Aozora patted Izuna and Tanaka on the shoulder, gave the other marines a firm look, then turned and stepped out of the elevator.

The third basement floor—Hunger Hell.

As soon as he got off the elevator, Aozora felt the ground trembling slightly.

A group of pirates was running ahead, chased by a pack of bizarre jailer beasts.

Blugori, a blue-skinned giant with a massive axe, renowned as the Grandmaster of Sea Combat.

Seven or eight Blugoris, each wielding twin axes, charged forward, hunched over. The moment they entered attack range, the Blugoris would swing their axes without hesitation.

These vicious pirates, though momentarily free, were shackled with seastone cuffs, severely limiting their fighting ability. All they could do was run for their lives from the Blugoris.

Those foolish enough to resist were instantly chopped into minced meat.

Soon, Aozora noticed a man moving slowly along the wall.

Aozora murmured, “Buggy the Clown… What’s he doing on the third floor?”

He looked around but didn’t spot Luffy. Could that kid have gone the wrong way?

He dashed toward Buggy, calling out loudly, “Hey! Buggy, where do you think you’re going?”

Buggy’s hair stood on end as he saw Aozora running toward him. He shouted, “Marines!!”

“I thought I could use the chaos to slip out! Damn it, this ruins my plan to sneak out…”

Before Buggy could finish, a Blugori appeared behind him. A flash of cold steel—and Buggy was instantly sliced in two.

“Ahh!”

Buggy screamed, but his bisected body quickly rejoined itself. “Idiot! I’ve got the Chop-Chop Fruit’s power—slashes don’t work on me! Ahahaha!”

Aozora asked, “What about a punch?”

He punched Buggy in the gut, making Buggy cough up clear water, though not enough to knock him unconscious.

Aozora followed with a barrage of punches. Buggy barely held them off with his hands, putting some distance between them and glaring at Aozora, chest heaving with sweat beading on his brow.

“Ugh…”

That punch had really hurt. Buggy clutched his stomach, spat out some water, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and then grinned. “Kid, I’m not playing with you anymore. I’m outta here!”

With that, he slid between Blugori’s legs and darted downward. It was far safer to lose himself in a crowd than run alone now.

Aozora vaulted over the railing and jumped down.

Several Blugori swung their axes, but Aozora dodged deftly. The Blugoris paused, scratched their heads in embarrassment, then resumed the chase.

Aozora let out a long breath. “Whew… that was close.”

He hurried after them.

The pirates on this floor were formidable, but not overwhelmingly so. Capturing them was relatively straightforward.

…

Luffy had made it to the second basement floor. As he stepped out of the elevator, he looked around, only to see a man running toward him in a panic.

“What kind of idiot stands around gawking at a time like this?” the man yelled.

Luffy tilted his head, staring at the man sprinting toward him. “He looks familiar… Who is he? Can’t remember.”

As the man got closer, he was surprised to see Luffy’s face. “Straw Hat! When did you get captured?”

Luffy replied, “Me? I wasn’t captured. I came here myself.”

Mr. 3 retorted, “Do you think I’m an idiot? What kind of fool pirate would walk into prison on purpose?! Never mind, hurry, let’s get to the elevator!”

He dragged Luffy onto the elevator.

Luffy asked, “Which floor is this?”

Mr. 3, panting, replied, “Second basement floor.”

“I need to get to the sixth basement!” Luffy said, reaching for the controls.

Mr. 3 nearly fainted with shock and quickly stopped him. “The sixth basement? What are you going there for?”

Luffy pushed Mr. 3 aside and shouted, “I have to save my brother Ace, who’s being held on the sixth floor!”

The elevator began descending.

When they reached the third basement, a sudden jolt made the elevator come to a halt.

Luffy pounded on the panel. “Hey! Why isn’t it moving?”

Mr. 3 adjusted his broken glasses and said, “Stop banging! The marines must have shut it down.”

Luffy demanded, “So what now? I still need to get to the sixth basement!”