Free Web NovelChapter 280: 280 One Piece 44
Ace didn’t answer Teach. He simply took his fighting stance again. That meant he had said everything he needed to say.
"Ace, stop!!! Not now! Hold back! Think of the Whitebeard Pirates first! Don’t waste time or energy here!"
Jinbe quickly stepped in front of Ace.
"Old man, there’s a war going on right now. If you fight here, you won’t be able to help anyone."
"Damn it!"
Ace realized a fight with Blackbeard would drag on and reluctantly listened to Jinbe. Even Ace, as reckless as he was, couldn’t ignore the fact that the Whitebeard Pirates were in the middle of a war.
Just then, murmuring came from behind us.
"This is bad! I heard Magellan is coming?"
"That can’t be — I heard he was defeated by the guy who shoots fire."
"If it’s true, we’re in trouble!"
"The guards are talking about it on radio, so it must be real."
Magellan — despite his injuries — seemed to be coming to stop the mass breakout.
Teach smirked. "This is it, then. See you all next time!"
"If there is a next time, you’d better be prepared."
"Whoa~ Commander, that’s harsh."
Ace glared at Teach with sharp eyes. Teach spoke as if frightened, but a mocking smile never left his face.
With that, we entered Level 2 and quickly freed the prisoners. Whether because the Blackbeard Pirates had entered and taken out the guards, there was no one else blocking us. And Teach and his crew seemed to have already gone downstairs.
We freed the prisoners on Level 2 without any interference and headed to Level 1. Level 1 also had no guards, so we quickly freed the prisoners and went to the harbor.
"There’s not a single battleship!"
"I don’t see any Marines either!"
"So we just have to wait here for Magellan to come?!"
"Damn it, we made it all the way here..."
The prisoners were despairing at the empty harbor.
"Move aside."
I stepped forward, took a merchant ship from my inventory, and launched it into the harbor. The people were amazed.
"What is this..."
"Where did this huge ship suddenly come from?"
Even Crocodile, who had come with us, was similarly surprised.
"The [Space-Space Fruit]’s ability is truly impressive. To think you carry a ship this large."
"Stop admiring it and get on!"
There were so many escapees that I was worried whether everyone would fit, but since the merchant ship was built for trading goods, if we used the empty cargo areas and the deck, it seemed like we could carry them all.
While loading everyone like that, a loud shout came from Impel Down.
"You will never escape from here!!!"
I looked in that direction. Warden Magellan, his entire body wrapped in bandages, was seen running toward the harbor. That bastard Magellan, despite having suffered severe burns and being in considerable pain, seemed to have chased us all the way here to stop the prison break.
"Waaah, it’s Magellan!!!"
"Eeek, help!!!"
"Don’t push!!!"
At that sight, the people were terrified and hurriedly boarding the merchant ship, but they were still a bit short on time to get everyone aboard.
Then suddenly, Galdino, with a determined expression, jumped off the merchant ship, ran to the entrance between the harbor and Impel Down, and began creating a massive wall of wax.
"Candle Wall!!!!"
SHWAAAA—!!!
I wondered what had gotten into this guy. It seemed like it was the timing for his laundry rinse cycle, just like in the original.
"I’ll buy you time — hurry and load everyone!!! I’m tired of always being in debt!!!"
"Mr. 3!!!"
Galdino poured out wax continuously, building a thick wall to block the entrance. But Magellan relentlessly attacked, trying to break through the wall. The impact caused loud echoes to reverberate from beyond the wall, shaking the surrounding area greatly.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
"Grr, damn it!!! I can’t hold out much longer!!!"
While Galdino was blocking them like that, the escapees, feeling the urgency, began boarding the merchant ship like crazy. There were even people who got pushed and fell into the water, but fortunately, Jinbe quickly went into the sea, rescued the fallen people, and threw them onto the merchant ship’s deck.
When everyone was finally aboard, I said to Luffy.
"That’s it! Everyone’s on! Luffy!! Rescue Galdino!"
"Got it!"
At those words, Luffy stretched his arm, grabbed Galdino’s shoulder, and quickly pulled him toward the merchant ship. Galdino, not expecting this, screamed as he flew onto the merchant ship.
"Waaah~!!!"
Once Galdino was also aboard, I immediately took out [Triton’s Sword], obtained from the ’Pirates of the Caribbean’ worldview, and took control of the ship. To move the merchant ship, I would normally need people’s help, but with [Triton’s Sword], I could sail it all by myself.
WAAAAH!!!!
"Hooray!!! We escaped!!!"
"I never thought I’d get out of this hell!!!" ƒreewebɳovel.com
"This is a miracle!!!"
As the merchant ship finally sailed out to sea, the escaped prisoners cheered and lifted Galdino up in celebration, enjoying their joy.
"You’re our hero!!!"
"You did great!!!"
Galdino had seemed prepared to stay behind and sacrifice himself, but in the end, he was rescued and even celebrated, so he was moved to tears and couldn’t hide his joy. Meanwhile, back at Impel Down, Magellan was seen pounding the ground in rage.
But it seemed the escape wasn’t over yet. Navy ships began to appear on the sea before Impel Down. The prisoners, seeing that, shouted.
"Gasp! The Navy!!!"
"And I thought we’d escaped..."
Ignoring the prisoners, Ace, Luffy, and Ivankov and Crocodile’s group prepared to fight. But I gestured to stop them and told them to calm down.
"Everyone, calm down. This ship can fly."
I immediately used [Triton’s Sword] to switch the merchant ship to flight mode. Then, a large leather balloon unfolded above the ship, and when I operated the dials, it filled with Island Clouds, and the merchant ship began to slowly rise into the air.
"Gasp! No way — the ship is rising!"
"Impossible!"
The people, overcome with surprise, looked around and murmured.
The Navy, also witnessing the ship rising into the air, hurriedly fired cannonballs. But the merchant ship was already out of range, just leisurely rising above the sea, and the cannonballs only sliced through the air and struck the empty sea. ƒrēewebnovel.com
"The Merchant’s Island is truly amazing. To think they can make something like this. So how long until Navy Headquarters?"
Ace, impressed as the ship rose, asked me.
"I don’t know, if we go fast, maybe about 4 hours?"
Then a prisoner who had heard Ace’s words shouted, extremely flustered.
"What are you talking about! You said we’re going to Navy Headquarters!!! This is the first we’re hearing of this!!!"
Then the prisoners who heard that, as if in a chain reaction, were extremely surprised and began demanding answers from us.
"No way, is that true???"
"This is insane!! I’d rather go back to Impel Down!!"
"Navy Headquarters!!!"
Since the prisoners hadn’t heard any explanation, it was natural for them to be in confusion. But I had already seen the original, so I knew this situation would come. So I tapped Buggy’s back and spoke.
"Buggy, handle it. They’re noisy."
Buggy panicked.
"Me? How..."
"You know what you’re good at — inciting them."
"B-but how do I incite people into going to Navy Headquarters..."
Buggy trailed off, then looked serious, thought about various things, and asked me.
"Then, may I borrow the Merchant King’s reputation a little..."
"Do whatever you want."
With my permission, Buggy shouted to the prisoners who had been demanding answers.
"Listen up, you guys!! We’re not recklessly heading to Navy Headquarters!!! We’re going to make history!!! We have one of the Five Emperors — the Merchant King — with us! And two former Warlords as well!"
Then the prisoners stopped demanding answers and began murmuring.
"What? Emperor Taejin is here?"
"No way — is he lying?"
"If an Emperor is here, why hasn’t he shown himself?"
Then Buggy came over to me and quietly asked for help.
"Um... I’m sorry, but could you give me a little help..."
"Alright."
I stylishly threw off the robe I had been wearing and spoke.
"I am the Merchant King, one of the Five Emperors."
"Gasp! The real Merchant King."
"No way!!"
"One of the Five Emperors is with us!!"
"There’s talk that the Merchant King defeated both a Navy Admiral and Magellan, you know."
"That’s right, I heard that too. They say he’s a new monster on the Grand Line."
When I showed myself, the prisoners were extremely surprised, and the murmuring grew even louder. So I put my arm around Buggy’s shoulder and said to the prisoners.
"Don’t be too surprised, you guys. The Buggy you’ve been following — he’s not only a former crew member of the Pirate King, but also like a brother to Red‑Haired Shanks, one of the other Emperors."
When I said that, Buggy, sweating coldly, quietly whispered to me, flustered.
"Um... that’s not wrong, but if that kind of fact gets out, I’ll be marked by the Government in the future, you know..."
But unlike the flustered Buggy, the prisoners suddenly began cheering.
Wah!!! Wah!!!
"Wow~ Captain Buggy, you’re amazing!!!"
"You were a member of the Pirate King’s crew???!!!"
"And like a brother to Red‑Haired Shanks???!!!"
"Our savior really was an incredible pirate!!"
Just then, Luffy, as if he had thought of something, drove the final nail in for Buggy.
"Ah! Come to think of it, that vice captain old man said something like that too!"
"Vice captain?!"
"An old man named Rayleigh — you know him, don’t you?"
"Wh-what??? You! You met Mr. Rayleigh? Is he doing well?? Ah... I miss Vice Captain Rayleigh."
At that conversation, the nearby prisoners were surprised once again.
"Rayleigh is the Dark King!"
"That’s an incredible name you’ve brought up! I can’t follow this conversation at all!"
The prisoners cheered again and swarmed around Buggy. Buggy couldn’t hide his momentary fluster at the sudden reaction.
"Captain Buggy, you really are a terrifying figure!!!"
"No, no, wait!! Well, it is true, but..."
"Incredible! To think you were a member of that legendary crew!!!"
"W-well, if such a grandiose title gets attached, my pirate career will..."
Then I smiled, grabbed Buggy’s shoulder, and said to him.
"Enjoy it, Captain Buggy."
At those words, the prisoners around him were ecstatic.
"The Merchant King acknowledges Captain Buggy too!!!"
Wah!! Wah!! Buggy!! Buggy!! Buggy!!
At the prisoners’ cheers, Buggy’s expression changed moment by moment. He had been calculating various things in his head, but then he suddenly struck a magnificent pose and shouted.
"You guys!! If you are men, will you not dream with me? An opportunity like this will never come again in your life! Today, I go to Navy Headquarters to make history!"
Perhaps Buggy was swept up by the atmosphere, and with me giving him a slight push from the side, in the end, he seemed to have decided to go along with this flow.
WAAAAAAH!!!
"Sniff! Captain Buggy!!!"
"I’ll follow you!! I don’t need a peaceful life!!!"
"We’ve been in hell so long we lost what was precious — the jewel of our hearts called dreams!!!"
At Buggy’s words, the prisoners were completely excited. Whether they were genuinely moved or just caught up in the atmosphere, there were even guys who were tearing up.
But the people from Newkama Land, Crocodile, Ace, and Jinbe were incredulous at the sight. Still, at least Luffy took it positively.
"I’m glad — it seems they’ve calmed down."
"Ye-yeah..."
"Maybe this is a kind of talent too."
Anyway, I began distributing food to those on the merchant ship to fill their stomachs. Probably, about a third of them wouldn’t return alive from the Paramount War. For some, this meal might be their last supper.
After they ate their fill like that, while everyone was resting, the merchant ship flew through the Gates of Justice, heading for Navy Headquarters.
"We’re almost there. Everyone, get ready."
At my words, everyone stood up, either stretching or looking ahead at Navy Headquarters, each beginning to steel their resolve.
