Level 6, Infinite Hell

Luffy, Ivankov and Inazuma burst into Level 6, Infinite Hell, smashing through guards while Luffy shouts, "Move it, move it, move it!!!" and Ivankov yells, "Don't get in my way!!!" The monitor room reports that the traps did not work and the guards have been obliterated. A guard identifies the intruders as Strawhat Luffy, Okama King Ivankov and Inazuma the revolutionary, and announces that they have entered Level 6. Luffy runs through the prison shouting, "Ace!! Where are you!?" and then cries, "Ace!!! We came to save you!!!"

Luffy reaches the cell and calls, "Ace...!!!" but the chains are empty. He pants, "Haa... Haa..." and realizes, "He's not here!!!" Ivankov insists there is no mistake and that this is the cell, but Luffy sees they were one step too late. From another cell, Jimbei reacts in shock, realizing that a straw-hat man really came, infiltrated the impregnable Impel Down and actually made it to Level 6. The huge barred cell door and the empty restraints make the failure brutal: Ace was there, but Luffy arrived after the transfer had already begun.

The Level 6 prisoners confirm Luffy's identity and shout after him. One asks, "Are you Strawhat Luffy!?" and another urges him, "If you hurry, you can still make it!! Go!!!" Luffy is told that Ace was taken up the lift only a moment ago. He barely stops to answer, saying, "Got it!! Thanks!! I don't really know who you are, though!!" The lift gate is open, but the wheel is locked and the lift will not move. Ivankov says they cannot use it, but if they climb up, they might still make it somehow. The page turns the rescue from a search into a vertical chase.

As the group tries to follow the lift shaft, a trap slams down with a massive crash and someone yells, "Look out!!!" Ivankov concludes, "Of course... They won't let us get up that easily!! We can't use the lift! Our hands are tied!!" Luffy says they will take the stairs they used to get down, but another huge barrier closes in the hallway. The sound of the gates and bars locking off the route makes it clear that the prison is sealing the floor around them. They are no longer just racing Ace; they are being deliberately boxed into Infinite Hell.

The group finds the stairs blocked too. Someone yells, "Hey, they closed off the stairs!!!" Ivankov says the guards are trying to lock them in by closing the only two exits and that they need to break through the bars to get out. Then gas begins pouring into the floor with "moku moku" sounds. Inazuma sniffs and asks if it is poison gas, while the prisoners shout from their cells, "Hey, hey!! I don't know who you are, but don't bring your problems down on us!!!" Another voice screams, "Shut up!! Level 6!!!" The panic spreads from the escape team to the entire sealed prison floor.

Luffy refuses to slow down, shouting, "I don't care if it's poison or whatever!!!" and charging forward while Ivankov warns there is a limit to how reckless he can be. Inazuma identifies the gas as sleeping gas, and Ivankov says they will be put to sleep with the rest of the prisoners on this floor if they remain trapped. The monitor room confirms that Level 6 has been completely sealed off and that the powerful sleeping gas leaves nowhere for them to escape. Meanwhile, at the first floor in front of the lift, Ace is still being escorted upward, bound and held in the giant hand of a guard as the transfer continues.

Jimbei calls out, "Luffy!!!" and tells him that resistance is futile: as Luffy already heard, Ace is a pirate too and there is no way out for him either. Ace, restrained above, clenches his teeth and says, "I hoped that it wasn't true...!!! Why did you come here, Luffy!?" A guard asks how Strawhat survived. Luffy coughs in the filling gas and someone yells for him to do something because the floor is filling with gas. The page ties Ace's regret and Luffy's danger together: Ace never wanted his brother to come, but Luffy is already trapped in the deepest floor because of him.

Inazuma reveals his ability. Guards stare in disbelief and ask what it was, saying he cut the floor like it was cloth. With snipping sounds of "choki" and "gachin," Inazuma slices and folds the ground into a massive sheet-like barrier, then raises it to shut the sleeping gas away. Prisoners marvel that he used the ground he cut up to shut the gas away. Ivankov explains that Inazuma ate the Choki Choki Fruit and became a scissors man who can manipulate the things he cuts like paper. The immediate disaster is contained, but only because Inazuma reshapes the prison itself.

Luffy wants to go up immediately, calling Inazuma "crab man," but Ivankov asks how they will go after Ace if the stairs have been shut off. Inazuma explains that there was no other way to stop the gas: if they fell unconscious, they would not be rescuing anyone, and Ace would be executed. Ivankov tells Luffy not to be rash. Their plan was simple, but it worked too well against them, and now they are stuck on Level 6 with no way out. Iva says the least they can do is stop the flow of information. Then he points to the Vivre Card: it is not pointing down anymore, but straight up, meaning Ace is being taken smoothly to the surface by lift.

Luffy looks upward as Ivankov says Ace is probably being transferred to the Marines right about now. The scene shows Ace being delivered at the front entrance to a line of Marine forces. Ivankov tells Luffy that Ace Boy is already in the Marines' custody and that Luffy should give it up, or rather leave it to Whitebeard. Iva respects Luffy's feelings and will help him escape Impel Down unharmed if possible, but Luffy rejects that path. With his battered face set in determination, he declares, "I'll go to the Marine Headquarters!!!" The rescue goal moves beyond Impel Down to Marineford itself.

Ivankov warns Luffy not to be a fool, saying this will be a war between the strongest powers in the world. He asks whether Luffy truly understands how strong Whitebeard is, how strong the Marine admirals and vice admirals are, and how many lives will be involved. Luffy answers that if he gives up now, he will regret it forever: "I'm going!!" Iva mutters that arguing with Luffy feels like arguing with Dragon again. A prisoner then interrupts, offering a way out if Luffy releases him. He says he can open a hole in the ceiling and laughs, "What do you say, Strawhat...? Kuhahaha..." Luffy recognizes him immediately: "You...!!! So this is where you were!!!"

Crocodile reveals himself from his cell. Luffy shouts, "Crocodile!!!" The former Warlord says he did not think there was anything interesting outside, but a war between Whitebeard and the Marines changes that. He never imagined a chance to take the old man's head would come. Crocodile says he is interested in the war and that with his powers he can get all of them out of here, which means both sides can get what they want. A title box identifies him as former Royal Shichibukai, former president of Baroque Works, Mr. 0, and pirate Sir Crocodile. Luffy angrily reminds him not to mess with him after what he did to Vivi's country, but Crocodile calls that ancient history.

Ivankov tells Luffy to release Crocodile because he will be a great help, especially if Luffy is going to Marine Headquarters. Luffy objects, but Iva says Crocodile and he know each other. Crocodile greets him, "It's been a while, Croc Boy..." and Ivankov replies with his name. Iva says he knows one of Crocodile's weaknesses, so if Crocodile betrays them, he can take him out. Crocodile grudgingly accepts and says if he cooperates, Ivankov will not say anything about it. Other prisoners immediately start yelling to be released too, claiming grudges against Whitebeard, but Ivankov silences one with "Death Wink" before the situation gets out of control.

A new voice pleads from another cell: "I'm begging you!!! Take me as well!!! I will definitely be of use!!!" Luffy looks confused, while Ivankov listens. The prisoner explains that he knows Ace because Ace told him plenty about his little brother after joining the Whitebeard Pirates. He says he is imprisoned because he opposed this war and wants to save Ace too, begging for a good place to die. The plea is not greed or revenge like the other Level 6 prisoners; it is loyalty to Ace and opposition to the execution. This sets him apart from the chaos of everyone else demanding freedom.

Ivankov recognizes the scale of the request, saying, "Ooh- Here's another big name...!!!" Luffy is unsure and asks whether they are sure, because they do not know anything about how dangerous this prisoner is or what he is like. Ivankov answers, "Very well," and says it is fine to let him out. The prisoner declares, "I am forever in your debt!!!" More inmates beg to be freed as well, shouting that they are in Ivankov's debt too, but Iva again uses "Death Wink!!!" to silence them and keep the escape group from being swallowed by the demands of every monster in Level 6.

The new alliance forms in front of the sealed Level 6 cells. Ivankov says, "Well then, we're short on time...!!! We'll force our way out of this prison!!!" He warns Crocodile that he will not let him lay a hand on Whitebeard. Crocodile calmly suggests settling that later. The page reveals that they now have two former Shichibukai with them, prompting someone to ask who the other one is. Luffy stands between the freed giants of the coming conflict as the escape group prepares to punch upward through Impel Down with Crocodile, Jimbei, Ivankov, Inazuma and the surrounding prisoners all watching.

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