Impel Down?
Blackbeard, who had been standing quietly to one side, immediately brightened at the mention of it. He hurriedly spoke up.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I’d also like to accompany Admiral Lucas to Impel Down and take a look."
"You’re going too?" Sengoku asked, somewhat surprised.
Everyone present was stunned as well.
They had complete confidence in Impel Down, which was known as an impregnable fortress.
And with Lucas personally leading the operation, Sengoku certainly didn’t believe Blackbeard was planning to give Lucas another excuse to cut him down.
Moreover, seeing the bandages wrapped all over Blackbeard’s body, Sengoku couldn’t help feeling a trace of sympathy. A member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea reduced to such a miserable state was indeed rather pitiful.
After letting out a faint sigh, Sengoku said, "Very well. Since you’re a newly appointed member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, I’ll allow you to accompany Admiral Lucas this time. But don’t cause any trouble. If something happens, I won’t be responsible for the consequences."
Blackbeard’s spirits immediately soared, and his face filled with delight.
"Thank you, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. With Admiral Lucas by my side, I wouldn’t dare cause trouble even if I had ten lives to spare. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go make preparations first."
Watching Blackbeard turn and leave, Lucas naturally knew exactly why he wanted to go to Impel Down.
However, Lucas’s principle was simple: Take someone’s money and eliminate their troubles.
If Blackbeard really managed to release someone from Impel Down, Lucas would actually have to thank him for giving him another opportunity to increase his bonus.
What surprised Lucas was that Garp, who had originally been standing nearby, also whispered a few words to Sengoku and was subsequently approved to accompany them.
Lucas wasn’t surprised by this.
Sengoku and Garp had been old comrades who had fought side by side for decades. If they didn’t even have this much trust between them, Garp probably would have retired behind the scenes long ago.
As various medical treatments got underway, the injured Ace and Jack the Drought also received treatment.
As core figures in the current situation, Fleet Admiral Sengoku obviously couldn’t allow either of them to die so easily.
By the time Lucas led everyone back aboard the warship, more than half a day had already passed.
Judging by the time, Lucas realized that if he wasn’t careful, this next mission might once again require him to work overtime.
"Little Lucas, thank you this time."
On the deck, Garp stood beside Lucas and let out a faint sigh.
"Whether it was going alone to Whitebeard’s ship or forcibly bringing Jack the Drought back this time, you’ve already done more than enough."
"As for Ace ending up in this state... perhaps it was simply his fate."
"If you wanted to repay the favor you owed me, you’ve already done enough. You don’t need to do so much in the future."
Looking at the exhausted Garp, Lucas had already guessed that he had privately met with Ace.
As for what Garp and Ace had said to each other, Lucas didn’t particularly care.
At least, in the original story, Ace never resented Garp—even at the moment of his death.
That alone was already something.
"Old Man Garp, what are you talking about?" Lucas said with a smile.
"Take someone’s money and eliminate their troubles. That’s my motto. I haven’t done anything at all."
He took a swig of strong liquor before tossing the gourd over.
"If one day Old Man Sengoku offered me more money to kill you, I wouldn’t hesitate either. I’m serious."
"Really?" Garp caught the liquor gourd and burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! It’s good enough that you can say something like that, you brat."
"Originally, in order to repay my promise to Sengoku, I thought that among those three brats, at least one of them would join the Marines and break the deadlock surrounding ’Justice.’ I never expected that, in the end, you would be the one to take that path."
"Although your version of Justice reeks of money, this old man can still sense a trace of human warmth in it."
"After all, the law should not be entirely devoid of human compassion."
His deep voice gradually faded into the sea breeze.
Lucas didn’t continue the conversation.
Ahead, the Gates of Justice, which served as the gateway to Impel Down, were gradually coming into view.
Behind him, the Marines had already begun making rapid preparations.
With a loud grinding sound, the enormous Gates of Justice, spanning dozens of meters, slowly began to open.
Dozens of warships had gathered at the harbor entrance, their decks already filled with stationed Marines.
Not far away stood the warden and deputy warden responsible for guarding Impel Down.
An inexplicably cold and oppressive aura seemed to rush toward them from the entrance of the great prison.
Smoker, Tashigi, and the others standing behind Lucas—even Blackbeard—immediately became tense.
This time, Blackbeard had come alone simply to scout the place.
Looking at the great prison surrounding them like an impregnable fortress, Blackbeard instantly felt that coming here had been an extremely wise decision.
"Welcome, Admiral Lucas. It’s an honor to have you here."
The moment Lucas and the others stepped onto the pier, a man wielding a trident and dressed like an ancient pharaoh hurried over.
He gave an awkward laugh.
"I’m the warden... well, the deputy warden. You can just call me Hannyabal."
"I never expected the newly appointed Admiral to be so young, yet already capable of defeating one of the Four Emperors’ strongest forces—Jack the Drought, one of Kaido of the Beasts’ most powerful subordinates—and personally delivering him to Impel Down. Truly, you’re a remarkable young man."
Before he could finish speaking, Magellan, who had been standing behind him, grabbed Hannyabal and shoved him aside.
He strode forward, his expression dark as he swept his eyes across everyone present.
"Admiral Lucas, I’m Magellan, the Warden of Impel Down. Thank you for your hard work this time."
"However, for the sake of security, we still need you to personally escort the prisoner."
"Although I don’t particularly enjoy listening to Hannyabal’s nonsense, he was correct about one thing. Admiral Lucas, you truly are an exceptionally talented young man. You’ve exceeded our expectations."
Lucas was slightly surprised.
Magellan was delivering his words of praise with a completely serious expression, but his tone was incredibly stiff.
Still, there was nothing wrong with what he had said.
In the original story, Magellan was a powerhouse capable of nearly wiping out the entire Blackbeard Pirates with a single Hydra.
If only the aftereffects of his Devil Fruit weren’t so troublesome, forcing him to spend his days constantly running to the bathroom...
With such overwhelmingly destructive Devil Fruit abilities, it was certainly enough to make anyone envious.
Lucas lowered his head and glanced at the time.
"Since there are still thirty minutes before I get off work, I might as well make the trip."
Get off work?
Magellan and the others turned their heads toward the clock on the wall.
It was only 4:30.
Their expressions froze.
This was the first time they had ever heard anyone talk about the concept of "getting off work."
However, during this period, they had already heard quite a bit about the working style of the Marines’ newly appointed Admiral.
So they hurriedly turned around and began leading the way.
Because they knew one thing very clearly:
This newly appointed Marine Admiral really did get off work on time.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an opportunity to upgrade your treasure chests. With only 100 million System Currency, you can upgrade the Gold Treasure Chest to the Platinum tier."
"Once the treasure chest reaches the Platinum tier, it will have a chance to yield rare rewards of Diamond tier."
The ethereal system notification suddenly rang out.
Lucas’s eyebrows rose slightly.
He had completely not expected to obtain the qualification to upgrade to Platinum so quickly.
Could it be because his little private treasury had recently gotten so much bigger?
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