"Heh heh heh..."

  The fifth level, Freezing Hell.

  In the midst of the icy wastend, snowstorms raged, with fierce winds tearing through the air.

  "Squawk!" "Squawk!"

  Two enormous, jet-bck pterosaurs let out thunderous screeches, fpping their massive wings and creating powerful gusts.

  "Whuuuum—!" The force was like a storm, blowing snow in every dire and scattering it far and wide.

  Even wolves in the distance were lifted like leaves, thrown off bance by the violent wind.

  Moments ter, the two immense shadows shot up, wings slig through the air.

  "Heh, that’s... a bit extreme, isn’t it?"

  At the entrao Level 5.5, Moss, Uthan, Barry, Ryan, and others couldn’t help but widen their eyes, caught off guard.

  Despite their distahe sheer force of the winds was almost enough to topple them.

  Gales whipped at their faces, f them to shield their eyes.

  "It seems like things are going well," Gerd observed with a satisfied grin, hands on her hips.

  Fiants gifted with A Zoan powers, such a dispy was to be expected. Otherwise, it would’ve been a waste of two such exceptional abilities.

  After all, flight-based powers were rare enough, let alone A Zoans—like the Pteranodon and Quetzalcoatlus Pterosaur, which offered unparalleled speed.

  "Boom... boom..." In no time, the two massive pterosaurs’ size and speed became an issue.

  Despite the spacious area, it was still too narrow for their giant forms.

  Before they could adjust, they crashed headfirst into the thick ice walls, each impact resonating through the entire prison.

  "Rumble—"

  The entire Impel Down prison trembled from the force.

  The sudden quake left guards and prisoners alike shaken. In the Bzing Hell on Level 4, Warden “Blood Prison” Ia it too, as reports quickly came in from his subordinates.

  “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing strange on the surveilnce, and there’s been no brea any levels, including the Eternal Hell. That means everything’s fine…”

  “Blood Prison” Ian sat back, arms crossed, his voice dripping with fidence. “Besides, as long as I’m here, this prison isn’t going anywhere!”

  “Enough jumping at shadows—you lot are too spineless!”

  “Yes, Warden.”

  Relieved, the guards and staff members sighed, wiping sweat from their brows as they relutly left.

  Meanwhile—

  In the Freezing Hell, the two giant brad Jace, reverted to human form.

  “This won’t do, Boss El… It’s way too cramped in here! We barely started, and we’ve already crashed into walls!”

  Heavy footsteps shook the ground as they approached El, grumbling all the while.

  “It's expected,” Gryffin Moss, himself an A Zoan user with flight abilities, chuckled. “It takes time to master any new power. You’ll get the hang of it with some practice outside.”

  Indeed, for beings of their size, the space here was restrictive, especially with their new winged forms. The A Zoan powers had grahem extreme speed, but the fined space left them no room to maneuver.

  “So, Boss El, when do we get out of here?”

  Dropping down heavily to the ground, Gace stirred up snow and asked impatiently.

  “Yeah, I’d rather not stick around here,” Jace added, scratg his head.

  “o rush. We’ll first sift through the remaining prisoners, repce a few muards, and secure the entrao Impel Down from the top floor,” El replied with a smirk. “Besides, we’re still waiting for the deputy warden to return from his break. His power and soul make him an excellent target. The rumors say he’s as strong as Blood Prison Ian, his predecessor, and the o in line for warden. We ’t miss that.”

  It wouldn’t do for the entire crew to be made up of Homies; they’d be too vulnerable to certain types of powers. And El inteo carefully handpick a few additional recruits from the remaining prisoners—no more than a few hundred.

  They wouldn’t be searg for virtuous “good people” with spotless records, but he was clear that he didn’t want ruthless killers who’d go wild on Totto Land’s future streets, causing trouble.

  After all, once his kingdom was established, he’d need disciplined warriors, not untamed brutes. Any offenders would only be a liability, f him to waste resources ter.

  Naturally, they’d still o be of a certain caliber; the weak, the old, and the infirm had no p his pns. He was only looking for the true elite.

  …

  In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.

  Within Impel Down, everything seemed calm and undisturbed.

  Sihe guards responsible for delivering meals to the fifth level, the Freezing Hell, and the sixth level, the Eternal Hell, had been repced by "Warden" Sally, none of the prison staff noticed anything unusual.

  Although some thought it was strahat there hadn’t been any of the usual guard dog interrogations or beatings of the prisoners iernal Hell, none dared question Warden Blood Prison Ian’s authority, which had been built over decades of service.

  Unbeknownst to them, "ghost" is became frequent, and prisoners across all levels were mysteriously disappearing in increasing numbers. A few guards patrolling the prison noticed something unusual, but all reports were swiftly suppressed.

  A signifit number of prison staff were called away for "iions" and were quietly repced, including even high-ranking officials like the assistant warden and head guard. Sally, posing as the warden, lured them to a soundproof interrogation room, where they were repced one by oh newly recruited members from among the prisoners. These repts were then stationed on the ground floor to guard key locations, giving the Fallen Angel Pirates plete trol over Impel Down.

  From the fourth level, the Bzing Hell, to the third level, the Starvation Hell, to the sed level, the Wild Beast Hell, and finally to the first level, the Crimson Hell…

  Gerd, the giantess, had turned into a relentless soul harvester. In just five days, she had cimed tens of thousands of souls from the lower levels of the prison, including the majority of the guards and the failed awakened prisos.

  Moreover, the Crimson Hell’s sharp Bded Trees and Needle Grass were all infused with souls by Gerd, transf them into living Homies.

  Impel Down was slowly being dismantled and turned i.

  …

  Thousands of angeliie troops now filled Impel Down.

  Over the past days, through Barry’s Mirror-Mirror Fruit ability, a few resource isnds had been located. With this discovery, Ryan devoured vast amounts of minerals, creating over ten thousand additional angelic robots.

  Gerd then infused each with souls, transf them into Homies—a staggering force.

  Early one m…

  Outside Impel Down, on the calm, windless sea, the t Gates of Justied, shrouded in mist. Slowly, the massive gates began to open.

  Deputy Warden Adrian, back from a two-week leave, arrived on a Navy warship.

  “Warden Adrian, wele back!”

  Soon, as the warship docked, several guards greeted him at the entrah respectful smiles.

  “Hm, thank you for holding down the fort,” Adrian replied, visibly pleased.

  He had started in Impel Dowwenty years ago, w his from an unremarkable juniuard to the position of Deputy Warden after years of persistend patience. I years, he had effectively mahe prison as the ag warden. However, despite his efforts, he had not yet received an official promotion to warden, while Sharptooth Buck, with whom he didn’t have the best retionship, had already been formally appointed as Captain Guard. Naturally, he felt a bit slighted.

  Yet out of respect for Blood Prison Ian, who had served as both his mentor and beor and was set to retire in a year, he kept his frustrations to himself. Now, being referred to as "Warden" was a wele, if unofficial, aowledgment of his work.

  “Deputy Warden Adrian, Warden Ian requests that you take the elevator to the fourth level, the Bzing Hell, immediately to meet him,” a prison staff member reported, saluting him.

  "In such a rush?"

  Adrian frowned slightly, having inteo ge into his guard uniform first. But without hesitation, he replied, “Uood, I’ll head there now.”

  Bleam