Luffy's Call: My Journey with the Straw Hats

Sengoku didn't care about the other Straw Hats, or even Luffy himself. But the name "Moonlight" had slowly crept into his consciousness, from the East Blue to Admiral Nelson, to Alabasta and his clash with Aokiji on Long Ring Long Land, to his defeats of the Warlords Gecko Moria and Bartholomew Kuma, and now to his fight with Kizaru on Sabaody and his attack on the Celestial Dragons. Through years of experience, Sengoku had come to realize that this man was more dangerous than anyone else. Even the newly promoted Warlord, Blackbeard, a man shrouded in mystery and exuding a powerful threat, didn't feel as dangerous as Moonlight. It was a pure, gut feeling, but one he couldn't ignore.

But now, with the Navy's forces gathered at Marineford to face Whitebeard, they were stretched thin. He could only hope that Magellan, the warden of Impel Down, could stop Moonlight. He had great confidence in the prison's impenetrable defenses and Magellan's overwhelming strength.

In the fourth level of Impel Down, the Blazing Hell, surrounded by a boundless sea of flames, Luffy stared at Magellan with defiant eyes. But the warden was too strong; they weren't even in the same league. The power of his Venom-Venom Fruit was terrifying, filling the air with a potent toxin. Soon, Luffy was defeated, poisoned and on the verge of death.

"Your journey ends here, Straw Hat boy," Magellan said indifferently. Though Luffy's desperate will to save his brother was moving, willpower alone was not enough to overcome such a vast difference in strength. In a place like Impel Down, a place devoid of hope, stories like this were all too common. Magellan ordered his guards to detain Luffy. The poison coursing through the young pirate's body would kill him within twenty-four hours; he didn't need to concern himself with it any further.

Just then, his Den Den Mushi rang. It was an order from Marine Headquarters: Ace was to be taken to Marineford and executed ahead of schedule. "Executed early?" Though surprised, Magellan immediately complied.

At that same moment, on the first level of Impel Down, the Crimson Hell, Moonlight sliced through the iron bars with a single stroke of his sword. He knocked out all the guards with a wave of Haki and, guided by his own Observation Haki, quickly made his way to the second level. Though the prison was heavily guarded and perilous, he moved through it as if it were completely empty.

"The Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat crew is here! He's on the first basement level, the Crimson Hell!" Impel Down's surveillance system was pervasive, and though Moonlight moved like a ghost, he was quickly discovered. The entire prison was immediately mobilized.

"The Vice-Captain?" the prisoners who had been recaptured after Luffy's riot shook their heads. "Their captain was just here and got caught by Magellan. What can a vice-captain do but come here to die?" They had been given a glimmer of hope when Luffy arrived, but it had been quickly extinguished. Now, they felt nothing but despair. With the terrifying Magellan in charge, any resistance was futile.

In the Crimson Hell, Moonlight walked on. When a Blue Gorilla charged him, a single glance was enough to make it collapse. The surrounding prisoners were caught in the wave of Haki and also fainted. These were all murderous criminals; he felt no need to hold back. He cut through the forest of razor-sharp leaves and needle-sharp grass, found the entrance to the second level, the Wild Beast Hell, and jumped in.

"What is that power? Not just the guards, but even the prisoners fainted!" In the surveillance room, the guards watched the footage from the Den Den Mushi, stunned. It was too much to comprehend.

"It's Conqueror's Haki!" Hannibal, the vice-warden, who was watching from behind them, said, his expression suddenly serious. "This Straw Hat Vice-Captain is no small fry! Hurry, inform Warden Magellan!"

In the Wild Beast Hell, the moment Moonlight landed, he was swarmed by ferocious beasts: chicken-snakes, man-faced lions, poisonous scorpions, and other creatures as tall as five men. But before they could even get close, a single look from Moonlight sent them all collapsing to the ground, unconscious. To the shocked and stunned gazes of the imprisoned criminals, Moonlight continued on toward the third level, the Starvation Hell.

Just then, a woman with curly blond hair and a pink, tight-fitting leather jacket appeared, lashing her whip at him.

"It's Sadi, the chief jailer! That woman is twisted!"

"If she catches you, you're finished! She'll play with you until you're dead!" the prisoners whispered, a chill running down their spines.

But the next moment, a crescent of sword energy shot out, shattering Sadi's whip to pieces. Her entire body was slammed headfirst into the ground by the force of the attack.

"Th-that..." The prisoners stared at each other. Sadi... had been defeated just like that?

The Starvation Hell was filled with emaciated, half-dead prisoners. The heat rising from the Blazing Hell below turned the entire level into a giant steamer. The guards here were relatively relaxed; the prisoners were barely alive, with no strength to escape or cause trouble.

At that moment, three figures appeared before Moonlight, along with three very cute-looking monsters. It was Vice-Warden Hannibal, Chief Guard Domino, and Jailer Supervisor Saldeath, with the three Jailer Beasts—the Minotaurus, the Minorhinoceros, and the Minokoala—behind them. They had come to stop him.

"Moonlight, the Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat crew," Hannibal sneered. "To have come this far unharmed is impressive, but this is the end of the line! I am Vice-Warden Hannibal!"

"Are you here to save your captain, Straw Hat boy?" Domino added. "A pity. He's already been dealt with by Warden Magellan."

"Not only that," Saldeath chimed in, "he was poisoned by the Warden. He'll spend his last twenty-four hours in excruciating pain before he finally dies."

The three Jailer Beasts charged, their massive bodies moving with lightning speed. But the next moment, Moonlight drew his sword. A crescent of sword energy slashed out, sending the three monsters flying back, severely injured. The sword qi continued on, heading for Hannibal and the others. They were about to counter, but the attack was too fast and too fierce. All three were sent flying, crashing to the ground, seriously wounded.

"Luffy won't die," Moonlight said faintly, glancing at them before continuing on to the fourth level, the Blazing Hell. The powerless prisoners all around stared in stunned silence. He was too fierce.

The Blazing Hell was like a gigantic iron pot, steaming everyone who entered it. Even with his strong constitution, Moonlight could feel the immense heat wave, as if he were in a sauna. As soon as he entered, guards rushed at him, but a single glance was enough to make them all faint. He made his way to the entrance to the fifth level, but just as he was about to descend, a massive figure with two horns on his head and dressed in black appeared before him like a demon. It was the warden of Impel Down, Magellan.

"Conqueror's Haki," Magellan said, his pupils shrinking as he looked at the unconscious guards on the ground. He then turned to Moonlight, his expression completely serious. "I didn't expect a man like you to appear here."

"Step aside," Moonlight said faintly, his Pheasant Sword held ready, wrapped in Armament Haki.

"Are you kidding me? No one who comes here escapes from me!" Magellan roared. "Poison Dragon!" Green venom flowed from his body, condensing into three massive poison dragons that flew toward Moonlight, filling the air with a toxic mist.

"Such a potent poison," Moonlight thought, his pupils shrinking. He met the attack head-on, his sword a blur of motion. A storm of sword qi erupted, blowing away the poison mist before it could reach him. He then unleashed a massive slash. "Phantom Sword Dance!" The sword qi rushed forward, colliding with the three poison dragons.

"BOOM!" The dragons were sent flying, and the attack continued on, slamming into Magellan.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Magellan was thrown back dozens of paces, finally stopping when he hit the wall. The sword qi continued to rain down on the walls around him, which were built from Seastone and fortified with unique naval technology. For the first time, cracks appeared on their surface.

"As expected of Magellan," Moonlight said, his eyes serious. "He can actually block me." Though it was only a single sword strike, he had put his full power into it. Magellan had the strength of a quasi-admiral, and his Venom-Venom Fruit was incredibly powerful. Even the Admirals were reluctant to fight him.

"What powerful sword energy! Even the walls are cracking!" Magellan coughed up black blood, looking at the cracks in the wall with shock. He had guarded this prison for decades, and though he had fought many powerful criminals, the walls had never been damaged. This was a very dangerous sign.

"Venom Demon: Hell's Judgment!" he roared, his body turning a bright red, the venom bubbling like blood. The venom condensed around him, forming a massive, skeletal poison giant. He then walked toward Moonlight, the venom flowing from him corroding everything in its path.

"So powerful... stronger than before," Moonlight thought, his pupils shrinking. He leaped into the air without hesitation. Magellan looked up, confused.

From the air above, countless meteorite-sized slashes of sword qi rained down. The skeletal poison giant was immediately smashed to pieces, unable to reform. Magellan and the entire fourth floor collapsed, falling into the fifth level, the Freezing Hell.

The Freezing Hell was an extremely cold space, but now, with a gaping hole in its ceiling, the flames from the fourth floor poured in. Ice and fire clashed, creating a chaotic scene.

"What's going on? The fourth floor collapsed?" the prisoners who had been frozen into ice sculptures stared in shock.

As the fire from above began to melt the ice, they saw Magellan fall, followed by a young man in black with a sword. The young man turned and left without even looking at the defeated warden.

"Magellan was defeated?"

"You're kidding! Who could beat Magellan?"

"It seems like that kid in black did it. Who is he?"

There were still six hours until Ace's execution.

In the sixth level, the Infinite Hell, Luffy, with the help of Ivankov and Inazuma, had finally reached the bottom floor. But Ace had already been taken away. Just as they were about to leave, they ran into Crocodile and Jinbe, two former Warlords imprisoned there. Ivankov released Crocodile, and Luffy released Jinbe. Both wanted to leave: one to take Whitebeard's head, the other to stop the war. They formed an unlikely alliance and began to fight their way out.

"You are the brother Straw Hat Luffy that Mr. Ace spoke of," Jinbe said, looking at Luffy. Luffy nodded. He could sense that Jinbe held no malice toward him, so he had chosen to release him.

"The old man will help you," Jinbe nodded.

The group quickly reached the fifth floor, then the fourth. Strangely, they encountered no powerful opponents along the way. They were surprised to see the massive hole between the fourth and fifth floors.

"What happened? Why did the fourth floor collapse?" Crocodile asked, surprised. The prison was supposed to be indestructible. It seemed someone had broken it.

"It was Moonlight, the Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat crew! He came through the fourth floor and defeated Magellan!" four prisoners screamed, seeing Luffy. "Straw Hat boy, save us! Let us out!"

"That guy," Crocodile's pupils shrank at the name.