One Piece: My Evolving Aircraft

Next Bonus, 100!!

<><><><><><>

Clink... clank...

The heavy Seastone chains dragged across the cold, hard floor.

The sharp, metallic grating echoed through the cavernous depths of the prison.

Chief Warden Magellan was a massive, imposing figure—a man built like Satan himself, complete with bat-like wings and a pair of demonic horns. He and a squad of guards escorted a young man in a slouch hat, their heavy footsteps echoing down the dark corridor of Impel Down's Level 6.

Behind bars forged of Seastone and tempered steel sat the world's most vicious criminals. This was an abyssal dungeon where the light of day never reached.

The inmates here had long since adapted to the eternal gloom. At the sound of the approaching footsteps, pairs of predatory eyes snapped open, tracking the procession.

"Gehehehe... fresh meat?" Catarina Devon cackled, the sound grotesque and grating.

"Hey, kid!" Avalo Pizarro barked. "What kind of big stunt did you pull to end up down here?"

"Oh?" Vasco Shot slurred. "That mark... isn't that Whitebeard's?"

"Oi, Oi, Magellan, have the standards for Level 6 dropped this low?" Douglas Bullet sneered with absolute disdain. "Some brat from Whitebeard's crew gets a cell down here now?"

"Yeah! You're dragging down the neighborhood!" the other prisoners chimed in, erupting into a chorus of mocking laughter.

The towering Magellan ignored their taunts.

If this were just some ordinary brat from Whitebeard's ship, he naturally wouldn't qualify for Level 6.

But what if this brat was the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division? What if he was the bloodline of Gol D. Roger—the Pirate King who had been executed twenty years ago, yet whose influence still fueled the Great Pirate Era today?

Portgas D. Ace.

Not long ago, he and Ochoku had been defeated by the Whitebeard defector, Marshall D. Teach—Blackbeard. Teach had then contacted the World Government, using them as bargaining chips to secure a seat among the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Doflamingo had recently been stripped of his Warlord title, leaving a vacancy. The Five Elders had been agonizing over who could fill the void. So, when Blackbeard delivered such a prize right to their doorstep, they gladly accepted.

Besides, a man capable of betraying Whitebeard was undoubtedly a ruthless scumbag. Such a man was the perfect tool to curb Jin's growing influence among the Warlords. He was the ideal candidate.

And so, a deal was struck.

The World Government granted Teach the authority of a Warlord. In return, Teach held up his end of the bargain, delivering Ace and Ochoku to Enies Lobby for trial.

Today, Ace had faced that trial. The verdict: death.

In fifteen days, he would be publicly executed at Marineford!

Ace, still battered and bruised, kept his head down. It was impossible to tell what was going through his mind. He was still replaying the battle with Teach.

In those final moments, the overwhelming Conqueror's Haki that had erupted from Teach... it hadn't felt like his. Did another soul reside within that man's body?

But no one cared what Ace was thinking anymore.

Magellan personally escorted Ace into his cell, a holding pen for the next fifteen days. He secured the Seastone shackles around the young pirate's wrists and ankles, ensuring there was no chance of escape.

Then, he slammed the heavy iron door shut.

Magellan let out a long breath. As he walked back down the corridor, he paused by another cell, glancing at the tall, imposing figure within.

The man was powerfully built, with a broad jaw and a perpetual, sinister smirk plastered across his face.

"What's the matter, Magellan? Thinking about letting me out?" Shiryu chuckled.

He was the former Head Jailer, a man whose strength rivaled Magellan's own. Together, they had been known as the twin "Iron Walls of Impel Down". But Shiryu was a bloodthirsty psychopath who frequently slaughtered prisoners and colleagues alike. Magellan had ultimately stripped him of his rank and sentenced him to death, granting him a temporary stay of execution on Level 6.

"Don't even dream about it. It's never going to happen," Magellan growled.

Shiryu had finally crossed the line. Magellan could occasionally turn a blind eye to the mistreatment of inmates, but turning his blade on his own comrades—butchering them without a shred of mercy? How could a man like that be allowed to remain in the ranks? He was a liability to them all.

—————————

Level 5.5: New Kama Land!

This hidden floor had been carved out by Morley, one of the Revolutionary Army's commanders, using the power of the Push-Push Fruit. It was a secret paradise, accessible only by navigating the prison's sewer system and traversing an "impossible path."

It boasted numerous undiscovered entrances—hidden within the Crimson Hell of Level 1, the Wild Beast Hell of Level 2, the Blazing Hell of Level 4, and the Freezing Hell of Level 5.

Many lost prisoners had stumbled through these entrances by sheer chance, vanishing from the prison's registry forever. This phenomenon had birthed Impel Down's very own ghost story—the "Demon's Pull," a supernatural force that spirited inmates away in the dead of night.

"So, Level 6 has a new tenant?" Emporio Ivankov, the undisputed queen of New Kama Land, mused.

A decade ago, Ivankov and Monkey D. Dragon had witnessed the great fire of the Goa Kingdom. Later, after being captured for his Revolutionary Army activities, he had been imprisoned under trumped-up charges and tossed into Level 5. Years later, during a mass vanishing incident, he had disappeared from his cell. His name was subsequently struck from the prisoner logs.

In truth, Ivankov had learned of Level 5.5 from Morley. He had organized a group and retreated to this sanctuary, creating a safe haven for the falsely accused and captured revolutionaries, shielding them from the World Government's persecution. They couldn't escape the prison, but down here, at least their lives were secure.

"Yes. A man named Ace. He's the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division."

The person reporting the intel held a glass of red wine, their hair split perfectly down the middle—half orange, half white.

To use specific pronouns would be inaccurate; they were a "New Kama," a being beyond traditional gender definitions, harboring two distinct personas.

When presenting as a man, he went by the name Inazuma. He was calm, collected, and deadly serious—a ruthless operative who never flinched when executing a combat plan.

Outside of combat, she typically appeared as a woman. In this form, Inazuma was warm, cheerful, and elegant. She possessed a refined grace, entirely devoid of the exaggerated theatrics common among other New Kamas.

Though confined to the prison, Ivankov stayed remarkably well-informed about the outside world through the constant influx of "fresh meat." He knew a bit about Ace's situation, but it didn't concern him much. It was just a Second Division commander. It wasn't as if Whitebeard himself had been captured.

Furthermore, the inmates of Level 6 were all high-priority targets under constant surveillance. Ivankov and his people rarely risked making contact with them. Those monsters were either utterly psychopathic or overwhelmingly powerful—untamable beasts that were best left undisturbed.

—————————

Level 1: Crimson Hell!

"Dammit!" Buggy roared, gripping the iron bars and cursing up a storm. "Let me out of here, you bastards!"

Not too long ago, he had chased the Straw Hat crew all the way into the Grand Line, never forgetting his true calling: unearthing Captain John's legendary treasure.

But fate had a cruel sense of humor.

His crew's treasure hunt had been a comedy of errors. They had hit dead ends, accidentally wandered into an active mining pit, and suffered countless indignities. The grand finale? During one of their excavation attempts, they had managed to dig their way directly into a secret Marine base.

Talk about awkward. He'd been arrested on the spot and shipped straight to Impel Down.

To think that the great Captain Buggy, a terror of the East Blue for over two decades, had dug his own grave right into a Marine stronghold...

But the real kicker? Out of his entire crew, he was the only one who got caught. Alvida, Cabaji, Mohji—they had all managed to slip away.

It was a sick joke. If word of this ever got out, his reputation would be ruined forever!

People always talked about his god-tier "Conqueror's Luck," but they completely ignored the absolute misery that had plagued the first half of his life. In truth, Buggy's luck was a double-edged sword—a constant pendulum swing between spectacular fortune and catastrophic disaster. Everyone thought he was blessed, but beneath the flashy exterior, the man had suffered immensely.

Meanwhile, aboard the Big Top, Cabaji and Mohji were desperately plotting a rescue mission to break into the underwater prison.

But the newly beautified Alvida was dead set against it.

She recounted the sheer, unadulterated horrors of Impel Down to the crew in excruciating detail. Ever since her physical transformation, Alvida's confidence had skyrocketed, bringing with it a newfound sharpness and intelligence. "Beauty" itself was a source of unyielding self-assurance, and with that conviction came a natural, empowering clarity.

The crew, who moments ago had been rallying for a daring jailbreak, instantly folded.

They completely abandoned the rescue plan. Cabaji and Mohji were no exception.

"I'm sure Captain Buggy will understand," they agreed solemnly.

<><><><><><>

~ 70 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)