Chapter 415: Blackbeard Escapes

Peter Saint wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up the wine glass on the table, stared at the slow-moving crimson liquid within, and sneered:

“Even if he truly is crafting an ancient weapon, so what?!”

“The only mother seed capable of activating ancient weapons is in our hands—so even if the Pluton is built, it’s nothing but an empty shell.”

“It might even suppress Britannias’s expansion rate—could be beneficial for us.”

Maz Saint nodded in agreement:

“Exactly.”

“Britannias’s scale is unprecedented—it now has the power to truly threaten the World Government’s rule.”

“Once the Four Seas are pacified and the Grand Line is fully recontrolled, the next step will be dealing with Britannias’s chaos—even if the cost is immense.”

“After all, the events of Loxs thirty years ago are still fresh in memory.”

“These self-proclaimed pirates are ungrateful wolves—once they get the chance, they’ll Haobuyouyu tear off a bloody chunk from their master’s flesh.”

“Yet they don’t even realize that crawling before us is already their greatest blessing!”

Inside the office, silence reigned, only the Five Elders’ gazes grew colder.

The atmosphere was heavy, nearly freezing the air.

Whether Gao Wen or Britannias, both had now approached the upper limit of what they could tolerate.

Even though Gao Wen still bore the title of Warlord, nominally a subordinate force of the World Government, it made no difference.

After all, anyone could see the Warlord title and its privileges could never contain the world’s strongest monster.

“Should we report this to Im-sama?!”

Xia Mu Luo Ke spoke up; beside him, Wu Qiu Li Saint shook his head:

“That one is not currently in Mary Geoise. I will personally report matters concerning Britannias upon his return.”

“Just in case.”

“Deploy CP agents to investigate Britannias’s construction of Pluton.”

“If they truly have the capability to build Pluton, we must eliminate the threat in its cradle—even at the risk of collapsing the entire system.”

“Even if… we must accelerate the world’s sinking!”

“Then I have no objections.”

Xia Mu Luo Ke gave a symbolic bow and turned to leave.

Satan Saint watched Xia Mu Luo Ke’s back until it vanished completely, then turned to Wu Qiu Li Saint and warned:

“Roubo Luqi and his group returned to Mary Geoise a few days ago—should we eliminate them…?”

Wu Qiu Li Saint shook his head:

“Don’t act rashly—that might provoke Knight Gao Wen.”

“After all, according to our earlier intelligence, Knight Gao Wen intervened in the Seven Seas’ Pluton struggle two years ago because of Roubo Luqi.”

“By the way.”

“Isn’t the World Martial Arts Tournament about to begin?!”

“Let Roubo Luqi go.”

“If he dies on the arena, it won’t be our doing.”

“Heh~”

Cold laughter echoed through the office as the lights slowly dimmed.

…

At the same moment.

Impel Down.

Infinite Hell.

Located at the very bottom of Impel Down, hundreds of meters beneath the sea.

Those imprisoned here see only darkness—darkness, and more darkness!

In the long wait, countless once-dominant pirates broke down mentally, becoming hollow shells.

Blackbeard was naturally not among them.

Previously, the only thing sustaining him was the thought of seizing Whitebeard’s power and becoming King of the World.

But after the War of the Summit, revenge against Gao Wen had become the force that kept him clinging to life in this endless darkness.

The more pain, the more torment, the more restless he became from boundless darkness, the more his hatred grew.

“Gao Wen—!”

A suppressed, muffled roar squeezed from Blackbeard’s mouth, twisting his entire face with hatred.

“Don’t waste your energy on such trivial things.”

Shiryu glanced at him, then looked away:

“Preserve your strength, accumulate more power, and wait for that one sliver of hope to escape.”

“That is the only way out.”

With that,

Shiryu closed his eyes and feigned sleep.

Yet his increasingly heavy breathing and the mounting, thickened killing intent still betrayed that his inner state was far from calm.

Blackbeard naturally sensed this—and suddenly became interested:

“You can’t even control your own killing intent—how dare you criticize me?!”

“Ah.”

Shiryu opened his eyes, recalling Lucci’s contemptuous gaze—he felt a surge of rage:

“No matter what… I will kill that bastard with my own hands!”

“I too have someone I must avenge—a man equally arrogant, yet truly formidable in strength.”

Blackbeard’s lips curled into a faint smile; he slowly sat up, gazed at Shiryu’s cage beside him, and extended his hand:

“Hey~”

“I can feel the oppressive, unsettling killing intent radiating from you.”

“Become my partner.”

“When we escape, let’s make this sea boil together.”

Shiryu glanced at him, then turned his gaze toward the distant sealed door, saying nothing.

The pirate imprisoned here laughed mockingly at Blackbeard’s words:

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Since the last prison break, Magellan has tightened security even further.”

“Escaping is pure fantasy.”

Yet no sooner had the pirate spoken than a sound echoed from afar.

Whoosh—!

The gates of Infinite Hell opened.

Blinding white light poured in from outside; a slender girl, her body wrapped entirely in bandages, stepped slowly into the light, walking against it.

Dozens of fully armed guards surrounded her, fearing any mishap.

Blackbeard narrowed his eyes, gradually making out her figure:

“This is…”

“A major figure has arrived?!”

“Wait—you’re…”

Blackbeard’s pupils dilated violently.

For through his Observation Haki, the being standing before him was not a person—but a puppet controlled by invisible strings.

No!

There was truly some entity behind this woman, manipulating her!

Blackbeard had seen Doflamingo use his String-String Fruit to control others’ bodies—but this was incomparable to what unfolded before him.

This creature… was controlling souls!

“Did you feel it?!”

The girl lifted her gaze; her pupils dilated, then contracted instantly—her aura shifted completely.

Vast black wings unfurled behind her; a long, slender black tail extended from her coccyx.

Black flames swirled around her entire form, resembling a demon from legend.

Her eyes held an indescribable arrogance and aloofness—like a god seated high above, gazing down at crawling insects.

Though this being revealed not a single ounce of power, in that instant, Blackbeard felt the same terror as facing Gao Wen!

No!

Even stronger than Gao Wen had been at that time.

Another monster like this still exists?!

Blackbeard was stunned and terrified—his face darkened even further in the next instant.