Chapter 78: Impel Down and Changes
_________ POV Narration_________
Enel's journey to Impel Down didn't take long, he didn't bother travelling with a slow golden boat as he just zapped across the world towards where he knew the island would be.
It took a few hours, with different stops for Enel to check up on his map, sleep a bit and make sure he was going in the right direction by using other islands as landmarks.
Navigation was relativity easy when one didn't need to worry about the weather of the Grand Line too.
Using an actual compass was still impossible as they were relatively useless, but the map Enel was using had a drawn compass on it, and that was really all that he needed.
Enel had managed to forget about the awkward situation from earlier and didn't give it much thought anymore.
Still, he wondered if he could make sure Bonney would never be captured and just let her go, somehow...
In the end, he reached the conclusion that he'd likely have to train her a bit, or at least plan out some training regime for her.
She could technically end most fights with one touch if the opponent wasn't using armament, so she had the potential to be an extremely strong fighter.
She would never be able to survive if another Admiral went after her though. All of them had powerful Armament Haki, even though they specialized in using their fruits mostly.
Hell, at this point Enel was well aware that most Vice Admirals would be able to apprehend her easily, especially if they had some seastone at hand.
By the time Enel reached the skies above Impel Down, he had already planned out an entire training program for Bonney, which also included a diet of sea king meat.
Enel was well aware of how important nutrition was in growing stronger, the fact that his diet only consisted of the most powerful Sea Kings he could find certainly helped him grow stronger faster...
In retrospect, more people could use that type of diet.
So Enel decided he would hunt down more Sea Kings on his way back home, to feed the soldiers of the Sky Island in order to have stronger fighters stationed at his main base of operations.
As he finished noting down the last of his ideas, he started thinking of how to approach the Impel Down breakout... Why was there so much movement in Impel Down anyway?
As Enel was making his way to Impel Down, the figure of a heavily muscled old man with grey hair and a short beard could be seen in the furthest cage in the lowest part of the prison.
The man still wore a white costume, the same one he had been wearing on the day of his capture, as no one dared to tell him to change.
The wardens and prison guards were not told the identity of Garp, the CP agents made sure to escort him to his cell personally and they prevented anyone from even seeing him.
All personnel was prohibited from going too deeply into the lowest level of the prison. And the one Garp was placed into was not even the 6th Level that Enel had seen, instead, it was one even more hidden.
It was called, Level 0: The Forgotten Hell.
The security personnel there was nonexistent, but it was completely covered in Seastone, from top to bottom it was built out of that devil fruit weakening material.
It hampered Willpower as well, so most people would simply not ever be able to sense it unless looking specifically for it.
Since seastone gave off the same energy as the sea, most people trying to look into it with Observation Haki would only feel the sea underneath the 6th floor of Impel down.
The usual piece of bread and water that was to be given as food was simply delivered through a tube coming down from an upper level.
That was where the World Government held all of their highest-risk prisoners, although Level 6 had plenty of powerful prisoners, Level 0 was quite different...
It was a level for people that the government really could not afford to ever release in the world. And, it was mostly empty.
That place was where people were sent to be forgotten completely. Even by the World Government itself.
Monkey D. Garp knew that. But he also knew that the World Government wouldn't get its way.
Sengoku was likely fighting to get him out, even Akainu was likely trying to get him out.
The Magma Admiral had changed a lot in the short time he had spent with Enel, he was a lot more agreeable.
Still, Garp felt that Diplomacy might simply not work now that he saw where he was taken and the conditions in which he was kept...
Thick seastone chains were wrapped tightly all around him, cuffs that covered his arms completely and a collar that made it difficult to move his neck.
Garp still had his physical strength, but he could no longer use haki properly because of the seastone, so he was stuck there now.
But his hope was far from being squashed. He knew that Sengoku would even break into Impel Down for him if it was needed.
Besides Sengoku, there was also Dragon, his son. Although they were not on the best terms, Dragon wouldn't abandon his father in a prison.
Especially not under these circumstances, when he could easily convince Garp to turn on the World Government.
There was also Luffy and Ace, and by extension the Whitebeard pirates.
Garp didn't have high hopes for them showing up, he especially hoped Luffy and Ace would stay out of it, but he did think of the possibility.
Then there was another person... Enel, the 'Sky King'.
He was certainly capable enough to break into Impel Down. But Garp already owed him one for saving his grandsons, so he hoped it wouldn't get to that.
As the days passed, Garp's hope that things could be solved diplomatically was slowly diminishing. And breaking out was starting to look more and more like his only option.
Garp then heard a voice from one of the other cells.
"Heh... Didn't think I'd ever sense your presence again, Garp 'The Fist'..." It was a weakened voice, speaking slowly.
"... Who are you exactly?" Garp asked as he blinked a few times, he couldn't recognize whose the voice that was.
Garp had always been blunt with people, he was also not in a great mood currently, so he didn't bother to mince words with a criminal.
He also had no idea there were any prisoners alive on Level 0... He hadn't seen any movement when coming in, and the agent transporting him didn't seem to look around either.
"Well... I'm shocked you forgot about me, it was a rather bloody affa-" the words were interrupted by a series of coughs, signifying that the man's health had seen better days.
"..." Garp didn't say anything, but he started to remember a few things when hearing that voice. He found it oddly familiar...
"Remember God Valley?..." At that point, Garp's eyes widened as he turned his head to look towards the wall from where he had heard that voice.
"No way... You're telling me they kept you alive?!" Garp spoke slowly as his eyes widened.
He could remember his name clearly. A name that had once shook the seas and made the entire Navy tremble with fear.
His sword could split islands in half, his Haki was strong enough to cut through anything.
A man that Garp had fought in the past, alongside Gol D. Roger's crew and Whitebeard.
Garp narrowed his eyes as he looked at his own body.
Some of the scars that covered his skin were made by that man, it was rather ironic that they met again under these circumstances.
The First Mate of the Rocks Pirates.
Also one of the strongest pirates of his generation.
It was none other than Francisco D Guzman.
His name was scribbled out of every history book, and unlike his captain, he had survived the scuffle at God Valley.
But he had been too injured to flee unlike other associates of Xebec and members of the Rocks Pirates that went on to become legendary figures.
Instead, he was found by the Navy and imprisoned.
The World Government was going to execute him silently, but they instead left him to rot in the deepest part of Impel Down, seemingly forgetting about him as soon as the world did.
"Heh... If even people like you were kept out of the loop... There is little hope for the rest of the world to know of me, is there?"
Garp could hear Francesco's aged voice clearly now, he clearly remembered the way that God Valley had played out.
The only reason they were able to win, was because they had managed to separate Xebec from his First Mate.
Had that not happened, Garp and Roger would have died that day...
The fact that Whitebeard and Roger's crew were helping them was also a huge reason why they were able to win.
Whitebeard had betrayed the Rocks pirates on that fateful night, deciding to side with Roger, who had become his friend.
Rayleigh and Whitebeard had fought Francisco and drove him away, while Garp and Roger dealt with Xebec by themselves for a while.
Garp winched a bit as he remembered that day. Many lives were lost and no one remembered it either. It was as if their sacrifices were in vain...
"I thought you were executed..." Garp said as he looked at the ground. He wasn't exactly a friend of Francisco, it would be closer to say they were enemies.
But they were both old men at this point and both prisoners. So Garp saw no issue with talking to him.
"Heh... I wish... No, they left me here to meet my end slowly." Garp didn't have much of a reaction when hearing that.
It was something that the World Government was prone to doing.
After all, why else would they keep so many prisoners alive on the 6th floor of Impel Down? When all of them were atrocious criminals that deserved death.
Garp simply sighed, remembering more and more about the God Valley incident and Francisco himself.
"It's all because of Xebec... That piece of shit just had to go and make an enemy out of everyone..."
Garp chuckled a bit when hearing the vitreal from Francisco's aged voice, Xebec had not been liked by any of his crewmates, he was a cruel individual that only appreciated strength.
Francisco was considered his second, but even he was treated like shit from time to time because he was weaker than Xebec himself...
"Garp... Would you mind telling me a bit more about the outside?" Francisco's aged voice was heard once more, breaking Garp out of his melancholic stupor and making him sigh a bit.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have associated himself with a pirate like Francisco, but the circumstances he was in weren't exactly all that great.
Who knew how long he'd be down there, right? Besides, Francisco was bound to be a different man from the one he was 40 years ago.
So, the two old men started speaking, recounting stories while leaning on the walls of their prison cells, unsupervised.
Garp also learned that his food was basically thrown at him weekly from the tube.
He couldn't use his hands, but he was actually expected to eat the bread by crawling on the ground.
The water also didn't come in any container, it was just sprayed in a small puddle in the middle of the room, licking it from the ground was one's only choice.
Garp was beyond infuriated by that, his constant shouts and complaining managed to make Francisco laugh quite a bit.
In the end, after a few days, Garp finally understood that there was simply no chance for diplomacy to work...
He had also told his worries to Francisco. After all, if a breakout was to happen, the old pirate would also be involved, most likely killed too.
Francisco simply laughed a bit when hearing about how many people were likely to rescue Garp.
"You always knew how to make friends..." Garp had no way to see Francisco's face, but he could clearly hear the old man's smile.
"Say... Why wait for them? Do you want to break out now?"
'Hmm? He's got an idea?'
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Hope you liked the chapter!
This is the first large OC that I'm introducing to the story :))
Oh, I've made it so seastone has an effect on haki too(in case that wasn't obvious) not just for DF users.
It kinda makes sense this way, otherwise, the 6th floor of Impel Down would likely be empty :)) No strong pirate without a DF would ever be 'capturable'.
It's also not specified in the show at all, so I can take liberties in that sense.
Also, sorry for yesterday, 8-10 hour car ride throughout the night where I couldn't/didn't write or sleep.
Got home and basically passed out for the whole day :))) Woke up in the evening and basically went to sleep again after 2-3 hours.
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)