Chapter 74: Impel Down's VIP

"It has been found out that more than a dozen Celestial Dragons have lost contact. Your suspicions are true!"

The news from Kong arrived quickly, and Sengoku's face contorted in fury. The Marines had dispatched a large force, only to besiege a clone and be manipulated by their enemy. The Celestial Dragons were completely unaware of their capture.

"Damn it!"

Sengoku choked out a similar curse through gritted teeth. The situation filled him with a deep sense of unease.

"Sakazuki, Borsalino, cease your attacks! You're only fighting a clone!"

Sengoku's yell brought Akainu and Kizaru to an immediate halt.

"What's happening? Is this a clone?"

Akainu demanded, taken aback.

"It seems we've discovered already," a voice spoke. "But that's alright. Let me pass on a message from the main body. If you want to save those Celestial Dragons, you can head to Impel Down."

With that, Luo Ning vanished without a trace, as if he had never been there.

"It truly is a clone!"

Everyone was stunned that a single clone could have held off two Admirals for so long.

In fact, this avatar possessed unique properties. When Luo Ning created it, he opted against imbuing it with fantasy powers. Instead, he focused on defense, speed, and self-healing, with self-healing being the most critical aspect. Throughout the entire encounter, Luo Ning never attacked the Admirals, as the clone's offensive capabilities were weak. Its primary function was to engage them in a prolonged duel.

At this moment, Luo Ning's real body is already on its way back to Impel Down with a dozen Celestial Dragons.

After sending Nami and Robin away, Luo Ning quietly replaced himself with a clone. After all, he was not acting alone, but with the Impel Down ship. These people would report their every move to Marine Headquarters.

So Luo Ning simply took advantage of this. His goal was to capture the Celestial Dragons. As for the big battle, the Marines blocked the news before, but this time he wanted to raise his profile a bit.

So, taking the Celestial Dragons back first, he already went to Sabaody Archipelago to find someone from the newspaper to contact Morgans.

News about the arrest of Celestial Dragons is estimated to spread across the sea in a short time.

Morgans is a very tactful person. He knows he cannot mess with the World Government, but this time the World Government did not warn him first, and he did not expose negative information about the Marines. He only reported the arrest of Celestial Dragons, and the World Government did not have time to deal with him.

One after another, when Luo Ning brought these Celestial Dragons to Impel Down, Magellan had already received a call from Sengoku.

At this moment, Magellan's face was extremely ugly because he saw more than a dozen World Nobles lying on the ground.

He could not defeat Luo Ning, and he could not let Luo Ning do whatever he wanted. In short, Magellan was feeling extremely uncomfortable now.

***

"Magellan, I won't make things difficult for you. First, throw these Celestial Dragons into any room."

"As the director of Impel Down, you should have no mercy for criminals. The crimes committed by these Celestial Dragons are enough to kill them ten thousand times over."

"But because of the World Noble status they hold, they have been at ease until now."

"You can tell Sengoku that you temporarily saved the Celestial Dragons and let them come to Impel Down."

Luo Ning said with a smile. This really fooled Magellan.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

Magellan couldn't understand Luo Ning's intentions. Did he commit suicide? No matter how powerful Luo Ning is, provoking all the Marines this time would surely bring down the World Government's forces. But with such power, how could Luo Ning possibly succeed?

"I'll give you a choice," Luo Ning declared. "Those of you with a strong sense of justice would want to kill these Celestial Dragons on sight, but your positions prevent you from doing so."

"I am fighting against the World Government. If I win, I hope you will lead all of Impel Down and become one of my subordinates. We will make Impel Down the true world's largest prison," he continued, "a prison that not even Celestial Dragons are above!"

Looking at the unconscious Celestial Dragons sprawled on the ground, Luo Ning's words sent a surge through Magellan's blood.

Indeed, the only people in the sea who didn't despise Celestial Dragons were likely the Celestial Dragons themselves, the top leaders of the World Government, and their lackeys. Everyone else, including the Marines, harbored hatred for the Celestial Dragons.

However, the Celestial Dragons were the world's nobles, considered god-like beings, and any laws were powerless against them. So, no matter how much they loathed them, Magellan and the others were powerless.

"Confine the Celestial Dragons and ensure they remain here. This is Impel Down, and we must guarantee their safety. If they escape and are injured, we will be implicated as well"

Magellan couldn't make a statement – his position wouldn't allow it. But Luo Ning's words stirred him. Impel Down did house people who wouldn't tolerate such arrogance, and their very sense of justice was what led them to work in this prison.

But he wouldn't voice his choice directly. If word reached his superiors, it wouldn't bode well for him. Even the way he handled the Celestial Dragons required careful justification.

"Magellan, you..."

Hannyabal also understood Magellan's choice at this moment, even though he usually wanted to keep Magellan around. However, Hannyabal also possessed a sense of justice and loathed the Celestial Dragons.

"Go back to work and do what needs to be done," Magellan said. "I will report the situation. We are not his opponents."

After dropping those words, Magellan left. Hannyabal followed with the others, uncharacteristically not clinging to the hilt of his weapon.

Magellan soon reported the situation at Impel Down.

"This guy isn't here to embarrass Magellan and the others; he's here to fight us!"

Garp also came to a realization. While he didn't consider Luo Ning a bad person, he even admired him a little. However, from a standpoint of duty, they were enemies. Garp couldn't say much more.

Luo Ning's actions were simply a catalyst, forcing them to fight.

The outcome of this battle would determine the fate of the Celestial Dragons. If the World Government won, the Celestial Dragons would face no repercussions. Conversely, a victory for Luo Ning would shatter the myth of the Celestial Dragons forever.

This would act as a fuse, igniting a future where many would target the Celestial Dragons.

Once the deterrence of their supposed invincibility disappeared, the consequences would be far more severe. The Celestial Dragons would be in danger whenever they left Mariejois unless they remained confined within its walls.

Given the critical nature of this battle, Sengoku couldn't make the decision himself. He could only wait for the Five Elders' orders.