Soon, while running towards the depths of the floor and being hunted down by some crazy beasts, they came across a prison cell filled with prisoners, but among them were some that Luffy and Ken knew about.
Mr. 2, Mr. 3, and Buggy. Apparently, they had bonded together quite well.
"Yo... You guys seem to have settled in well here."
"Ah, Mr. Ken... You are here... Thank you, thank you for coming to save us."
"Mugiwara!!"
"How did you guys even get caught? I asked you to make a crew, and you made a crew here," Ken said to Mr. 2 and Mr. 3. Apparently, the Government was furious after they lost CP members in Alabasta and thus went all out capturing everyone under Crocodile. They even deployed the CP members to catch Baroque Works, as they thought Baroque Works had joined together to make Nero vanish.
But, of course, their arrests were inconclusive, and since they were just short-term pirates, they were sent to Level 2. Level 2 because they were very supportive and helpful in the investigation. A very rare occasion of the Government showing leniency.
"Buggy... You have finally been caught... Hahahaha..." Luffy laughed out loud upon seeing Buggy. He still remembered, surprisingly. The memory of Luffy wasn't as short as it was supposed to be.
"Why are you here?" Buggy was still angry with Luffy, so he gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"Did you come here to free us? That is so good of you, Mr. Ken," Mr. 2 said. Mr. 2 had always considered them as friends, so he was very thankful.
"No... We came here to free Ace, but we can save you too," Ken said, looking towards Sabo, who had been silent. Seeing the cue, Sabo used his magic to let them out of the prison. All this time, the prisoners around were busy howling and raging to be let out, since these three men were out and didn't look like wardens of the floor or jailers.
So it meant they were prisoners as well.
"Let us out. We are on the same boat, right?"
"Come on, please let us out. We will do anything for you."
"I will kill you if you don't let us out."
But they didn't care; Mr. 2 and the others walked out of the portal that Sabo had made. Buggy was reluctant at first, but he eventually came out.
"Buggy, do you have people here who would follow you?" Ken asked, remembering that he had asked this guy to establish a trade, which seemed like he failed and got caught. What a failure.
"What does it have to do with you?" Buggy retorted.
"We are rescuing you; the least you can do is show some gratitude," Sabo said, irritated by Buggy's attitude, and berated him. This made Buggy silent. Others might not know Sabo, but he definitely did as he always kept himself updated about what was happening in the seas. He wondered about their relationship.
"There are some people who I have convinced to follow me."
"Good. Tell them to be ready; we will be busting them out once we are prepared to leave Impel Down," Ken said, not minding Buggy's attitude at all. At the end of the day, he was still a coward and maybe thought Luffy didn't deserve that hat since it was worn by his Captain and Shanks, somebody he looked up to, even though he never publicly accepted it.
It was only because Shanks said that he didn't want to go for One Piece that he left. The thing about the Devil Fruit was just a false reason to leave him. But this time he didn't argue more and walked to various prison cells and those who had been friendly with him were given time to get ready.
With the thing being done, all of them finally reached the well that led to 3rd level. Starvation Hell. The animals were already taken care of in Level 2 and by now Impel Down was in a mess. Magellan was already alerted but he was busy pooping at the moment.
After reaching Starvation Hell, it didn't much time to get to Level 4: Blazing Hell. It was hot to the highest limit here and thankfully Sabo could conjure up water for all of them to drink or else it would have been a tough one for the group. After completing Starvation Hell, they reached the next level. Ken noticed Daz Bones, a.k.a., Mr. 1 here with his Haki but didn't bother with it.
Level 5 : Freezing Hell
This was where the real deal was.
"Sabo, is he ready to come out with us?" Ken asked.
"Yes. He has been notified." Sabo nodded. And within no time they reached the Level 5.5. A secret level maintained underground by Ivankov. Normally it was very difficult to find them, but having Haki it was quite easy for them. Within no time they were in the secret doorway to Level 5.5.
The doorway slowly opened as they stood in front of it. And welcoming them was Ivankov himself.
"Ah Sabo-boya.. You have finally arrived to rescue me." He said. Or rather this time it was a she. Seeing his/her attire Ken got goosebumps. This guy's Devil fruit gave him the creeps.
"Ivankov-san. It's nice to you see you here."
"You should have called me chan." Ivankov said. Sabo just rolled his eyes listening to him. Mr.2 went full bonkers seeing Ivankov and immediately fell on his knees seeking guidance for becoming a better okama.
"This guy is really Dragon's son?" Ivankov said as he looked at the guy who was devouring food like a black hole. Sabo just shrugged accepting it.
"And we going to rescue the son of Gol D. Roger? Your other brother?" Ivankov asked as they asll sat on the table surrounding while Luffy just went on eating.
"Yes."
"Yosh. If we do this, we will be the first in history." Buggy said as his blood boiled. Running with them had made him courageous.
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