The sea breeze blew gently, carrying a faint, salty scent of seawater.
Borsalino's warship sailed at a steady speed along the route toward Impel Down, the entire sea quiet and calm.
In the shade of the deck, Borsalino leaned against the railing, casually playing with a unique fruit in one hand. The fruit was entirely pink, its surface covered in layered patterns resembling flower petals, looking exquisite and unique, like a blossom in full bloom. This was a piece of loot that the soldiers had unexpectedly found while clearing the wreckage of the John Pirates' sunken ship and sorting through the seized supplies.
She casually opened the simple Devil Fruit illustrated guide she had brought along, her fingertips gently brushing across the pages. Before long, Borsalino's gaze fixed on one of the entries, a look of quiet surprise flashing in her eyes. The characteristics described in the guide matched the fruit in her palm perfectly.
Paramecia: Flower-Flower Fruit.
This was the fruit destined for the future Nico Robin, a versatile Paramecia power that allowed its user to sprout body parts anywhere. In the later Wano Country arc, Robin would even develop its formidable Demonic Form. Borsalino had not expected that this fruit, which was supposed to fall into Robin's hands down the line, would actually appear early at this point in time and somehow end up in her possession.
She looked down at the pink fruit in her palm, thinking silently. In order not to disrupt the main storyline too drastically, she ought to find an opportunity to visit Ohara and pass this fruit to Robin. In her past life, she had truly admired Robin's character, and Robin was only complete with the Flower-Flower Fruit.
With this thought in mind, Borsalino carefully put the Flower-Flower Fruit away, placing it securely inside a specially made storage box.
Over the next three days, the warship sailed smoothly all the way, successfully arriving in the waters surrounding Impel Down.
Impel Down was located deep within the Calm Belt, surrounded by giant Sea Kings, with a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere enveloping the entire sea. Even from a great distance, one could feel the coldness and strictness of this deep-sea great prison.
Since they had reported to Headquarters in advance before setting off, Headquarters had already notified Impel Down, and at this moment, the port was already prepared to receive them. A squad of well-equipped jailers with solemn expressions lined up in neat formation, waiting quietly on the shore of the port.
At the very front of the squad stood a highly recognizable figure. He was tall and heavily built, with bluish skin, a pair of pitch-black demon horns growing from his head, and a cloak styled like small demon wings on his back, giving him a fierce appearance. It was none other than Magellan, the warden who would later guard Impel Down and awe the seas.
However, the current Magellan was merely a Chief Guard of a single floor, specifically responsible for guarding the most dangerous Level 6: Infinite Hell.
At this moment, Magellan's brow was furrowed tightly, his face slightly pale, his body tensed as he remained in a state of extreme endurance. While the Venom-Venom Fruit granted him immense combat power, its side effects tortured him constantly, requiring him to suffer from severe digestive distress for over ten hours a day.
"I cannot take it... here it comes again..."
"Ah... this feeling of it being right on the verge of bursting out..."
Magellan gritted his teeth and whispered, fine beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, his legs squeezing together slightly as he tried his best to maintain his dignity as an Impel Down official. But it was not helping much.
Seeing this, several jailers nearby hastily whispered to remind him.
"Lord Magellan, please hold on a little longer!"
"The Vice Admiral from Headquarters has already arrived. Once the handover is complete, we will head back immediately. Please bear with it a bit longer!"
As they spoke, Borsalino's warship docked smoothly at the pier. Momonga ordered the soldiers to escort John, who was wearing Seastone handcuffs, along with the remaining pirates, as they walked off the warship in an orderly manner, lining up to await the handover.
Meanwhile, Borsalino walked slowly at the very front by herself. The sea breeze gently fluttered her Vice Admiral's cloak, her black hair swaying slightly in the wind, her expression calm and composed. With genuine curiosity on her beautiful face, she sized up Magellan, who was currently looking rather awkward.
Magellan froze slightly. His churning stomach suddenly quieted down, and the agonizing pressure that had been on the verge of bursting out seemed to instantly dissipate by half. His gaze locked onto Borsalino, and he slowly fell into a daze. Get faster updates on g.com.
In his eyes, every single movement of Borsalino's seemed to possess its own distinct grace. Her stride was steady and elegant, her eyes calm and clear; even just standing there quietly, she was more dazzling than any woman he had ever encountered. His heart throbbed uncontrollably, his gaze completely captured by the figure ahead, unable to look away for even a second.
The jailers on the side looked at their superior standing there frozen, his eyes staring blankly. They coughed desperately to remind him, signaling for him to snap out of it, salute, and receive Vice Admiral Borsalino. But Magellan's eyes remained blank, as if he had lost his soul.
Borsalino took the initiative to step forward, intending to speak first, greet this future top official of Impel Down, and quickly complete the handover process.
Just as she was about to speak, the jailer next to him finally nudged Magellan's arm gently.
"Ahem! Lord Magellan!"
The urgent reminder finally dragged Magellan back to reality. His body shuddered, and he instantly snapped out of his trance. Realizing his blunder, a subtle, barely noticeable blush instantly rose on his cheeks.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
He quickly composed himself, suppressing the strange emotions in his heart, and forced a serious, dignified expression as he stepped forward. Yet he still could not help but glance at Borsalino from time to time, his speech falling half a beat slower than usual.
Borsalino found it amusing. Had Magellan taken the wrong medicine? Why had she never seen him like this in the original series?
She casually shook hands with Magellan, saying, "Hello, Chief Magellan. I have come by order of Fleet Admiral Kong to deliver the great pirate John."
"H-Hello, Vice Admiral Borsalino. Please rest assured... leave the rest to... u-us."
Looking down at his hand being held, Magellan forced down the rising corners of his mouth, but the sweat dripping from his forehead betrayed his inner embarrassment, causing the Marine soldiers and jailers to shake their heads repeatedly.
Having successfully handed over John and all the other pirates to the Impel Down jailers, Borsalino exchanged a few brief words with Magellan, and without staying any longer, led her team back to the warship.
With the turning of the paddles, the warship slowly departed from the Impel Down port and sailed back into the open sea.
Watching Borsalino's warship gradually recede into the distance, Magellan muttered blankly to himself, "When will we meet again?"
Hearing this, the surrounding jailers made disgusted expressions.
"Eww..."
"You bastards!" Magellan realized he had spoken his inner thoughts aloud. "You did not hear anything!"
"Roger that!" the jailers replied in unison, though their faces all wore an "I get it" look.
"Damn it, toilet, toilet..." Magellan no longer cared about anyone's expressions, as that feeling of being on the verge of bursting out had returned with full force.
Half an hour later...
"Who is it?! You left no paper again! Where is your civic duty?!"
Magellan's voice echoed through Impel Down once again...
On the warship, just as everyone thought the mission had ended successfully and was preparing to return to Headquarters for rest, the transponder snail on Borsalino's waist suddenly began to vibrate. This chapter is updated first at NovelPing.
Screech!
The transponder snail slowly opened its eyes, the patterns on its shell changing to mimic Sengoku's appearance, but its expression was solemn, without a hint of his usual warmth.
"Borsalino!" Sengoku's voice was urgent.
"I am here. What are your orders, Admiral Sengoku?" Borsalino rubbed the bridge of her nose and replied, while thinking to herself that this was rather strange; this was not Sengoku's usual composed style.
"What is your current location?"
"I have just left the waters of Impel Down and am on my way back to Marineford."
Upon receiving her reply, Sengoku immediately said in a deep voice, "Head to the waters surrounding Mary Geoise immediately to provide backup! On his way to Mary Geoise to report on his duties, Fleet Admiral Kong was attacked by the great pirate, the Red Earl. Currently, all communications have been cut off, and the battle situation is unknown!"
"Garp is already rushing there at full speed to support, but it will take him at least two days to arrive at the earliest."
"Your speed is fast. Support the Fleet Admiral immediately! Their last communication was around Mambo Island!"
After the call disconnected, the deck fell into a dead silence.
Borsalino's heterochromatic eyes flickered with a faint light, as all her memories regarding the Red Earl surfaced in her mind.
The Red Earl, Patrick Redfield, known as "Red the Aloof," was a legendary pirate who stood on equal footing with Roger, Whitebeard, and Rocks. In the Great Pirate Era, he would eventually possess the Zoan-type Batto Batto no Mi, Model: Vampire, which allowed him to recover from injuries and reverse his aging by draining the vitality of others. That incredible recovery ability forged his terrifying individual combat power.
Right now, he did not possess that Devil Fruit power yet, but even so, a man like him had honed his swordsmanship and Haki to their absolute peak, to the point where even the Rocks Pirates back then could not recruit him.
The aging Fleet Admiral Kong would likely struggle to gain any advantage against him. The situation was exceptionally grave.
This part of the lore had actually occurred early. But why on earth would the Red Earl attack the Marine Fleet Admiral?
Rubbing her temples, she sighed, "Well, I have to work overtime again."
Borsalino put aside her stray thoughts, turned to Momonga beside her, and explained briefly, "The Fleet Admiral has been attacked by the Red Earl. I need to rush over immediately to support him."
"The Fleet Admiral was attacked?!" Momonga's face changed drastically, filled with utter disbelief.
"Make your own way to Mambo Island near Mary Geoise. I need to get there as quickly as possible."
With that, Borsalino remained on the ship no longer. A brilliant golden light erupted around her body, and dazzling particles of light covered her entirely as her figure transformed into a pillar of light, shooting into the sky. In an instant, she vanished at the edge of the horizon, hurtling toward Mary Geoise at the speed of light.
The soldiers immediately sprang into action, the hull quickly turning around as the warship went full throttle.
"The Red Earl, huh? Another remnant of the old era. How troublesome..."