MTLNOVEL Chapter 010: An Era Is About to End
Located in the Calm Belt along the Grand Line, Impel Down had fallen into chaos unlike anything in its history.
Not even the infamous breakout of the Golden Lion had caused such turmoil.
Now, with Luffy leading a breakout force of former prisoners, including Ivankov and two Warlords of the Sea, the prison's upper levels had become a battlefield. The group charged upward, trying to escape the impenetrable fortress.
Meanwhile, the unexpected intruder Blackbeard encountered Magellan, who was in the midst of chasing down Luffy.
As a Venom-Venom Fruit user, Magellan's strength was overwhelming—and he crushed Blackbeard and his crew without mercy.
His monstrous venomous dragons surged forward like a river, consuming the Blackbeard Pirates in an instant.
Leaving only one sentence behind, he walked away with his back to them.
"I don't have time to ask why you came here."
As the venom corroded their bodies, Blackbeard's crew could only watch in disbelief as Magellan left. None of them had imagined he would be so powerful.
---
Compared to the chaos above, Level 6: Eternal Hell remained eerily quiet.
The prisoners who hadn't escaped slumped hopelessly inside their cells, defeated.
But a few… kept their eyes locked on the giant frozen cage at the far end.
Crack… crack… crack…
The sound of ice fracturing echoed softly.
"There's no mistaking it,"
Douglas Bullet muttered, eyes wide with disbelief.
"That thing… is really waking up."
"Bullet, you seem to know a lot about that thing."
The adjacent cell's occupant, the Red the Aloof, Patrick Redfield, looked over with curiosity.
Thanks to his unique form of Observation Haki, Redfield could feel what others couldn't:
That massive ice cage—though it appeared unbreakable—was coming apart.
Its collapse was only a matter of time.
"Tch… Who knows," Bullet said with a sigh.
"Just things I saw long ago."
He remembered a time during his travels with Roger, when they had discovered a massive stone slab and a mysterious Devil Fruit on an island in the New World.
That stone held fragmented records about a monster named Ghidorah.
A being from over a thousand years ago—a creature of immense strength and immortality...
Unfortunately, the records were incomplete, and even the name "Ghidorah" had been half-erased.
It was because of the inscription about its undying nature that Roger had dubbed it:
"The Immortal Beast — Ghidorah."
"Heh… Just a few fragments, huh?"
Redfield didn't seem convinced.
He turned his gaze toward the ice cage.
His blood began to boil.
"That aura… it makes every drop of blood in my body tremble."
"I don't think this prison can hold him much longer."
"Heh, the old man's interested too?" Bullet grinned.
"Hahahaha… If he really breaks free, maybe we've got a chance to escape…"
---
Holy Land Mary Geoise – Pangaea Castle
The seat of power in the One Piece world.
In the Room of Authority, five aged men sat together—the highest rulers in the world:
The Five Elders, leaders of the World Government and commanders of its military and espionage arms.
"Our CP0 agents are already moving," said the blond Elder with the mustache, who oversaw intelligence operations.
"We can only hope Blackbeard isn't after that thing."
"Even if that isn't his goal, what he's done already shakes the very foundations of the world," replied the Elder with the long white beard, the guardian of world history.
He had been responsible for the Ohara Incident, and for overseeing the suppression of the Void Century.
"Still afraid of that thing after all these centuries?"
"The World Government—our army, our navy—we fear nothing, not even that monster."
"So what if the seal breaks?"
The Elder in the kimono, bald and always polishing his famed blade, stood and sheathed it with finality.
"He's just a big reptile.
That was his era. Not this one."
He spoke with grim resolve.
The fifth Elder, the one who wore a black hat and rarely spoke, remained silent—but his tense expression betrayed his concern.
That creature… was legend.
> "Perhaps we're overreacting," said the Elder with the curled mustache and receding hairline.
"After hundreds of years sealed away, he may not even have the strength to pose a threat."
> "We can't take that chance," said the blond Elder firmly.
"That monster once terrified the world."
Of the five, only he and the bald swordsman had lived long enough to witness the catastrophe Ghidorah once caused.
And so, when the report came, they had no choice but to act.
---
Marineford – Navy Headquarters
Hundred of thousands of elite Marines were now assembled at the port.
Aside from a few top commanders, all were armed, tense, and prepared for war.
It wouldn't be long before Fire Fist Ace, sentenced to public execution, would be escorted in.
And when that happened—Whitebeard would come.
And so would a war unlike any before.
---
In the top floor of Marine HQ, the war council was underway.
Every top officer was present—for what would be their final meeting before battle.
But someone was missing.
Admiral Kizaru—Borsalino.
Both Aokiji and Akainu frowned when they noticed the empty seat.
As lazy and aloof as Kizaru often was, he would never skip this kind of meeting.
The only explanation was something serious.
Something so urgent he had to be dispatched immediately.
Both admirals considered asking, but sensed it was not the time. So they held their silence.
Across the room, Garp sat on the couch, chewing on donuts like he didn't have a care in the world.
But behind that carefree façade, even he was wondering the same thing:
Something's happened at Impel Down…
Will it be in time?
The justice he had followed his whole life—
All his beliefs—
This war might shatter them forever.
---
Beneath the brim of his Marine seagull cap, Sengoku looked over the room solemnly.
Then, finally, he spoke.
"Blackbeard has attacked Impel Down.
Kizaru has been dispatched to deal with him."
"In just one hour…
Fire Fist Ace will arrive through the Gates of Justice."
"And when that happens, the Whitebeard Pirates will make their move."
"We will soon stand face-to-face…
with the most powerful pirate on the seas."
"I want everyone here to give everything you have."
"This is not just about the honor of the Navy…
It's about the end of an era."
His words were heavy, final.
A silence fell over the room—one laden with tension.
Every officer could feel it:
The storm was coming.
And nothing would ever be the same again.
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