Chapter 535 · Friend

00AI-written

Chapter title page: Chapter 535: "Friend." The cover illustration is a standalone scene with Brook and another large, hairy, ape-like gym partner lifting heavy dumbbells in a workout room. A note says Brook's shirt says "muscle," matching the body-building gag. This page opens the chapter and gives the title, but it is not part of the Impel Down action. The main narrative will return to Luffy's poisoned fight with Magellan and the fate of the escapees.

Brookape-like gym partner

At the passage to Level 3, Hannibal fumes over Buggy and Mr. 3. He thinks, "... Fools...!! If you two had gotten through here and made trouble, I could have blamed it on the Chief Warden!" and also, "I could have blamed it on the Chief Warden!" A guard reports from the Level 3 passage that there are casualties from a bomb attack, but Buggy the Clown and Mr. 3 have been captured. The two prisoners lie battered at Hannibal's feet while he gloats that they were idiots to come at him.

HannibalBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3Impel Down guards

Buggy and Mr. 3 groan from the floor after losing to Hannibal. Mr. 3 says Hannibal is strong, stronger than expected, and curses him. Buggy, terrified of torture, threatens to bite his own tongue off if they torture him, then says, "... Okay... gonna bite it..." At the same time on the same floor, Mr. 2 Bon Clay runs from guards, shouting, "Out of my way, you guys!!" and "Fallen Swan's Dance Party!!!" He admits he cannot go against Magellan and that his odds of being beaten were two hundred percent, so he screams, "I'm gonna run!!"

BuggyGaldino/Mr. 3HannibalBentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayImpel Down guardsMagellan

The scene cuts back to Luffy versus Magellan. Luffy coughs and collapses in the smoke as Magellan towers over him, coated in poison. Magellan says, "... You actually brought me to my knees... A cornered rat can be fearsome...!!" but adds that the poison on Luffy's hands is more than enough to steal his ability to move. Luffy groans in pain, "Uwaa-aaahh...!!!" and tries to keep fighting with "Gomu Gomu..." Magellan coldly calls it painful and pitiful while the poison spreads over Luffy's arms.

LuffyMagellan

Luffy forces another attack despite the poison. He calls out "Twin..." and then launches "Jet Pistol!!!" while Magellan puffs himself up with "Poison Blowfish!!!" Luffy's fists punch into Magellan's swollen poison-covered body with heavy impact sounds, and Magellan exhales poison bubbles or balls. One of the globes shoots back toward Luffy, who reacts in shock. The exchange shows Luffy still landing Gear Second blows, but Magellan's entire body remains a poison trap even when he is hit directly.

LuffyMagellan

Magellan releases more poison globes with a "hyun!!" as Luffy keeps trying to strike him. Luffy calls "Jet Pistol!!!" again, but Magellan absorbs and redirects the attack through his poison-coated body. The poison balls and splashes fill the panels, and Magellan answers by raising "Hydra" again. Luffy is thrown back and cries, "Uwah!!!" as the renewed poison dragon forms around him. The battle continues to punish Luffy for every attempt to touch Magellan, even when the blow itself lands.

LuffyMagellan

Luffy coughs and wonders if the haze is fog. Magellan then unleashes "Poison Cloud," spreading a broad toxic mist across the floor. The cloud rolls over the battlefield while Luffy coughs, gasps, and struggles to see. Magellan laughs or exhales with "Fufufu...!!" as Luffy is forced to endure poison in the air on top of poison on his body. This page marks a shift from direct Hydra strikes to a suffocating, area-wide attack that attacks Luffy's senses and breathing.

LuffyMagellan

The Poison Cloud worsens Luffy's condition. He asks, "My eyes are blurry...?" and, "My ears aren't working right...?" Magellan tells him, "Your hands... are already useless. The poison has already stolen everything from you." Luffy lies in the smoke, barely able to move, while Magellan stands over the swirling dark cloud. Elsewhere, guards call out, "Hey!!! Guard!!!!" from behind the bars, showing that the chaos is still spreading through the prison as Luffy's body begins shutting down.

LuffyMagellanImpel Down guards

Luffy demands, "Tell me the truth... what the hell is going on upstairs...!!?" but the guards answer, "Nothing..." and, "Nothing at all." Magellan strikes Luffy across the battlefield with a heavy blow, sending him crashing into the floor while saying nothing. Luffy pants and coughs, and Magellan watches the battered intruder with the line, "What fearsome determination..." Even poisoned, deafened and blurred, Luffy is still focused on Ace and the prison above instead of on his own survival.

LuffyMagellanImpel Down guardsPortgas D. Ace

Magellan continues beating Luffy down. Luffy is slammed into the rocks with a huge impact and cries, "Uwaa-ahh!!!" while Magellan calls him "pathetic." Luffy struggles through the heat and poison, but Magellan asks, "You haven't had enough...!?" and brings Hydra back around him. The poison dragon curls through the chamber as Luffy lies near the ground, gasping, "Hot...!! Haa... haa!!! Hot!!!" The scene makes his defeat feel inevitable: he is hurt, poisoned, overheated and still refusing to stop.

LuffyMagellan

Magellan stands over Luffy's collapsed, poison-covered body and pronounces judgment: "This is your sentence, intruder: For 24 hours... you will suffer... and then you will truly fall into hell." Luffy lies almost motionless in the poison at Magellan's feet. The Chief Warden's silhouette dominates the page, turning the battle into an execution of sentence rather than a fight. Luffy's punishment is not immediate death; Magellan wants the poison and the prison itself to make him suffer first.

LuffyMagellan

Magellan explains that with this level of exposure there is no way Luffy can be cured. Luffy, his face swallowed by poison, still groans, "Ace...!!!" Guards praise the Chief Warden: "Chief Warden Magellan!! Good work!!" and ask what to do with Strawhat Luffy. Magellan answers that Luffy will die soon enough, but will be in the way if left there. He orders, "Throw him down the central tower to Level 5!!" The guards obey, sending the defeated Luffy toward Freezing Hell.

LuffyMagellanPortgas D. AceImpel Down guards

Magellan receives a report that something strange has happened at the passage to Level 3. He asks, "What happened...?" but the guards are not sure. In Level 5, Freezing Hell, prisoners mock and suffer in the cold. One asks whether a frozen inmate is dead, and another says maybe he was frozen to Goro in the future. A prisoner laughs, "Looks like Frostbite. You don't have long," only for his own finger to fall off. The icy level is a brutal contrast to the heat of Level 4, and a new inmate is spotted.

MagellanLuffyLevel 5 prisonersImpel Down guards

Level 5, Freezing Hell, is shown in full: an enormous frozen cavern with cells, barred windows, rifles, ice and shivering prisoners. A starving prisoner cries, "I can't even get a bite of bread...!!!" Another notices the dumped body and says, "Hm? Hey, look!" The guards or prisoners shout, "Looks like we got a newbie!!" Luffy lies in the snow and ice, soaked with poison and nearly lifeless, as the cold begins to claim him on top of the venom Magellan left in his body.

LuffyLevel 5 prisonersImpel Down guards

Prisoners in Level 5 call out to the newcomer: "Hey!! What's your name!? What's your bounty, newbie!?" but quickly realize he is already no good. One says he has gotten the poison sentence. At the passage from Level 4 to Level 3, Magellan arrives and sees the devastation at Hannibal's post. He asks, "What the hell happened here!?" and realizes, "Hannibal, while you were here... you were wiped out...!!?" Bodies and defeated guards cover the floor where Hannibal was supposed to hold the passage.

LuffyMagellanHannibalLevel 5 prisonersImpel Down guards

Magellan grabs Hannibal by the face and shakes him awake: "Wake up, Hannibal!! What happened here!?" Hannibal begs, "Chief Warden!! Please let go!!!" and apologizes, admitting, "I... I hate torture!! I let my guard down!!" He curses the okama bastard who abandoned them. Magellan asks whether the escapee used Okama Kenpo, and a guard explains that the prisoner was in Crocodile's Baroque Works and was known as Mr. 2. Magellan does not care about excuses and says it is only a matter of time before Mr. 2 is captured.

MagellanHannibalBentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayCrocodileImpel Down guards

The prison staff regroup after the Level 3 passage incident. Magellan asks about the riot on Level 2, and a guard reports that it has been suppressed for the most part. Magellan orders the forces gathered on Level 4 to go up to Level 3, leaves Sadi-chan in command, and dispatches the Demon Beast Guards to handle the rest. He tells the staff to clean up the mess and says they will return to business as usual while he heads to the closed place. A guard asks what to do with Buggy and Mr. 3, and Hannibal says he will take responsibility.

MagellanHannibalSadi-chanDemon Beast GuardsBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3Impel Down guards

Hannibal and the guards haul Buggy and Mr. 3 away as the level settles down. Hannibal tells Magellan, "Take care, Vice Warden," and Magellan replies, "Yeah." Buggy and Mr. 3 groan after escaping torture only to be dragged off again. One says, "W... W... We escaped from torture!!" and asks, "A... all right, what now?" Another answers that it is obvious: they have to hurry as quickly as possible. Bon Clay suddenly appears and announces with fierce resolve, "We're going to save Straw-chan!!!"

Bentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3HannibalMagellanImpel Down guards

Buggy and Mr. 3 are stunned when Bon Clay says they must rescue Luffy. They ask whether he heard Luffy was taken to Level 5 and drowned in Magellan's poison, insisting there is no hope and that they would die like dogs. Bon Clay admits, "I don't care if I die like a dog or like an okama! When I turned my back on Straw-chan while he was fighting Magellan, I left my life there as well...!!" He says he swore to return to save Luffy even if it meant his death. When asked why, he screams, "Because we're friends!!! I don't need any other reason!!!"

Bentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3LuffyMagellan

SBS question corner page. A reader from China, Zhang Xing Cheung of the Panda Pirates, asks whether the buildings and landscape on the island of women were intentionally made to look like China. Oda answers that Amazon Lily was modeled after China and comments on elegant settings, Chinese women, Chinese dresses, and the Panda Pirates internet group. Another reader asks Oda to make Chopper a pet, or Nami's pet; Oda jokes that he is being timed and insists it is not him causing trouble. A final reader, Kuri, asks whether Odacchi will come by tomorrow, and Oda answers, "Sure- come where!!?"

Eiichiro OdaChopperNamiAmazon Lily womenPanda Pirates

No description for this page.

End of chapter21 pages

Discussion

00AI-written

Brookape-like gym partner

HannibalBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3Impel Down guards

BuggyGaldino/Mr. 3HannibalBentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayImpel Down guardsMagellan

LuffyMagellan

LuffyMagellanImpel Down guards

LuffyMagellanImpel Down guardsPortgas D. Ace

LuffyMagellan

LuffyMagellanPortgas D. AceImpel Down guards

MagellanLuffyLevel 5 prisonersImpel Down guards

LuffyLevel 5 prisonersImpel Down guards

LuffyMagellanHannibalLevel 5 prisonersImpel Down guards

MagellanHannibalBentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayCrocodileImpel Down guards

MagellanHannibalSadi-chanDemon Beast GuardsBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3Impel Down guards

Bentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3HannibalMagellanImpel Down guards

Bentham/Mr. 2 Bon ClayBuggyGaldino/Mr. 3LuffyMagellan

Eiichiro OdaChopperNamiAmazon Lily womenPanda Pirates

No description for this page.

End of chapter21 pages