Super Card System

Chapter 552: Successful Escape

“How… how is this possible!?”

Gion’s hands slammed against the railing, her whole body trembling.

It could be said that the appearance of that yellow submarine was a huge blow to Gion!

Whether it was an airship or another warship for the rendezvous, Gion could understand. But specifically a submarine? That Gion couldn’t wrap her head around!

This was the calm belt, after all, with fierce sea kings lurking beneath the surface. How did a submarine manage to get here!?

Weren’t they afraid of attracting the attention of the sea kings and getting the submarine sunk!?

Gion was so angry she was shaking all over because she finally realized that she had been completely played by Ian this time!

Ian hadn’t even considered escaping from the surface or from the sky. He had used a method that nobody had thought of: escaping from underwater!

From his ambush and seizure of the Navy warships, to impersonating Vice-Admiral Momonga and the Pirates Empress, the entire prison raid plan unfolded seamlessly, with even the final escape route arranged in such an unexpected way. This was a meticulously planned, flawless prison raid operation! (T/N: Ian Scofield!)

If there were still ways for Gion to intercept targets on the surface and in the sky, then when it came to this submarine, she would truly lose her mind!

Once they entered the water, nobody would be able to track their movements. There were no weapons on the Navy warships to deal with underwater targets, and seawater was the nemesis of Devil Fruit users. Gion couldn’t even dive into the water herself to chase after them.

Failure! The operation to intercept and suppress Ian was about to completely fail!

With this in mind, Gion immediately shouted, “Quick! Open fire! Sink that submarine before they dive!”

However, sinking a submarine with artillery was no easy task. Submarines were not like surface ships; there was only one entrance exposed on the water’s surface, with the rest concealed beneath the sea. At such a distance, hitting such a small target with artillery was purely a matter of luck!

Under Gion’s command, the Navy finally snapped out of it and quickly adjusted their cannons, firing towards the opposite side.

Meanwhile, the prisoners were cheering, one by one jumping into the open entrance of the submarine.

To be honest, even they were extremely surprised when they saw that the rendezvous vessel turned out to be a submarine.

“Trafalgar, is this your ship?” Luffy’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the Heart Pirates logo on the submarine, asking Trafalgar Law, “What’s its name?”

“The Polar Tang!” Trafalgar Law adjusted his hat proudly as he spoke.

That’s right, this submarine was Law’s pirate ship. In fact, after Law and Urouge joined, Ian had three ships in his possession: the Ark Maxim, Urouge’s pirate ship, and Law’s submarine.

Originally, Ian planned to use the Ark Maxim to the rendezvous with his group, but its jet-powered bivalve had limited usage time, and the Ark Maxim had already been exposed at the Marine Headquarters once. Ian speculated that the Marines might anticipate his departure by air and take measures against it. Despite being made of gold, the Ark Maxim was ultimately just a ship. If it were hit by Marine artillery, it would be in trouble. 

So after careful consideration, when setting up contingency plans, Ian decided to use Law’s submarine.

However, Law’s submarine also had its drawbacks. One was its relatively small interior space. Don’t get it wrong; in fact, the overall size of Law’s submarine was not much different from a regular ship. However, because it needed to navigate underwater, it needed to be more sturdy to withstand pressure, which led to a compressed interior space. This was also why Ian had previously mentioned it being “a bit cramped.”

Of course, although it would be cramped, fitting everyone here was still not a problem. Ian only released prisoners from four floors, and some of them were already killed in combat with the guards and Magellan, so there were currently only a little over a hundred prisoners. It would be a bit uncomfortable, but they could still squeeze in.

As for the other drawback, it was the issue of navigating in the Calm Belt. Indeed, submarines would attract the attention of Sea Kings, which was a huge risk.

However, Ian came up with a solution, which was to borrow the Sea Serpents, the two snakes driving the ship from the Kuja Pirates!

These two Sea Serpents carrying the ship of the Kuja Pirates, although they might be smaller in size compared to some Sea Kings, it didn’t mean they were weak. In fact, these two Sea Serpents were very special, with poisonous Sea King-class creatures. Even some larger Sea Kings might not dare to provoke them. That’s why the ship of the Kuja Pirates could freely navigate in the Calm Belt.

For Ian’s request, Boa Hancock naturally wouldn’t refuse. So after Ian and the others set off on the Marine ship, the Kuja Pirates began to modify the submarine for them. Doroni and Matthew stayed behind with members of the Red Heart Pirates, waiting for the modifications to be completed before piloting the submarine to catch up from behind.

If someone were to jump into the water now and dive into the sea, they would find that Law’s submarine was now being pulled forward by two Sea Serpents with steel cables. The reins controlling the Sea Serpents’ movement were tied to the rear rudder. This way, the operator could control the Sea Serpents’ movement by changing the direction of the rudder from inside the cockpit.

Ian didn’t know exactly when the submarine would arrive, he had just estimated. He had Jinbe dive into the water to observe. When he saw the submarine appear, he would quickly notify him so he could go and retrieve that idiot with the weird hairstyle.

But when Magellan saw Jinbe diving into the water, he worried that there might be ships from the Fish-Man Pirates capable of sailing under the sea. Seeing his expression, Ian guessed his thoughts. In order to prevent Magellan from yelling and alerting Gion, he had no choice but to silence Magellan’s mouth for the time being…

The prisoners eagerly jumped into the submarine one by one, while Crocodile, Jinbe, and Iva stood up against the Navy’s artillery fire, deflecting the shells that could potentially hit the submarine.

After Ian carried Enel back, ignoring his protests, he shoved him directly into the entrance. Then he turned to Jinbe and the others and said, “Quick, get in!”

Without further ado, everyone followed suit and jumped in. However, when Iva jumped in, there was a little accident; his face was too big, and he got stuck at the entrance!

In the end, he had to inject himself with hormones, transforming into a woman to slim down his figure and squeeze through.

Once everyone had jumped in, Ian cut a cannonball in half with one stroke. He waved to the rapidly approaching Marine ship, bidding farewell with a gesture, then leaped into the entrance and casually covered it with the lid.

After Ian jumped in, Doroni and the others quickly submerged. By the time the Marine ship finally arrived at the entrance of Impel Down, the submarine’s silhouette had completely vanished from the sea surface…

“Damn it!” Helplessly watching Ian and the others disappear before her eyes, even the well-mannered Gion couldn’t help but curse, stomping fiercely on the deck.

It was a mistake, a complete mistake! If they had known they would escape in this way, they shouldn’t have placed the warship so far away earlier.

Magellan couldn’t help but sigh. As a result, a cloud of poison gas spread across the deck, causing the surrounding Marines and prison guards to quickly retreat. However, the effectiveness of his poison gas wasn’t as significant in the open air, so it didn’t incapacitate anyone. He simply called someone to unlock his Seastone handcuffs and then asked Gion, “What now? Does the Navy have any interception plans left?”

“No, there isn’t!” Vice-Admiral Gion shook her head. “Even if they did, they left from underwater. Who can track their movements?”

“This prison break at Impel Down is mainly my responsibility!” Magellan said remorsefully. “I will submit my resignation to the Marine Headquarters…”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help much!” Vice-Admiral Gion, however, responded to him in turn. “I also bear some responsibility, but for now, let’s focus on fixing Impel Down, even though it’s empty now…”

…

Meanwhile, underwater, two gigantic sea snakes were thrashing their bodies, propelling a sleek submarine forward.

Although the prisoners were squeezed together in the submarine, it didn’t stop them from excitedly cheering and celebrating.

Members of the Red Heart Pirates brought out beer stored in the submarine, once again causing cheers among the prisoners. They laughed heartily, raised their cups, and clinked them with everyone around, regardless of whether they knew each other.

Finally escaping from the prison known as Impel Down, many prisoners couldn’t help but shed tears when they remembered the unbearable torture they endured there. Some even contemplated turning over a new leaf and getting married back in their hometowns.

But more than anything, there was a longing for freedom.

Only those who have lost it truly understand how precious freedom is…

Many people were lying on the submarine’s transparent windows, watching the scene outside. They saw the fierce sea snakes pulling the submarine forward and the shadows of huge sea kings passing by from time to time. They prayed nervously, “You can’t see us, you can’t see us…”

Bepo warned Franky, insisting that he must wear pants on her ship, but Franky, Luffy, and Chopper, who were dancing in celebration, completely ignored him…

Various expressions played out on this submarine, but they, who were celebrating wildly, had no idea how much shock their escape would bring to the world…

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