The molten air of Level 4 hung thick with acrid smoke, searing fire, and the cacophony of collapsing stone. Guards screamed futile orders, prisoners roared with liberated laughter, and through the anarchy, a single name echoed like a fervent prayer.
"Captain Gojo!"
"Hail Captain Gojo!"
"Our Savior!"
Gojo Satoru rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh as he strolled past a ruined tower, the subtle shimmer of his Infinity deflecting the pervasive heat and debris. Behind him trailed a throng of freed prisoners—dozens rapidly swelling into hundreds—their chains shattered, their eyes gleaming with manic devotion.
Gojo sighed, muttering to himself, "Why… why do I always attract the weirdos?"
A bald prisoner, his chest a canvas of intricate tattoos, shoved his way to the front of the pack, shouting with fervor, "Captain Gojo! Lead us to freedom!"
Gojo fixed him with an utterly flat, unimpressed look. "Buddy, I'm not leading you anywhere. I'm not your captain."
His denial was utterly ignored, swallowed whole by the crowd's rising, deafening chant.
"Captain Gojo! Captain Gojo!"
Gojo muttered under his breath, "I swear, if one of you constructs a Jolly Roger out of toilet paper, I'm leaving you all here."
As Gojo pushed deeper into the infernal heart of Level 4, the undeterred mob trailed behind him with faithful zeal. Guards attempted to form defensive lines, their spears and rifles trembling in uncertain hands, but the sheer, unadulterated chaos rendered their efforts pathetic.
"Stop the intruder!" One guard shrieked.
"Protect the prison!"
Gojo merely tilted his head, a picture of pure boredom. "You know, for a maximum-security hellhole, you guys are remarkably bad at your jobs."
With a lazy, almost dismissive flick of his wrist, a surge of Red energy blasted through their ranks, scattering them like leaves in a hurricane. Stone fractured, towers groaned and collapsed, and the prisoners' cheers intensified.
"Captain Gojo!"
"Unstoppable!"
Gojo pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "I am not unstoppable. I just… refuse to be stopped. There's a nuanced difference."
One prisoner—skinny and wide-eyed—scrambled up beside him. "Captain! What's your Devil Fruit called?!"
Gojo groaned. "The 'Mysterious Fruit'."
The mob gasped in collective awe. To them, his sarcastic denial only deepened the enigma.
"Captain Gojo! The man with a strange fruit!"
"He's too powerful!"
Gojo dragged a hand down his face. "Why did I even bother breaking you people out?"
As if the bedlam were insufficient, a new wave of chaos erupted as the Level 4 beasts were unleashed. Giant lions, monstrous wolves, and oversized alligators roared with primal fury as their cages burst open in the commotion.
The guards clung to a desperate hope. "The beasts will tear him apart!"
Gojo glanced up at the stampede of monstrous creatures, scratching his head. "Oh, great. More pets."
The first lion lunged, its maw gaping wide. Gojo didn't flinch. Infinity shimmered imperceptibly—the beast's fangs halted mere inches from his face. Gojo reached out and gently booped its nose. "No biting."
The lion whined, collapsing like a chastised puppy, unconscious from a minuscule pulse of cursed energy.
The prisoners roared with triumphant laughter. "Captain Gojo tamed the beast!"
"He's a god!"
"Let's not exaggerate," Gojo muttered. Then, as an alligator charged, he flicked his finger. Blue! The resulting gravitational pull yanked the beast into a wall with such force that it knocked itself out instantly.
Gojo stretched languidly. "There. Problem solved. Can we please move on?"
His followers, however, did not cease their cheering. They danced, waved their broken chains like banners, and chanted his name with greater fervor than before, their voices causing the very cavern to tremble.
Gojo scowled. "You're all louder than the magma pits. My ears are suing for auditory harassment."
…
[Marineford]
Far above, in the strategic nerve center of Marineford, Den Den Mushi transponders buzzed with frantic, overlapping reports pouring in from Impel Down.
"—This is Level 4! The intruder is unstoppable! He has liberated hundreds of prisoners!"
"Level 4 is in complete chaos! The beasts have been neutralized!"
"Repeat: the primary instigator identifies himself as… Gojo! The others are calling him Captain Gojo!"
The war room fell into a stunned silence. High-ranking Marines exchanged glances of sheer disbelief.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku slammed his fist on the central table. "How is this possible?! Wasn't he restrained with Seastone cuffs? Impel Down has never suffered a breach of this magnitude!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned, her sharp eyes glinting with analytical concern. "The reports… they describe abilities that defy any known Devil Fruit classification. He arrests projectiles in midair, he manipulates spatial dimensions themselves."
Admiral Akainu growled, his fists already smoldering with latent magma. "Another monster. As if Whitebeard weren't enough…"
Sengoku's jaw tightened visibly. "Alert the World Government immediately. They must be apprised of the full extent of this crisis."
…
[The Five Elders' Debate]
In the hallowed, imposing chamber of Mariejois, the Five Elders sat in grim silence as Sengoku's dire report was relayed to them.
The bald elder with a prominent scar adjusted his glasses. "A single pirate capable of breaching Level 4 of Impel Down… what manner of power is he wielding?"
The bearded elder tapped his ornate cane against the marble floor. "The guards insist he has displayed no standard Devil Fruit transformations. Yet his abilities exhibit traits of both Paramecia and Logia types."
The monk-like elder furrowed his brow in deep thought. "Could it be an undocumented Mythical Zoan? No… the profile does not align."
The elder with long curly hair leaned forward, his expression grave. "Spatial manipulation, gravitational force… it resembles a power far beyond any we have catalogued."
The calm, sharp-eyed elder finally spoke, his voice resonating with authority. "It matters little what we label his power. What matters is immediate containment. Should Impel Down fall, the balance of the entire sea will be thrown into chaos."
The scarred elder's glasses flashed under the light. "Dispatch CP0 to Marineford. They will be prepared to intercept should this 'Gojo' escape."
The bearded elder shook his head in firm disagreement. "No. To reveal CP0 so openly would be a profound display of weakness. The world must never know we felt threatened by a single man."
The curly-haired elder nodded in assent. "Besides… Warden Magellan remains. If anyone can end this insurrection, it is he."
The monk-like elder steepled his fingers thoughtfully. "Then we must place our trust in Magellan… and hope that this 'Gojo' possesses limits."
But as the chamber lapsed into a heavy silence, a palpable, unresolved unease lingered in the air.
"What kind of Devil Fruit… could possibly produce such an ability?"
No one possessed an answer. Silence loomed..
…
[Back to Hell]
Meanwhile, deep within the sweltering bowels of Level 4, Gojo sat cross-legged upon a half-melted rock, arms crossed, glaring with profound irritation at the crowd of prisoners chanting before him.
"CAPTAIN GOJO! CAPTAIN GOJO!"
He groaned, the sound lost to the din. "I literally saved you all pro bono. This is my karmic punishment, isn't it?"
A heavily tattooed man approached, bowing with deep, exaggerated reverence. "Captain Gojo, what is your grand strategy? Shall we storm Level 2? Shatter the main gates? Overthrow the Marines themselves?"
Gojo squinted at him. "The plan? The plan is… I save my friends. You all can… go knit sweaters or something. I don't particularly care."
The man blinked, utterly bewildered. "Knitting…?"
"Yes, knitting. It's a much safer hobby."
The crowd erupted in renewed laughter and even more fervent chants. "We will knit with Captain Gojo!"
Gojo let his head drop into his hands. "I genuinely despise this place."
A thunderous, earth-shattering roar suddenly cut through the laughter. The very walls of Level 4 quaked violently. Lava surged from nearby pits as the ground trembled.
Gojo looked up, tilting his head with mild interest. "Hmm. That didn't sound like knitting."
From the oppressive shadows, a palpable, poisonous aura preceded the Warden himself. Magellan's massive figure emerged wreathed in a cloud of vibrant, lethal venom, his face contorted in unbridled fury, his body continuously oozing deadly toxins.
The prisoners froze instantly, their fervor extinguished by pure terror.
"W-Warden Magellan!" Someone stammered, the voice choked with fear.
Gojo rose to his feet, dusting off his pants with deliberate slowness. "Finally. Someone with actual presence. I was growing weary of the fan club auditions."
Magellan's venom hissed violently, dissolving the stone where it dripped from his body. His voice was a guttural, terrifying snarl. "You have caused enough chaos, pirate. This ends now."
Gojo smirked. "Oh, so you're the head janitor. It took you long enough to arrive for the cleanup."
The prisoners gasped collectively, a wave of fear and awe washing over them just before they began collapsing, instantly incapacitated by the potent poison gas emanating from Magellan's very form.
"Woah… scary," Gojo hummed, entirely unaffected.
And high above, across the vast seas, Marines, Admirals, and the Elders themselves waited with bated breath for the outcome.
Would Magellan truly be enough to halt the man they now called—
Captain Gojo?!!
....
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