MARINES - A ONE PIECE story (ENGLISH) - Part I

CHAPTER OF HANA - I

The fortress stood in the night, like a hard and solid shadow. High, wide, strong. The thick stone bricks of its structure seemed to prevent even the thinnest trickle of air from penetrating it. All around it, a blockade of twenty battleships stood still, ready to fire with their hundreds of cannons.

It seemed eternal. Absolutely impregnable.

Impel Down.

- Impel Down in sight, vice-admiral ! Hana announced to her mentor, scanning the horizon with her binoculars.

Pinsch, beside her on the bridge, suppressed the shiver that ran down his spine.

- What an atmosphere... Not only is the place terribly gloomy, but knowing that hundreds of prisoners are swarming in there... I feel like I can hear their screams from here, it's bloodcurdling.

Wilelm put his big hand on the young doctor's shoulder and smiled.

- And yet you haven't seen anything... The treatment of the prisoners is generally terrible. The building doesn't look deep, but it actually extends down to six levels, down to the abyss. Each floor has its share of horrors and it gets worse as you go deeper into the prison...

He took the young man by the shoulders and turned him around to face him. Wilelm knew his student well and had a great affection for him. He was a brilliant young man, with a rare intelligence, but also very sensitive. He could not stand the violence of the world, which Wilelm tried to keep him away from.

- I understand if you don't want to go in with us, m'boy. If you want, you can stay on the ship. What do you prefer ?

Pinsch swallowed loudly and glanced at the prison.

- N... No. I'll come, he stammered.

Hana looked at him with a smile. She was very proud of her classmate. She liked all the boys on this team, of which she was the only woman, but Pinsch had a special place in her heart. Like a little brother, she loved to defend him, protect him, guide him.

While the three of them watched the prison silhouette in the distance, and Lieutenant Mirko held the helm firmly, Florenze and Vilot, in the hold, were focused on something else : in a large cage of sea stone, the nine members of the Swarm crew were gathered. If some of them stirred from time to time, most of them remained absolutely inert.

- I don't know what Myr's crew did to them, sighed the cook Vilot, but those pirates look completely groggy...

- They must not have been so strong after all, if those losers managed to get rid of them... Florenze muttered, rolling his eyes up.

The humiliation that Arthur had made him undergo during the tournament was still present in his mind and his resentment against the A team was tenacious. He approached the cage and observed with attention the wound that crossed the inert body of Nephila. A clean, precise, yet deep wound that the multiple layers of bandage were not enough to completely conceal. That a Warlord could be defeated by a man of his age, Florenze was dumbfounded. He refused to admit it, but he was very jealous of Arthur's power, whose sword skills were far greater than his. The call of his mentor ended his reverie. Impel Down was near, it was time to drop anchor and prepare the prisoners for landing.

...

Team B passed through the prison's main gate and underwent a thorough inspection. Their pockets were searched, their weapons inspected and their identities thoroughly checked. Wilelm, accustomed to the procedure, watched his students with amusement. As the guards handed him his weapon, Florenze growled.

- No need to be so unpleasant...

- You could say it's part of their job, Wilelm sneered. They have to be suspicious to all visitors, including soldiers. You never really get used to it...