The pirates sat and forgot, and they really believed the nine truths and one lie.

The once invincible Knights of God, Saint Qilingom, now lay sprawled on the ground like a lump of mud. After being ganged up on by the black sperm, almost all of his teeth had fallen out, and his once handsome face was swollen like a pig's head, with blood foam on his breath.

His eyes flashed with resentment and despair as he secretly tried to activate the strange power of his mythical beast, attempting to use hypnosis to control the pirates present who lacked Haki.

"Trying to pull some tricks? Dream on!"

Several black sperm discovered that the Celestial Dragons were still not behaving themselves, so they tightly fastened the stone handcuffs and shackles that they had just removed from Barrett onto the wrists and ankles of Saint Kiringom.

The moment the Seastone touched his skin, Saint Qilingom's body stiffened abruptly, and all the power he had tried to gather deflated instantly like a punctured balloon.

The deep-seated weakness and the despair of being unable to use his abilities extinguished his last shred of resistance.

He could only stare intently at the black sperm around him with his eyes that seemed to be spitting fire. If looks could kill, these little black dwarfs would have died a thousand times over.

Unfortunately, he didn't even have the strength to curse anymore. His whole face was in so much pain that his nerves were twitching. He dared not think about what fate awaited him. Perhaps all the wicked things the Celestial Dragons had done would be repeated on Sir Giringolm.

The problem of the prisoners, and an even more serious issue concerning the life and death of everyone, was placed before the pirates who had just escaped.

Standing on the makeshift platform formed by Avaro Pizarro, which barely held up the ruins of Impel Down, they looked around and felt a chill run down their spines.

As far as the eye could see, the once azure sea had completely disappeared, replaced by a boundless sea of ​​venom, constantly churning with bubbles and corpses.

The venom released by Magellan after it lost control was corrosive and toxic to a degree that is beyond human comprehension.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Damn it..." To demonstrate the terror of this sea of ​​poison, the giant barrel Basque Chote grabbed a helpless prisoner and, amidst his cries of alarm and curses, threw him into the poisonous sea below without hesitation.

The prisoner didn't even get to utter a complete scream; the moment his body came into contact with the venom, his flesh melted away as rapidly as ice and snow exposed to the scorching sun.

All the onlookers could only watch as he struggled frantically in the venom for less than a few seconds before turning into a pale skeleton covered with bits of rotting flesh, which then sank into the bottomless sea of ​​poison.

The pirates who witnessed this horrifying scene gasped in shock, their last shred of hope shattered.

"This is so poisonous! What on earth is this thing?!"

"What kind of ship can sail in such a toxic sea?"

"Who can fly? I'll take you with me, I'll pay you any amount of Pelés."

Shouts rose and fell. In the world of One Piece, the ability to fly is extremely rare. Although top-tier experts can stay airborne using the same principle as Moonwalk, for the vast majority of pirates, the sea is their only path.

Not every pirate can use Moonwalk. Now that the road has become a dead end, they are like being trapped on a deserted island that is constantly dissolving.

Just then, they heard Avaro Pizarro's tired and anxious voice from below, "Quick...quickly think of a solution."

His voice was filled with suppressed pain, "This venom... is frantically corroding my body. Impel Down won't last much longer. Once this island falls apart, you will all die with me."

The King of Evil's reminder made everyone's hearts leap into their throats. Moreover, the space on the outer platform was already limited. The powerful pirates could barely stand, while the weaker or injured pirates could only squeeze into the passageway below that had not yet completely collapsed.

They stared longingly upwards, pinning their hopes for survival on the fact that the important figures would find a way to leave first, so that they could squeeze up and find a chance to escape together.

The black sperm turned their gaze to the center of the distant poisonous sea, to the hundreds-of-meters-tall, ever-expanding, venomous skeleton monster that Magellan had transformed into. It was not yet fully formed; time was not on the pirates' side.

Barrett, now rescued, slowly opened his eyes. The warm sunlight shone on his battered body, bringing a long-lost and almost forgotten sense of comfort. "Let my father go, I can walk by myself."

The black sperm gently placed him on the ground as instructed. Barrett gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain that seemed to tear his body apart, and struggled to bend his knees, using his arms to support himself on the ground, managing to sit up with difficulty.

He moved his wrists and ankles, which had regained their freedom, and felt the power slowly flowing through his body again. He took a deep breath of the air of freedom.

Have you ever met Shiryu of the Rain?

Barrett's gaze swept over the faces around him, his eyes burning with a deep-seated hatred. "I'm going to kill him with my own hands!"

Everyone shook their heads. The former warden had run away faster than anyone else, disappearing as early as the beginning of the chaos. He was probably long gone by now.

Barrett knew he was in extremely poor condition, his blood and qi were depleted, his wounds were still bleeding, and his fighting strength was less than one-tenth of what it used to be. But his pride as a strongman would not allow him to remain lying down.

"Lord Bucky will discuss your matter with you personally later, Barrett."

A black sperm added, seemingly well aware of Barrett's personality: "Of course, given your temperament, Lord Bucky wouldn't mind a fight before we talk..."

Barrett snorted and didn't answer immediately, but a look of interest flashed in his eyes. He was indeed very curious about what that cowardly apprentice on Roger's ship had gone through back then.

That's how he became the clown Bucky, who can stir up world events and even make the World Government so wary. Now that he's seriously injured, he has nowhere else to go for the time being.

Just as everyone was at a loss about how to leave this sea of ​​poison, in an inconspicuous crack in the bricks and stones in a corner of the platform, a vibrant green plant seedling broke through the hard rock and grew wildly at an incredible speed.

"What is that?!" The pirates immediately tensed up and assumed fighting stances.

The plant's enormous leaves slowly opened to the sides, revealing a strange figure hidden deep within the plant, its body half black and half pale, with an eerie smile on its face.

"Leave the experimental equipment and important personnel here to me! I'll take them to see Lord Buggy."

The newcomer was none other than White Zetsu, and the black sperm breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

"I've been waiting for you forever, hurry up, this lousy place is about to sink," a black sperm urged impatiently.

They knew that although White Zetsu were not strong in combat, they were experts in infiltration, reconnaissance, and transportation. Their ability to use plants for ultra-long-distance transmission was the best solution to their current predicament.

White Zetsu chuckled as he split his body, and the two White Zetsu that emerged from his body approached Kiringom Saint and Barrett, neither of whom offered any resistance.

The white monster, like an unfolded human skin, quickly wrapped around the two of them. A moment later, its main body, along with the two people wrapped by the white monster, seemed to sink into water, gradually disappearing into the cracks between the bricks of the building along with the giant plant.

Seeing such bizarre Devil Fruit abilities, the pirates' opinion of the Clown Pirates rose to an even higher level.