Super Card System

Chapter 528: Magellan's stronghold

“Do you think I would let you pass me, you little bastards!?”

Magellan’s entire body was now covered in a thicker layer of the venomous membrane. The venom quickly condensed on his back, forming three venom pillars, then they shot out, dividing into more branches. The venom transformed into dragon-like heads, lunging towards both sides.

“Hydra!”

These venomous dragons behaved like predators, opening their mouths to bite at those attempting to escape. Some prisoners who were faster on their feet immediately paid the price for their hurry. They were caught off guard, the venomous dragons pierced through their bodies, covering them entirely in venom.

“Aaahhh!” The affected prisoners screamed in agony, creating a chaotic chorus.

Magellan’s venom was a paralytic neurotoxin. It not only robbed people of their ability to move but also intensified their neural sensations, amplifying the sense of pain. Additionally, due to the potent toxicity, the venom had strong corrosive properties. Once it touched the skin, it caused excruciating pain. The pain, intensified many times over due to the nature of the toxin, made it an unparalleled form of torture.

The scene was filled with agonizing screams, and even some guards who happened to be behind Magellan were unfortunately splashed with venom, also joining the chorus of screams.

Seeing the venomous dragons approaching, Luffy and the others quickly leaped away to evade. However, since Magellan controlled these venomous dragons, they naturally pursued, targeting the group as they leaped. As they saw the dragons approaching, they immediately raised their heads towards a person in mid-air.

“Candle Shield!” Mr. 3 intervened once again, creating a large shield at his feet.

However, this shield could only protect a portion of the people, leaving others who were not close to him defenseless!

Those who leaped into the air desperately twisted their bodies, trying to maneuver mid-air to evade the pursuing venomous dragons. However, under Magellan’s control, the dragons were incredibly agile, wiggling one way and then another. It seemed impossible to escape them completely.

Just when everyone thought they were about to be bitten, a tremendous and overwhelming Flying Slash swept in, directly targeting the base of the venomous dragons that Magellan had summoned.

The Flying Slash instantly severed the source of Magellan’s venom, and in the next moment, Magellan lost control over the venomous dragons. The dragons fell to the ground, breaking into numerous droplets of venom that splashed in all directions.

In this situation, some unfortunate individuals were still hit by the venom, and their screams filled the air. However, compared to those completely covered in venom, they were relatively fortunate.

Sanji took a large droplet of venom on his butt, which was supposed to splash on Nami after it bounced off the ground. He had rushed in front of her to shield her, but the cost was a corrosive hole burned through his pants. Sanji let out a tragic and high-pitched scream.

“Aaaaaaah——————————!”

The sensation of pain transmitted from that area made Sanji feel as if his entire life had turned dark, with the world reduced to black and white. He even had a fleeting hallucination of standing by a riverbank, with someone resembling his mother waving at him from the opposite shore. 

Seeing Sanji injured while protecting her, Nami panicked and quickly held Sanji as he slowly fell.

She patted Sanji’s face anxiously, calling out, “Sanji! Sanji! Are you okay!?”

However, when Sanji felt the soft mountain peaks of Nami against him, two streams of nosebleeds flowed directly from his nose. Suddenly, the entire world regained its color.

Waving goodbye to his mother on the other side, Sanji trembled and gave Nami a thumbs-up, “Nami-Swaan, I feel great as long as you’re doing well!”

What he really wanted to say was: being held by you like this all the time is all that I hope for…!

“Why are you so stupid?” Nami said, “Why did you rush over to protect me?”

“I am your guardian knight, Nami-Swaan!” Sanji forced a smile and said, “I can’t let you get hurt; it’s my duty!”

“No… I mean, I wanted to say that even if you didn’t come to protect me, I could have avoided the venom myself…” Nami said with embarrassment.

Sanji was petrified for a moment.

“But still, thank you!” Nami smiled, holding his face, “Hold on a bit, Chopper will treat you in a moment!”

“I need to hurry!” Chopper, now in human form, ran over to support Sanji, saying, “If the venom enters the intestines, it could cause ulceration, and that would be bad!”

Enter… the intestines!? Ulceration!?

With a thunderous sound, upon hearing these words, Sanji, who was already petrified, felt like he had been struck by lightning! Almost shattered!

For Sanji, the path of the guardian knight is truly challenging and arduous…

“Wind Smasher!” Franky unleashed a powerful Wind Blast at this moment, blowing away all the venom in front of the group. The Straw Hat Pirates hurriedly propped up the now petrified Sanji and rushed toward the other side of the bridge.

At this moment, Magellan temporarily had no time to deal with the people rushing past him because Ian had already charged up!

Upon discovering that his flames could vaporize Magellan’s venom, Ian had to be cautious in using fire. Magellan, the user of the Poison-Poison Fruit, was indeed troublesome.

But he also knew that Magellan wasn’t a Logia user; he was a Paramecia user!

In other words, Magellan’s venom was produced within his body and didn’t mean that he himself was venom. He had a physical form!

After cutting through the venomous dragon, Ian rushed towards Magellan and unsheathed his sword for a direct strike!

“Hmph, fool!” Seeing Ian’s action, Magellan couldn’t help but reveal a mocking smile!

At this point, Magellan’s entire body was covered in sticky venom. This layer of venom was his best defense, and any object that touched him had to be baptized by this layer of venom first!

In other words, Magellan was least afraid of close combat. Anyone trying to attack him would first be tainted by the venom, even weapons!

Magellan’s venom had strong corrosive properties; it could melt even the stone, let alone thin steel weapons. Unless Ian wanted to part with his weapon, such a reckless attack was simply foolish.

However, this time, Magellan underestimated the situation. When Ian’s blade was about to strike, he noticed that the edge of Ian’s sword suddenly turned black with a hint of red!

That is… Armament Haki!? This is bad!

Magellan frantically tried to dodge, but unfortunately, his massive size made him cumbersome and unable to avoid Ian’s slashing attack.

With Armament Haki protecting the blade, Ian could strike Magellan’s venomous body without any hesitation. This slash, after piercing through the venom on Magellan’s surface, left a long cut on Magellan’s body!

Deep enough to see the bones!

“Aaaghh!!” Magellan couldn’t help but let out a scream, covering his wound and staggering backward a few steps.

Ian succeeded with a single strike and immediately tried to follow up with another, but Magellan reacted quickly. He chewed twice, and with a “puff,” he spat out a venomous bubble towards the approaching Ian.

Ian, of course, wouldn’t be hit by such a venomous bubble. However, just as he was about to jump away to evade, something unexpected happened. The venomous bubble exploded on its own!

With a loud bang! The explosion at such a close range blew Ian off into the air, somersaulting several times before regaining his balance.

The venomous bubble just now wasn’t the poison blowfish Magellan had used before; it was a poison gas bomb. Ian accidentally inhaled a bit, causing him to choke, and tears almost welled up. Fortunately, his Twin Sacred Return Shield continued to envelop him, providing constant healing. After the momentary discomfort, Ian quickly recovered!

Unfortunately, the healing effect of the Return Shield could only apply to one person at most and couldn’t cover multiple individuals. Otherwise, Ian could have easily shielded everyone from Magellan’s poison gas.

Magellan noticed the faint light film surrounding Ian, suspecting there might be something unusual. After blasting Ian away with a poison gas bomb, he turned his head to look behind him.

Behind him, Luffy and the others, who had already rushed forward, were engaged in a battle with the prison guards. However, Urouge had activated his Devil Fruit powers, enlarging his body and wielding his massive stone pillar as the vanguard. Confronting the guards, he was wreaking havoc.

The guards were no match for these supernovas, and breaching their defense was only a matter of time.

‘If they managed to obtain gas masks, it would be troublesome!’ Magellan thought to himself. Suddenly, he took a deep breath and, as Ian charged back, he exhaled a massive purple mist towards him.

“Poison Cloud!!”

This poison cloud released by Magellan was unprecedentedly enormous. After surrounding Ian, it continued to spread in all directions!

The reason Impel Down was Magellan’s stronghold lay in its nearly airtight structure. Being on the fourth level, deep inside Impel Down and lacking proper ventilation, Magellan’s poisonous gas could achieve its maximum effect.

As a result, the poison cloud quickly spread throughout the entire fourth level, affecting even Luffy and the others who were engaged in battle with the guards. Despite Magellan having his own subordinates in that area, he didn’t hesitate. Magellan was a dedicated individual, and his duty was to stop and capture these invaders. Even if it meant implicating some of his subordinates, he wouldn’t hesitate!

“What… What is this?”

As the people in the midst of the battle were breathing rapidly, they inadvertently inhaled a considerable amount of poisonous gas. By the time they realized something was wrong, it was too late.

People suddenly noticed that those around them were becoming elusive and blurry. Some grew larger, others smaller. Some even perceived their surrounding comrades as enemies and attacked them!

This poison cloud unexpectedly had a potent hallucinogenic effect…