Chapters · Summit War › Impel Down

Chapter 529: Level 2: Beast Hell

Arc: Impel Down · Saga: Summit War · Released: 2009-01-26

Summary

In Impel Down’s Level 6 (Eternal Hell), the chained fish-man Jinbei finishes confessing to Ace why he tried to stop the coming war: he is a pirate who hates pirates and served the World Government, yet he always admired Whitebeard’s crew. He recounts how, at the dawn of the Great Age of Pirates, Fish-Man Island was ravaged — fish-men and mermen captured and sold off — until Whitebeard arrived, declared the island his territory, and ended the plundering with a single sentence. A scarred Level 6 inmate (Crocodile) mocks them, noting the prison is full of second-rate pirates who would relish killing Whitebeard or Roger. Meanwhile on Level 2 (“Beast Hell”), Luffy, Buggy and Mr. 3 — newly self-styled the “Prison Break Alliance” — battle the floor’s speech-mimicking Guard Beasts: Manticores (man-faced lions) and finally the Sphinx, the giant guardian of the stairs to Level 3. Using Luffy as bait and Mr. 3’s wax-doll decoys, they enrage the Sphinx into smashing through the floor, dropping the whole brawl down onto Level 3.

New reveals

• Whitebeard protects Fish-Man Island. When the Great Age of Pirates began the island was overrun by human pirates and the Marines chasing them; Whitebeard claimed it as “my territory” and “ended the plundering of Fish-Man Island forever” with one sentence (pp. 3-4).
• Fish-man slavery is old and systemic. “A great many fish-men and mermen had been captured and sold off” before Whitebeard’s intervention (p. 4) — a despair Jinbei vows never to forget.
• All Grand Line pirates must pass Fish-Man Island (p. 3, shown on a Red Line map with the island marked at the midpoint X).
• Jinbei’s allegiance laid bare: a “pirate who hates other pirates” loyal to the government, who nonetheless visited Whitebeard’s ship many times and “liked” the crew (p. 2); he tried to stop the war “even if it killed me” (p. 5).
• Level 2 = “Beast Hell” / the Demonic Beast Floor, patrolled by Guard Beasts that mimic human speech they overheard from prisoners. New creatures named on card: Manticores (man-faced lions) and the Sphinx (the lion-bodied old-man-faced guardian of the stairs). The earlier-defeated Basilisk is referenced as having wrecked the Level 2 Guardroom (p. 8).
• “Prison Break Alliance” formed by Luffy + Buggy + Mr. 3 (p. 15).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Jinbei (Level 6, chained), Ace (Level 6, chained), Crocodile (scarred Level 6 inmate, p. 6-7), Luffy, Buggy, Mr. 3 (all Level 2). Mentioned: Whitebeard (“Pops”), Roger (“Gold Roger”), Miss Goldenweek (Mr. 3’s coloring partner, p. 17).
• Groups / crews: Whitebeard Pirates, Seven Warlords of the Sea, Fish-Men (fish-men + mermen).
• Creatures: Manticore (Level 2 Guard Beast — debut), Sphinx (Level 2 Guard Beast — Impel Down individual), Basilisk (referenced), giant centipede / puzzle scorpions (Level 2 beasts).
• Locations: Impel Down (Level 2 “Beast Hell”, Level 6, Monitoring Room), Fish-Man Island (flashback, p. 4), Red Line (map, p. 3).

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title-page illustration: a young man (Luffy-like) riding a giant beetle over a tropical island at night. Decorative request art; not a cover serial.
• Page 3 — Red Line world map with Fish-Man Island marked at the midpoint X; “all the pirates who sail the Grand Line eventually have to pass Fish-Man Island.”
• Page 4 — Flashback: fish-men and mermen captured and sold; Whitebeard’s silhouette claiming the island (“…is my territory now!”).
• Page 12-13 — Full-bleed reveal of the Sphinx (“A lion… No, an old man?”); name card: SPHINX — LEVEL 2 GUARD BEAST. It mostly mutters noodle words (“Somen… Tanmen! Ramen! …Amen”).
• Page 10 — Name card: MANTICORES — LEVEL 2 GUARD BEASTS; they parrot overheard nonsense (“Give me the key…!”, “Beef-steak!”, “Strawberry Panties!”).
• Page 19 — The enraged Sphinx smashes through the Level 2 floor, dropping Luffy, Buggy and Mr. 3 down onto Level 3.
• Page 20 — SBS Question Corner page (Vol. 54): Nami’s “Fata Morgana”/witch Morgana, Sanji = “san-ji” (three children), Hancock’s birthday Sept 2, Shanks’s birthday March 9. Defer to SBS specialist.

Open questions raised

• What exactly happens to Fish-Man Island if/when Whitebeard is killed? (Chekhov gun, p. 4-5.)
• Who runs the fish-man/merman slave trade that Whitebeard’s claim suppressed — and does it resume?
• Why was Jinbei imprisoned in Level 6 rather than merely stripped of his Warlord title?
• Can the Prison Break Alliance actually reach Ace on Level 6 from Level 3?