Chapters · Summit War › Impel Down

Chapter 535: Friend

Arc: Impel Down · Saga: Summit War · Released: 2009-03-02

Summary

Inside Impel Down, Magellan finishes his fight with Luffy: despite Luffy landing Gear-Second blows (Jet Pistol, Twin Jet Pistol), Magellan coats himself and the air in lethal poison — Hydra, Poison Blowfish, Poison Spider Cloud — until Luffy’s senses fail and his whole body is drenched in venom. Magellan pronounces sentence — “You will suffer for 24 hours, and then… this is your punishment, intruder” — and declares no antidote can save him. Luffy, near death, answers ”…Go to hell” and calls his brother’s name, “Ace.” Magellan orders Luffy thrown into the Central Tower of Level 5, Frozen Hell. Elsewhere on the same floor, Bon Clay — who had fled the monster, telling himself there was “a 200 percent chance” he’d lose if he helped — and the guards report that “Mr. 2,” a former member of Crocodile’s Baroque Works, beat them and escaped toward the upper floors. Magellan disciplines Hannyabal, orders the prison restored to order under “Miss Sadie” and the jailer beasts, and has Buggy and Mr. 3 taken for interrogation. But Bon Clay, confronted by the two torture-victims he saved, refuses to flee to safety: he swore he would go back for Luffy even at the cost of his own life — “Because he’s my FRIEND!! That’s all the reason I need!!”

New reveals

• Magellan’s poison fully overwhelms Luffy; the warden gives him a 24-hour death sentence and says “no antidote can save you now.”
• Luffy is sentenced to the Central Tower on Level 5 (“Frozen Hell”), the freezing lowest depicted floor of the prison.
• Bon Clay (Mr. 2) is the unseen prisoner who beat Magellan’s guards in the Level-4-to-Level-3 passage; the guards name him as “Mr. 2,” a member of Crocodile’s Baroque Works, a prisoner from Level 3.
• The chief-guard “Miss Sadie” (Sadi) and the jailer beasts are named as Impel Down’s order-restoration force (named, not shown).
• Magellan suffers from a chronic gut condition (“the Underbreath’s back”) that drives him to his “enclosed space” (bathroom) — a running comedic tell.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy · Magellan · Hannyabal · Bon Clay · Buggy (captured, off-page) · Mr. 3 (captured, off-page) · Crocodile (referenced) · Ace (named by Luffy) · Sadi · Brook (cover/title-page art)
• Groups: Baroque Works (Mr. 2’s former affiliation, referenced)
• Locations: Impel Down — Level 5 “Frozen Hell,” the Central Tower, the Level-4-to-Level-3 passage, Level 2 (riot), Level 3

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page / cover-story illustration: Brook working out at a gym beside a huge muscular man, lifting dumbbells; Brook’s shirt reads 筋肉 (“MUSCLE,” per ED. note). (For the cover-tracker to classify.)
• Pages 4-11 — Luffy vs. Magellan climax: Magellan’s poison-body, Hydra, Poison Blowfish and Poison Spider Cloud progressively shut down Luffy’s hearing, sight and touch.
• Page 11 — Luffy, poison-soaked and prone, answers Magellan’s “punishment” speech with ”…Go to hell”; page 12, he names “Ace.”
• Page 14 — First depiction this chapter of Level 5, “Frozen Hell” — prisoners freezing, frostbitten, a newcomer being thrown in.
• Pages 19-20 — Bon Clay’s declaration: “Because he’s my FRIEND!! That’s all the reason I need!!” (chapter title beat).
• Page 20 (Vol-end) — SBS Question Corner: Oda confirms Amazon Lily / the Island of Women was modeled on China (Amazon culture + Chinese dress); plus the “Panda Pirates” fan-club letter gag.

Open questions raised

• How can Luffy survive a poison Magellan calls incurable, inside 24 hours?
• Can Bon Clay actually reach Level 5 and free a dying Luffy — and at what cost to himself?
• What will Magellan’s interrogation of Buggy and Mr. 3 turn up?