One Piece: The Cryo Doctor on the Straw Hat Ship

"Ha...this doesn't seem like Magellan's style at all!"

"They actually dared to let a bunch of brats in. Has Impel Down changed owners?"

"If that's the case, this old man will have to celebrate properly!"

In the darkness, someone chuckled softly, the sound like a broken bellows leaking air, carrying a chilling coldness.

Immediately afterwards—

"Hey, hey, hey, look—"

Another voice rang out, tinged with surprise and amusement:

"These kids don't seem to be from Impel Down?"

These words, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly created ripples in an infinite hell.

More prisoners raised their heads, their gazes passing over the iron bars, fixed on the figures slowly descending the stairs.

The Straw Hat crew stepped into this endless hell.

Despite being incredibly powerful, Chopper and Usopp were still intimidated by the imposing presence of the criminals around them.

"you……"

In the darkness, a deep and authoritative voice suddenly rang out, carrying an indescribable sense of oppression:

Who is it?

The sound wasn't loud, but it reverberated like thunder throughout the entire layer of infinite hell, causing the iron bars to hum slightly and even making the air seem heavier.

Luffy tilted his head, his gaze piercing through the gaps in the iron bars, landing in the direction from which the sound came.

He grinned, revealing his signature wide smile:

"I am Monkey D. Luffy—the man who will become the Pirate King!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire Infinite Hell fell silent.

The silence wasn't one of fear or shock, but rather an indescribable stillness—like the awkward silence that follows a joke when the room goes silent.

However, just the next moment—

boom--!!!

The entire infinite hell erupted into chaos, as if a pot had been boiled over!

"One Piece?! Hahahaha—!"

"Where did this brat come from! How dare he spout such nonsense in Infinite Hell!"

"Lao Tzu said something similar back in the New World, and then he was imprisoned here for over twenty years."

"If that bastard Roger hadn't beaten me to it, I would be the Pirate King!"

"Ha ha ha ha--!"

Laughter surged in from all directions like a tide, echoing and reverberating in the empty corridor, making the iron railings hum.

It may seem like mockery, but it also contains a hint of domineering.

After all, they were once powerful figures who dominated their respective regions. Which of their goals was lower than Luffy's?

But now, they have all become prisoners who have lost their freedom.

However, at that moment, a calm voice abruptly cut off the laughter within the prison:

"How can a loser laugh so happily?"

"It seems the World Government is too kind, managing to take such good care of these trashy creatures."

Chapter 245 Puppet

V's voice was calm and cold, like a bucket of cold water poured on the clamor of an infinite hell.

The laughter abruptly stopped, and the prisoners' gazes suddenly sharpened, like those of beasts whose scales had been touched.

"Kid, what did you say?" The hoarse voice rang out again, filled with barely suppressed anger. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

V pushed up his glasses, a disdainful smile curving his lips:

"Of course I know—just a bunch of losers imprisoned here by the World Government."

"They may have once been incredibly successful, but now they are nothing more than withered bones rotting in the darkness."

"You're asking for death!" A furious roar rang out from one of the cells, followed by a burly figure slamming into the iron bars. The stone railings emitted a dull hum, but remained unmoved.

The prisoner's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at V, as if he wanted to tear him apart with his gaze.

V didn't back down, or even blink. He simply watched the struggling figure silently, as if admiring the futile efforts of a trapped beast.

"Heh." He chuckled softly, and then—

boom--!!!

A powerful, overwhelming aura of Conqueror's Haki, strong enough to tear the heavens and earth apart, suddenly erupted from V's body!

That was no longer an ordinary aura, but a destructive torrent that was as tangible as a physical force.

The air seemed to solidify into lead in that instant, and then swept outwards like a tsunami!

The entire infinite hell trembled violently under the impact of that domineering aura. The iron bars groaned under the strain, the walls cracked inch by inch, and rubble fell like rain.

The prisoners who had just been shouting suddenly had their pupils contract, and their bodies felt as if they had been hit hard by an invisible giant hammer.

Someone's eyes rolled back, and they fell straight backward;

Some people gritted their teeth, veins bulging on their foreheads, but they still couldn't resist the oppressive feeling that came from the depths of their souls. Their knees buckled and they fell heavily to the ground.

A deathly silence.

The once bustling, hellish place is now filled only with heavy breathing and the echoing sound of iron bars.

V slowly lowered his right hand, his gaze sweeping across the figures slumped on the ground or kneeling, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable authority:

"I'm not here to play house with you."

He paused, the curve of his lips growing even colder:

"Now, I'm giving you two choices—either die, or... become my puppets!"

Upon hearing V's words, the criminals struggled to raise their heads, their eyes blazing with fury.

Looking back, weren't they all prominent figures on the high seas?

Even Magellan, despite cursing them and even releasing poison gas to torture them every time, only proved their strength and the prison authorities' fear of them.

But this brat, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, treated them with such contempt right from the start.

"you wanna die!"

"You brat, do you know who you're talking to?!"

"When I was roaming the New World, you weren't even born yet!"

Curses rose and fell, the iron bars vibrated and hummed, and the entire infinite hell stirred up again.

However, V merely sneered, his gaze no longer fixed on the men lying on the ground.

Instead, it probes directly into the depths.

In this endless hell, only a handful of people can remain natural even when his domineering aura is fully unleashed.

The most natural among them are only two people.

V recognized them immediately.

One was a man with a burly build, like a steel behemoth, whose crimson eyes were fixed on V and the Straw Hat crew like burning lava.

His body was covered with stitched scars, and his hands and feet were bound by heavy sea stone chains.

Even so, the oppressive aura emanating from him still made the surrounding air feel heavier.

— Douglas Barrett.

He was once a member of Roger's pirate crew and was known as the "Successor of the Demon," a figure who could strike fear into the hearts of anyone on this great sea.

But at this moment, he simply stared silently at V, his crimson eyes devoid of anger or clamor, only filled with scrutiny.

It's like a hunter assessing the weight of its prey.

Another gaze, however, came from a cell closer to the end of the corridor.

The light there was almost completely swallowed by darkness, with only a pair of sharp, hawk-like eyes gleaming faintly in the shadows.

He was a tall, slender old man with cascading white hair and a pale face, yet he still maintained a dignity and elegance beyond his years.

—Barolok Redfield.

The legendary "Lone Red" was a legendary pirate who once stood shoulder to shoulder with Roger and Whitebeard.

At that moment, he also raised his head and slowly looked at V and the Straw Hat crew.

Unlike the other prisoners, his emotions did not fluctuate much; he simply looked calmly at the Straw Hat crew.

It was as if everything had nothing to do with him.

V raised his hand, and his soul consciousness spread out like an invisible tide, enveloping the entire Infinite Hell.

Those prisoners who were just cursing, shouting, and struggling have now fallen into a complete coma, stunned by V's Conqueror's Haki that is powerful enough to tear apart souls.

The next second, their figures were swallowed up as if by an invisible giant mouth, disappearing one by one from their original spot and being taken into the control room.

The air was filled with the lingering hum of the iron bars and the soft clatter of falling gravel.

V slowly lowered his hand, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

The prisoners who were still conscious were all looking at him in silence, their eyes filled with complex and indescribable emotions.

“It seems…” V smiled slightly, pushing up his glasses, “everything of value here is here.”

His gaze swept over those who remained conscious, and a meaningful smile curved his lips.

Aside from Douglas Barrett and the Lone Red, V was also familiar with the remaining figures.

They are all characters who have appeared in anime—