"Let me out of here!" Bullet's arrogance was absolute, his demonic gaze fixed on Shiki.

"Whatever your plan is, just get us out. I'll deal with this Fleet Admiral myself!"

"Count me in, then. Mmm-hmm-hmm~" Catarina Devon let out her signature laugh from the darkness, clearly intrigued by Shiki's escape game.

For the criminals trapped in Infinite Hell, any glimmer of hope was worth grasping.

They would seize any chance for survival, as sitting idly and waiting for death was not in their nature.

"And what if we can't escape? Nyan~" Avalo Pizarro was just as eager as them.

"What do you think? If we fail, we'll be locked in here forever! Jihahaha!"

Seeing that Bullet, Devon, and Pizarro were on board, Shiki laughed heartily.

"So, Red Count, Byrnndi World, San Juan Wolf, Vasco Shot... what do you say?"

As Shiki finished speaking, several shadowy figures stepped forward.

In the darkness, their crimson eyes began to burn with a fanatical glow.

*****

Meanwhile, at Marine Headquarters.

Enel's appearance had caused barely a ripple at Marineford.

Despite possessing the formidable power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he had faced the strongest Fleet Admiral in history.

He was not only swiftly and brutally crushed but was also sent to the Science Unit, destined to become a research subject for Dr. Vegapunk, much like Buggy the Clown before him.

"Dr. Vegapunk, the Fleet Admiral sent over another unlucky Logia user!"

In the Science Unit's building, a sturdy young man wearing a red belly band and carrying a huge axe on his shoulder led the soldiers escorting Enel to a laboratory door.

This was Sentomaru, captain of the Science Unit, Dr. Vegapunk's personal bodyguard, and the self-proclaimed "most tight-lipped man in the world."

Inside the lab, the gray-haired scientist Vegapunk, with his long tongue and apple-branch-like head, was focused intently on his equipment.

On an experimental bed nearby lay a man with a red nose, his body currently separated into several pieces.

It was none other than Buggy, who had been arrested during Fleet Admiral Orion's pirate hunt in the East Blue.

"Hey, hey, hey! What kind of experiment are you doing on me?!" Buggy shouted, waking up from a coma to see his dismembered body fixed in place.

"When did I get like this?!"

Vegapunk ignored him, studying the energy readings on his screen.

After a moment, he turned to Sentomaru.

"Bring him in!"

Two soldiers carried the Seastone-bound Enel into the lab and placed him before the scientist.

Vegapunk, showing little excitement, walked slowly towards Enel and tried to look kind.

"Don't be afraid. It's just a little experiment. It won't kill you!"

"Don't listen to him!" Buggy yelled. "He won't kill us, but he'll tear us to pieces!"

"Ahem, it was a misunderstanding, my little friend!" Vegapunk said to Buggy seriously.

"I only cut you into pieces because you have the power of the Chop-Chop Fruit! You can still jump around perfectly fine, can't you?"

Without waiting for an answer, he turned his gaze back to Sentomaru.

"Did the Fleet Admiral say what type of Logia he is?"

Sentomaru nodded. "The user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."

"WHAT?!"

The previously calm Vegapunk shot up, his eyes blazing with a breathtaking light.

He stared at Enel, who was still restrained on the experimental bed, and exclaimed.

"A Rumble-Rumble Fruit user? He's actually a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user!"

He couldn't help but reach out and touch Enel's arm as if he had just found a priceless treasure.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" Enel's eyes widened in rage. "I am a god! The great Enel!"

"Right, right, right," Vegapunk nodded repeatedly, his excitement palpable. "You are not only a god but the God of Thunder! Where on earth did the Fleet Admiral find you? With your fruit's power, my research will be twice as effective!"

Hearing this, the corners of Enel's mouth twitched.

Though Vegapunk had acknowledged his divinity, he felt an inexplicable sense of dread.

Sure enough, Sentomaru came over, picked him up like a sack of potatoes, and carried him to a sealed laboratory across the hall.

With a loud bang, Enel was thrown inside.

Before he could recover, Sentomaru tossed a key in front of him and closed the heavy door.

Then, Vegapunk's voice crackled through a Den Den Mushi inside the lab.

"That's the key to your shackles."

"Hm?"

Enel's pupils constricted, then his face filled with glee.

He scrambled to the key and, despite his weakness, used all his willpower to unlock the Seastone restraints.

As soon as they came off, he felt his power returning at an astonishing speed.

After a few seconds, he threw his head back and grinned.

"You think a mere prison can hold me? Feel my wrath! Yahahaha!"

Amid his booming laughter, Enel unleashed the full power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

A ball of lightning formed in his hand as he declared, "Two Hundred Million Volts—"

"Amaru!"

As energy surged from his body, Enel transformed into a colossal giant made of pure lightning, radiating a terrifying, suffocating aura.

Outside the lab, Sentomaru and Vegapunk gasped.

Buggy, still strapped to the table, was so scared his eyeballs nearly popped out of his head.

However, for all its terrifying power, the lightning was completely contained within the reinforced walls of the laboratory.

"Excellent! Wonderful!" Vegapunk couldn't hide his excitement. "Go tell the Fleet Admiral that we now have lasers and lightning! We just need a proper vessel. The Pacifista he desires can finally be put into practice!"

"Right!" Sentomaru, equally excited, nodded and ran out of the building.

In his haste, he completely forgot about the Den Den Mushi, sprinting straight for the Fleet Admiral's office.

Soon, he arrived at the door and, without knocking, burst straight through it.

"???"

The loud crash made Orion and Gion—who had just arrived to give a report—turn their heads simultaneously.

"Sentomaru? What are you doing here?" Gion asked, surprised.

"I won't tell you!" the most tight-lipped man in the world replied proudly.

He marched to the desk and said excitedly to Orion.

"Fleet Admiral Orion! Dr. Vegapunk says that as long as you provide the vessel, he can create the Pacifista you want!"

"Good, I understand," Orion smiled slightly. "Thank you for your hard work."

"Goodbye!" Sentomaru turned and left as abruptly as he had arrived.

"???" Gion's curiosity was piqued again.

"You came all the way from the Science Unit just for that? Where's your Den Den Mushi?"

"I won't tell you!" Sentomaru retorted, before muttering, "I forgot it!"

With that, he swaggered out with his axe.

Just as he reached the doorway, he suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Orion.

"Fleet Admiral, where's my uncle?!"