Chapter 536

Chapter 536 is titled "Level 5 Frozen Hell".

Cover
Franky fits an alpaca with a special armor-tank.

Long Summary
Hannyabal (Bentham in disguise) is in the medical room, asking about Luffy's condition. The doctor tells him it is impossible to create an antidote to counteract multiple poisons from Magellan at once. There is no way to save him. Outside, Galdino tells him that miracles like fighting Magellan and living to tell about it don't happen. That gives Bentham an idea. He has to find Iva, the miracle worker. Bentham determines Iva is the only one who can help. Buggy and Galdino are confused as to who he is talking about. Outside the door to the Level 4 staircase, "Hannyabal" tells the guards he is transferring the prisoners (Buggy and Galdino) to Level 5. While going down the stairs, Bentham is looking at the list of prisoners on Level 5, he sees the name "Emporio Ivankov" crossed out, and wonders if that means he was released or executed. He asks a guard and the guard explains that prisoners with their names crossed out were victims of the "demoning away", an unexplained phenomena where prisoners would suddenly go missing without explanation. When they reach the door, the guard tells Bentham he will be taking his things. It turns out that Hannyabal likes to make the point of going into Level 5 wearing next to nothing and with no weapons to demonstrate his toughness. The guard also says it would be laughable to have the prisoners to wear coats too. It is also revealed that the Den Den Mushi on Level 5 don't work because of the extreme cold.

The three of them are then surrounded by four wolves from the Wolf Unit. The reason the wolves aren't allowed on Level 2 is because when they were, they began eating the other wild beasts. Bentham prepares to face off against them as Buggy and Galdino run away so fast they break out of their shackles. Inside a tower cell on Level 5, prisones are sitting around the writhing Luffy. One of them asks if they were put in charge of determining his time of death. Luffy struggles to get up, and then rams his head into the bars, trying to break them. The prisoners try to tell him his death is inevitable, but he won't listen. Luffy says he has to save Ace, which the prisoners think is crazy, since Luffy himself is beyond saving, and that prisoners should only look out for themselves. They look out and see a half-naked figure standing in the cold. A blood-soaked Bentham calls out to Luffy, apologizing for abandoning him. He opens the door and drags Luffy away. One of the prisoners picks up the keys he left behind, and says he never thought about running away before. Bentham asks them about Ivankov. They tell him they have no idea where "he" went. a prisoner in another cell points to a forest, saying there is an unused gaoler's office on the other side. He has seen someone come and go from that room from time to time. As Bentham walks away, another prisoner tells the one who gave Bentham the directions that the forest is the wolves' den. The man jokingly acted as if he forgot. Bentham is pulling Luffy in the sled, and tells himself he has to keep going for Luffy's sake, even if there is only the slimmest chance Iva could save him. As he is walking, wolves appear behind him. The wolves attack, and Bentham is able to fight them off until one of them bites him in the leg. The wolves then jump on him. Then, Luffy somehow manages to get up and bite one of the wolves. He yells for the wolves to get back, causing them all to pass out, much like what happened on Amazon Lily. Bentham can only stare in awe at Luffy. The chapter ends with a mysterious figure, dressed in black and white with a lightning bolt scar and holding a glass of wine standing over the two unconscious bodies.

Plot Points

 * Iva-san's full name is Emporio Ivankov.
 * Monkey D. Luffy uses Haki in this chapter, as Mr. 2 Bon Kurei is bitten by wolves and Luffy makes them faint.
 * A mysterious man finds Luffy and Bon Kurei's bodies frozen in the snow.
 * There are twenty-six hours before Ace's execution.

Trivia

 * An animated segment in Opening 12 was based off the cover page.

Anime episode
p1 to p11: Episode 437 p12 to p19: Episode 438