"It's just ahead."
Bon Clay pointed toward the high platform in the distance.
"That's the place leading to the next level."
Hearing Bon Clay's words, everyone instinctively looked in the direction he indicated.
"Why does the air over there look distorted?" Buggy asked.
"Of course it does."
Bon Clay explained,
"Because the place we're going to now is the chimney of the Blazing Hell!"
"The chimney of the Blazing Hell?!"
Buggy was dumbfounded.
"You're not joking, are you? Wouldn't we get burned to death going in there?"
A chimney was a place that carried hot air. The temperature there would be extremely high!
Wasn't entering from that place basically asking to die?
Even if they did not necessarily burn to death, getting scalded would still be painful.
"I actually think this is better," jin said. "At least if we enter from here, we won't immediately be blocked by Magellan."
Although he did not know whether that man had not appeared earlier because of Hancock, now that they had reached Level Three, Magellan could not possibly do nothing.
After thinking about it, jin felt there was a high chance that man was blocking the gate to Level Three.
As for moving underground?
In the end, he could only sink a few meters down.
And as the warden of Impel Down, Magellan definitely possessed fairly strong Observation Haki.
Against someone like that, Earth Release most likely could not hide from him.
So taking this route was actually the best option.
"Magellan, huh…"
Buggy said with a headache,
"Then let's go from here."
Compared to that terrifying Magellan, the heat of this chimney was nothing.
After all… in Impel Down, being killed by Magellan's deadly poison was the most painful way to die!
"Blazing Hell, huh."
Mr. 3 said with a headache,
"Once we enter that place, my wax ability will probably become useless."
The temperature of Level Three was already enough to make his wax show signs of melting. Level Four would definitely be even more exaggerated!
"It's fine. Ace isn't on Level Four anyway."
"Is that what I meant?" Mr. 3 complained. "I mean, once we reach Level Four, I won't have much combat power left."
"It's okay. I'll protect you!" Luffy said with a toothy grin.
Since this man could make a key to unlock Sea-Prism Stone handcuffs, Luffy naturally had to protect him.
Looking at Luffy grinning at him, Mr. 3 sighed.
He had never expected there would come a day when this man would protect him.
Then he nodded and said,
"I'll be counting on you."
"Yeah!"
"Let's go. We—"
Before Bon Clay could finish, a series of heavy footsteps sounded, as if some enormous creature was running toward them.
"Hm?"
"What's that sound?"
The group instinctively looked to the side, then noticed a massive figure carrying a spiked club.
It was an upright-walking cow. Its appearance was somewhat blank and dull, making it look like the kind of creature that would be easy to bully.
But its speed was terrifying. In just a few breaths, it rushed from far away to right in front of them!
"What the hell is this thing?" Buggy said in shock.
Was this guy also a jailer beast?
Why had he never seen it before?
"This guy is a jailer beast that usually operates on Level Four. Minotaurus!"
Bon Clay said anxiously,
"He's a monster among monsters!"
He had personally seen this terrifying being beat prisoners to death. It truly treated people like trash, without the slightest mercy!
"Is it an ability user?"
"I'm not sure."
"Who cares what it is?"
Luffy bit his finger and said,
"Anyone who blocks me gets sent flying!"
"Gear Third!"
Buzz~
As Luffy activated his ability, his arm rapidly enlarged, finally becoming a giant fist like that of a giant race member.
Then Luffy jumped up and launched an attack at Minotaurus.
"Gum-Gum Giant Pistol!"
Seeing the huge fist getting closer and closer, Minotaurus's pupils shrank. It instinctively raised the spiked club in its hand to block.
Unfortunately, Luffy's punch was incredibly heavy. It was not something he could block.
Clang!
Whoosh—
Boom!
Like a cannonball, Minotaurus's huge body was sent flying by Luffy toward the distant prison cells. It smashed through many buildings before finally stopping and being buried beneath the rubble.
"What the hell is that?"
Looking at Luffy's enormous fist, Buggy said in shock,
"Why did you get bigger?"
That fist was as large as a giant's. Was this something the Gum-Gum Fruit could do too?
Wasn't that way too ridiculous?
"How shocking."
Mr. 3 was also stunned as he looked at Luffy. He had never expected the other party to use such a powerful move.
Was this really still the Gum-Gum Fruit?
Whoosh—
Clack.
After landing on the ground, Luffy released the excess air from his body and canceled Gear Third.
Then he looked at Buggy and answered,
"Yeah. This is my technique. It's called Gear Third."
"Eh?!!"
"Why did you shrink again?"
Looking at Luffy, who had become tiny, Buggy was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out.
"It's just a side effect. I'll go back to normal soon."
Luffy thought for a moment. Since he had only enlarged for a few seconds this time, the shrinking time should also only last a few seconds.
"What a cute little Straw-chan."
Bon Clay clasped his hands together and cheerfully came to Luffy's side.
At this moment, he felt his maiden heart overflowing!
"Hey, Bon-chan, don't pinch my face!"
"Gahahaha! Because you're too adorable!"
Bon Clay happily lifted Luffy up, then began spinning around.
But as he spun, Luffy returned to his original size.
Bon Clay: "…"
It was over.
The cute little Straw-chan was gone.
At that moment, a rumbling sound came from the distance. It sounded like stones being blasted away.
Boom!
"Hm?"
Glancing in the direction of the sound, jin frowned and said,
"That's the direction where Minotaurus was sent flying earlier."
"What the hell? Don't tell me that guy wasn't defeated?!" Mr. 3 said in shock.
That huge fist had slammed into him. It should have broken his bones, right?
Even so, it still could not make that guy lose consciousness?
Was that… even possible?!
"Who cares whether it's possible? Hurry and run!" Buggy said. "I don't want to get hit by that guy's club."
If such a massive spiked club struck someone, even if they did not die, they would be badly injured.
"Move out. Hurry to that chimney."
"Yeah!"
The others nodded, then quickly ran toward the target area and soon reached it.
"So this is the chimney," Luffy said, raising his head to look upward.
"That's right."
Bon Clay nodded, then jumped up onto it.
"Remember not to use too much force, or you might fall into the blood pool and sea of fire below."
"Yeah!"
After the others rushed up one after another, they immediately felt the terrifying heat.
"The temperature inside is way hotter than outside."
Luffy stuck out his tongue.
Mr. 3 was in even worse shape. He felt like his entire body was about to melt.
"So painful…"
"Are we really going down from here?"
Buggy wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Why do I feel like this is unreliable?"
Leaving aside the height, just rushing down through such terrifying steam might scald them to death.
They were not invincible Logia users.
"If you don't want to go down from here, you can try entering Level Four through the main gate."
Buggy: "…"
Enter Level Four through the main gate?
The moment he entered, he might be hit by Magellan's poison and ultimately become a corpse corroded by venom.
Thinking of this, Buggy shook his head.
"Forget it, forget it. Let's go this way."
Although they might be scalded to death, that was still better than being poisoned to death by Magellan.
"Gahahaha! As long as we enter Level Four from here, we can quickly reach Level Five."
Bon Clay stood with his hands on his hips.
This massive chimney was located in the center of Level Four. Once they went down, they could quickly reach the gate to Level Five.
Thinking of this, Bon Clay became somewhat excited and said,
"When the time comes, I must meet that person!"
"That person?"
Hearing Bon Clay's words, Luffy asked curiously,
"Who?"
jin also looked at Bon Clay curiously.
Did this guy have an acquaintance here?
"He is the queen of the Kamabakka Kingdom and the strongest okama whom okama all across the world admire!"
Bon Clay said excitedly,
"He is… Ivankov, the person known as the Miracle Worker!"
"I've wanted to meet him for a very long time!"
"If things go smoothly, I hope we can rescue him too."
Then he would go with that person to the legendary okama kingdom and experience true life!
"I didn't expect okama to have a kingdom too," Luffy said in shock. "That's amazing."
"Gahahaha! Of course there is a kingdom!"
Bon Clay laughed loudly.
"If there's a chance, I'll take you there to see it."
"Sure!"
Luffy also grinned, showing a trace of anticipation toward this so-called okama kingdom.
However, unlike the two happy people, jin, Buggy, and Mr. 3 wore somewhat subtle expressions.
The three stood side by side, looking at Bon Clay with complicated expressions.
"Okama…"
As if their hearts were connected, the three sighed together.
"Sigh."
At that moment, the familiar footsteps sounded again. Then a huge creature jumped in through the window.
"Moo!"
"That guy really wasn't defeated!"
Buggy was going crazy.
"Isn't he way too tough?!"
If Straw Hat's punch had landed on him, it definitely would have taken him out!
But this Minotaurus looked as if nothing had happened?
Was this the kind of jailer beast inside Impel Down?
"Hey, big guy."
jin stepped forward.
"You're pretty tough."
"Moo?"
Hearing jin's words, Minotaurus instinctively looked at him. Then it raised the spiked club in its hand, preparing to smash jin to death.
However, before it could act, it saw a pair of terrifying eyes.
Its instincts immediately sensed danger.
Unfortunately, the moment it saw those eyes, Minotaurus could no longer escape jin's control.
Clang!
Looking at Minotaurus, who had been placed under his control, jin nodded in satisfaction.
With this, this very durable punching bag was temporarily on their side.
"Hm?"
Bon Clay looked at the now-quiet Minotaurus in confusion, then looked at jin.
"What did you do?"
Why had the extremely violent Minotaurus from just now suddenly become completely quiet?
"Ah, I only hypnotized him," jin explained. "This way, he can become part of our fighting strength."
"Eh?!!"
Bon Clay looked at jin in shock, his face filled with disbelief.
The other party had not seemed to do anything, yet he had hypnotized the beast?
What… what kind of terrifying Devil Fruit ability was this?!
'An ability even jailer beasts can't resist must also be able to hypnotize me!'
As if thinking of something, Bon Clay instinctively hugged his arms tightly.
jin: ???
jin looked at Bon Clay with question marks on his face, not knowing what was wrong with this guy or why he was showing such a strange expression.
But instinctively, jin felt a chill.
"That's amazing, jin!"
Buggy leaned over and said,
"With this fighting strength, our chances of winning are even higher!"
This jailer beast had eaten Straw Hat's attack and could still run over lively to chase them. That alone was enough to prove its strength.
"Mm."
jin nodded.
"I just don't know how many guys like this there are."
"Four."
Bon Clay, who had returned to normal, said,
"Although I've only seen this one, I heard from others that there are four jailer beasts like this in Impel Down."
"No way! There are actually four powerful guys like this?!" Buggy said, dumbfounded.
Did that mean there were three more powerful jailer beasts waiting for them below?!
Thinking of this, Buggy became somewhat nervous.
"Who cares how many there are?" Luffy said. "I'll send them all flying!"
Buggy: "…"
Looking at Luffy's serious face, Buggy felt his head start to ache.
This guy was even more reckless than he had imagined.
If he ran into Magellan, would he go up and punch him too?
"None of that matters anymore."
Mr. 3 stuck out his tongue and said,
"I only want to leave this place as soon as possible."
Staying in this extremely hot area made Mr. 3 feel like life was worse than death.
If possible, he hoped they could rescue Fire Fist Ace quickly so they could leave this damn Impel Down sooner!
"Then let's set out."
After jin finished speaking, he grinned.
"Everyone, hold on tight and stand steady. Next stop ahead: Blazing Hell!"
As his voice fell, jin punched the platform below them, shattering it with brute force.
Boom!
As the floor broke apart, a massive brick several meters wide and half a meter thick carried everyone as it fell downward.
"Eh?"
"Eh?!!!"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/ZoroTL442