Raiden Ei traveled quickly and reached the other side of the island in no time. First, she scanned her surroundings.
She found no traces of anyone having walked here. This was strange, though; with so many pirates stationed here for so long, and given their strength, how could they fail to set foot on the other side of the island even once?
Thinking carefully, something was wrong. She no longer hesitated, and her Observation Haki instantly enveloped the area. The first thing her perception detected was the presence of life.
Without much effort, she sensed the presence of people here through her perception.
"How could there be people here? And inside the island, no less." Raiden Ei was quite puzzled, but thinking that there was treasure here, she figured the pirates might have left someone to guard it after discovering it.
"In any case, I have to go take a look first!" Raiden Ei moved toward the direction where she sensed the people, searching for a way to enter the interior of the island.
The center of this island was a mountain-like peak. The middle of the island was the highest point, with gentle slopes leading down to the edges, and the vegetation was not very lush.
Using "Geppo," Raiden Ei descended from the sky into a pile of jagged Stone located at the edge of the island's center.
"I should be able to get in from here!" Her uncertain voice rang out. She had searched several places nearby but hadn't been able to enter the interior of the island.
She couldn't just split the island with a single slash, so she could only keep searching for an entrance.
"Clack, clack, clack."
Raiden Ei stepped on the Stone, making a soft sound as she walked toward the pitch-black cave ahead. Using Observation Haki to lead the way, this bit of darkness was nothing to her.
The passage was gloomy, without a single speck of light. She kept walking inward, occasionally encountering small animals living in the cave, which she simply bypassed.
After going ten-odd meters deep into the cave, the path began to wind downward. Here, traces of manual excavation could be found, though they were quite old. She also saw giant rocks that had been pushed to the side of the road.
"This should be where the treasure is! Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many traces, both old and new."
Raiden Ei continued downward and finally reached the place where her Observation Haki had sensed people. Voices reached her ears, and light appeared before her eyes.
The cave was dark and silent. Raiden Ei didn't suppress her footsteps at all, and they soon noticed her.
One by one, they picked up their weapons and shouted loudly toward the passage, "Who's there? Come out!"
Raiden Ei didn't stop for a moment. She walked toward them step by step and soon appeared before their eyes, yet she still didn't stop.
After seeing Raiden Ei, the several armed pirates were clearly stunned for a moment. But seeing her still walking toward them, they shouted again.
"Halt! Stop! Who are you?"
A pirate with a gun couldn't help but pull the trigger directly at Raiden Ei.
"Bang!"
Raiden Ei easily dodged the bullet, and only then did her voice ring out in the passage: "Since you've already made your move, I won't be polite." Her figure instantly appeared in front of the pirates.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"
Before the pirates could react to what Raiden Ei meant, she charged forward and knocked them to the ground in a few strikes. Several pirates clutched the spots where she had hit them, screaming in pain.
"Ouch! Ow!"
Raiden Ei stood still beside them and observed the surroundings. The space here was quite large, and the marks looked very new; they must have dug it out themselves.
She took a sword from a nearby rack and spoke in a cold tone, "Which Pirate Crew do you belong to? What are you doing here?"
The pain in the areas where the pirates were hit had subsided. Seeing Raiden Ei holding a sword and asking questions, they clearly shuddered.
But they still forced themselves to speak: "We are from the Octopus Pirate Crew, the Fierce Elephant Pirate Crew, and the Vanguard Pirate Crew. Our Captain is on the island.
Don't do anything rash, or our Captain won't let you off."
Raiden Ei flicked the sword in her hand, and that pirate instantly shut up. She looked at the remaining pirates: "Too much nonsense. You, tell me, what are you doing here?"
Seeing this, several pirates hurriedly shouted in a panic, "I'll talk, I'll talk! There's treasure below, and the Captain told us to watch over it."
Raiden Ei continued with a question she had been wanting to know: "Then why haven't you taken the treasure away?"
"Because there's no Key. We can't open the treasure door, so we have to stay here and guard it," the pirates quickly replied.
Raiden Ei really hadn't expected this to be the issue. That being the case, she didn't have a Key either. Did that mean she couldn't take the treasure away?
But she would have to see for herself. She continued to command, "Lead the way! Take me to the treasure."
The pirates didn't dare provoke Raiden Ei. They quickly endured the pain, scrambled up, and walked swiftly toward the lower part of the passage, with Raiden Ei following behind.
As they went further down, the temperature in the passage rose higher and higher. The pirates were covered in sweat after walking for just a short while, but they continued downward.
As Raiden Ei followed them, she also noticed the rising temperature. She guessed there was an underwater volcano nearby, and having walked for so long, they were now under the seabed.
As they continued downward, she could see Magma flowing from several rock crevices. The temperature was incredibly high, just a step away from roasting a person alive.
The pirates finally brought her to the destination. By now, she didn't know how deep they were from the surface.
"The Captain said the treasure is inside this large door, but without a Key, none of us can get in." The pirates only mentioned the important parts, not daring to say anything superfluous.
Raiden Ei looked at the tall double-leaf Stone door before her; it looked exceptionally thick, with only a keyhole on the right side. With Sanjam's destructive power, this Stone door should be easy to smash open! She didn't quite understand why he hadn't done so.
Raiden Ei stepped forward and touched it, finding that in this place of extremely high temperature, the door was actually cold. She just didn't know what kind of Stone it was made of.
She pushed hard, but the door didn't budge at all.
She no longer held back. Armament Haki coiled around her hand as she threw a punch at the door with all her might.
"Boom!"
A massive sound instantly erupted when her fist collided with the door, triggering a significant shockwave. Air currents swirled around the area.
The pirates were instantly blown to the ground. They hurriedly scrambled up and hid to the side, covering their ears.
The door shook and trembled from Raiden Ei's punch, but it still didn't fall.
Raiden Ei withdrew her fist. If she continued striking, she should be able to smash it open with her fists, but it would take a long time.
She had to think of another way. This was still near a volcano; it wouldn't be good if she triggered an eruption.
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