The pirates imprisoned on Level 1 were all small-time crooks, nothing more than cannon fodder. Because of this, new prisoners were brought in frequently, and they often had news from the outside world. Kai questioned them and managed to piece together some useful information.
There was no news of Luffy. This meant he either hadn't set sail yet or hadn't made a name for himself. Luffy's rise to fame would begin after defeating Crocodile and attacking Enies Lobby.
Kai then tried a different name. "What about Fire Fist Ace?"
"Who are all these people you're asking about? Are they some small-fry pirates from a backwater island?" one of the inmates scoffed.
"Hahaha~" Laughter echoed from the opposite cell.
After hearing nothing about Luffy or Ace, Kai started to get frustrated. Ace had set sail two years before Luffy, earning his "Fire Fist" title before joining the Whitebeard Pirates as the 2nd Division Commander. If these prisoners hadn't heard of him, it could only mean that Ace hadn't even started his journey yet.
To confirm this, Kai asked a more direct question. "How long has it been since the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, died?"
"Gol D. Roger... it's been over a decade, right?"
"Seventeen years? Or maybe eighteen?"
"No, it's been nineteen years!"
"He's been dead for so long, who keeps track of that stuff..."
No one paid much attention to a man who had been dead for nearly two decades. But for Kai, this information was crucial. It gave him a rough idea of the current timeline. He was in the era just before Ace set sail. If Ace hadn't even begun his journey or was just about to, he wouldn't have his famous moniker yet. And as for Luffy... he was even further off. That's why no one had heard of "Luffy" or "Ace."
'So, if I want to wait for Ace to be captured and for Luffy to break into Impel Down, I'll have to wait another three or four years?'
Depressed, Kai lay down on the floor, motionless as a salted fish. He had dreamed of being transported to the world of One Piece, of beating up Blackbeard, kicking Kaido and Big Mom, and having Hancock, Robin, and Nami in his arms.
But that was all just a fantasy.
Now that he was actually here, and trapped in Impel Down of all places, Kai was filled with nothing but confusion, anxiety, and fear. While it was possible to be released from Impel Down, no one cared if a prisoner lived or died. He could be killed by a guard or a Jailer Beast at any moment, and no one would bat an eye. Prisoners sometimes "disappeared" here. The residents of level5.5 Newkama Land, were all officially listed as missing. The prison authorities never bothered to investigate.
Kai was certain of one thing, he had no memories from anyone else. His entire body had been transported here. It had changed during the transition, growing much taller, with longer black hair, but he was still just an ordinary person with no terrifying power.
An ordinary person, locked up in a place like this? With no system? Weren't all transmigrators supposed to get a system? And if not a system, shouldn't he at least have found some super-powerful Devil Fruit? And if not a Devil Fruit... why the hell was he stuck in Impel Down?
He couldn't move around, couldn't search for a Devil Fruit, couldn't join the Marines or find any other way to train and get stronger.
He was in Impel Down. Who could he learn from here? How could he train? How could he possibly become strong?
For a moment, Kai was completely lost. He lay on the ground, his mind a chaotic mess.
"Hahhh..."
He let out a heavy sigh and sat up, his eyes unfocused and blank.
"Wait... that's not right!"
Suddenly, Kai's eyes sharpened. He realized that with that single breath, his lungs had expanded and felt stronger. As he sat up, the muscles in his stomach, back, and arms grew stronger, and the blood in his veins seemed to flow faster.
Somehow... he was getting stronger.
He was getting stronger just by breathing!
The simple act of lying down and sitting up had strengthened his body and improved his constitution.
"This... is this my cheat?!"
Kai's mind flashed back to the reason he was here. He had been playing a One Piece game, used a cheat to beat a boss, got banned, and slammed his phone in anger before passing out. When he woke up, he was in Impel Down.
The cheat he had been using was a multiplier? a 100x multiplier!
One hundred times the rewards meant one hundred times the leveling speed, one hundred times the experience points!
"A 100x multiplier... for me, does that mean a 100x training speed!?"
The more Kai thought about it, the more convinced he became. "My body was pulled into the world of One Piece, and it must have changed to adapt to a 100x training speed!"
Whatever the reason, there was only one way to find out.
Without another moment of hesitation, Kai got onto the floor and started doing push-ups.