(Haki... it's the one power in this world that can truly level the playing field.)
Kai stood in the center of his cell, his breathing steady and deep. He had been thinking about it for days, ever since his initial panic had subsided and been replaced by cold, hard calculation. Haki was a potential that existed in every living being in this world, an invisible force born from pure willpower. Yet, for all its universality, awakening it was another matter entirely.
(Some people are just born with it, geniuses who can use Haoshoku Haki as children. Others awaken it by accident in moments of extreme stress. But for most, it has to be earned. It has to be forged in the fires of relentless training and life-or-death combat. Willpower, ambition, killing intent, the desire to stand above others... those are the keys.)
He glanced through the iron bars at the other inmates. They were small-time pirates, thugs, and criminals swept up from the first half of the Grand Line, Paradise. They were the bottom feeders. Kai knew with absolute certainty that asking them about Haki would be a complete waste of breath. If any of them had possessed the willpower or skill to use even the most basic form of Armament or Observation, they wouldn't be rotting away on the laughably insecure Level 1. They would be in the frozen hells of Level 5, bound in Seastone.
(No, these guys are useless as a source of information. If they had any decent training methods or a hint of Haki, they wouldn't be here. I'm on my own for that.)
His intense, almost ritualistic daily workouts had become a source of morbid entertainment for the surrounding cells. As he began his hundred frog jumps, his powerful leg muscles coiling and exploding to send him leaping from one end of his small cell to the other, the jeers began.
"Hahaha! Look at the little froggy go!" a lanky prisoner cackled. "He's been at it for days! What do you think he's doing?"
His cellmate, the cynical and heavyset Griz, grunted without opening his eyes. "He's training, you idiot. Wasting what little energy he has on a fool's dream."
"Training for what?" another voice chimed in. "Does he really think he's going to escape? Hey, kid! You're in Impel Down! The world's greatest prison! Nobody gets out of here!"
Griz finally sat up, his lazy eye fixing on Kai's moving form. "They're right, you know," he said, his voice a low rumble. "This place is the end of the line. You know why no one tries to escape? Because it's impossible. Even if you get past the guards and the Jailer Beasts, you have the Warden to deal with. They say he's as strong as a Marine Admiral."
He paused, letting his words sink in. "And even if a miracle happens and you get past him, there are more than ten Marine warships permanently stationed just outside. They'd blow you to smithereens before you could even taste the sea breeze. And if you survive that and jump into the water? Well, welcome to the Calm Belt, kid. The all-you-can-eat buffet for Sea Kings. You'd be monster chow in seconds."
He leaned back against the wall with a sigh of finality. "Escaping is impossible. It's never happened, and it never will. The best you can do is what we do. Eat, sleep, and wait for your sentence to end. Or for you to die. Whichever comes first."
Kai landed softly after his final jump, his breathing barely labored. He looked over at Griz, a small, confident smile playing on his lips. "You're wrong about one thing. Someone did escape."
The other prisoners fell silent, looking at Kai and then at Griz. Griz's one good eye narrowed. "You're talking about Shiki the Golden Lion. That was twenty years ago. Shiki was a legend, a man who stood on equal footing with the Pirate King himself. He was a monster who fought Garp and Sengoku at Marineford and lived. And even for a beast like him, escaping this place cost him both of his own feet. Are you telling me you're a legend like Shiki, kid?"
(He's right about the difficulty) Kai thought, his smile fading as he analyzed the situation. (Luffy's breakout was a perfect storm of luck and timing. Blackbeard's invasion split the prison's forces, and the entire Marine military was focused on Ace's public execution at Marineford. The prison was isolated, with no hope for reinforcements. That was a once-in-a-generation opportunity. My situation is completely different. If I try to break out now, during peacetime, I'll bring the full wrath of the World Government down on this place. They would send an Admiral just to uphold the prison's reputation.)
But he didn't let the daunting reality show on his face. He simply stared back at Griz. "I don't need to be a legend. I just need to be strong enough."
For the next several days, the routine continued. The inmates mocked him, and Kai ignored them, his entire world shrinking to the confines of his stone cell and the burn in his muscles. He trained until his body screamed, then pushed it even further.
Then, on the tenth day, he felt it. The wall.
He pushed off the floor for a handstand push-up, his muscles straining. But the familiar, exhilarating surge of power didn't come. There was only a dull ache. He completed his set, his body slick with sweat, but the feeling of growth, the very fuel that had driven him, was gone. He went through his squats, his sit-ups, his explosive jumps, pushing himself to the point of utter exhaustion. Nothing. The well was dry.
(It's over... this method has reached its limit.)
His 100x training effect was not a magic wand. It was an amplifier. If his training stimulus was zero, then one hundred times zero was still zero. His body had fully adapted to his self-weight exercises. He had squeezed every last drop of potential from this simple routine.
In just ten days, his body had undergone a transformation equivalent to nearly three years of intensive, nonstop training for a normal person. His physique was now a specimen of peak human conditioning, every muscle visible and honed to perfection. His entire demeanor had changed, infused with an aura of power and unyielding confidence. But he had hit a plateau as hard and as solid as the stone walls surrounding him.
He sat on the floor, his chest heaving, a deep frustration settling in. He needed more. He needed heavier weights, better techniques, and real opponents.
(Level 1 was a perfect nursery to get me started. It was safe, and it gave me the freedom to build my foundation. But I'm not a baby anymore. Staying here any longer is just stagnation. It's a cage that's limiting my growth.)
His eyes scanned his surroundings, lingering on the bored faces of the other prisoners. His gaze finally settled on the cell across the hall, on Griz and his cronies who were watching him with their usual mix of pity and contempt. An idea, cold and dangerous, began to form in his mind.
(To get stronger, I need a greater challenge. The guards on this level are weak. The real monsters, both prisoners and guards, are on the levels below. I need to go down there. And to do that, I need to cause trouble. A lot of trouble.)
He slowly rose to his feet, a predatory gleam in his eyes. He had a new goal. His training wasn't over. It was just beginning. He walked to the front of his cell, gripping the iron bars. He locked his eyes on Griz, who was now watching him with a sliver of curiosity.
Kai's voice was low, but it cut through the murmuring of the prison block like a knife. "You. The one with the lazy eye."
Griz pushed himself up slightly. "You talking to me, kid?"
Kai's lips curled into a sharp, mocking smirk. "Yeah, you. What are you looking at?"