A/N: Read 20+ chapters ahead at {patreon.com/Glivaria}
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[ IMPEL DOWN — MAIN MONITORING ROOM ]
The central nervous system of the world's greatest prison was in a state of absolute, unmitigated pandemonium.
Dozens of visual Den Den Mushi screens plastered across the massive curved wall were flashing a frantic, strobing red. The feed from the front gates showed nothing but smoke, floating debris, and groaning guards. The feeds from Level 1 showed uprooted bladed trees, shattered iron portcullises, and entire elite platoons completely routed.
"Sir! We have lost all containment on the first floor!" a surveillance officer shrieked, his fingers flying across a control board, sweat pouring down his face. "The intruders bypassed the bladed forest entirely! They found the central drop-shaft and just jumped straight into the abyss! They are entering Level 2!"
Vice Warden Hannyabal was running in frantic circles in the center of the room, his hands clutching the sides of his pharaoh headdress.
"My beautiful prison!" Hannyabal wailed, dramatic tears streaming down his face. "My perfect, spotless record! If Marine Headquarters finds out a crew of rookies completely breached our absolute defenses, I'll never get promoted! I'll never become the Chief Warden! My dreams of total authority are ruined!"
He dropped to his knees, punching the stone floor in despair.
But then, a sudden, devious thought struck him.
Hannyabal slowly stood up. A massive, greedy grin spread across his face, completely replacing the tears. He pointed his pitchfork staff toward the ceiling.
"Wait a minute! I am merely the Vice Warden! This catastrophic failure of security falls entirely on the shoulders of that incompetent, diarrhea-prone buffoon! If Magellan takes the blame for this massive blunder, Headquarters will fire him, and I'll get his job for sure! Yes! Let the pirates run wild! Let them smash the place up!"
"Sir, you're saying your inner monologue out loud again!" the head guard cried, gripping his own hair. "And this is no time for your ambition! It's Straw Hat Luffy! Pirate Hunter Zoro! Black Leg Sanji! And... wait, sir, I don't believe this... the toddler riding the swordsman's green head just transformed into a grown woman! Is she a grown woman or a child?!"
"Straw Hat?! Pirate Hunter?! Two Supernovas?!" Hannyabal gasped, clutching his pearls. "And a child is with them?! The sheer depravity of this generation! Where the hell is Magellan?!"
"He's still in the bathroom, sir! He's been in there for three hours!"
"Of course he is!" Hannyabal sighed heavily, rubbing his temples to stave off a migraine. He puffed out his chest, trying to look authoritative. "Fine! If the Chief Warden is indisposed, I will take command! Seal the heavy bulkheads! Deploy the beasts of Level 2! Let the Sphinx chew on them until I can get down there and claim the glory!"
⬛ ⬛ ⬛
[ LEVEL 1 — THE CRIMSON HELL ]
A level above the descending vanguard, the bladed forest of Level 1 was eerily, terrifyingly quiet.
Buggy the Clown was sneaking through the dense, razor-sharp bushes, giggling softly to himself. He had managed to avoid the few remaining guards who were currently trying to figure out how to change their colleagues' diapers.
"I'm a genius," Buggy whispered, peeking around a thick, pale tree trunk. "Straw Hat draws all the heat, and Captain Buggy slips right out the front door! Next stop, Captain John's treasure!"
Buggy took a confident step toward the main stairwell leading to the entrance.
Suddenly.
The ambient temperature in the corridor plummeted.
The air grew impossibly heavy, suffocating Buggy's lungs. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up. Every survival instinct he had honed since his days sailing on the Oro Jackson screamed at him to hide.
Buggy violently detached his head and torso, scrambling behind a large stone pillar just as a pair of pristine black boots clicked softly onto the floor of the Crimson Hell.
Light Yagami stepped out of the dark stone stairwell.
Buggy held his breath, peeking around the edge of the pillar. He recognized the man instantly. Buggy had only been brought into the prison a few days ago, and the guards had been gossiping non-stop about the unprecedented news from the surface. The rogue Marine who had decapitated a Celestial Dragon in broad daylight. The False Deity.
Light didn't rush. He strolled through the corridors with the relaxed, immaculate posture of a man walking through his own personal garden. As he stepped over an unconscious guard, his dark eyes drifted to the massive rows of iron cells lining the walls.
With a thought, the translucent blue interface of his system fully materialized in his vision.
[ KARMA SYSTEM ] [ KP: 50,500 ]
[ LIFE FORCE Lv.10 — Next: 1,000,000 KP ]
[ WEAPON ARTS Lv.5 (MAX) ]
[ FORCE AUTHORITY (MAX) ]
[ OBSERVATION Lv.3 — Next: 3,000,000 KP ] [ ARMAMENT Lv.4 — Next: 10,000,000 KP ] [ CONQUEROR'S Lv.1 — Next: 2,000,000 KP ]
(Rokushiki MAX)
Light blinked slowly, clearing the main menu from his sight. His Conqueror's Haki had awakened naturally against Akainu, saving him the initial million points, but he was still utterly broke compared to the tens of millions required to push his Observation and Armament to the absolute peak. He needed capital. And he was currently standing inside the greatest bank in the world.
The prisoners inside the cages were pressing their faces against the bars. They had seen Luffy tear through, but they had been ignored. Now, another intruder was here. One who wasn't wearing a guard uniform, and wasn't screaming or running.
"Hey! Hey, you!" a massive, scarred pirate yelled from his cell, rattling the thick iron bars frantically. "You ain't a guard! You got the keys?! Let us out! We'll help you tear this place down!"
Light stopped walking.
He stood perfectly still in the center of the corridor. The only sound was the faint dripping of water from the ceiling. He turned his head slowly, looking at the scarred pirate.
The system instantly analyzed the man's soul, projecting a small, floating panel directly above the pirate's head.
[ Name: "Mad Dog" Roul ][ Green: 45 | Bad: 450,000 ]
The numbers glowed a deep, sickly red. The man's entire life was a monument to violence and cruelty. Long ago, Light had established a strict, unyielding mathematical rule for his judgment: any soul whose Bad Karma exceeded 5,000 points was classified as irredeemable criminal filth.
At 450,000 points, Mad Dog Roul was an absolute plague upon the world. And at a strict 10% conversion rate upon execution, his soul was worth exactly 45,000 Karma Points.
Light casually raised his right hand. He didn't even bother drawing his pitch-black saber.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Mad Dog Roul yelled, taking a step back from the bars, suddenly feeling the terrifying, oppressive shift in the air. "I said open the—"
Light flicked his wrist.
A microscopic, hyper-condensed wave of Level 4 Advanced Armament Haki—Internal Destruction—shot from his fingertips. It phased directly through the physical iron bars like a ghost and struck Roul squarely in the chest.
The pirate simply stopped talking. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed onto the stone floor like a puppet with its strings cut. His internal organs had been completely pulverized.
[ Target Eliminated. +45,000 KP. ]
The prisoners in the adjacent cells stared at the dead body. A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the cell block.
Light didn't pause. He began to walk slowly down the corridor. He just kept his hand slightly raised.
Flick. Flick. Flick.
Invisible, lethal pulses of Haki shot into the cells. The heavy thud of bodies hitting the stone floor began to echo in a rapid, terrifying rhythm.
"What's happening?!" a prisoner screamed, backing into the corner of his cell as the man next to him collapsed dead. "He's killing us!"
Light's smile widened slightly, his eyes glowing with a dark, euphoric ecstasy as the system notifications flooded his peripheral vision, adding 10% of every sinner's worth to his pool.
[ +32,000 KP. ][ +51,000 KP. ][ +28,000 KP. ]
Behind a stone pillar, Buggy the Clown clapped his detached hands tightly over his own mouth to stop himself from screaming. Tears of absolute, primal terror streamed down his painted face.
This wasn't a jailbreak. This was an extermination.
Buggy held his breath, praying to whatever gods were listening that the False Deity's terrifying eyes wouldn't look his way.
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Suddenly, the False Deity paused.
A/N: Press 'F' to pay respects.