A/N: Read 20+ chapters ahead at {patreon.com/Glivaria}
Fair warning guys, we'll see more of Luffy's party in this arc (20 chapters), and less of Light. Story might get a lil less awesome here, but it's a necessary evil. *sighs * You'll know at chapter 80.
Meanwhile, enjoy!
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"I'm not going! I refuse! I absolutely refuse to go down there!"
Galdino, the former Mr. 3, was clinging desperately to the heavy iron frame of the reinforced door leading to Level 3. His striped prisoner uniform was already soaked in sweat, and his tall, '3' shaped topknot was beginning to droop ominously.
"Let go, you wax freak! We don't have time for this!" Sanji yelled, trying to pry the man's fingers off the iron.
"You don't understand!" Mr. 3 wailed, tears streaming down his face. "I ate the Doru Doru no Mi! I am a candle human! Level 3 is the Starvation Hell! The ambient temperature down there is so high that the heat radiating from the floor will literally melt me alive!"
"Stop being a baby!" Bonney barked.
She marched up, grabbed Mr. 3 by the back of his collar, and effortlessly hoisted the tall man into the air with one hand. With a wild, enthusiastic grin, she hurled him directly down the dark, spiraling staircase.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Mr. 3's scream faded rapidly into the depths.
"Crazy woman," Buggy muttered, sweating profusely and trying to inch his way back into the shadows of Level 2. "You know, Straw Hat... I think I'll just hold the perimeter up here! Make sure no guards ambush you from behind! Captain Buggy's got your back!"
Luffy's rubber arm shot out, his hand snapping securely onto Buggy's red nose.
"Gomu Gomu no..."
"Wait! Wait! I'm coming! I'M COMING!" Buggy shrieked.
Luffy retracted his arm, dragging the screaming clown down the stone steps. Zoro and Sanji followed closely behind, their weapons drawn, their senses heightened to the absolute limit.
As they descended, the air underwent a drastic, violent change.
The suffocating stench of wet fur and rotting meat from the Wild Beast Hell was completely burned away. The atmosphere grew impossibly dry, pulling the moisture straight from their lungs with every breath.
Luffy's sandals hit the floor of Level 3.
There was no stone beneath his feet. It was sand. A massive, sprawling landscape of pale, bone-white sand dunes stretched out beneath the dim, flickering torchlight. The heat was physically oppressive, radiating upwards in thick, visible waves of distortion.
"It's... an oven," Zoro grunted, wiping a heavy bead of sweat from his lone eye.
The layout of the Starvation Hell was vastly different from the upper levels. There were no standard iron cells lining the walls. Instead, massive, deep pits were carved directly into the burning bedrock, covered by heavy iron grates.
Inside the pits, skeletal figures lay motionless in the searing sand. They weren't tortured with blades or chased by beasts. They were simply given no food, and barely a cup of water a week. They were left to slowly, agonizingly wither away, baked alive by the heat radiating from Level 4 directly beneath them.
Sanji walked up to the edge of one of the pits, looking down through the iron grate.
The cook's hands slowly clenched into tight, trembling fists. His visible eye darkened with profound, unadulterated disgust. For a man who had nearly starved to death on a barren rock in the East Blue, the concept of Level 3 was the ultimate, unforgivable sin.
"They don't feed them," Sanji whispered, his voice vibrating with a dangerous, quiet rage. "They just lock them in a hot box and watch them wither."
"It's sick," Bonney agreed, her usual boisterous energy dampened. As someone whose powers and appetite were intrinsically linked to food, the sheer concept of a starvation chamber made her stomach turn. She kicked a spray of sand into the pit. "Let's smash this place to the ground, Luffy."
"Yeah," Luffy nodded, his eyes shadowed beneath his straw hat. "But we have to find Ace first. Which way to the next stairs?"
"I'm melting... I'm literally melting..." Mr. 3 groaned from the sand, his wax topknot completely drooping over his face like a sad, wilted flower.
"STRAW BOY?!"
A loud, incredibly flamboyant voice suddenly echoed across the burning dunes, shattering the oppressive silence.
Luffy stopped marching, his head snapping toward the sound. He looked toward one of the massive iron grates covering a deep pit a few dozen yards away.
A figure was clinging to the bars from the inside. He was wearing a tattered, dirty prisoner uniform, but he had managed to fashion a pair of swan heads onto his shoulders using torn cloth. Heavy, dramatic makeup covered his face, entirely immune to the blistering heat.
"Bon Clay?!" Luffy yelled, his eyes widening in pure shock and immense, genuine joy. He sprinted toward the iron grate, his sandals kicking up clouds of white sand. "Bon! You're alive!"
"Straw Boy! You really came!" Bentham, formerly Mr. 2 Bon Clay of Baroque Works, cried heavy, masculine tears of pure emotion. He rattled the heavy iron bars with his remaining strength, his makeup running slightly. "I heard the sirens! I heard the guards screaming about a rubber man invading the fortress! I knew it had to be you! You came for me!"
"Stand back," Zoro ordered, stepping up to the grate.
The swordsman drew Sandai Kitetsu. The cursed blade flashed in the dim, heat-hazed light. A clean, invisible line of foundational Armament Haki layered over the edge. With a single, swift slash, the dense iron grate was sliced cleanly in half, collapsing inward into the pit.
Bon Clay leaped out of the hole, striking a flawless, dramatic ballet pose in mid-air before landing gracefully in the sand. He immediately rushed forward, pulling Luffy into a massive, bone-crushing hug, spinning the rubber boy around in circles.
"JOUUUUUDAN JANAI WA YOOOO!" Bon Clay cheered, crying loudly. "Reunited in the depths of Hell! The bonds of friendship transcend even the thickest iron walls! I knew we would meet again, Straw Boy!"
"Shishishi! I'm so glad you're okay, Bon!" Luffy laughed, returning the hug.
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A/N: Returning to schedule. One chapter a day. Do you think the party size will increase?