Impel Down,
"—Ah!"
Buggy's body crashed heavily onto the floor of the second level, while Sabo scanned the entire Beast Hell with his Observation Haki.
"Tsk!"
Sabo frowned. Who designed this 'maze' anyway?! Even with a God's-eye view, he couldn't find the passage to the next level!
Sabo looked at the grimacing Buggy, 'Good thing I have someone to lead the way!'
"This level is Beast Hell, filled with beasts from the Demon World!" Buggy quickly explained, this big shot in front of him was his only hope of escaping.
"The beasts you mentioned... are they these?" Sabo extended a finger, pointing into the deep darkness.
A small hippopotamus and a praying mantis wearing a red vest charged towards the two.
Sabo kicked the hippopotamus away, while Buggy was chopped into pieces by the mantis... The two easily dealt with the small monsters, Buggy's voice was both contemptuous and confused.
"What kind of Beast Hell is this? It seems the first level was more dangerous!"
A sudden change occurred.
"Roar!"
A furious roar, carrying a strong wind, swept towards the two. Buggy's eyes widened, "De... Demon Beast! A beast from the Demon World... it actually exists!"
A giant demon beast appeared before them, a monster with a chicken's body and a snake's head, a gaping maw, venomous fangs, and a twisted, protruding tongue.
"This must be the legendary rare beast, the snake born from a chicken—the Basilisk!"
Buggy fled non-stop.
Sabo lightly touched the brim of his hat, "I don't have time to play with you here!"
His right hand formed a claw, covered in black Armament Haki, and he stomped his right foot forcefully on the ground, flying towards the demon beast like an arrow!
[Dragon Claw Fist]
Three pitch-black Dragon Claws fiercely clamped onto the demon beast's head!
"Roar!"
The demon beast let out a painful wail.
"Bang!"
The demon beast's head instantly exploded, red and white matter splattering on the floor... Sabo, however, remained agile and spotless!
"—Ah!"
Buggy in the distance had his jaw practically on the floor, two streams of snot hanging in the air!
The Impel Down guards in the monitoring room were all stunned.
Who is this? So awesome!
...An hour later, the ceiling of the Crimson Hell was rapidly corroded, and two figures descended from above!
[Blood Venom Dragon]
Nine huge blood-colored venomous dragons filled the sky, carrying suffocating poisonous gas, charging towards Luffy!
Luffy, however, ignored them, covering himself with top-tier Armament Haki, clenching his fists, and wildly swinging his arms!
[Gum-Gum Gatling]
His fists pierced through the venomous dragons, one punch after another solidly striking Magellan's body.
"Boom!"
Magellan fell heavily into the sword forest, his face full of disbelief!
He was clearly covered in his venom, and logically, even the "World's Strongest Man" Whitebeard should have met his end! ...Yet this kid looked perfectly fine!
"Hoo—"
Luffy endured the nerve-shredding pain, his forehead covered in fine sweat!
However, looking at the values on his panel,
[Physique: 82.9 → 85.9]
Everything was worth it, but... resistance had also appeared! ...Continuing to get hit wouldn't be very effective anymore!
Luffy slowly stood up.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle!"
Black lightning, like ribbons, coiled around Luffy.
The airwaves exploded, and the outwardly released Armament Haki, accompanied by black lightning, tore through the ground and a large area of 'conifer forest.'
Luffy moved, a circle of white airwave ripples exploding from his arm, crossing the spatial barrier at an invisible speed, and punching Magellan in the face!
"Boom!"
Magellan's figure flew backward like a cannonball, consecutively smashing through nearly ten walls embedded with Sea Stone.
Among the top-tier combatants, Magellan still had a significant gap; his two types of Haki were only advanced, and his physical combat skills were not impressive!
Compared to an Admiral who was almost perfect in all aspects, Magellan was more like a single-discipline war god!
At least Kizaru wouldn't be knocked down by one punch from him!
Luffy shook his head, red light flashing in his eyes, his Observation Haki released to its maximum... Even with the obstruction of Sea Stone, he could clearly see the scene on the fifth level!
...Time rewound to an hour ago.
"So, this is the boss guarding the second level?" Sabo looked at the giant lion before him!
It had a lion's body, goat's hooves covered in thick mane, large curved and cracked horns, fierce crimson vertical pupils, exposed fangs, and dark brown mottled fur.
Mr. 3's voice next to him trembled slightly, "That's right, it... it's the staircase guardian, Sphinx!"
"Meme!" The lion raised its massive paw and slammed it heavily onto the ground!
Mr. 3 and Buggy hugged each other, scrambling to escape!
Sabo leaped into the air to dodge an attack, pulled out his steel pipe, raised it, covered it with Armament Haki, and brought it down heavily onto the lion's head!
Crack—
The immense airwave tore through the floor.
Mr. 3, Buggy, and the lion all fell through, with Sabo following close behind... "Is this the third underground level, Starvation Hell?" Sabo looked at the desert-like scene before him.
The rock walls were withered brown like scorched earth, covered in cracks and embedded with jagged gravel, and in the dim light, only the cold, hard outlines of rusted cages remained.
Sabo stretched his back, "Finally, it's not a maze anymore! ...Well, thank you for your help, I'll be going now!"
Sabo took off his top hat and bowed, thanking Mr. 3 and Buggy... even though both were already unconscious!
Sabo vanished from the spot like a ghost!
...Meanwhile, in Impel Down's fourth level, Blazing Hell!
The rock walls were fiery red like molten rock, magma bubbled and overflowed along the cracks, heat waves carried the smell of sulfur, iron chains hung down with scorch marks, torture devices glowed red in the dim firelight, and the air was suffocatingly hot.
A woman with fluffy curly hair accentuating her delicate face, a leather outfit outlining her alluring curves, a whip in hand, eyes filled with charm but hiding a fierce ruthlessness, stood blocking the entrance with four Impel Down beasts.
"Why is there still no news! I knew I should have waited on the third level!" Sadi-chan tugged at the whip in her hand, licking her red lips with a twisted smile.
Suddenly,
"—Crack!"
The wooden door shattered, and a pitch-black steel pipe shot through the air, carrying waves of air, flying towards Sadi-chan!
"Bang!"
The key rhino blocked it, but the powerful force directly pushed it flying, sending it into the rolling lava.
A figure appeared like a ghost, both hands forming claws, firmly gripping the heads of the bear and zebra.
His biceps suddenly expanded, Stream Demon Haki destroying the bodies of the two beasts, then his arms exerted force, grabbing their heads, and smashing them fiercely into the ground!
"Bang—!"
The ground, mixed with Sea Stone, was blasted into two deep pits, and the two beasts were in an inverted position, heads down, feet up!
Just then, the remaining cow, holding a spiked club, swung it fiercely at Sabo's head.
Sabo extended his right hand, covered in Armament Haki!
The moment of contact, the air exploded, and the spiked club turned to dust. Then, sharp Dragon Claws clamped onto the cow's head!
"Boom!"
Sabo looked at the stunned Sadi-chan, caught the spinning steel pipe, flashed behind her, and with a swift strike of the pipe, Sadi-chan instantly fell to the ground!
"There's still quite a distance to the sixth level!"
Sabo took out a den den mushi, dialed a number, and slowly moved towards the fifth level.
"Brrr brrr!"
The sound of the den den mushi rang through the corridor of the fourth level!
...Meanwhile, in Starvation Hell!
Buggy and Mr. 3 released Mr. 2 Bon Clay.
"Thank you both so much!" Mr. 2 Bon Clay was moved to tears, then made a firm decision.
"I'm going to find someone! This humble one will never forget your kindness!" Mr. 2 Bon Clay headed towards the fourth level.
Buggy looked speechless, "Another person going to their death!"
"Mm-hmm!"
Mr. 3 nodded, in deep agreement!
Little did they know, below was much safer than above!