The fall was a chaotic rush of wind and darkness. Kai landed hard on the stone floor of Level 2, the impact jarring his entire body. Around him, the Blugori that had fallen with him crashed to the ground in a cacophony of breaking bones and screeching metal. He was in a new hell.
The air here was hot and thick, filled with the primal stench of musk and blood. Strange, inhuman screeches echoed from the shadows of a vast, cavernous space lined with prison cells. This was not the sterile stone block of Level 1. This was a jungle.
Before he could fully take in his surroundings, the surviving Blugori were already pushing themselves to their feet. Limbs snapped back into place with sickening crunches. Their skeletal eyes, devoid of any pain or fear, locked onto him. Their programming had re-engaged. Their sole directive was to eliminate him.
They charged, a wave of blue fur and bloodstained steel.
But something was different this time. For Kai, the world seemed to slow to a crawl. He saw the subtle twitch of a Blugori's shoulder muscles, a telegraphing motion that revealed the precise arc of its coming swing. He saw the predictable, lurching pattern of their charge, the way their weight shifted clumsily from one foot to the other. He saw every opening, every weakness, every vulnerable joint and unarmored patch of flesh laid bare before him as if highlighted in bright, glowing red.
(This is the power of experience) he thought, a cold, predatory thrill cutting through the tension. (My body is adapting)
He didn't run. He met the charge head-on. The closest Blugori brought its axe down in a crushing vertical chop. Kai didn't just dodge. He flowed inside the arc of the swing, so close the wind of the blade passed his skin. His right hand shot out in a devastating spear-hand strike aimed at the creature's throat. His fingers, hardened by his training, punched through fur and flesh, crushing the Blugori's windpipe with a wet, pulping sound. The beast made a choked gurgle and collapsed, its own axe falling harmlessly to the side.
Another charged from his left. He spun, his elbow rising to meet its temple. Bone met bone with a sound like a coconut cracking open. The Blugori's skull-face fractured, and its massive body went limp, crashing to the floor in a boneless heap.
An axe swung for his head. He dropped low, the blade whistling over him, and drove his fist into the creature's knee joint. He felt the ligaments tear and the kneecap shatter under his knuckles. The beast's leg buckled at an unnatural angle, and as it stumbled forward, Kai used its own momentum against it. He grabbed the back of its skull-face, forcing its head down as another Blugori charged. The second beast's axe, meant for Kai, buried itself deep in the back of its comrade's skull with a sickening thud.
While the axe-wielder struggled to free its weapon, Kai vaulted onto the back of the first beast, launched himself through the air, and brought his heel down on the second creature's neck. The sound of its spine snapping was like a thick branch breaking, a sharp, final crack that echoed in the cavernous hell.
It was a whirlwind of horrific violence. A palm strike shattered a sternum here, a side kick to the spine elicited a silentcollapse there. He moved through them like a scalpel, each movement precise, efficient, and utterly lethal. He broke their limbs, crushed their throats, and shattered their skulls, using his newfound knowledge to end them with brutal finality.
Yet, even a perfect slaughter is exhausting. He was a machine of destruction, but the machine was still made of flesh and blood. After ten minutes of nonstop, high-intensity combat, a deep, burning fatigue began to set in. His lungs felt like they were on fire. The muscles in his arms and legs, once thrumming with power, now screamed with every movement, heavy as lead. The adrenaline that had sharpened his senses to a knife's edge was beginning to fade
(My cheat is incredible, but it's not a miracle) he panted, ducking under a swing and kicking another Blugori away to create some space. (It gives me amplified growth and experience, but it doesn't give me infinite stamina. I'm still human, and I'm getting tired.)
He scrambled into the dark opening of an empty cell, pressing himself against the back wall, trying to catch his breath. The Blugori swarmed outside, their simple minds trying to process how to get to him. It was a temporary reprieve, but he knew it wouldn't last.
Suddenly, a vast shadow fell over the entire area. The dim light of the prison grew dimmer still, and the snarling of the Blugori outside his cell ceased. They looked up, a strange, primal fear momentarily overriding their programming.
A piercing screech tore through the air from above, a sound that made the hairs on Kai's arms stand on end. He cautiously peered out of the cell. Floating in the massive open space above the cell blocks was a creature from a nightmare. It had the massive, feathered body of a chicken, but its head was that of a vicious serpent, and its talons were as large as grappling hooks.
(That... that's the Basilisk,) he realized, his blood running cold. (One of the guardian beasts of this level.)
The creature's serpentine head swiveled, its cold, reptilian eyes scanning the area before locking directly onto Kai's hiding spot. It had found him.
With another shriek, it dove.
"Time to go!"
Kai burst from the cell, his exhaustion forgotten in the face of this new, overwhelming threat. The Basilisk was huge, and it moved with terrifying speed. He saw its head lunge and threw himself to the side, but the beast wasn't aiming for him. It was aiming for his hiding spot.
CRASH!
The entire cell block he had just been in imploded as the Basilisk's head smashed through it, reducing the stone and iron to rubble.
Kai didn't stop to look back. He ran, weaving through the labyrinth of cell blocks. But there was no escape. The Basilisk was too large, its vantage point from the air too perfect. It could see him no matter where he tried to hide. Its massive talons descended again and again, each strike obliterating a section of the prison, the sound of shattering stone echoing like thunder.
(This is bad. This is really bad. If one of those claws touches me... I'm done for.)
To make matters worse, the Blugori had recovered from their shock and were now relentlessly pursuing him from the ground. He was trapped in a two-front war. He was a mouse being hounded by a pack of wolves, all while a hawk circled overhead.
He was forced to fight and dodge simultaneously. He kicked a charging Blugori into the path of another, then had to throw himself to the ground as the Basilisk's shadow passed over him. He felt the wind from its massive wings, a hurricane-force blast that sent dust and debris flying and nearly tore him from his feet.
He tried to fight back against the greater threat. He leaped onto a pile of rubble and launched a powerful kick at the Basilisk's descending head, but the beast simply tilted its neck, and his attack glanced harmlessly off its thick scales. It was like kicking a mountain.
(It's no good! My attacks don't even scratch it! Luffy needed Gear Third to take this thing down. He could shatter the Blugori with a single punch. I'm barely holding them off. The power gap... it's just too big.)
He was being worn down. A Blugori's axe grazed his side, tearing his uniform and drawing blood. The Basilisk's wing buffet sent him tumbling through the air, and he landed hard, the wind knocked out of him. He was at his limit. His movements were becoming sluggish, his vision starting to blur from exhaustion. He dodged another talon strike by a hair's breadth, the claws shattering the ground where he lay.
In that split second, lying in the new crater, he knew. This fight was unwinnable. To continue fighting was suicide.
He scrambled to his feet, kicked away the nearest Blugori, and screamed at the top of his lungs towards a surveillance Den Den Mushi on the wall.
"I SURRENDER!"
The word felt like ash in his mouth, a bitter admission of his current weakness. But it was not a true defeat. It was a strategic retreat.
(To keep fighting is to die. And I didn't come to this world just to die on Level 2 of Impel Down. This is the smart move. The only move.)
He knew the consequences. He had destroyed prison property and killed several guards. They would add decades, maybe centuries, to his sentence. But that didn't matter. He was never going to serve it. All that mattered was surviving today.
(Let them capture me. Let them think they've won. This display of power proves I'm too dangerous for the upper levels. They'll have to send me down. Deeper. To Level 3, or even Level 4.)
A fierce, triumphant light burned in his eyes, even as he raised his hands in surrender.
(That's exactly what I wanted. Down there, I'll find stronger opponents. I'll find prisoners who know real fighting styles, maybe even Haki. With a proper training system and my 100x multipler... just give me a little time. A month, and I'll be strong enough to walk out the front door. A year, and I'll be a king.)