In the chaotic ruin of the battlefield, Kai's voice, raw and shredded, echoed through the cavernous hell of Level 2.
"I SURRENDER!"
The words, screamed at a nearby surveillance Den Den Mushi, were a calculated risk. It was a surrender of the battle to win the war. Miles away, guards in the central monitoring room, who had been watching the carnage with wide-eyed horror, scrambled into action.
A moment later, the piercing shriek of Saldeath's flute changed its tune. The command to kill was replaced by a command to halt.
The dozens of Blugori that were about to swarm Kai froze mid-step. The monstrous Basilisk, poised for another devastating attack, pulled up and glided to a perch high above, its serpentine head watching with cold, reptilian indifference.
The fight was over.
A squad of regular prison guards crept forward, spears and nets held tight in trembling hands. They barked orders, their voices strained with the fear Kai's brutal display had earned. He didn't fight back. He let them roughly shackle his hands and feet, the heavy iron chains a cold and final proof of his capture.
As they dragged him away, he passed Griz's ruined cell. The cynical old pirate was just staring, his face a mask of utter disbelief.
Their eyes met for a fleeting second.
Kai gave him a slow, deliberate wink.
'This isn't the end' he thought, a grim smile touching his lips.
He was escorted down, and down, and down. The primal jungle of Level 2 gave way to the blood-soaked gladiator pits of Level 3, but they didn't stop. The air grew thick and heavy, and a suffocating heat began to rise with every step, a promise of the furnace to come.
This was his destination: Level 4, the Blazing Hell.
The moment the gates opened, the heat hit him like a physical wall. The air itself shimmered, and the roar of a thousand fires filled his ears. The entire level was a massive cavern dominated by a lake of boiling blood, heated from below by a roaring inferno. The stench of sulfur and burning flesh was overpowering. This was also where the Warden of Impel Down, Magellan, held his office. It was obvious Kai wasn't being treated like a normal prisoner. He was a special case.
"All new arrivals to Level 4 must be sterilized," a guard announced, his voice dripping with cruel satisfaction.
Before Kai could even process the words, he was shoved forward into a massive, open chamber. Jets of scorching hot steam erupted from the floor and walls, sealing him in. It was a baptism by fire, a "high-temperature disinfection" meant to boil away any weakness. The heat was well over one hundred degrees Celsius.
It was like being boiled alive.
Agony, pure and absolute, engulfed him. His skin blistered and melted. Every single nerve ending shrieked in protest. The animal part of his brain screamed at him to collapse, to give in, to die.
But he refused.
'This is a test. Just another test' he thought, his mind a single point of focus in a sea of pain. 'If I break here, it's all over. Endure it!'
He clenched his jaw, biting down so hard he tasted blood to stop the scream from tearing out of his throat. He would not break. He would not give them the satisfaction. The guards watched, expecting screams and pleas for mercy.
All they heard was a strained, guttural growl as Kai stood his ground, trembling but upright, in the heart of the inferno.
Finally, it was over. His skin was raw and red, but his enhanced body was already beginning to heal. He was dragged, steaming and exhausted, into a large, dark office.
Seated behind a massive desk was a figure that was less a man and more a living nightmare. He was over four meters tall, with devil-like horns and a perpetual drip of venom from his mouth. This was Warden Magellan.
Magellan's cold, analytical eyes scanned Kai, ignoring the report the guards were rattling off. His gaze was fixed on the impossible strength the boy had shown.
"Put him in Seastone cuffs," Magellan commanded, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.
'So that's his game' Kai realized as the guards swapped his iron shackles for the cool, smooth touch of Seastone. 'He thinks I'm a Devil Fruit user. It's the only way they can explain my power.'
The guards and Magellan watched, waiting. They waited for the telltale sign, for him to drop to his knees, for his strength to vanish into thin air.
Nothing happened.
Kai stood just as strong as before. The Seastone had no effect on him whatsoever.
A flicker of surprise, gone as quickly as it appeared crossed Magellan's face. He leaned forward, his massive form casting a deep shadow over Kai.
"Cori Yekai," he began, his voice flat as he read the name from a nearly blank sheet of paper. "An interesting file. It has a name and nothing else. No crime, no sentence, no origin."
He looked up. "So tell me. Who are you? And how did you get into my prison?"
Magellan knew that in a place as corrupt as the World Government, people sometimes "disappeared" into Impel Down as favors for the powerful. Kai's ghost file screamed of such a situation.
Kai met the Warden's gaze without flinching. "My name is Kai," he said, his voice hoarse. "And as for how I got here... I honestly don't know. One moment I was in my room, the next, I woke up in a cell on Level 1."
It was the absolute truth, which made it sound like the most obvious lie in the world. He could hardly explain gamer rage and being zapped into another dimension.
Magellan studied him for a long, silent moment. He didn't seem to care about the answer. The boy wasn't a Devil Fruit user, yet he was strong. His file was a blank. He had caused a massive disturbance and killed several expensive Jailer Beasts. To Magellan, the equation was simple. This was a problem. And he had a special place for problems.
He turned to Saldeath, who was hovering nervously by the door. "Take him to Level 5."
Then, he addressed a tall, blonde woman in a stern uniform, Deputy Chief Guard Domino. "Domino, look into his background. Find out everything you can and bring the report to me."
"Yes, Warden!" they both chimed.
And just like that, it was over. Magellan had already lost interest, turning back to his paperwork as if Kai had ceased to exist. To him, Kai was just another piece of trash to be thrown in the prison's deepest bin. He didn't care where Kai came from. He just wanted him gone.