Chenos had originally planned to release the stored energy through his legs, stop right in front of the man, and then finish him with a clean punch.
He hadn't expected the power output to be so excessive—
So excessive that he went straight through the man's body.
Thankfully, the intimidation effect was more than sufficient.
Chenos tore off the shredded remnants of his clothes, wiped the blood from his body, and returned to the Boa sisters.
"I'll sleep in front of you tonight," he said calmly.
"If anyone dares to touch you, shout my name."
After saying that, he lay down about a meter in front of them, positioning himself between the sisters and the rest of the cell. From there, no matter which direction someone tried to approach from, he would hear it.
The three sisters looked at him with visible emotion.
In a place as cruel and hopeless as this, having someone stand guard over them brought a sense of safety they hadn't felt since being captured.
Hancock stole glances at Chenos again and again, her cheeks gradually reddening. No one knew what she was thinking.
Finally, she bit her lip, made up her mind, removed the white cloak from her shoulders, and walked over.
"C-Chenos… you're sleeping like this, half-naked. You'll catch a cold. Take this—wear it."
Chenos looked at Hancock, who was now only wearing a red short top and shorts, and shook his head.
"I'm fine. I'm tougher than you. You keep it."
"We… the three of us can sleep together. We won't get cold," Hancock insisted, her eyes resolute.
"If you get sick, then no one will be able to protect us."
Chenos glanced at her two sisters, then back at Hancock's determined expression.
He didn't refuse again.
He took the cloak and draped it over his shoulders.
The moment he accepted it, Hancock broke into a bright smile.
It was the first time since arriving here that she'd felt genuine happiness.
She returned to her sisters, and the three of them huddled together tightly, sharing warmth in the icy stone cell.
Even though—
A corpse lay not far away, still warm.
The floor beneath them was cold, unforgiving stone.
And terrifying slaves surrounded them on all sides—
They still fell into a deep sleep.
Because someone stood in front of them.
Because, for the first time, they felt safe.
The rest of the slaves, having survived an intense brush with death, finally relaxed once they were back in the cell. Exhaustion washed over them, and one by one, they fell asleep.
No one caused trouble that night.
Morning came quickly.
At dawn, guards struck the doors and woke everyone.
When CP0 noticed a corpse inside Chenos's cell, they said nothing. They casually opened the door and had people come in to remove the body.
After waking up, Chenos walked over to the Boa sisters and spoke quietly.
"During the day, all women will be assigned to cleaning duty. Remember—work slowly, don't break anything, and always smile when you see a Celestial Dragon."
He paused, his expression serious.
"No matter what happens, don't cry, don't shout. That only gets you killed faster."
Hancock glanced nervously at the male slaves around them, her anxiety obvious.
Seeing this, Chenos gently patted her head and smiled.
"Don't worry. Male and female slaves work in different places. The men usually get assigned to operate the 'automatic staircases.' You won't be with them."
He lowered his voice.
"And outside the cells, they won't dare do anything. If they try, the ones who die will be them."
Hancock blinked.
"Automatic… staircases?"
A flash of rage crossed Chenos's eyes.
"An automatic staircase," he explained quietly, "is exactly what it sounds like. The Celestial Dragons stand on it, and it carries them upward so they don't have to walk."
He clenched his fists.
"And the reason it moves… is because male slaves are underground, pushing it."
His mind involuntarily dredged up one of the body's worst memories.
A pitch-black underground space.
Cramped. Airless. Suffocating.
Countless male slaves leaned their bodies at extreme angles, pushing massive levers so heavy they could barely be moved. No one knew when it would end. They could only keep pushing.
Every time it stopped, it felt like crawling back from hell.
And every time—
Many died beneath the staircases.
The bodies cleared out after each use could pile into a small mountain.
An "automatic staircase" built with unimaginable wealth and countless lives—
All so the Celestial Dragons wouldn't have to walk.
Damn them.
In his previous life, Chenos had watched countless anime.
Yet few races—few beings—were as vile as the Celestial Dragons.
Garbage like this, if left in the world, would only continue trampling lives and breeding tragedy.
At that moment, a CP0 agent at the door spoke coldly.
"Men go with him. Women go with her."
Then his finger pointed at Chenos.
"Chenos—come with me."
The moment those words left his mouth, every slave looked at Chenos with envy.
They all knew what that meant.
He wouldn't be working.
He'd be training.
"Stay safe," Chenos said quietly before walking toward the sword-bearing CP0 agent.
The Boa sisters exchanged glances, then followed the CP0 assigned to escort the women.
The sword-bearing CP0 led Chenos to an open training ground and began his instruction.
"Chenos," he said evenly, "since you already know about Haki, you should also know this."
"There are three types of Haki."
"Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki."
"Conqueror's Haki is extremely rare—only one in a million possesses it. We'll ignore that for now."
"That leaves Armament and Observation."
"Armament Haki is the act of manifesting the energy within your body and 'arming' yourself with it. With it, you can block blades with your bare hands—and turn your fists, even your fingers, into lethal weapons."
"Observation Haki allows you to sense everything around you as if you were seeing it directly. Even attacks from behind won't escape your awareness. Your survival ability increases dramatically."
He looked straight at Chenos.
"Today, I'll teach you the simplest one first—Armament Haki."
Chenos's heart raced.
Back when he read the manga and watched the anime, the power system of the pirate world had fascinated him endlessly.
The CP0 agent raised his hand.
In the next instant, his skin turned jet-black.
Then, without seeming to exert much force, he punched the ground.
BOOM—!
Chenos instantly crossed his arms over his head.
When the dust settled—
A crater more than half a meter deep had formed in the ground.
Chenos stared, dumbfounded.
That punch hadn't looked strong at all.
If it had landed on his head…
Even with a Devil Fruit, his skull would've been pulverized.
At that moment, his wariness of CP0 deepened significantly.
A man whose name he'd never even heard in his previous life—
And yet he was this strong.
"Demonstration complete," the CP0 agent said flatly.
"Training begins."