The scorching, desiccated hell burned endlessly.
The pirates forced into hard labor no longer even had the strength to scream—
their hollow eyes stared emptily as their bodies repeated mechanical motions.
Longinus patrolled along the edge of the burning pit.
A squad of guards followed closely behind him.
Strictly speaking, the position of Chief Guard Captain—the role Longinus now held—was designed to command monster-like creatures such as the Blue Gorillas.
Under normal circumstances, his escorts should have been those bestial jailers as well.
Fortunately, Magellan understood Longinus's difficulties.
He had specially assigned a team of human guards—otherwise Longinus wouldn't even know how to communicate with those monsters.
"Place seastone restraints on the pirate in the center of the Blood Bridge—the one with the scar across his face."
Longinus spoke gently.
"Yes, Chief Guard Captain, sir!"
The guards behind him responded with near-fanatical admiration.
Ever since they had followed him from Level 1's Crimson Lotus Hell, he had been pointing out pirates hiding their true abilities with just a single glance.
Such terrifying insight made them switch attitudes immediately—they trusted each of his words without hesitation.
Longinus hadn't lowered his voice.
The scar-faced pirate heard everything.
Originally, he'd hesitated.
But when he saw the guards moving toward him, he panicked, dropped the massive log on his shoulder, and attempted to flee.
"Bastard! Move it!"
"Damn you, are you trying to knock me into the fire pit?!"
Seeing the crowd begin to stir, Longinus lightly tapped the air with a finger.
A crescent-shaped blast of force shot out, instantly sending the rioting pirate flying across the flames to the opposite shore—where the waiting guards swarmed him and subdued him immediately.
Silence fell over the inmates.
Even though their strength was restricted, their judgment remained intact.
They could tell that the young new Chief Guard Captain possessed terrifying power.
Ignoring both the guards' respectful gazes and the pirates' horrified stares, Longinus walked straight forward and stopped before a slumped figure.
"Felix. Long time no see."
Felix raised his head, staring complexly at the man who had personally thrown him into Impel Down.
"In a single year you went from a branch Marine… to someone with enough authority to interfere with Impel Down's operations.
It seems being caught by you really wasn't unjustified.
What? You here to mock me?"
"Don't misunderstand. You're not worth that."
Longinus's gentle tone nearly reignited the temper that Felix had long since had beaten out of him.
"I'm only here to confirm you're still alive.
After all, in a certain sense… your Devil Fruit is quite useful."
"What do you mean, Longinus?"
Veins bulged on Felix's forehead.
He didn't know what Longinus was planning, but that tone—
like someone praising another man's wife—infuriated him.
"No special meaning. Just don't die here."
Longinus waved casually and walked away toward the next level without looking back.
"You bastard! Explain yourself—ghh!"
Felix roared and tried to lunge forward, but the jailers' fists quickly brought him back to reality.
"Tch! A piece of trash like you dares show disrespect to the Chief Guard Captain?
Boys, beat him!"
The surrounding pirates watched with schadenfreude—
no sympathy whatsoever.
Idiots who attracted hatred were their favorite shields.
LEVEL 6 — Infinite Hell
There were no piercing sword-grass needles of Crimson Lotus Hell.
No savage beasts like in Beast Hell.
No tormenting food illusions like in Starvation Hell.
No searing flames like in Blazing Hell.
No freezing blizzards of Ice Hell.
Only endless silence, solitude, and deathlike stillness.
No one imprisoned here was ordinary.
For people of their caliber, physical torments like fire or frost were trivial—almost insulting.
If Impel Down used crude torture on them, these pirates would mock the prison for losing its dignity.
"Chief Guard Captain, from here onward… you may have to enter alone."
A guard behind Longinus spoke hesitantly.
"Many of the inmates in Infinite Hell can use Conqueror's Haki.
They're wild and uncontrollable.
If we follow you in, we'll definitely be knocked out instantly.
To avoid causing trouble for you, we'll wait outside."
Longinus nodded, recalling something Chinjao once said in canon's "future timeline":
"In the New World, people who wield Conqueror's Haki are as numerous as carp crossing the river.
But above all conquerors… stands the Pirate King!"
Though a clear exaggeration, it showed one point—
basic Conqueror's Haki wasn't rare in the New World.
What mattered was not possessing it…
but how far one could develop it.
"Then I'll trouble you to remain here."
Longinus said warmly.
"N-no trouble at all!"
Tap—
Tap—
Tap—
Footsteps echoed faintly.
"Well, well. Someone's coming.
Is it Yalvis? Magellan? Shiryu? Jin?
Or that Hannyabal who only came once?"
A pirate's mocking voice echoed through the dark.
After a brief pause, a raspier voice responded,
"Definitely a newbie. Only those imprisoned for a short time still have that kind of energy."
"A newcomer?"
The first voice scoffed.
"When Golden Lion was brought in two years ago, did you dare talk to him like that?"
"Sharp-tongued whelp."
The rasping voice muttered.
But he fell silent—because he knew he wouldn't dare.
Infinite Hell was different from the upper floors.
Up there, no matter how strong someone had been on the outside, once inside, they stood on equal ground.
Even if the inmates were offended, they couldn't do anything.
But here…
the pirates still retained one final weapon—
Conqueror's Haki.
Infinite Hell had held legends like Roger and Golden Lion,
but most prisoners here were in the two- to three-hundred-million range.
They had Conqueror's Haki, yes,
but only in its weak, rudimentary form—
unreliable, low intensity, and often inconsistent.
If they provoked someone like Golden Lion…
his top-tier Conqueror's Haki alone could knock them unconscious,
and he could "corpse-camp" them so thoroughly
that they might never wake again.
If he wanted to be even crueler—
knocking them unconscious while they were using the toilet…
tsk, tsk.
That was a fate no one wished to imagine.
"Well, well… a fresh-faced newbie!"
The pirate who had been the most vocal flushed with excitement when he spotted the unfamiliar figure.
He was practically trembling.
"Let's welcome the newcomer… in the loudest way possible!"
With his words—
over a dozen blasts of Conqueror's Haki erupted simultaneously.
Weak though they were individually,
when intertwined,
they became a soul-shaking storm—
a terrifying wave that crashed straight toward Longinus!
(Author's Note: To avoid misunderstanding—MC will NOT eat a Devil Fruit.
The Seven-Star Sword will NOT have any fruit-absorbing or bug-like abilities.)
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