I took advantage of the moment—using telekinesis to scoop up the two of them. Before anyone around could react, I soared into the air with them, flying straight toward the warship.
By then Nami and the others had already returned to the deck. While rushing back, I wrapped the warship in telekinesis—forcefully pushing it away from the shore and out to sea.
At the same time, I felt Crocodile relentlessly hammering the mental cage with lightning. It wouldn't take him long to break free. Splitting my focus three ways—my mental energy consumption was massive. My head throbbed; I could only grit my teeth and hold on.
BOOM! Finally Crocodile shattered the mental cage. The violent backlash hit me like a hammer to the skull—head-splitting pain.
I had just reached above the deck—couldn't hold on any longer—and crashed down hard with the two captives.
No time to rest. Gritting my teeth, I used Desire Conversion on myself. The headache eased a bit, but mental energy barely recovered. Desire Conversion for stamina didn't help mental strength much.
I could only use the last scraps of mental energy to drop the sails—letting wind slowly push the ship out to sea.
Crocodile didn't disappoint. After breaking free, he immediately flew toward the warship—much faster than our slow start. At this rate, he'd catch up soon.
Seeing the ship about to exit the river mouth, I gritted my teeth. I had to buy time.
"Nami—you guys take the helm. Full speed ahead. I'll hold them off."
Mental energy was nearly gone—enough for flight, but not for combat. I'd have to rely on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
I pulled the Seastone baton stolen from Smoker from my spatial ring—took flight—and charged straight at Crocodile.
Two lightning spears shot out to greet him.
The spears pierced two huge holes in Crocodile—but I knew they didn't hit. He'd simply elementalized and dodged.
To buy time I kept firing lightning spears—but now Crocodile didn't even bother dodging. Lightning struck his body harmlessly—like hitting nothing.
Sand doesn't conduct electricity. As long as he stayed elementalized, my lightning was useless. Similarly, his sand attacks did nothing to me.
Crocodile knew this too. Ignoring my thunder, he raised his left golden hook—charging straight at me with a punch-hook combo. Clearly going for close combat.
I was actually happy—he was coming right into range for the Seastone baton.
I let his attacks hit—turning the struck parts into lightning to nullify them. The Seastone baton stabbed straight into his chest.
With a muffled groan—the once-aggressive Crocodile instantly lost flight—plummeting toward the sea.
Of course I wouldn't miss a chance to beat a drowning dog. Adjusting position—I prepared to pursue—when an explosion sounded from the ship, followed by the women's screams.
Turning—I saw two figures had appeared on deck: Mr. 5 with the Bomb-Bomb Fruit and his partner Miss Valentine with the Kilo-Kilo Fruit.
I'd been careless again—forgot Miss Valentine could fly.
Seeing this umbrella-holding beauty in a yellow dress—I felt zero appreciation.
Just moments ago—Igaram had taken a full round of Mr. 5's explosions—now collapsed on deck, life or death uncertain.
Mr. 5 was preparing a second attack—targeting the defenseless women.
Rage exploded in my eyes—but the distance was too far to reach in time. I unleashed two full-power lightning spears—blasting Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine off the deck into the sea.
At the same time—the backlash from blocking the explosion pushed my already exhausted mental energy over the edge. I could no longer fly—plummeting straight into the sea.
With Mr. 5 gone—the warship safely exited the river mouth and entered open sea.
Fighting off the urge to pass out, I sent one last telepathic message to Nami.
"You go ahead—to the second island. Wait for me there. I'll finish them and catch up."
Forcing mental energy again—brought piercing pain. Consciousness blurred.
Finally I fired several more lightning spears—sinking every nearby ship—then sank into the sea, losing consciousness.
......…So hot.
That was my first thought upon waking.
Opening my eyes—I found myself in a stone prison cell.
About five meters square—five sides solid stone—the sixth iron bars.
Crimson light filtered through the bars—bathing everything dark red.
No wonder it felt hot—the entire cell was sweltering. The floor burned my feet.
I tried to stand—but found heavy shackles on my wrists. Looking down—I wore prisoner clothes. My spatial ring was gone.
"Awake, newbie?" Hearing the voice—I looked over. Two big men in prisoner uniforms—also shackled—sat listlessly in the corner.
"Where is this?" As I spoke—I searched for a way to break the cuffs.
"Don't bother. Those are Seastone cuffs. Whatever ability you have—it's useless here."
The speaking man lost interest—lowered his head and shut up.
"You don't even know how you got here? This is Impel Down." The other man continued—eyeing me.
"What? Impel Down? The underwater prison?" This was beyond unexpected.
I immediately spread divine sense—to observe the surroundings.
The moment I used mental energy—needle-like pain stabbed deep in my brain. I broke out in cold sweat and stopped.
"Yes—Impel Down underwater prison. This is Level 4—Blazing Hell.
You're quite the odd one—don't even know how you ended up here?" The man finished—ignoring me again.
I stayed silent—mind racing.
During the fight with Crocodile—I'd overused mental energy and passed out. I must have been captured. Before blacking out—I'd told Nami and the others to escape. With all nearby ships sunk—they shouldn't be pursued soon. The second island—the Ancient Island—had two giant warriors. They were kind-hearted. The women's safety should be fine.
But why Crocodile handed me to the Navy—I couldn't understand.
As for this underwater prison—the biggest threat was Seastone. But it didn't affect me—so escape was possible.
Still—Impel Down had too many big shots I couldn't afford to provoke. I needed a detailed plan—and fast. Nami and the others lacked combat power. I couldn't rest easy.
One more urgent thing—every week I needed to prepare 100,000 Desire Points.
Thinking this—I closed my eyes—opened the Desire System. Desire Points: just over 85,000. Slowly rising—but I didn't know how much time had passed. Lilith could demand payment anytime. I needed a way to earn Desire Points fast.
Footsteps interrupted my thoughts. I looked—several jailers appeared at the bars—opening the cell door.
"Work time. Get out."
The jailers banged batons on the bars—urging. The two big men stood and walked out.
I followed.
Led by the jailers—I finally saw the full view of Blazing Hell.
A massive circular hall—hundreds of square meters.
Below—a roiling sea of fire.
Above it—a wide circular walkway ringed the hall. In the center—a huge cauldron—dozens of meters wide—filled with bubbling red liquid.
A walkway crossed the hall—connecting to the central pot.
The scene matched the original story perfectly.
But the scorching heat wave hitting my face reminded me how serious things were.
On the walkway—countless prisoners carried heavy loads under jailer orders—coming and going.
Whips cracked from time to time—wails echoed through the hall.
We were led to the opposite end of the walkway.
Joined other cell prisoners—lined up in two rows—waiting.
Then I saw a familiar figure slowly approaching.
A sexy woman in revealing pink leather—orange curly hair cascading down her back—two horn-like head ornaments—signature bangs covering her eyes.
Impel Down's chief guard—Sadi.
"You—come with me."
Worrying where to earn Desire Points—one top-tier beauty had just walked right up.
While idle—I quickly opened the Desire Shop—found a skill called "Dream Entry."
Dream Entry Uses a target's hair as medium. When the target sleeps—pulls them into a dream constructed by the caster—for subtle, gradual mind alteration. Also amplifies dream realism.
I'd noticed this skill earlier—perfect for secret, undetectable training. Price: 2,000 Desire Points—not expensive. Bought it as an investment.
Closing the Desire System—Sadi had just passed our line.
Enduring the headache from mental energy use—I used telekinesis to quietly cut several strands of her orange hair—bringing them to my hand.
After finishing—I was sweating from the pain.
Sadi slowly walked away.
"Now—wait for nightfall."
I stared at her retreating back—thinking.
Full story (up to Chapter 65 right now) is already complete and
available on Patreon: patreon.com/arthursink