Chapter 8: Chapter 8 : Ordinary Slash!!
Mr. 3 took a deep breath and asked, "So how are you planning to get down? I think it's just as hard to go down as it is to go up!"
Buggy didn't answer right away. Instead, he suddenly declared, "Alright, here we go!"
Mr. 3 was taken aback. When he looked around, he realized they had reached a dead end!
Confused, Mr. 3 asked, "What are we doing here? There's nothing here!"
Buggy replied, "Exactly! There's nothing here—no transponder snails, no other prisoners. This makes it a perfect spot to conceal our location and buy us some time."
Mr. 3 asked, "But how are we going to get down?"
Without responding, Buggy raised his hand, which was surrounded by a pale blue glow.
"What are you planning to do?"
"Split!"
Mr. 3 was startled by Buggy's sudden action. Before he could react, Buggy slapped him to the ground!
In an instant, Buggy and Mr. 3 found themselves beneath the floor they had been standing on, with the entire surface neatly divided. There was no solid ground to hold them, and they started falling downward!
Mr. 3 stumbled and was about to exclaim, but he noticed they were falling slowly. The stones under their feet seemed to support them with a force!
Steadying himself, Mr. 3 asked, "Is this your Devil Fruit ability?"
Buggy nodded and said, "Yes, it's the Paramecia Type, Chop-Chop Fruit."
Mr. 3 commented, "It's a very useful power. We can break through all the way down like this!"
Buggy shook his head. He wasn't as optimistic as Mr. 3.
The deeper they went, the thicker the stone layers became. There was even a 5.5-floor level between the 5th and 6th basement floors! If he kept using his Devil Fruit powers to clear a path, his stamina might not be enough to reach the very bottom.
Moreover, with potential battles ahead, Buggy couldn't afford to expend all his energy just on making a path!
As Mr. 3 was about to speak, his eyes suddenly widened. They passed through the stone layer and reached the third underground level of Starvation Hell!
The moment they entered Starvation Hell, both Buggy and Mr. 3 felt an intense discomfort. The temperature was unbearable—like stepping into a steamer, it was stifling and oppressive!
For Mr. 3, the sensation was even more acute. Within moments, a significant amount of wax began flowing from his body, as if he were melting!
Gasping for air, Mr. 3 said, "I can't stay on this level. It's too hot!"
"Then brace yourself for landing!" Buggy replied.
Buggy didn't want to descend slowly, so he waved his hand and used his powers to control the stone he had split, making it fly back up the same way!
Without anything to support them, Buggy and Mr. 3 plummeted quickly in free fall!
"Ah~~"
"Bang!"
Mr. 3, caught off guard, tumbled headfirst into the sand layer of the third basement level, while Buggy landed safely on his feet!
"This guy gave no warning!"
Mr. 3, nearly falling apart, yelled angrily at Buggy.
"Let's move! Someone's already coming!"
Ignoring Mr. 3's complaints, Buggy dashed off in one direction, using his Observation Haki to sense the surroundings.
Despite the seemingly barren environment of the third basement floor, there were many guards lurking in the shadows!
Mr. 3's scream had attracted their attention, and they were rushing over to investigate!
Seeing Buggy's urgency, Mr. 3 quickly followed behind.
After running for a while, Mr. 3, noticing the repetitive environment, couldn't help but ask, "Do you know where you're going? It feels like we're just going in circles."
Buggy didn't respond. "The exhaust shaft in the middle of the third basement floor leads directly to the fourth basement floor! If it feels like we're circling around, it's because I'm guiding us to avoid the guards and transponder snails on this level!"
To minimize trouble, Buggy used his Observation Haki to continuously scan their surroundings, preventing them from being detected by the guards.
Mr. 3 was astonished. "Guards? I haven't seen any of them. How are you managing this?"
Buggy said, "By the time you see it, it's already too late!" This is the power of Observation Haki. Surely, you've heard of it before?
"Observation Haki?" Mr. 3 was momentarily stunned, then even more shocked. "Who are you? I've heard that Haki is a power only New World pirates use!"
Buggy didn't answer. Instead, he warned, "We're almost there. The next part of the road isn't going to be easy, so be careful!"
Mr. 3 noticed that the path ahead had suddenly opened up, revealing a round tower-shaped building. Buggy swiftly rolled through the window and into the tower, with Mr. 3 following closely behind.
Inside the tower, a spiral staircase wound around the inner walls, descending to the bottom. At the base of the tower was a massive pool of boiling blood, with a constant flow of hot steam rising from it.
Though it was called a round tower, it was more like a gigantic 'chimney'.
"It's so hot! It's unbearable!" Mr. 3 exclaimed, sticking out his tongue to try to cool off.
Unbeknownst to him, a towering figure had silently appeared behind him. By the time Mr. 3 realized something was amiss, a massive mace had already descended upon him.
"Clang!"
The sound of metal against metal rang out as the force of the blow sent Mr. 3 flying!
Buggy deftly used his knife to catch the descending mace in mid-air, but the sheer impact caused the ground beneath him to crack, with visible fissures spreading out!
"It's… the Jailer Beast, Minotaur?!"
Mr. 3, recovering from his flight, looked on in terror at the humanoid cow that had suddenly appeared. If that mace had connected, he would've been seriously injured, if not dead!
With a powerful flick of his wrist, Buggy deflected the mace Minotaur was wielding, creating a distance between them. He then turned to Mr. 3 and said, "We need to deal with him here and now! Otherwise, our location will be compromised!"
Mr. 3 protested, "But it's the Minotaur! We can't defeat him!"
"You can't defeat him!" Buggy retorted firmly.
Buggy responded with a nonchalant tone and advanced towards the slowly approaching Minotaur, gripping a knife in one hand.
"What a lunatic!" Mr. 3 muttered, his legs trembling. Despite his fear, he couldn't bring himself to abandon Buggy and flee on his own.
The Minotaur glared at Buggy, bellowed, and hefted the mace in his hand. Buggy's eyes narrowed slightly as he raised his long knife, instantly accelerating towards his foe.
"One Sword Style: Split—Ordinary Slash!"
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