Chapter Fifty-One: The Bloodstained Day in the Infernal Realm of Extreme Cold [Second Update]

With a sharp tearing sound, the Chidori Spear pierced the air, its seemingly casual thrust striking with unerring precision into the alpha wolf's abdomen, lifting it high into the air.

Shu Mingyuan slowly opened his eyes. His pupils had become a deep, fathomless black, yet within ten paces, not the slightest movement escaped his perception.

"So this is Observation Haki," he mused, a subtle smile tugging at his lips. "Truly, it’s an ability that becomes as overpowered as a bug in the late game."

He turned to face the wolf leader at arm’s length, gave a faint tremor of his arm, and with a flash of sword light, cleaved the beast in two from head to tail, its blood and viscera spilling to the ground.

"You… you did it?" John Stephen stammered in shock.

Shu Mingyuan nodded with a smile. For reasons unknown, his Observation Haki covered a ten-pace radius, while the man who ate the Prophecy Fruit could sense only ten meters. He attributed this to his twice-lived soul and the immense spiritual power bestowed by his Sharingan.

He had toiled for a month to harden his Armament Haki into combat readiness, but mastering Observation Haki had taken him only moments. This wasn’t to say that Observation was inferior to Armament; rather, his own powers of comprehension were so formidable as to render him almost inhuman.

"And now you—?" John began.

"Don’t worry," Shu Mingyuan replied offhandedly. "Since I said I wouldn’t kill you, I won’t go back on my word." With that, he turned from the cell and strode off elsewhere.

"Now that I’ve mastered the Rokushiki and both types of Haki," he murmured, "there’s really no reason for the worst criminals in this Frozen Hell to remain alive."

His gaze swept over the cells, brimming with murderous intent. These people would die here eventually, even if not by his hand, so he might as well reap them all for points of justice and, in doing so, rid the world of evil.

As Shu Mingyuan made his way onward, every pirate in his path was dispatched with a Finger Pistol. When he encountered those of greater physical prowess, the Chidori Spear made short work of them. Once, these men had been formidable; now, shackled and stripped of their powers, they were as helpless as ordinary men.

That day became the darkest in Frozen Hell’s history. Every pirate that fell within his gaze—living or dead—became his target, and he transformed into the very demon the pirates whispered of, sparing not a soul.

Even Shiryuu of the Rain, the warden, dared not slaughter pirates here so wantonly. It was, after all, his unchecked violence on other levels that led to his own sentence of deferred execution in Level Six.

"You devil! You’ll pay for your massacre!" someone screamed.

"And hasn’t retribution already arrived?" Shu Mingyuan retorted. "Think of the innocent civilians you slaughtered."

"You monster! Magellan will never let you go!"

"My life and death are mine alone to decide!" Shu Mingyuan declared coldly, cutting down another with a stroke.

"They’re nothing but villains to the core," he mused. "If word of this got out, people might even praise me for it. Killing you, I feel not the slightest guilt."

Echoes of agony resounded through Frozen Hell, blood staining every cell floor crimson. The overwhelming stench of carnage roused the wolves of the Ice Forest to a fever pitch.

Then, at a low, chilling howl, the wolf pack surged forward, surrounding every cell. Barred doors blocked their way, but their claws dug through the ice, dragging out pirate corpses to devour.

The relentless howling finally alerted the guards in the control room to the disturbance on Level Five. When a guard, clutching a frost-resistant Den Den Mushi, opened the gate, the sight that greeted him was staggering.

The scene relayed to the surveillance room was one of utter chaos: in a world of ice and snow, a thousand wolves moved as one, encircling cell after cell, tunneling through the ground to drag out the pirates and feast upon them.

The desolation of the blizzard lent an even bloodier air to the horror unfolding.

"Quick! The wolf army on Level Five is rioting! All cells are under attack!"

Minutes later, a squad of guards and blue gorillas arrived via the lift to suppress the wolves. But as they pried open the wolves’ jaws to rescue the prisoners, they discovered the pirates were already dead—not mauled alive, but slain beforehand.

Even in cells untouched by the wolves, more bodies were found, most bearing wounds consistent with bullet holes. After slaughtering the entire cell block, Shu Mingyuan made his way unhurriedly toward the gate of Level Six.

As he saw it, having come this far, he might as well visit the Infinite Hell below—perhaps he could claim another head or two.

"Report to Warden Hannibal! There are survivors here!"

"And here as well!"

"Rescue them at once and find out what happened!"

Hannibal was furious. Pirates held in Frozen Hell—Level Five, no less, home only to those with bounties over a hundred million—had been massacred in a single day. If word got out, it would shake the world to its core.

"Warden Hannibal! We’ve found tracks leading to Level Six!"

"Warden, the surviving pirates say it was a boy—a demon—who killed everyone!"

Hannibal frowned. This talk of a demon was nonsense—did they think everyone was Magellan? Yet amid their words, he found the key: a boy had killed them all, then descended to Level Six.

"Wait… a boy… a boy…" Hannibal mused. In recent months, only one youth had been brought here, and it was Hannibal himself who had cuffed him with Seastone and locked him away. Could it be…?

A sense of foreboding gnawed at him. Rushing to the nearest survivor, he demanded in a low voice, "The boy you mentioned—was he brought here just a few months ago?"

"Yes…yes… He made quite a scene the moment he arrived."

"Can he breathe fire?"

"Yes."

"Release electricity?"

"Yes."

"His arm can grow larger?"

"Yes, that’s him! He’s a demon!"

"It really is him! The Demon Hunter, Monkey D. Shu Mingyuan—he’s committed a massacre of unimaginable proportions in Frozen Hell. Unforgivable!" Hannibal smashed the icy ground with his fist, though inwardly, his heart bled.

Hadn’t the boy surrendered himself? If he could have used this to earn merit, perhaps even claim the position of Chief Warden, but now—after this carnage in Frozen Hell—he could never absolve himself of blame.

"Everyone, to Level Six! Capture the Demon Hunter, Monkey D. Shu Mingyuan!"

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