Chapter Fifty-Two: The Infinite Inferno

Advance City, Sixth Basement Level—Infinite Hell.

Here, darkness reigns supreme, so dense that not even an outstretched hand can be seen. It is a hell forever lost in shadow. Darkness and loneliness are the reigning themes of this place.

From the gloom come harrowing cries, and from time to time, strange creatures shuffle by—though in the pitch-black, nothing is clear. The air seems infused with emotion, breeding slaughter, malice, destruction, chaos, and bloodlust.

Every twenty-four hours, half the time is spent in searing heat, the other half in absolute, bone-chilling cold. All the inmates are forced into this endless cycle of torment.

The criminals imprisoned here are terrifyingly powerful—each one an existence the World Government has ordered erased. All cells are made of seastone to prevent escape; for the outside world, even a single escapee would spell disaster.

Step by step, Shu Mingyuan descended into Infinite Hell. The corridor spiraled downward, and as he drew nearer, he felt an intensifying shudder in his heart, as though the most dreadful thing here was not the criminals themselves, but Infinite Hell itself.

Creeeeak…

The gateway to Hell swung open. Shu Mingyuan stepped inside, and darkness swallowed him whole. The light from above vanished in an instant.

The door slammed shut; he might as well have been cast into the underworld. The environment was nothing like he had imagined. In the original story, Infinite Hell hardly differed from any ordinary prison—no torture, no burning or freezing.

So what was this pitch-black void? Nothing like the original at all!

The air was saturated with negative emotions, seeping into every pore and bone. Shu Mingyuan shivered as those invading thoughts sought to seize control of his body.

In this impenetrable darkness, with everything so uncanny and unknown, if he were to summon a chakra cloak or shroud himself in Chidori Current, he'd become a beacon in the night—a target for all the prison’s attention.

So, he let out a low, barely audible cry and cloaked himself in Armament Haki. Only then did the oppressive feeling abate.

The ground beneath his feet burned with intense heat, rivaling the fiery hell of the fourth basement. Yet there was no red glow—only scalding temperature.

He crouched to inspect it. As he suspected, the floor was constructed entirely from seastone; only such a durable material could endure this heat while retaining its original color.

The sixth basement—a hell utterly unlike the original.

To be honest, for his strength to reach this level in under half a year, aside from his unique system, it was due to his thorough knowledge of the Pirate World’s plot, allowing him to grasp every opportunity.

But now, the plot had deviated from the story; he no longer knew what to do.

Human nature fears the unknown.

Behind him was the door—he could turn back. But his future path was to dominate this world; retreating now could leave a lingering shadow in his heart. Thus, Shu Mingyuan stepped forward, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they had transformed into the demonic Sharingan.

With the Sharingan, all illusions and deceptions were laid bare—piercing this darkness was child's play.

Under his gaze, the architecture of Infinite Hell closely resembled the Beast Hell of the second basement. Yet compared to here, that place was paradise beside true damnation.

He crept along the corridor. On the walls, Den Den Mushi surveillance units glowed faintly. The noises from the darkness revealed themselves to be three awakened Zoan-Devil Fruit jailer beasts.

The security here was several times stricter than the combined floors above!

This was truly Infinite Hell. Since the Golden Lion, no one had ever escaped.

One jailer beast, wielding a massive iron club, lumbered past. These awakened beasts, reduced to little more than savage instincts, could not see in the blackness; they relied on scent to distinguish friend from foe.

Shu Mingyuan, covered head to toe in Haki and holding his breath to mask his presence, pressed himself into a corner and managed to avoid detection.

He let out a quiet sigh of relief; if caught here, a lifetime of imprisonment would be all too real.

Using the Sharingan, he carefully evaded the infrared gaze of the Den Den Mushi and reached the outside of a cell.

"Hey, you—skulking little brat. You’re the one who just arrived in Infinite Hell, aren’t you?"

Suddenly, a deep voice emerged from the darkness, startling Shu Mingyuan. Cloaked in darkness and covered in Haki, he had still been discovered. In this place, the slightest disturbance could attract the attention of the jailer beasts. If he was found, he was finished.

But as he readied himself for battle, he realized there was no commotion. That deep voice, thunderous in the utter silence, seemed only audible to him—no one else reacted.

"Heh heh… kid, don’t worry. No one else can hear our conversation."

The voice echoed again. Shu Mingyuan’s expression grew grave. He realized that the voice sounded only in his ears—unheard by anyone else—much like the fabled art of whispering thoughts directly into the mind.

His heart clenched with dread. The denizens of Infinite Hell were indeed monstrous. Who knew how many years this man had been imprisoned, his powers sealed, yet he could still sense Shu Mingyuan hidden in the blackness and communicate with such an uncanny ability.

"Is this an advanced form of Observation Haki?" Shu Mingyuan frowned. The criminals here far surpassed those of the upper five levels. Even in the freezing hell of the fifth basement, he had to question almost everyone before finding a single user of Observation Haki.

Yet here, the first criminal he encountered had honed this power to an extraordinary degree. Their physical resilience must be equally terrifying—otherwise, survival in this inferno would be impossible for any ordinary person.

He looked toward the source of the voice. There, a prisoner hung from the wall by his wrists, ankles shackled with seastone orbs. His body was covered in wounds, his blood nearly drained, leaving him little more than skin and bones. Yet his eyes, as he stared at Shu Mingyuan, were as piercing as a hawk’s.

A chill ran down Shu Mingyuan’s spine.

Suddenly, the temperature in Infinite Hell swung from scorching heat to freezing cold, all in less than a minute.

Blazing and freezing—Infinite Hell was truly as nightmarish as legend claimed.

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