Chapter Fifty-Eight: Breaking Through Five Obstacles [Fourth Update]

Without any suspense, Shu Mingyuan’s arms swept aside all obstacles, relentlessly crushing through the crowd. Not a single soul could impede him in the slightest. Alone, he dashed forward, leaving the masses behind as he surged toward the entrance of the stairway.

“Lord Magellan, the Ghost Hunter… he’s broken through our defenses and is now heading toward the fourth basement level, the Scorching Hell.”

“What! How could this happen so quickly? Where’s little Satie? Give her the Den Den Mushi!”

Magellan’s furious voice thundered from the Den Den Mushi. Less than a minute had passed since he’d hung up, and events had already spiraled into chaos. Shu Mingyuan’s troublesome nature had ultimately exceeded even his expectations.

“Lady Satie… she’s gravely wounded. Her fate is uncertain,” a prison guard replied with lingering dread. He watched the man’s retreating figure and swallowed hard. The terror was palpable.

There was a long silence, then Magellan’s deep voice came through: “Treat all the wounded immediately—no mistakes allowed! I’m heading to the fourth level now!”

“Yes, sir!”

…

Standing in the Scorching Hell, Shu Mingyuan looked up at the skylight above. Beneath him, the Blood Lion slowly dissipated, leaving behind a lion-shaped mark on the ground. Then, he drew from his chest a prison uniform painted with a large bird.

He formed hand seals.

“Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation—Bird!”

With a cry, a crimson bird materialized in the inferno. Ignoring the gazes of other criminals, Shu Mingyuan vaulted onto its back. With a powerful beat of its wings, he soared upward.

The Hunger Hell existed because the relentless heat of the Scorching Hell had baked it over countless years. Thus, the skylight connected directly to the Hunger Hell!

Magellan could never have imagined that Shu Mingyuan would choose such an unconventional path. The skylight used for roasting the Hunger Hell had become his passage. Even the World Government, when constructing Impel Down, hadn’t foreseen such a loophole.

After all, not everyone could fly using ninja arts; even Moonwalk only allowed brief moments aloft—not a straight ascent hundreds of meters high.

Magellan arrived by elevator at the fourth basement, scanning the Scorching Hell for the Ghost Hunter, but found no trace.

“Did I arrive too soon, or has he hidden himself?”

He muttered to himself, then noticed the prisoners were all staring at the sky. Raising his eyes, he saw a small dot slipping away, flying out through the gaps around the skylight.

In that instant, Shu Mingyuan sensed something. He glanced down, his Sharingan revealing a large man with small demon wings on his back. Clarity dawned—this must be the warden of Impel Down, Magellan.

Magellan possessed sharp eyes as well; from that tiny speck, he clearly recognized the Ghost Hunter.

How could he fly? The reports never mentioned such a power!

“Damn it…” He’d prepared his strategy for capture, only to miss his quarry perfectly.

Magellan’s face darkened, frighteningly so. He turned toward the elevator, but his stomach began to stir. As the user of the Venom-Venom Fruit, he suffered from diarrhea ten hours out of every twenty-four.

And now, he was struck by it once again.

“Shiryu, the Ghost Hunter has escaped to the Hunger Hell. I need to take a bathroom break.”

“Magellan, you couldn’t stop him either?”

“Nonsense! Who would have guessed that brat could fly? He went straight up through the skylight in Scorching Hell. I can’t hold it—I need the restroom.”

“Heh heh, if I act, that brat won’t stand a chance. I’m eager to see the one who turned Impel Down upside down and slaughtered the entirety of Freezing Hell—what he looks like.”

…

A crimson bird burst from Scorching Hell. Shu Mingyuan surveyed the dry sky, then aimed for a direction, heading toward Beast Hell.

He rejoiced inwardly; by chance, he’d discovered the fastest way out of Impel Down and had perfectly avoided Magellan. This stroke of luck made him wonder if he possessed the same tyrannical fortune as Buggy the Great.

Magellan, as Impel Down’s unrivaled ace, had awakened power comparable to an admiral. His poison abilities were unmatched, and Shu Mingyuan had yet to discover a reliable way to counter him.

Having missed Magellan, he’d eliminated an unstable factor. As long as he avoided a confrontation, everything else could be managed.

Rain Shiryu remained as troublesome, but Shu Mingyuan had coping strategies. Unlike Magellan’s body, which was saturated with poison and left him clueless in battle, he could strategize against Shiryu.

Hunger Hell was vast. Though the temperature was high, it paled in comparison to Scorching Hell.

The crimson bird sped through the air, when suddenly an axe flew past, nearly striking him.

He glanced down at the sandy ground: a short figure wearing a white cap and small demon wings glared up at him.

The sight triggered a memory.

“Head Guard Saludes.” The commander of all Blue Gorillas!

Shu Mingyuan frowned, patted the bird, and swiftly ascended higher. He had no desire to waste time on such riffraff; after all, Magellan could appear anywhere in the prison at any moment.

“Throw axes! Knock him out of the sky!”

He commanded scores of Blue Gorillas, who hurled axes skyward in a barrage, sealing off the crimson bird’s path with precise angles.

“How irritating. If you insist on courting death, I’ll deal with you first.”

A cold glimmer flashed in Shu Mingyuan’s eyes. He doubled the size of his arms, hardened his skin with Armament Haki, and blocked all incoming axes. Then, leaping from the bird’s back, his hand gripped a lightning spear.

“Konoha Sword Style: Crescent Moon Dance!”

Two identical figures appeared in the desert. In the next instant, swordlights flared, and three crescent-shaped slashes swept from different angles.

Such ferocious attacks were far beyond the Blue Gorillas’ ability to withstand. In the blink of an eye, countless gorillas were bisected, their blood staining the sand crimson.

Before leaving, Shu Mingyuan raised his sword toward Head Guard Saludes, unleashing a ten-meter-long blade of energy that carved a hundred-meter fissure in the desert.

In the next moment, Saludes’s body was split in two under the stunned gaze of the remaining gorillas.

Without a glance, Shu Mingyuan stepped onto his bird, using Moonwalk to return in a few breaths, speeding away.

He traversed the corridor of the second basement level. The Beast Hell’s former ruler had been slain by an awakened guard beast, so now Beast Hell offered no resistance.

The crimson bird soared through Beast Hell, eventually finding the escape route connecting Crimson Hell and Beast Hell at the center.

Delighted, Shu Mingyuan guided the bird upward. Having stormed through five levels from Freezing Hell, he finally returned to the first basement’s Crimson Hell. Throughout his urgent flight, no one managed to hinder him—not even Magellan, the most formidable foe.

If he could reach the first floor above the sea, he would have the chance to break through the gates of Impel Down, becoming the second man in history—after Golden Lion—to escape from the prison.

ps: [Mengmeng has been updating so diligently, it’s already 2 a.m.—won’t you reward your hard-working author?]