Those Bright Eyes in the Darkness

Drip... drip...

In the cold, damp underground space, water dripped endlessly in shadowy corners. The stench of rot and mold lingered for ages, filling this section of Thunder Hell with a foul odor ordinary people could scarcely endure.

Rumble!!!

Lightning snakes suddenly exploded across the colorless ceiling. A bolt of lightning descended from above and struck the metal floor... and in an instant, the entire prison lit up.

"Ugh... ah!!"

"Please... no... not again..."

Baptized by the electric current, the prisoners wore all manner of expressions... Aside from the handful strong enough to ignore the current surging through them, every other prisoner trembled violently. Before long, they foamed at the mouth and passed out.

But it did not matter. They would wake up soon enough.

It was not because of their recovery abilities, but because the next bolt of lightning was already gathering, ready to "gently" wake them.

LV.6 of Impel Down was no longer a place where one could survive merely by clinging to life. That black space known as "Infinite Hell" had officially been renamed "Thunder Hell." Its purpose was to torture these prisoners who could not stand the light of day to death, little by little.

Death itself was not frightening. What was frightening was experiencing the terror of taking one step at a time toward death.

Ron had personally experienced that kind of despair, so he had recreated it for these prisoners.

Magellan was deeply grateful to Ron. In just a few months, several prisoners who had once refused to yield even in death had begun begging for mercy, selling off their flesh and souls alike for nothing more than a chance to avoid the lightning strikes.

They had even been willing to wear explosive collars reserved for slaves and swallow remote-controlled bombs, becoming Impel Down's