Hannibal

Pfft... pfft!

The dagger and wolf bone had barely sunk in when Ye Chen sliced outward with all his strength, swiftly cutting open the War Wolf's throat. With a normal grip, he would not have been able to exert any force at all. Holding the dagger in a reverse grip was perfect for quickly slicing the wound outward.

He had just taken down one when another relentlessly charged at him. Ye Chen did not dare linger. He immediately flipped backward, then sprang up into a tree.

The War Wolf bared its fangs and claws in fury, glaring hatefully as it snarled desperately at Ye Chen. Before long, wolf howls rose from the distant woods, and pairs of green eyes appeared around Ye Chen in the blink of an eye.

Ye Chen sat astride a branch, catching his breath as he considered his options. Unfortunately, he had practiced the Six Powers for too short a time. Otherwise, Soru and Geppo alone would have been enough to let him quickly escape danger. Still, while hiding in the tree, Ye Chen did not believe these War Wolves could hurt him.

Sure enough, when the War Wolves rushed over and found they could do nothing to Ye Chen, they howled for a while before turning their attention to the War Wolf he had killed.

What happened next greatly shocked Ye Chen. These War Wolves were actually willing to turn on their own kind. Right before his eyes, the dead War Wolf was torn to pieces in no time.

Watching the War Wolves wolf down their companion, Ye Chen felt his heart tremble with lingering fear. If he had not been able to climb trees, his death would have been horrific.

After devouring the dead War Wolf, the pack saw that Ye Chen still would not come down. Perhaps they were full, or perhaps they had lost patience with wasting time on him. Before long, they wagged their tails and left.

"Slurp, slurp!"

Ye Chen slid down from the tree and warily surveyed his surroundings. Seeing that the War Wolves had truly gone far away, he hurried into the forest to search for herbs according to Basan's instructions. After searching for more than two hours, Ye Chen finally found a stalk of Cold Fragrance Grass beneath a secluded tree. He had just tucked it into his waistband when a War Wolf suddenly leaped out of the distant snowfield, startling him into scrambling back up a tree.

This War Wolf stubbornly refused to leave. It actually lay beneath the tree, staring unblinkingly at Ye Chen as it waited him out.

"You bastard, you're all alone and still think you can play with me? Watch me kill you."

Seeing that there was only one War Wolf, Ye Chen immediately found his courage and smiled disdainfully. He took the musket from his back, aimed it at the wolf, and fired without hesitation. Bang! Bang! Bang! Three shots in a row.

The War Wolf was so frightened that it jumped up and fled at full speed. Ye Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had thought it would have at least a little fighting spirit, but it had actually been scared away.

Creak, creak...

Treading across the freezing snow, Ye Chen continued searching ahead. Though his steps were unsteady, his gaze remained resolute. He often encountered War Wolves along the way, which forced him to become increasingly proficient in the Eagle Claw Technique and climbing trees.

The forest was vast. It took Ye Chen two full days to find the Blood Lotus. During those two days, when he was hungry, he chewed on chunks of ice; when he was thirsty, he grabbed snow and stuffed it into his mouth. He constantly played hide-and-seek with the War Wolves and had practically become familiar with every one of those fierce beasts.

The War Wolves could do nothing to Ye Chen in the forest, but when he left, he was nearly surrounded by five of them. He was bitten all over and covered in wounds, yet somehow narrowly escaped back to the prison.

Without bothering to greet Basan and the others, Ye Chen hurried to check on Olvia. After two days apart, Olvia had already fallen into a semi-conscious state. She softly groaned, her entire body burning hot with fever. Her face was red as though lit by fiery clouds, as if blood might drip from it at any moment. Ye Chen was terrified.

Ye Chen hurriedly took out the herbs, but Olvia could not take medicine at all. Conditions here were harsh, and there was no way to decoct the herbs for her.

Ye Chen's eyes shifted. He simply stuffed the herbs into his own mouth and chewed them into pulp, then leaned over Olvia, parted her lips, and lowered his head toward hers. After great difficulty, he finally got Olvia to swallow the medicine.

Then Ye Chen massaged her, pressed against her chest, and gave her artificial respiration. After working frantically for quite a while, his efforts finally paid off. About half an hour later, Olvia gradually woke up.

Seeing Ye Chen leaning over her with his hand still pressed against her chest, Olvia's brows furrowed slightly. Ye Chen hurriedly moved away and obediently retreated to one side.

Olvia was not an inexperienced girl. Though somewhat embarrassed, she knew Ye Chen had been saving her. After two days apart, the wolf pelt on Ye Chen's body had been torn to shreds by bites, and he was covered in blood. His bloody wounds were horrifying to behold, and tears of heartache streamed uncontrollably down Olvia's face.

After all, Ye Chen was only six years old and had been locked up here. For her sake, he trained desperately every day. Not only did he endure freezing cold and suffering, he had nearly been bitten to death by War Wolves.

"I'm fine, Olvia. I fed you the herbs. I believe you'll recover soon."

After comforting her for a few moments, Ye Chen quickly withdrew to one side.

After hastily bandaging himself, Ye Chen began training in the prison. Olvia blushed even more deeply. Whenever she thought of Ye Chen feeding her medicine mouth to mouth, her heart began to race in panic. Even if he was a child, he was still a boy.

In the days that followed, whenever he spotted a lone War Wolf nearby, Ye Chen would charge at it without hesitation. Only real combat could help him improve faster. At the same time, he finally began to grasp the mysteries of the Six Powers and Haki.

A few days later, Ye Chen killed a War Wolf barehanded. This time, all the prisoners in Freezing Hell were shaken. Being able to kill a War Wolf proved that Ye Chen's strength had reached a new level.

And Ye Chen's relentless daily training made these ruthless prisoners admire him even more.

Next, Ye Chen began practicing movement techniques again, and he never stopped training the Six Powers either. As for Haki, however, his progress was far too slow. Several times, Ye Chen nearly lost heart and gave up.

Haki cultivated a person's bearing. The younger one was, the slower one comprehended it. After all, Ye Chen was only six.

"Creak... creak!" One day, while he was training enthusiastically, Ye Chen heard the prison door again. He quickly and alertly slipped back into his cell. He knew it was time for the guards to bring food again.

This time, however, it was not a guard. Only one person came. He was tall and thin, ugly as a ghost, with a frightening appearance. But that was not the strangest part. He was bare-chested, and even though he was shivering violently from the cold, he stubbornly insisted on staying that way. Ye Chen frowned and muttered, "Idiot." He was obviously a fool who loved showing off.

This man's belly bulged enormously, like a huge balloon. A pair of black demonic wings grew from his back, and he carried a broadsword in his hand. Its icy blade glowed with a blood-red light, making it look terrifying.

The moment he entered, the man crossed his arms over his shoulders, shivering like a leaf. Yet he still muttered to himself, "Not cold, not cold. This much is nothing to someone like me, who will become the warden of Impel Down someday... Ah, I wasn't careful. I revealed my ambition again."

"Hannibal, what's this? You're inspecting the place without clothes again? Hmph... Since you're not afraid of the cold, why not run a few laps around here naked?"

"Exactly. We're all looking forward to seeing your heroic figure running around naked. We have nothing better to do anyway, so why not entertain us?"

The prisoners became especially lively when they saw Hannibal. In their eyes, Hannibal was merely an insignificant clown.

After all, he was a guard who had only arrived at Impel Down this year. Yet this guy kept saying that he would become warden someday, and every time he came to Freezing Hell, he showed up bare-chested, acting as though that made him manly.