Stealing the Treasure Swords

Hannibal was badly frightened, but Ye Chen's heart also took a long time to settle. Fortunately, the Jailer Beast was on the fourth level. If it had gone to the fifth level and discovered him, he would have been dead for sure. Besides, this was only a Jailer Beast. Its strength was nothing compared to Magellan and Shiryu of the Rain. Ye Chen was now increasingly tempted by Golden Lion's proposal.

Golden Lion was his only chance. Even if he did not trust him, he seemed to have no other choice.

Hannibal first went to the surveillance room. After a while, he hurried to the storage room, where valuables brought in by prisoners were kept. Golden Lion's two famous swords were inside. It seemed Hannibal was doing quite well in Impel Down; he could go anywhere without obstruction, and none of the other guards he encountered along the way questioned him.

Taking out a key, Hannibal opened the storage room. He warily looked around, then quickly slipped inside when he saw no one nearby. Ye Chen also jumped in through the gap above the door and hid himself atop a ceiling beam. Looking down, Ye Chen saw that the storage room was crammed with all sorts of things: gold and silver jewelry, as well as every kind of weapon. Golden light gleamed, cold flashes dazzled the eye; they were clearly all good items. After sweeping his gaze around once, Ye Chen's attention was quickly drawn to two swords hanging in a corner of the wall.

Those two swords exuded a chilling aura, their cold gleam dazzling. Even from a great distance, one could feel the suffocating chill emanating from their blades.

An eerie cold light flickered along the sharp blades. Looking closely, one was red and one was blue, both giving off something like flames. Hannibal trembled as he slowly shuffled toward the two swords. The swords seemed to sense the presence of a stranger and began to hum and vibrate. Their sound was like the roar of dragons and tigers, radiating an oppressive might. Hannibal shook even harder, his legs quivering nonstop. Gritting his teeth, he muttered, "No, I can't give the swords to Golden Lion. Guarding prisoners is my duty. Although I really want to become warden, and I also want Golden Lion to escape so I can dump the responsibility on someone else, I have my own principles and stance!"

Listening to him mutter on and on, Ye Chen nearly laughed out loud. It seemed this guy's stance was not firm at all, or Golden Lion would never have approached him. He had always hoped something would happen in Impel Down so the warden could take the blame. Still, at the critical moment, he had surprisingly not been tempted by Golden Lion.

Ye Chen wondered, since this guy did not want to give the swords to Golden Lion, why had he come to the storage room?

Ye Chen soon got his answer. Hannibal gathered his courage and took Golden Lion's two famous swords down from the wall. As though he had made up his mind, he actually intended to hide them somewhere else, apparently worried that this place was not safe.

Seeing Hannibal leave with the swords, Ye Chen hurried after him. After several twists and turns, the fellow actually took the swords back to his own quarters. Once Hannibal shut the door, he looked all around. First he put the swords under the bed, then beneath the pillow, then hung them on the wall, then put them in the wardrobe. He bustled about until sweat covered his head. In the end, he finally hid the swords in a secret compartment. Ye Chen covered his mouth, wanting to laugh but not daring to. He was becoming more and more certain that Hannibal was a complete idiot. His room was covered with glamorous pictures of women, and there were even plenty of racy books hidden beneath the bedding. Who would have thought they were kindred spirits? It seemed that whether in the Great Qing Dynasty or this world, men shared the same interests.

If he had not been in such a hurry to escape, Ye Chen would not have minded having a friendly exchange of experiences with him. He could have shown him the copy of The Plum in the Golden Vase he had brought along. This guy would surely have benefited greatly and worshipped him.

After hiding the two swords, Hannibal let out a long breath. Looking at a beautiful woman's picture on the wall, he gave several excited, foolish chuckles. Then he clenched his fists and swore through gritted teeth, "One day, I'll definitely become warden. Then I'll be able to conduct body searches on female prisoners openly and legitimately, hehe..." As he savored the thought, drool even ran from Hannibal's mouth. After psyching himself up, he was suddenly full of energy. He straightened his clothes, even admired himself in the mirror, then opened the door and left, feeling very pleased with himself.

Only after Hannibal's footsteps had completely faded did Ye Chen jump down from the beam.

After finding the two famous swords, Ye Chen did not linger. He turned to leave, but upon reaching the door, he turned back toward the bed and casually grabbed several racy books. Tucking them into his clothes, Ye Chen chuckled. "Basan and the others are bored all day, and they've helped me quite a bit. I'll consider these something to pass the time for them."

Ye Chen smoothly left Hannibal's room and headed straight for the fifth level along the same route. When he arrived before the cell door, he froze. "Damn it, I don't have the key."

Ye Chen hid on the fourth level for three days. Though no one discovered him while he hid above the corridor, after three days without food or water, Ye Chen was starving. He had originally planned to find the kitchen and steal something to eat, but then he saw two guards approaching with sacks on their backs. Ye Chen was overjoyed. While they were not paying attention as they opened the door, he swiftly slipped in from above like a nimble snake.

The two guards were carrying bread to distribute among the prisoners. Ye Chen quickly made his way back along the wall to Olvia's side. Fortunately, he had left Olvia plenty of food before leaving, so she was unharmed. Still, when she saw Ye Chen, her eyes reddened with excitement.

"Ye Chen, you're back. That's wonderful. You scared me to death." Only after checking him over and finding no injuries did Olvia finally relax.

"I'm fine, Olvia. We'll be out of here soon, so don't worry. Once we get out, we'll go find Robin together. Then the three of us will never be separated again." Ye Chen clenched his fists tightly. As snowflakes drifted in from outside, his gaze was resolute and his eyes were wide. At that moment, he had completely made up his mind. He might as well take a gamble; he was sick of this place anyway.

This was indeed an excellent place to train, but Olvia was here with him too. Ye Chen could not bear to let a woman suffer here day after day, constantly fearing for her life. They had to get out immediately. By now, he had been here for several months, and he had learned both Haki and the Six Powers. There was truly nothing left for him to miss.

Still, Ye Chen kept a card up his sleeve. He did not hand the swords directly to Golden Lion. He took time to visit the sixth level several times, and whenever he saw Golden Lion, Ye Chen repeatedly shook his head. The guards were searching too strictly, and he did not know where the swords were hidden. He had not found them yet.

Ye Chen did this so Golden Lion would understand that stealing the two swords was not easy, so that he would remember Ye Chen's favor and not kill him when the time came.

After going back and forth several times, Golden Lion became frantic. As for Hannibal, he had no idea the swords had already been stolen. He smugly thought, Golden Lion, if I don't give you the swords, let's see how you escape.