A Bountiful Haul! And the Monsters! (Continued)

Not bad, not bad. If nothing unexpected happened, I should be able to put together a formidable enough crew.

For now, I should get used to this body first.

Naito clenched his fists. Hmm, so weak. It's because of the Seastone.

In that case...

Fall asleep.

Dream-Dream Fruit, activate!

The Surveillance Den Den Mushi stationed throughout the sixth level began to yawn. The next instant, they all fell asleep.

Marineford and Impel Down weren't far apart, so there probably wasn't much of a time difference. It was already late at night in Marineford, so it should have been about the same here.

As long as he didn't trigger an alarm, simply putting the Den Den Mushi to sleep should take longer to be discovered.

There would definitely be enough time.

"Hey, kid, why'd you go quiet?"

"Hahaha, did you cry yourself to sleep?"

In the darkness, the other prisoners' jeers continued unabated.

Naito paid them no heed.

Durex, on!

No, wait. Projection, begin.

A substance appeared out of thin air, but it couldn't be seen because it was transparent.

The substance covered Naito's handcuffs and shackles, flowing into their keyholes like a liquid.

The next moment...

Clang.

The restraints fell to the ground.

The weakness quickly drained from his body, and Naito rolled his neck. Much better.

Weevil couldn't use his abilities while bound by Seastone shackles, but what did that have to do with me, Naito, logging in remotely?

Naito clenched his fists.

What ridiculous strength!

It was far greater than that of his original body.

Even if his body was truly gifted, just one year of training wasn't enough to keep up with the real monsters.

The path of grinding was long and arduous.

Also-

Naito held out his hand, invisible waves surging across his palm.

Hmm, I can use Weevil's ability normally too.

Of course, abilities were attached to both the soul and the body, so he was bound to be much weaker with it than Weevil himself.

Not that it mattered.

Though the prisoners were all talking at once, the sound of the shackles hitting the ground was still piercingly clear in the dark, empty space.

For a moment, Infinite Hell fell silent.

"What happened?"

"Hey, newbie, did you break out of your shackles?"

A clamor rose from all directions.

Naito pushed open the cell door, and the invisible key that had opened it dispersed.

"Time is short, so I'll keep this brief."

Naito's voice, or rather, Weevil's voice, spread through the dimly lit sixth level of Impel Down. "Anyone who wants freedom, don't resist."

Fall asleep.

The next instant, while the prisoners were still stunned by Naito's words, the Dream-Dream Fruit's power activated.

An intense drowsiness swept over everyone.

Some couldn't resist at all and fell straight into a deep sleep.

Some could resist, but hesitated because of what Naito had said, and ultimately closed their eyes as well.

Others had dismissed him from the start and remained unmoved.

The once-noisy sixth level immediately fell quiet.

Hmm.

Naito strolled down the pitch-black corridor.

Only two people chose to refuse?

That made sense. It would have been strange if those two had chosen to submit.

He transferred part of his consciousness to the dream world.

On an open plain, thirteen prisoners stared around in shock.

"Where is this?"

"Is it that guy's power?"

"Have we already left Impel Down?"

Just then, a mighty voice echoed between heaven and earth.

"Submit to me."

The prisoners looked at one another.

Then-

"Hahahaha! Did you hear what this guy said?"

"Submit? Hahaha, who the hell do you think I am?"

"Stop hiding! Get out here!"

Quite rebellious.

Naito, silently looking down at them from high in the sky, smiled.

Just the kind of unruly men I like.

And so, the next moment, screams rang out across the dream world.

About a minute later.

The thirteen prisoners stood on the ground once more.

"Aaah!"

Screams.

"I was wrong! It was all my fault! Stop torturing me!"

Confessions.

"I submit! I submit!! I'm your dog! So please, spare me!"

Submission.

Naito nodded in satisfaction.

Balls of light began to form in front of them.

It was then that Naito suddenly felt a little dazed.

Was splitting off too many permissions at once putting too much strain on me?

This won't do. It's only a dozen or so people, and I'll be bringing even more into the dream world in the future.

Hmm, when I take in ordinary people in the future, I'll have to downgrade the permissions I give them.

As he pondered this, he arrived outside a cell.

Naito quietly looked at the man inside.

Snow-white hair and a beard, a build that wasn't particularly large, and a remarkably elegant posture even with shackles binding him tightly.

"Oh?"

The man slowly raised his head. "An interesting fellow has come along. Kid, are you an admirer of Newgate?"

"Red Count, Patrick Redfield."

Naito studied the legendary figure from the previous era. "Want to come with me?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

Redfield scoffed. "But are you schizophrenic, kid?"

When he'd first been locked up, he'd been crying and calling for his mother.

"In that case..."

Naito looked back toward another cell next door, where a large, muscular blond man was silently doing push-ups.

He was a Devil Fruit user, and his body was bound by high-purity Seastone shackles, but even that couldn't stop him from training.

"Demon Heir, you're refusing me too, of course."

Douglas Bullet, a former member of the Roger Pirates, said nothing, treating Naito as if he didn't exist. Naito was quite familiar with that arrogant attitude.

"Heh heh heh heh. So, kid..."

Red Count watched Naito with interest. "What are you going to do? Kill us?"

"I hate waste most of all."

Naito casually turned and headed toward another nearby cell. "I'll give you another chance. I hope you won't refuse me again next time we meet."

Red Count burst out laughing.

The kid actually said there would be a next time.

What an arrogant brat.

By then, the prisoners in the other cells had begun to wake up one after another.

Naito waved his hand, and matter invisible to the naked eye formed out of thin air, spreading toward all the cells like slithering snakes.

The transparent substance, able to change shape at will, easily opened every cell door and, while it was at it, undid the shackles on all the prisoners.

One by one, the prisoners emerged from their cells. They silently looked at Naito, their eyes full of fear.