Lia's POV

We got deeper and the temperature began to increase. Soon it became pretty hot and the group began to sweat from the heat in the air. At the lowest level, we found a closed blast door. It was made out of hardened steel and would take some pretty heavy force to break open. Thankfully this door had the same weakness as most other doors, namely the wall it was built into.

“Mrs Chicken Wing, you have done this already, would you please make a path for us?” I asked with a tone that didn't take the situation completely serious. I was referring to the attack on the Marine research base. The hen clucked once and then began to claw and kick at the stone.

The wall gave away easily to her attacks and a hole began to form, I helped by weakening the pressure the stone needed to break. Soon we had a hole opened up and a wave of heat flow into the elevator shaft. A slightly purple mist followed right after. I didn't know if this is the gas that they wanted to pump inside the whole prison or if it were toxins made by Magellan, so I pushed it back inside.

The hole became big enough for us to get through and our resident hen jumped through first. I followed close by and kept the purple cloud away from us.

On the other side, the heat was way higher. It looked as if the air was burning. Patches of purple liquid were strewn all around the entrance to the elevator. Magellan must have had a field day here. Dead people were lying on the floor. Their skin purple from the poison.

“Don't fall down, one wrong step and you'll fall into a boilig pot of liquid metal,” warned Kurei from the back. I looked over the edge of a deep cliff and directly into a pit of boiling red liquid. It looks like liquid metal.

“Alright waver skates off. From now on we might have to fight Magellan or any prisoner that is left,” I ordered when it was clear that we wouldn't get attacked immediately.

Each of us took their pair off and Kurei had to walk on his own again. He was pouting a little bit and Yosaku looked extremely relieved.

I tried to focus, trying to hear the fight that was said to happen between Magellan and the ex-warden. People at their level make noise whenever they fight. But I couldn't hear anything, the boiling pit under us was doing a good job at overshadowing any other distant noise.

Kurei began to mumble to himself while thinking. He waited for everyone to be ready again and then explained how we should proceed. “The quickest way down to level five would be over the bridge that leads us into the middle of the Pond of Blood. From there we can take another bridge that leads to Warden Magellan's room and then the guard chambers. There we should find a staircase down to level five.”

“Isn't there another way? I mean guard chambers and room of the warden sounds pretty highly defended,” asked Josef with a slight frown.

Kurei began to twirl and dance before he did two jumps and then bowed in front of Josef. “They most likely are, however, while breaking out we did some heavy damage to the only other bridge that goes down to level five.”

“And we can't use our dial clouds, the heat here is too high. The water inside the cloud will disperse within seconds,” added Nojiko.

“We could use Geppo,” offered Fiara. I was just about to agree, but suddenly a giant cloud of steam broke through the pool under us. It filled close to the whole room and made everything even hotter.

“Forget that, I don't want to get cooked, we don't know how often these steam geysers come,” dismissed Noa Fiara's suggestion.

Jonny looked at me and I knew what he wanted to say, so I answered before he could ask. “No, I may be able to stop a bit of the steam from exploding upwards, but the energy behind this thing is too high for me to block. I could produce one whenever I want, freeing the pressure is easier than containing it.”

I nodded to Kurei and he began to take lead. Our path over the bridge was undisturbed. We found the occasional dead prisoner or guard, but no one was alive.

Nothing happened until we came to the middle of the level. The steam that shoots out from under us came now more often and the heat was getting higher. There were bridges around the middle. The one we came from led to the lift. Another close by bridge goes to the kitchen. Then there is the destroyed bridge that leads to level five, another damaged bridge that goes up to level three and one that leads to the prison cells.

We are going to take a bridge that is right next to ours and will bring us to Magellan's office. “Wasn't it said that the head warden was fighting someone? I can't hear any fighting, nor any prisoners,” asked Yosaku suddenly.

“Yeah, there is all this purple mist that Lia keeps away from us and a lot of dead people, but nothing of an on holding fight,” agreed Jonny.

From here in the middle of the room, I had a good overview of the whole level four. And I couldn't see any fighting as well. There was a large blob of purple on the side that would lead down to level five. But it was the entrance we were not planning to use.

With a shrug, I told the rest of the group what I have seen. “Maybe the fight is already over. I can see a lot of purple on the far south-west side of the floor, but it isn't moving.” The less we have to fight the better. Maybe we miss Blackbeard completely, that would be good.

Kurei led us over a completely intact bridge and we soon found a large sealed door. This one was not as sturdy as the entrance and a good enhanced kick would open it for us. °BAMPF° Seems like Mrs Chicken Wing does not want to wait.

Her kick had ripped the door out of its anchors. It crashed into the wall on the other side of the room and stayed lodged inside. We were instantly greeted by gunfire. The bullets were made out of normal metal and easily pinged off of Yosaku's sword or were evaded by the rest of the crew.

I plucked mine out of the air and threw them back. A couple of dozen pained cries rung through the entrance and gave me verbal confirmation of my hits.

Yosaku then used his sword to get inside the room, while Nojiko and Fiara were giving him cover. But it seems as if it wasn't needed. The gas that was all around the floor had flown inside the previously sealed room and did its work.

Turns out that it indeed was a good idea to stay away from it. Inside we found the guards that had shot at us. Most were dead from my retaliation, but a few had not been attacked by me. Those were now in the middle of dying.

Their skin was quickly turning purple and they were foaming from the mouth. Josef gave one a brief inspection but shook his head after only a moment. “They'll die. The poison is destroying their lungs and probably any other organ.

Pretty deadly stuff, I would need a few days to find an antidote. Better not get in contact with it. Don't breath it in or touch the poison itself. I can't be sure, but I think a short skin exposure would only produce a strong rash, however, better not test that.”

We stepped over the now dead guards and walked through a corridor. Along the walls were field beds with now dead guards and some strange creatures in blue clothes. They too were dead, but their bodies were all showing some pretty deep wounds. I'm not sure if they would have survived. The gas might only have quickened their death.

At the end of the room, we reached another sealed door. This time we did not simply kick it in. We rather used the gas to our own advantage. Fiara had placed one of her robotic arms on the door and was using a low powered Pacifista laser attack to burn through the metal.

The hole was finished only seconds after starting and the gas began to flood the room behind. “Gas masks on, also help the wounded,” came a hurried voice from the other side.

“Now would be the best, they're busy putting their masks on.” Mrs Chicken Wing nodded to my suggestion and kicked this door in as well. It hit someone on its flight and came to a stop after crashing into the wall on the other side. Exactly like its sister door.

I followed the hen inside, both of us moving quickly to surprise anyone that had a chance of reacting. Inside we found a group of maybe fifty guards, including those that were laying on beds. Some were in the middle of placing their masks on, other had theirs already on and were helping the wounded do the same.

A few distant Shigan took care of my side, while Mrs Chicken Wing was doing the same with her beak. I really thought this would be harder.

The rest followed inside and Kurei voiced his help.“I'm not sure, but the stairwell should be on the other side of the room. We also need warm clothes, the fifth level is a frozen hell.” There was indeed a large door on the other side. This one was a blast door like the entrance from the elevator. It made it more likely to be one of the doors that led to another level.

We went through this one in the same way as the last. Mrs Chicken Wing's claws easily took care of the weaker stone. While she did that Kurei started to get dressed in thick clothes. The guards had a good dozen prepared at all times. Behind the door, we found a large staircase. Yet, before we went down we placed a few bedsheets in front of the entrance. It might not completely shut the gas out, but something was better than nothing.

And sure enough, the purple gas stopped a few short meters later. We silently climbed down the stairs and at the end found one more of these annoying blast doors. “By now these things are more annoying than a hindrance. Can't we just blast through them?” Complained Noa for all of us.

“We could, but that takes more time and energy than what has proved to be effective,” replied Nojiko. Mrs Chicken Wing got to work and we came out in a frozen tundra.

“Fuck is that cold, just thinking how cold this would be without our cold resisting clothes,” muttered Jonny.

Just then we all heard someone chattering his teeth. We turned around and saw Kurei holding his arms close to his body and already looking halfway frozen. Even with the winter clothes, it was cold for him.

“This level has wolves guarding the prisoners, they are strong and highly aggressive,” warned Kurei, just before a low growl came from one of the nearby frozen trees.

A group of four wolves came stalked out of the shadow, their eyes looked strangely crazy and their maws were dripping with saliva. More wolves followed and soon we were surrounded. Yet, before they could pounce on us they all fell down and were knocked out.

Mrs Chicken Wing was becoming more restless and has decided that blasting them with her Conqueror Haki would be the quickest way. “Exactly like Straw-chan,” muttered Kurei.

“That was Conqueror Haki, a mental attack that can knock weaker people out, or pacify animals. It is rare and under the control of a skilled user extremely strong,” I explained for him. He gave me a slight awed not. He didn't look away from the angry chicken.

Her feathers were rather puffed up and she was releasing an occasional Haki spark now and then. She knows that we are close, I pity anyone that tries to step in our way.

“Kurei, do you know the way?” I asked when we had walked through the snow-filled level without coming any farther to the next level.

“Last time I was here I got nearly eaten by the wolves. Ivankov-sama has rescued me and Straw-chan. We will need to ask some of the prisoners,” he explained. That at least explains why we were walking towards the cells.

I could already see the cells and their inmates. “Oy, there are people, and they ain't guards,” shouted one of the imprisoned and halfway frozen men.

“You mean the revolt is still going?” Asked another. We were now almost up to the cell and could see that the prisoners were all sitting on frozen benches, their body partially covered in ice as well. If it weren't for the absurdly sturdy body of the inhabitants of this world they would have been frozen to death long ago.

There is a reason why only strong pirates get imprisoned in the lower levels. You need the body to survive such an environment. I'd never be kept here, I'll kill myself before I get imprisoned.

“Do you know the way to level six?” Asked Kurei instantly.

“What is in it for us?” Retorted one of the prisoners.

“We can let you out,” I offered.

“Yeah and then get eaten by the wolf guard, no thank you. You'll take me with you and set me off on a nearby island,” countered the man.

I raised an eyebrow and looked to the others. The men shrugged, while Nojiko was studying his face. She was frowning but did not disagree.

“If you're able to keep up then okay,” I finally said, before ripping the cell door out of the wall. He and the rest of the cell inhabitants were whooping in joy.

The man stood up and offered me his hand. “I'm Daniel, got imprisoned for killing a noble.” I didn't take it and turned around.

“Lead the way, we want someone from level six,” I said instead and waited for him to walk out of the cell. He was frowning and looked a bit angry at me for declining the handshake, but complied and began to lead us through the snow.

“I have seen some prisoners being led this way by high ranked guards. They didn't look as if they were meant to stay here and some of the guards were speaking about the eternal darkness,” he explained while we followed. The other prisoners were following us with some distance, probably thinking that they could ride on our tailcoat.

He stopped in front of a large door. This one wasn't closed like the rest, but not because it was tried. The door itself was dented and only loosely hung on its hinges. The corridor behind was filled with sprung or disarmed traps and some patches of frozen blood were still on the floor. “Ah, there it is. This is also where the three guys from before were running through.”

He turned around and smiled widely, only to stare into the rifle end of Nojiko's gun. She pulled the trigger and the head of the man exploded in a bloody mist. It was frozen before it hit the ground.

“Whoa, why did you do that?” Asked Noa in shock. Nojiko has never shown such brutality towards someone that has done nothing to us.

“That man wasn't named Daniel. His real name and moniker was Färg the Pedophile. He was known for pillaging villages, enslaving the woman and raping the children to death,” she explained with a disgusted tone, before kicking the corpse of the man.

From behind us, we heard how the prisoners that had followed us were all running away. Directly into a group of trees, a moment later screams filled the air. The wolves must still be following us.

“Oh, well then, carry on,” accepted Noa easily. He stepped on the dead man and walked into the corridor, only for Mrs Chicken Wing to overtake him and fly down. She was rather quick and would leave us behind had we not run after her.