"Hey, kid, what are you daydreaming about?"
In the scorching heat of Hell, inside Magellan's office, Law, leaning on the sofa, couldn't hold back anymore and spoke up.
Since their return from the Infinite Hell, Rosha had been sitting there, dazed like a statue.
Even the delicious pufferfish soup sent by Magellan remained untouched.
Rorschach lowered his head, examining his slender hands with a solemn voice, "I'm thinking… How far am I from the rank of Admiral? My current strength is still too weak."
"..."
A giant question mark appeared in Law's mind.
His fists clenched tightly.
"Are you serious?"
"Of course, I'm serious."
Rorschach turned his head. "You saw the situation in Infinite Hell. While there were many useless prisoners, most of them possessed terrifying strength."
"And then there are monsters among monsters, like Douglas Barrett, Wald, and the Red Count."
"My current strength isn't even close to the heirs of the Devil. Even while locked in their cells, they could crush me with their Haki from afar."
Law stared directly at Rorschach's face, confirming he wasn't just being humble. After a brief struggle, he finally spoke, as if constipated:
"You knocked out Shiryu of the Rain, the chief guard of Impel Down."
"The Big Drunk, who had a bounty in the hundreds of millions over a decade ago, was turned into charcoal by you."
"The Evil King, who brought chaos to millions and the infamous Black Moon Hunter, were both beaten half to death by you."
"And you still think you're too weak?"
Law felt an intense urge to punch something.
Rorschach sighed and shook his head.
"Don't be fooled by how easily I defeated the Big Drunk or crippled the Evil King and Black Moon Hunter."
"They've been imprisoned in Impel Down for over a decade, their bodies weakened, and they were wearing Seastone handcuffs."
"As for Shiryu, he was just too arrogant; that's why he lost so quickly."
"I finally understand now—Uncle Sakazuki didn't want me as his adjutant because he truly believes I'm not strong enough. If I go to the New World, I'll just be a burden to him."
Suddenly, Rorschach clenched his fists, silver sparks of lightning flashing in his eyes.
"Next time, I won't feel powerless in front of those great pirates!"
"If Barrett could fight Rayleigh to a draw at fifteen, then why can't I?"
"I still have six months until I turn fifteen; I must train even harder!"
Law's mouth twitched before he collapsed onto the sofa like a deflated balloon.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Law? Why do you suddenly look so down?"
Rorschach was puzzled.
Law weakly waved his hand. "Nothing, just feeling a little tired."
"Oh, well, get some rest. You were injured today, after all."
Rorschach nodded, standing up, his fighting spirit reignited as he walked towards the door.
"I'm going to check on Palmer. If he's fine, we'll set off for the next destination tomorrow morning. Staying here won't help us grow stronger."
Watching Rorschach leave, Law removed his hat and covered his face with it.
"Oh? Isn't this Colonel Rorschach? Have you rested well? Are you hungry? Should I have dinner prepared for you right now?"
As soon as Rorschach stepped out of Magellan's office, Hannibal's ingratiating voice echoed in his ears.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Rosha saw Hannibal with his big belly wobbling, grinning like a blooming chrysanthemum as he approached from the alleyway, opening a folding fan and fanning Rosha enthusiastically.
Rorschach glanced at him with confusion, not understanding why Hannibal was suddenly acting so friendly.
"No need, no need. Let's wait until Uncle Magellan, Chief Jailer Sadi, and Warden Domino finish their work. We can all eat together."
Hannibal rolled his eyes, making his belly jiggle up and down. "Is having diarrhea considered work? I think Fleet Admiral Sengoku should consider replacing our warden with someone who can stay on duty for more than eight hours a day instead of spending ten hours in the restroom."
"Hannibal, your mouth is really something else."
Rorschach was speechless.
This guy had some serious guts.
How many times had he been poisoned today already?
Still Not Learning the Lesson
Did Hannibal really think Magellan couldn't use Observation Haki?
Sure enough, the moment Hannibal's sarcastic remark left his mouth, a furious roar echoed from the restroom at the end of the corridor.
"Hannibal!"
"Ahhh! Run! The warden is angry!"
Hannibal jumped in fright, quickly distancing himself from Rosha and sprinting out of the alley.
However, Rosha knew that Hannibal's sarcasm was just his loose tongue talking.
He didn't actually mean to belittle Magellan.
In truth, Hannibal deeply respected Magellan—seeing him as both an older brother and a father figure.
Of course, his ambition to become the warden one day was absolutely genuine...
The medical lab of Impel Down was located to the right of the elevator shaft, about 300 meters away from Magellan's office, and adjacent to the food storage room.
After asking the guards for directions and learning that the giant Palmer was still in the infirmary due to a severe injury to his right hand from Shiryu, Rosha made his way straight there.
But when he pushed open the infirmary door, he was surprised to find the doctors in white coats and the curvaceous nurses all slumped over the tables, seemingly fast asleep.
Palmer, however, was nowhere to be found.
This discovery made Rosha furrow his brows.
"Buzz."
He unleashed his Observation Haki, scanning every corner of the infirmary where someone could hide—but still, there was no sign of Palmer.
"No way… Did that guy knock out the doctors and escape? Or was he sent back to his cell?"
Rorschach expanded his Observation Haki further, sweeping across the entire Blazing Hell.
The former possibility could be ruled out.
From what he could sense, the doctors and nurses were breathing steadily, without any injuries—meaning they weren't knocked out by force.
As for the latter, that was even less likely.
Not only was Palmer severely wounded by Shiryu, but he was also someone Rosha had permission to take out of the prison.
It wouldn't make sense for him to be sent back to his cell after that.
Even after scanning all of Blazing Hell, there was still no sign of Palmer.
"Wait... There's one more possibility."
Rorschach's eyes gleamed as he suddenly recalled the exaggerated rumors among the guards and prisoners about the so-called 'Invitation from the Demon Realm.'
It was said that the transvestites of Level 5.5, the Kamabakka Queendom, hidden between the Freezing Hell and the Infinite Hell, often snuck into different levels of Impel Down through secret entrances and abducted prisoners of their choice into their hidden paradise.
"Palmer is a giant. If he walked out of the infirmary, someone would have definitely seen him."
"If no guards reported it, that means Palmer never left this room in the first place."
"This means… there must be a secret passage leading to the Kamabakka Queendom here."
Rorschach stroked his chin as faint arcs of electricity crackled over his body. They slithered across the infirmary's walls, ceiling, and floor, scanning every inch for hidden mechanisms.
With his Observation Haki enhanced by his electric abilities, his perception became several times sharper.
A few minutes later, Rorschach's eyes lit up. Behind one of the hospital beds, he noticed an almost imperceptible crack in the wall.
Following the crack deeper into the wall, his senses detected that beyond a few meters, there was an empty space.
Rorschach reached out, applying some force, and managed to pry out a massive slab of rock—about five to six meters in diameter and over three meters thick—revealing a pitch-black tunnel.
Staring into the deep darkness of the passage, questions arose in Rorschach's mind.
The Kamabakka Queendom, hidden between the ceilings of Infinite Hell and the floors of Freezing Hell, was well concealed.
But with Observation Haki, such concealment should have been completely ineffective.
Unless the rock in these levels had some property that could block Observation Haki…
Otherwise, the so-called "undiscovered for a hundred years" Kamabakka Queendom would be an open secret to anyone with Observation Haki.
(End of Chapter)
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