Among the Monsters!
7: A Bountiful Harvest!
Among the Monsters!
Chapter 7: A Bountiful Harvest!
Among the Monsters!
‘It’s really dark.’ Relying on vision alone, Nate could barely make out anything around him.
He spread out his Observation Haki together with the Dream-Dream Fruit’s unique ability to sense living beings.
In an instant, every sign of life throughout Level Six appeared clearly within his perception.
‘Hm.
There aren’t that many people.’ Including Weevil himself, there were fewer than twenty prisoners in total.
Most of their presences were nothing special.
At best, they were roughly comparable to Nate’s real body, while quite a few were weaker.
In other words, around Vice Admiral level.
That wasn’t particularly surprising.
The prisoners Blackbeard eventually took from Level Six were only around Tobiroppo level, while the others they killed during the battle royale had naturally been around this general standard.
Still, Vice Admiral-level strength was enough to make someone an expert almost anywhere on the seas.
Even under one of the Four Emperors, people at this level would qualify as officers.
Of course, there were genuine monsters here too.
Two presences were so powerful that even Nate felt as though he were staring up at towering mountains.
They were stronger than Instructor Zephyr.
Undeniably real monsters.
Two more presences were also clearly stronger than Nate’s original body.
And finally, there was one very strange presence.
It was faint, yet somehow didn’t feel weak at all.
‘Not bad.’ ‘If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to build a pretty formidable team here.’ For now, though, he needed to get used to this body.
Nate clenched Weevil’s fist.
‘Yeah.
Really weak.’ That was obviously because of the Seastone restraints.
In that case— ‘Go to sleep.’ Dream-Dream Fruit, activate!
The Surveillance Transponder Snails positioned throughout Level Six began yawning one after another.
A moment later, every last one of them fell asleep.
Marineford wasn’t far from Impel Down, so there shouldn’t be much of a time difference.
It was already deep into the night at Marineford, which meant it should be roughly the same here.
As long as Nate didn’t trigger an alarm, simply putting the Transponder Snails to sleep shouldn’t be noticed immediately.
‘That gives me more than enough time.’ “Hey, kid!
Why’d you suddenly go quiet?” “Hahaha!
Did you cry yourself to sleep?” The prisoners’ mocking voices continued echoing through the darkness.
Nate completely ignored them.
‘Durex, ON!
…No, wait.
Projection, begin.’ A strange substance appeared from nothing.
It couldn’t be seen with the naked eye because Nate had made it completely transparent.
The fluid-like material flowed over the cuffs and shackles restraining Weevil, then seeped directly into their keyholes.
Clink.
The restraints dropped to the floor.
The weakness rapidly faded from Weevil’s body.
Nate rolled his neck in satisfaction.
‘Much better.’ Weevil might have been weakened by Seastone and unable to use his abilities, but what did that have to do with Nate remotely logging into his body?
Nate clenched his fist again.
‘What ridiculous strength.’ It was far beyond his own body.
Even with exceptional physical talent, a single year of training simply wasn’t enough to catch up with genuine monsters.
‘The road of relentless grinding is still long.’ Then there was something else.
Nate opened his palm.
Invisible fluctuations gathered above it.
‘Hm.
I can use Weevil’s ability normally too.’ Abilities were tied to both body and soul, so Nate naturally couldn’t use Weevil’s power as effectively as Weevil himself.
But that hardly mattered.
The prisoners had been talking over one another, yet the sound of heavy restraints hitting the floor was still painfully obvious in the vast, empty darkness.
For a single instant, Eternal Hell fell silent.
“What happened?” “Hey, newcomer!
Did you get your restraints off?” Voices immediately erupted from every direction.
Nate pushed open the cell door.
The invisible key he’d created dissolved the moment its job was done.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll keep this short.” Nate’s voice—or rather, Weevil’s voice—spread throughout the dimly lit Level Six.
“If you want freedom, don’t resist.” ‘Go to sleep.’ Before the prisoners could fully process his words, the Dream-Dream Fruit activated.
A crushing wave of drowsiness swept over everyone.
Some couldn’t resist at all and immediately fell into deep sleep.
Others could resist, but hesitated because of Nate’s words before eventually closing their eyes.
And a few simply dismissed him from the start and remained completely unmoved.
The previously noisy Level Six quickly became quiet.
‘Hm.’ Nate began strolling down the pitch-black corridor.
‘Only two refused?’ That made sense.
It would have been stranger if those two had willingly submitted.
Part of Nate’s consciousness shifted into the Dream World.
On an endless open plain, thirteen prisoners stared around themselves in shock.
“Where the hell are we?” “Is this that guy’s ability?” “Did we actually leave Impel Down?” Then a vast voice rolled across heaven and earth.
“Submit to me.” The prisoners looked at one another.
Then— “Hahahaha!
Did you hear this bastard?” “Submit?
Who the hell does he think I am?!” “Stop hiding!
Get your ass out here!” Quite rebellious.
High above them, Nate silently looked down at the prisoners.
His lips curved upward.
‘Perfect.’ ‘I love the stubborn ones.’ The next moment, screams filled the entire Dream World.
…
About a minute later, all thirteen prisoners stood on the plain once more.
“AAAAAH!” Some were still screaming.
“I was wrong!
Everything was my fault!
Please don’t torture me again!” Others begged desperately for forgiveness.
“I submit!
I submit!!
I’ll be your dog!
Just please spare me!” And some had surrendered completely.
Nate nodded in satisfaction.
One glowing sphere after another began forming in front of the prisoners.
At that moment, Nate suddenly felt slightly dizzy.
‘Was splitting off this many permissions at once too much of a burden?’ That wouldn’t do.
There were only a little over a dozen people here.
Nate intended to bring far more people into the Dream World eventually.
‘When I start taking in ordinary people, I’ll have to give them lower-level access.’ While considering the problem, Nate arrived outside another cell.
He stopped and quietly looked inside.
The prisoner had snow-white hair and a matching beard.
He wasn’t especially muscular, yet even while tightly restrained, he maintained an unmistakably elegant bearing.
“Oh?” The man slowly raised his head.
“What an interesting brat.” He studied Weevil’s body with amusement.
“Are you some admirer of Newgate?” “Red Count, Baloric Redfield.” Nate calmly examined the legendary figure from the previous era.
“Want to leave with me?” “Don’t say something so stupid.” Redfield sneered.
“More importantly, brat…
do you have some kind of split personality?” When he’d first been thrown in here, Weevil had been crying and screaming for his mother.
“In that case…” Nate turned toward the neighboring cell.
Inside was an enormous, muscular blond man silently doing push-ups.
He was a Devil Fruit user whose body was bound by high-purity Seastone restraints.
Even so, the shackles couldn’t stop him from training.
“Demon Heir.” Nate looked at him.
“I suppose you’re refusing me too.” Douglas Bullet, a former member of the Roger Pirates, didn’t say a single word.
He simply continued exercising as though Nate didn’t exist.
That arrogant attitude felt strangely familiar.
“Hehehehe…” Red Count watched Nate with growing interest.
“So what now, brat?” His smile widened.
“Are you going to kill us?” “I hate wasting things more than anything.” Nate casually turned around and began walking toward another cell nearby.
“I’ll give you two one more chance.” His voice drifted back through the darkness.
“Next time we meet, I hope you don’t refuse me again.” Redfield immediately burst into laughter.
There was actually going to be a next time?
‘What an arrogant brat.’ By now, the prisoners in the other cells had gradually begun waking up.
Nate casually waved one hand.
Invisible material appeared from nothing and spread throughout the prison like countless slithering snakes.
The transparent substance could freely change shape.
It effortlessly entered every lock, opening all the cell doors while also removing the prisoners’ restraints.
One prisoner after another stepped out.
They silently stared at Nate, their eyes filled with fear.
Of course, there would always be idiots who refused to learn.
The seas produced no shortage of lunatics.
“Bastard!” One prisoner suddenly launched himself at Nate.
“What the hell did you do to—” He collapsed face-first onto the floor.
Nate didn’t even bother looking at him.
He simply walked into the cell before him.
This particular prison cell was specially constructed.
The temperature inside was unbelievably low, turning the entire chamber into a massive freezer.
At its center stood an enormous block of ice.
A man was frozen inside.
Outside the cell, the prisoner who’d attacked Nate suddenly opened his eyes again.
Tears and mucus streamed down his face as his entire body shook violently.
He flattened himself against the ground before Nate.
“Please!
Please forgive me!
I’ll never do it again!” The other prisoners’ expressions became extremely ugly.
They finally understood what those glowing spheres had actually meant.
They could no longer resist.
“Oh?” Redfield watched with obvious fascination.
“That’s quite an extraordinary ability.” He chuckled softly.
“Even without old monsters like us, the seas are still interesting, it seems.” Nate completely ignored him.
He simply placed one hand against the enormous block of ice before him.
‘You’ve been asleep for more than twenty years.’ ‘Let me see…’ ‘What kind of dream have you been having all this time?’ …