Luffy’s Journey in Impel Down Part 5

"This is just one of the monsters. There are still Puzzle Scorpions and Manticores. Puzzle Scorpions are large insect monsters that can link together to form a giant centipede."

"Manticores are man-eating lions with a human face. They eat their prey entirely, including the bones. Since they have a human face, they can also speak, but they generally copy what they hear."

Galdino explained the different monsters that lived on this level.

"Oh! Are you talking about them?"

Luffy pointed his finger towards a large centipede coming his way alongside several lions with human faces.

He slowly stood up and started stretching his body.

"Now that I've finished eating, let's see how effective that method was."

He took a deep breath and placed his fist on the ground. As he did so, his blood began to rapidly flow throughout his body.

Using his legs are pumps, he managed to speed up his blood flow and let out a lot of steam. His skin turned red as well.

[Gear Second]

He raised his head and stared at the monsters coming his way.

In an instant, he disappeared.

When he reappeared, he was in front of them. He coated his fists with Armament Haki and pulled them back.

The next moment, their fists began to light up a small fire as he moved them forward. As they charged forward, the fire gradually became larger and larger.

Until those monsters were bombarded with fists covered in fire.

[Gomu Gomu No- Hawk Gattling]

Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom!

His fist created sonic booms as they kept destroying those man-beasts and the scorpions, until the remains were left behind.

The entire section was burning because of the flames, while the walls and ground were shattered by his power.

Gulp!

"How is this guy? Isn't he too strong for level 2?"

"Idiot! Don't you see? He didn't wear the prison uniform. That means he is from outside."

"He was with Captain Buggy. He must be part of the Buggy Pirates."

"Yeah, I recognize him. He is the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates with the bounty of one hundred million berries."

"Is this the strength of a hundred million bounty pirate?"

"And, Captain Buggy was able to invite such a big pirate to free him."

"Long live Captain Buggy!"

Buggy was speechless by their reactions, but he didn't correct them.

After all, he still planned to use these people to escape. He wouldn't put his life in Luffy's hands.

But upon seeing Luffy's strength, he was beginning to have some doubts. It might be better if he could follow Luffy until they leave the prison.

"Damn! This guy has become even more terrifying."

Although Galdino knew his boss was defeated by him, it was one thing to hear and another thing to see.

This time, he saw the true strength of the man who defeated his previous boss.

"Come on, Buggy, Galdino, let's leave!"

Luffy turned back. He turned to his base form and shouted.

Buggy and Galdino had no choice but to follow him.

"Captain Buggy, what about us?"

"What should we do?"

Seeing this, Buggy paused for a moment, and an idea came to his mind.

"You can go back to the first floor and free more people. I will send more people from the third and fourth floors."

He said, then waved goodbye to his new followers.

Then, he quickly followed after Luffy and Galdino.

"By the way, where are we going? Do you even know the way to the Third Floor?"

Galdino asked.

Luffy shook his head and said.

"I don't know that, but I sensed a powerful beast nearby. I want to eat it."

Hearing his words, Buggy and Galdino almost fell.

"What the hell? Aren't you full yet?"

Luffy waved his hand and said.

"Galdino, we were reaching near the beast. You can start cooking the leftover meat while I fight this."

"Buggy, you can also help him cook. I need food, a lot of food."

Although the food made by two of these wasn't that tasty, it was still something he could eat to improve his strength.

After eating half of Basilisk's meat, he found that he could use Gear Second without any side effects.

That meant Liam's method was working. He understood why.

This body already possessed a lot of potential. Especially now, its potential was at its peak.

If he learned something that could boost his strength, only a portion of that potential would be utilized.

This was perfect for Luffy since he needed a lot of strength if he wanted to fight the strongest person in this prison and save Ace.

He could use Haki, but it would run out within just a minute. He had good control over all three types of Haki, but he could only use the advanced form of Observation Haki.

More importantly, if he wanted to use Gear Third without any drawback, he had to eat the remaining part of the beast and another beast of twice or thrice the size of Basilisk.

And, he found just the perfect beast for him.

It was a large sphinx. It was a large beast with a dark humanoid face and a winged leonine body. It had a large scar above its right eye.

More importantly, the large wasn't an exact word to describe it.

This beast was gigantic.

But this only made Luffy excited.

[Gear Second]

Luffy instantly entered the second gear and dashed forward. The sphinx seemed to have sensed his presence and tried to slap its paw at him.

But, Luffy appeared above its arm and ran on its arm, towards its face.

Before the sphinx could even react, Luffy launched a punch straight at its face.

[Gomu Gomu No- Jet Pistol]

Bang!

His punch seemed to have created an air vacuum that impacted with so much force that it made the sphinx fall on its back.

Thud!

The floor shook.

"Damn! This guy is freaking strong. But it has only been such a short time. How can he grow so much stronger?"

Buggy had noticed the growth of Shanks, and that guy learned under Rayleigh and Roger, but even his growth didn't seem as ridiculous as Luffy's.

Because Luffy went from a pirate who could barely fight him to a person who had mastered all three forms of Haki.

"And, why can he use Haki when his body is so weak?"

Buggy muttered.

"What is Haki? Why does it matter if he knows it?"

Unlike Buggy, Galdino didn't know a lot about Haki. So, he was quite surprised by Buggy's comment and asked him.

Buggy didn't mind explaining Haki to Galdino, so he spoke.

"Haki is a power that exists in every human being, but only a few individuals can bring out their Haki through training or life and death situations."

"People can indeed awaken Haki in extreme situations, but most of the time, they need a lot of physical strength to use Haki. Straw Hat isn't that strong physically. He even gets tired after using Haki."

"But he seems quite good at using Haki. That's why I don't understand why he can do that."

Hearing his answer, Galdino was surprised, and he asked.

"So, what's the use of Haki?"

Buggy was speechless at his knowledge, but still replied.

"There are three forms of Haki. Armament Haki can improve your attack power, defense, and hit Logia Fruit users. Observation Haki can sense your intent and allow the person to dodge an attack beforehand."

"As for Conqueror Haki, it can be used to finish a large army or even use it to improve your strength. But only a few individuals can awaken it. It can't be trained like Armament and Observation."

Galdino nodded his head with understanding and said.

"Then, doesn't that mean he fought my previous boss, Crocodile, and awakened it during that time?"

"Huh? I thought Smoker defeated Crocodile." Buggy was stunned by this news.

"It was just government propaganda. It was the Straw Hats that fought Baroque Works and saved Alabasta."

Galdino waved his hands and replied.

Buggy touched his chin and said.

"If that's the case, it makes sense. He awakened it during his battle with Crocodile, but he can't use it unless he is physically strong."

"I guess during his life and death battle with Crocodile, he managed to get better control of his Haki, which he can use now as long as he has consumed enough food."

At this moment, they heard a few more sounds from afar and saw Luffy coming towards them while holding the Sphinx in his hands.

Bang!

He threw the beast on the ground and rubbed his forehead.

"That was quite a workout."

Immediately, Buggy and Galdino became speechless.

'He calls fighting a beast like the Sphinx a workout. How ridiculously strong this guy has gotten?'

"Hey, why are you staring at me? Sniff! Sniff! Wait, the meat is getting burned. You two idiots! Focus on meat, not on me."