He didn't know if it was because of the Freezing Hell above the Eternal Hell, but suddenly, a chilling sensation crept over him, as if a cold wind were blowing down the back of his neck.
Hannyabal dismissed it as something normal and shook his head as he led the jailers away. The heavy door to Eternal Hell clanged shut behind them.
Hannyabal's departure left the Eternal Hell eerily quiet for a brief moment, but the silence was soon broken as many eyes turned to look at Lucas's cell.
Among them, a pair of eyes glinted with playful malice.
The chains clinked ominously.
A tall prisoner, his eyes fixed coldly on Lucas, began to advance with calculated steps.
He flexed his wrists and twisted his neck, producing unsettling creaks that echoed through the cell.
These were criminals incarcerated on the dreaded Sixth Level, the Eternal Hell, and the prospect of taking down a pirate with a lower bounty than their own thrilled them, even if Lucas had not provoked them in any way.
"Hey, there's no need for this," Ace called out from the cell opposite Lucas.
Jinbei, wearing a grim expression, echoed Ace's sentiment. "Corrupt King, what do you intend to do?"
Though they couldn't bear to witness the impending violence, the reality was that they were separated from Lucas by thick cell walls, rendering their words powerless to affect the situation.
Undeterred, the Corrupt King continued his relentless approach, each step marked by the ominous clinking of chains. The prisoners confined here were known for their strength, and it was inconceivable that a few words of caution would sway their actions.
With a final clank of chains, the Corrupt King halted in front of Lucas.
His powerful fists were raised menacingly, and cruelty gleamed in his eyes, promising brutal retribution against a pirate whose bounty amounted to a mere 30 million berries.
Lucas, undaunted by the impending danger, lifted his head and locked eyes with the Corrupt King.
In those moments, he recognized the features of the prisoner who stood before him—blue hair and distinctive horns on his head—Avalo Pizarro, known as the 'Corrupt King.'
A mischievous grin played upon Lucas's lips as he posed an unusual question, "Do you believe in ghosts?"
The Corrupt King, momentarily thrown off by the seemingly nonsensical query, was left with no time to ponder its meaning.
In the dimly lit cell, the space in front of Lucas began to distort, and an icy coldness, indistinct from the freezing atmosphere of the Freezing Hell above, spread through the cell like a creeping shadow.
In an instant, two eerie figures materialized out of thin air.
Both figures wore a white dress, their faces concealed beneath long, cascading black hair that framed expressions of chilling gloom.
They appeared before Lucas, their unsettling presence sending shivers down the spines of everyone in the cell.
Sadako and Hanako had arrived.