"Director, I heard that Sadie was attacked by the Warden Beasts!"
"Gurgle—"
"...I deeply regret this."
"Puff puff—"
"However, the order of the prison cannot be disrupted. I am willing to take on more dangerous work; let me manage the Warden Beasts!"
"Crash bang—"
The incessant noise caused Storm's forehead to throb with visible veins.
"Director! Please stop pulling! I'm scared!"
Splash—
Accompanied by a loud flushing sound.
Magellan emerged from the restroom, his body faintly exuding toxic gas.
"I'm really sorry; I had a bit of diarrhea and just went through a rough battle."
Magellan gently rubbed his belly, looking regretful.
"It seems the chicken soup I had this morning gave me food poisoning…"
I remember you praising that bowl of soup this morning, saying it was "just right, not too salty, and tasted great," didn't I?
Storm's mouth twitched slightly.
"Director, if you can't handle toxic chicken soup, then don't drink it."
Storm advised earnestly.
"Being picky about food is actually quite good."
"Hahaha, it's precisely because I'm picky!"
Magellan laughed heartily, waving his hand dismissively.
"As a 'toxic person,' my favorite food is poison!"
Storm was speechless.
If he were to poison Magellan, would that be considered "feeding" or "murder"? Just then, Magellan continued.
"Though I shouldn't say this, isn't there a saying… 'fighting poison with poison'?"
"You're only suffering from diarrhea because you can't 'fight poison with poison,' right?!"
Storm interrupted Magellan, unable to hold back his sarcasm.
"Why would a toxic person get poisoned?
"That sounds as ridiculous as a cobra being killed by its own venom!"
"Storm, when did you become so sharp-tongued?"
Magellan looked at Storm in surprise.
"Have you been influenced by that scheming guy, Hannyabal?"
"I—"
Storm was about to respond but quickly realized and forcibly steered the conversation back on track.
"Director! I want a promotion!"
"Indeed, you've been influenced by that ambitious guy, Hannyabal!"
Magellan rubbed his belly and sighed deeply.
"You've only been here for a week, sigh…"
This time, without Domino's help, Storm retreated several meters away, avoiding the toxic mist attack.
He didn't want to inhale the gas exhaled by Magellan!
"Haha!"
Magellan chuckled at Storm's wary expression.
"You're much sharper than Hannyabal."
"Director, Sadie—"
"I know."
Magellan nodded, lost in thought.
Playful banter aside, he quickly regained the authoritative demeanor of the Warden Chief of Impel Down.
He seriously considered Storm's suggestion.
This newcomer, who had only been in Impel Down for a week, had indeed exposed a serious issue the prison was currently facing—
A shortage of manpower!
Impel Down, the six layers of hell, housed a vast number of prisoners.
These prisoners were all ruthless characters who had been lawless before being sent to Impel Down.
Managing such a large number of hardened criminals was extremely challenging.
In fact, with Magellan's strength, he could easily suppress the entire Impel Down.
The powers of the [Venom-Venom Fruit] were significantly amplified in the unique enclosed environment of Impel Down! However, the problem was that Magellan himself couldn't withstand the extreme toxicity of the [Venom-Venom Fruit]…
Magellan, aged 41, resided in the fourth layer of Impel Down, the Scorching Hell.
He had to endure diarrhea for ten hours each day to avoid being poisoned by himself.
Excluding meal and sleep times, Magellan only had less than four hours of work each day.
Because of this, Impel Down still needed other guards to help share the Director's workload.
In the past, Shiryu of the Rain, who served as the Deputy Director, could effectively assist Magellan in managing Impel Down.
Shiryu was known as the "Iron Wall" of Impel Down alongside Magellan!
However, in recent years, Shiryu's actions had become increasingly extreme.
Magellan had witnessed Shiryu indiscriminately killing prisoners on more than one occasion.
Impel Down housed countless death row inmates.
But that didn't mean Shiryu, as a guard, could arbitrarily take the lives of prisoners! Recently, Magellan and Shiryu had clashed more than once.
Yet Shiryu remained unrepentant.
The Director was busy dealing with diarrhea every day.
The Deputy Director was busy with murder every day.
The prison's guard duties were mostly distributed among several other Warden Chiefs and a large number of guards.
But just at this critical moment, Sadie was attacked by the Warden Beasts…
To say it was an "attack" was somewhat inaccurate.
From what Magellan understood, Sadie had been injured during the management of the Warden Beasts due to a small "rebellion" on their part.
Given Sadie's current strength, it was indeed too difficult for her to manage the cold and brutal Warden Beasts.
During Sadie's recovery, Magellan had already planned to assign someone else to take on the task of managing the Warden Beasts.
For instance, Hannyabal, Hannyabal, and Hannyabal again…
But now Storm had voluntarily applied to manage the Warden Beasts.
Magellan couldn't help but hesitate. On one hand, he doubted Storm's strength.
Sadie was a young girl.
But Storm was only one year older than Sadie! If Sadie could be easily injured by the Warden Beasts, wouldn't Storm be at risk too?
If Storm were to get injured after Sadie, Magellan's troubles would only multiply.
On the other hand, Storm had been in Impel Down for too short a time! It had only been a week at most.
Even if Storm's daily performance was outstanding.
He had trained the Blue Gorilla to behave like a dog.
The management of the Crimson Hell had not shown any flaws.
But he had only been here for a week! After pondering for a long time, Magellan made his final decision.
"Alright, Storm."
Magellan said in a deep voice.
"From now on, you will be responsible for managing the guards in both the Crimson Hell and the Beast Hell.
"As for the lower layers, let's hold off for now—ah! My stomach hurts so much!"
Magellan's words were cut short as he clutched his backside and rushed into the restroom.
With no other choice, Storm could only return to the first layer of the sea.
He got promoted, but not entirely.
The best outcome Storm had envisioned was to directly take charge of all the guard management.
From the Blue Gorilla in the Crimson Hell to the Warden Beasts in the Scorching Hell, everything would fall under his management.
But now he only gained the additional responsibility of the Beast Hell.
"Hopefully, the guards in the Beast Hell are better than the Water Monkeys!"
Storm returned to the first layer of the sea and entered his exclusive office.
He didn't rush to check the situation in the Beast Hell but instead summoned the several [Grand Prizes] he had obtained earlier.
After surveying the Crimson Hell, he collected eight [Bronze Trophies] and one [Silver Trophy].
Storm checked his ability list.
He invested the only [Silver Trophy] into [Iron Body].
The remaining eight [Bronze Trophies] were allocated to [Moon Walk], [Tempest Kick], [Finger Pistol], and [Swordsmanship].
As a result, the star ratings of these abilities became—
[Iron Body: ★★★☆]
[Moon Walk: ★★★]
[Tempest Kick: ★★★]
[Finger Pistol: ★★★]
[Swordsmanship: ★★]
All of Storm's [Six Styles] had reached three stars! Even the [Swordsmanship] he had completely set aside had reached two stars.
With a bit of training later, the actual levels of these abilities could all be rapidly improved! Just as Storm was about to continue crafting [Clay Clone] and training his physical skills, an angry voice suddenly rang out from outside his office door.
"Storm!"
Hannyabal pounded on the door forcefully.
"Do you have the guts to go find Magellan? Open the door!"
Storm flicked his right hand, and his clay-like arm extended to pull open the office door.
Hannyabal, who was about to crash in, stumbled and fell to the ground.
The esteemed Warden Chief rolled into the Warden Chief's office in a rather roundabout manner.
"Cough cough!"
A disheveled Hannyabal quickly got up from the floor, trying to maintain the dignity of the Warden Chief.
"Storm! You actually went to side with Magellan!"
"Ah?"
Faced with the accusation, Storm was somewhat at a loss.
"What are you talking about?"
"My informant just told me!"
Hannyabal rushed to the desk, leaning on it with both hands, glaring angrily at Storm.
"You went to Magellan's office and conspired with him for a long time! Are you planning to join forces with Magellan to overthrow my rule?"
Hannyabal's words had too many points to critique.
Storm was momentarily unsure how to respond.
But it was fine to speak up.
Remaining silent only deepened the misunderstanding.
In a fit of anger, Hannyabal lashed out again.
"Storm! You are the man I recognized—"
"Stop! Hold on!"
Seeing that Hannyabal was about to throw a tantrum, Storm raised his right hand to interrupt him.
"I went to see the Director because I wanted a promotion."
"A promotion?"
Hannyabal froze in place.
"Could it be… Magellan doesn't have much time left, and he plans to leave the Director position to you?
"Damn it! I was here first!"
"Listen, Warden Chief!"
Storm flicked his right hand, and the white clay transformed into a chain, pulling Hannyabal closer to him.
"I'm not interested in the Director position!
"I went to see the Director to take over Sadie's job, to manage the Warden Beasts!"
Upon hearing Storm's explanation, Hannyabal immediately sighed in relief.
But he couldn't help but complain.
"Why would you go to Magellan for such a trivial matter!"
"A trivial matter?"
"I'm the man who will become the Director of Impel Down!"
Hannyabal was wrapped up in clay, yet he still spoke with great bravado.
"It's just managing the Warden Beasts, right?
"I'll help you!"
Good news: The reading count has surpassed a hundred.
Bad news: It's not enough for a recommendation.
Difficult.