"You two! How could you fight in front of so many prison colleagues?!"
Magellan's face turned purple—literally purple.
"This is absolutely outrageous!"
In his furious state, Magellan's Venom-Venom Fruit erupted with astonishing effects.
Deep purple venom covered his entire body, continuously dripping down.
The moment this venom touched the floor, it emitted a series of sizzling sounds, clearly indicating its lethal toxicity.
When it comes to attack power, the strength of the Venom-Venom Fruit is beyond doubt!
In front of the enraged Poison Man, the entire prison cafeteria was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Magellan didn't care whether Storm had beaten Shiryu or if Shiryu had been beaten by Storm.
In any case, the two of them fighting in public was simply unacceptable!
Magellan swiftly cut through the chaos.
"You both need to be punished! Solitary confinement!"
The Poison Dragon fixed his gaze on Storm and Shiryu, issuing a verdict from the Warden Chief.
Storm received a "24-Hour Special Forces Travel Guide to Scorching Hell."
Shiryu, on the other hand, was given a "Seven-Day Tour Package to Extreme Cold Hell."
Storm was taken aback that he would also be punished and protested.
"Warden! I was acting in self-defense!"
The Little White Dragon, who had somehow returned to Storm's shoulder, roared alongside his master at the Warden.
"But it still caused a terrible impact!"
Magellan maintained a stern expression as he spoke seriously.
"Considering this is your first offense, you will only be sent to Scorching Hell!"
The fourth level of Impel Down, Scorching Hell.
The fifth level, Extreme Cold Hell, has an even harsher environment.
Magellan's punishment plan had already taken into account Shiryu's proactive attack.
Thus, his punishment for Shiryu was even more severe!
Perhaps aware of his own guilt, or perhaps unwilling to argue with Magellan, Shiryu released his Armament Haki, cleaned the clay off of Thunderclap Rain, and turned to leave decisively.
"Hannyabal! Take Storm to the fourth level!"
Magellan instructed the Deputy Warden before following Shiryu out.
He needed to personally escort Shiryu to the fifth level, Extreme Cold Hell!
Once both Wardens had left, Hannyabal slowly approached Storm, a somewhat sycophantic smile on his face.
"My dear Warden, you're truly impressive! Even that bastard Shiryu is no match for you!"
"Not by a long shot!"
Storm shook his head, noncommittally replying.
Perhaps to others, it seemed like he had dominated Shiryu throughout their fight.
The reality, however, was a bit different.
Storm's flurry of attacks was fierce.
But the damage was only 2.5.
Storm's strikes had merely caused Shiryu to bleed a little; they hadn't truly threatened him.
As a Great Sword Master, Shiryu's physical prowess was terrifying! He could take far more punishment than creatures like the Sphinx.
On the other hand, the attack power of the Clay-Clay Fruit was severely lacking.
If only the attack power of the Clay-Clay Fruit could rival that of the Venom-Venom Fruit...
Forget it.
Storm shook his head internally.
The attack power of a Devil Fruit is determined by its inherent nature.
The essence of the Clay-Clay Fruit is to create clay.
Even if clay could be manipulated into art—
Wait!
Art?
A vision of a four-mouthed artistic youth who loved playing with clay flashed through Storm's mind.
Could he imbue certain traits into the clay to enhance its base attack power? Hannyabal had no idea what Storm was thinking at that moment.
After hearing his words, the Deputy Warden cheerfully chimed in.
"Yes, yes! That bastard Shiryu is no match for you!"
After saying this, Hannyabal hesitated for a moment.
"Um, Storm, it's time to head to Scorching Hell."
Storm snapped back to reality, burying the idea of "clay art" deep in his mind.
"I haven't eaten yet!"
"I'll have someone bring food right away!"
In Scorching Hell, in a single-person suite.
Having eaten his fill, Storm sat cross-legged on the ground, completely unaffected by the terrifying heat surrounding him.
His four-star Physique allowed him to ignore the temperature entirely.
Storm summoned his Grand Prize Trophy, gazing at the impressive "☆" rating of his Armament Haki.
"Looks like I've awakened my Armament Haki, huh?"
Storm clenched his fist, somewhat awkwardly channeling that power.
In the next moment, an invisible transparent energy enveloped his fist, wrapping it in a protective layer.
"It's colorless, and a bit different from the Armament Haki I imagined. Is it because my level is too low?"
Storm dispersed the Armament Haki and closed his eyes, assessing his physical stamina.
"Using Haki consumes far more energy than using Six Styles! As for the power..."
With a thought, a life-sized clay statue appeared before him.
Boom! He unleashed a punch wrapped in Armament Haki, effortlessly shattering the clay statue into pieces.
"A punch infused with Haki has far greater attack power than a regular punch!"
Storm dispersed the Armament Haki and created several Clay Clones.
Since Iron Body had helped him awaken Armament Haki, could Paper Drawing also assist in awakening Observation Haki? Under Storm's control, the Clay Clones charged at him, launching a flurry of rapid attacks.
Facing the onslaught of the Clay Clones, Storm held his breath and focused, releasing his power as he dodged like a piece of paper.
Time passed, though he couldn't tell how long.
A new entry appeared in his abilities—
[Observation Haki: ☆]
...
The time in solitary confinement passed swiftly.
During this period, Storm had initially grasped the powers of Armament Haki and Observation Haki. Not only that, but he had also fully digested the enhancements to his Six Styles abilities.
To Storm's surprise, after mastering all four-star Six Styles, he gained a new ability—
[Life Return: ☆]
Six Styles is a martial art that surpasses the physical limits of ordinary humans.
And Life Return exemplifies the extreme development of bodily capabilities inherent in Six Styles.
With Life Return mastered, Storm could freely control his body, including his internal organs and even his hair.
As long as he infused his consciousness into it, he could manipulate any part of his body at will.
Storm was well aware that Life Return still held great potential for exploration.
However, with limited time in solitary confinement, he couldn't complete this task within his cell.
After the confinement ended and he left the cell, Storm was immediately taken to the Warden's office on the fourth level of Scorching Hell.
This time, he finally met Magellan in the office—not in the restroom.
"Storm, I'm sorry."
Magellan looked apologetic.
"I had to put you in solitary confinement."
Storm silently stared at the Warden.
If apologies were effective, what would be the point of laws? "I've thoroughly investigated what happened that day."
Magellan raised his hands, gesturing.
"Shiryu, Shiryu... he's just a madman! Don't take him seriously."
"Take him seriously?"
Storm laughed absurdly.
"Warden, are you saying that when he attacks me with a knife, I shouldn't get angry and should generously forgive him?"
"I know it might be a bit unreasonable to say this."
Magellan wanted to continue speaking.
"But—"
"If you know it's unreasonable, then don't say it."
Storm interrupted him.
"Warden, if there's nothing else, I'm going to work.
"I haven't patrolled the prison in several days, and I'm feeling a bit restless."
Restless?
Magellan watched Storm's departing figure, his eyelids suddenly twitching.
He had been worried that Shiryu would become a madman who couldn't distinguish friend from foe, killing countless people.
But now it seemed that Storm also had that potential?
"It must be an illusion! Just an illusion!"
Magellan squeezed his butt and dashed into the restroom.
In the corridor outside the Warden's office.
Storm had only taken a few steps when he suddenly heard a voice from the side.
"Vongola!"
Storm turned to see the now-recovered Sadie waving her whip at him.
"…Remember to train those Warden Beasts well!"
"I don't have such terrible hobbies."
Storm waved at Sadie and directly took the elevator to the first floor.
After cleaning up and changing into his uniform, Storm once again embarked on his patrol journey through Impel Down.
However, the recent "Warden vs. Deputy Warden incident" had spread among the prisoners through word of mouth, and many of them were now aware of the news.
Shiryu of the Rain was a ruthless guy who killed without blinking.
The fact that Storm could overpower such a fierce individual quickly shifted the prisoners' fear of Shiryu onto Storm.
As a result, his patrol through Impel Down was unusually safe.
This won't do.
With the Grand Prize Trophy on his mind, Storm found another excuse.
—Today, he didn't like striped clothing.
He then directly sought out the highest bounty target in Scorching Hell.
With a bounty of 91 million Belly, the Zoan-Chameleon Fruit user! Even in a place like Impel Down, where prisoners were abundant, Devil Fruit users were still quite rare.
At least in the first four levels, the number of Devil Fruit users could be considered scarce.
Storm approached this individual simply to see if this bounty of over 90 million could yield a Golden Trophy! But the result disappointed him.
This "Chameleon Man" could only provide a Silver Trophy.
'A bounty over 100 million corresponds to a Golden Trophy!'
From this, Storm confirmed a suspicion.
'It seems that the hope of hunting for a Golden Trophy lies in Extreme Cold Hell!'
Today, he obtained a Silver Trophy.
Considering the other party's identity as a Devil Fruit user, Storm didn't use this trophy to enhance his abilities but whimsically decided to "make a wish" with it.
'Chameleon, a three-star trophy, wouldn't it grant me a three-star Devil Ring?'
Storm looked expectantly at the melting Silver Trophy before him.
But until the trophy completely disappeared, he saw no tangible result.
'Could it be... a new ability?'
Storm checked his abilities and discovered a new entry.
[Name: Color Change]
[Star Level: ★★★]
[Effect: Freely change the color of one's body surface]
[
Comment: Why did I change color?]
'Color Change, the signature skill of a chameleon.'
Storm released a clump of clay, and its color changed according to his will.
'Does this mean I can create more realistic puppets?'
'This isn't the clay art I wanted!'
(End of Chapter)