Five-star Platinum Trophy! Storm's eyes gleamed with excitement as he gazed at the magnificent [Grand Prize Trophy] floating in the void.
Truly worthy of being the strongest Prison Guard Beast in Impel Down.
"I acknowledge the trophy quality of Warden Beasts!"
Storm stored the [Platinum Trophy] and commanded his Clay Giants to retreat from the unconscious Minozebra.
Defeating one Warden Beast could earn him a five-star Grand Prize Trophy.
Based on Storm's previous battles with the Blue Water Monkeys,
Minozebra could still provide at least one four-star Golden Trophy! All he needed to do was beat it up again! Storm reiterated that this wasn't personal revenge at all.
Everything was for higher-tier [Grand Prize Trophies]! Before long,
Minozebra slowly regained consciousness.
The greatest advantage of Zoan-type Devil Fruits was their durability.
Warden Beasts were originally failed Awakened Zoan-type Devil Fruit users.
Though they lost human intelligence,
they gained far greater endurance and recovery power.
Doing sit-ups was no challenge at all.
Minozebra shook its still-dazed head.
Looking around, it saw no trace of those indestructible white giants from earlier.
Only that unfamiliar human it had effortlessly knocked away before.
A mere human!
Minozebra snorted, regaining its confidence.
Picking up its fallen spiked club, it scraped its hooves against the ground and charged at Storm once more.
Having rested for a full half-hour, Storm had now recovered to peak condition.
With experience from their last fight,
Storm no longer recklessly used [Haki].
He primarily relied on [Six Styles] to engage Minozebra, only employing [Haki] when absolutely necessary.
With the tireless Warden Beast as his training partner,
Storm continuously honed his [Armament Haki] and [Observation Haki].
The thunderous sounds of battle echoed endlessly.
In the warden's office on the same fourth level of Scorching Hell,
Magellan sat on the toilet, his purplish-red face suddenly twitching with peculiar pleasure.
He had just felt intense abdominal pain and was about to enjoy a satisfying detox session.
But then an earth-shaking explosion erupted nearby.
BOOM! Magellan's sphincter clenched tight, and all bowel urges vanished instantly.
Who the hell was it? Had they no common decency?
Making such noise in broad daylight—couldn't they just serve their sentence quietly?
Was it too much to ask for peaceful diarrhea time?
Furious, Magellan pulled up his pants and rushed out of the washroom in three strides.
"WHO WAS IT?!"
Magellan stormed into Scorching Hell's surveillance room, determined to find whoever disrupted his detox routine.
"WHO'S CAUSING TROUBLE IN MY PRISON?!"
If it turned out to be an Impel Down prisoner,
Magellan swore he'd shove the culprit up the Poison Giant Soldier's ass! The wardens in the surveillance room hadn't noticed their warden's arrival, all completely engrossed in the monitors.
"Incredible! The Warden Chief is absolutely incredible!"
"Neither the Deputy Warden nor the Warden Beasts stand a chance against him!"
"The Giant Army! The invincible Giant Army has appeared again!"
While watching the surveillance feed, the wardens suddenly erupted into cheers as if they were watching an action-packed blockbuster.
Warden Chief? Warden Beasts? Magellan's eyes widened as he roughly pieced together the suspect's identity!
But what was this "Giant Army" the wardens kept mentioning?
Magellan focused on the live surveillance images transmitted by the Den Den Mushi cameras.
Just in time to see an exhausted Storm summon a group of Clay Giants, launching a brutal gang-up beating against Minozebra that was painful to watch.
This was Storm? Magellan rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
How was Minozebra looking as weak as a stuffed zebra doll in his hands? The events unfolding in the surveillance room remained unknown to Storm for now.
All he knew was that Minozebra had soon provided another [Golden Trophy].
"Repeatedly defeating the same target in a short time causes their trophy quality to degrade."
Storm sat cross-legged on the ground, recovering his stamina while waiting for Minozebra's next revival.
"Does this mean the [Grand Prize Trophy] also has a cooldown period? Another thing... just how low can Minozebra's trophy quality drop?"
Soon enough, Storm got his answer.
[Silver Trophy: Minozebra]
[Trophy Stars: ★★★]
"That's enough. No need to continue."
Storm stored the Silver Trophy, preparing to seek out his next victim (scratch that)—next Warden Beast.
"Each Warden Beast provides one five-star trophy and one four-star trophy.
Minozebra, Mino Cow, Mino Koala, Mino Rhinoceros—that's four five-star trophies!
Absolutely can't miss this opportunity!"
Before hunting the next Warden Beast, Storm first fed the newly acquired [Silver Trophy] into his [Swordsmanship].
[Swordsmanship: ★★★]
"Now the only one-star ability left is [Gunnery]. Looks a bit out of place..."
After some thought, Storm decided to raise both [Swordsmanship] and [Gunnery] to four stars later when convenient.
It wouldn't take too much effort anyway.
"The real priorities are [Golden Trophy] and [Platinum Trophy]!"
Storm's gaze fixed on [Clay-Clay Fruit].
Through continuous upgrades, it had reached "★★★★☆".
Without hesitation, Storm invested a [Golden Trophy].
[Clay-Clay Fruit] became his first five-star ability!
Immediately after,
his sole five-star [Platinum Trophy] also went into [Clay-Clay Fruit].
[Clay-Clay Fruit: ★★★★★☆]
"Just one step away from six stars!"
"Second Warden Beast, come to papa!"
A sharp red glint flashed in Storm's eyes as he activated his [Observation Haki].
External "sounds" were captured one by one through his [Observation Haki].
At that moment, Storm sensed an exceptionally powerful presence approaching his location—
its aura even stronger than Minozebra's!
"Chief Warden?"
Using [Shave], Storm rushed toward the source,
spotting Magellan walking slowly in his direction.
"Ah, Storm—"
When greeting, Magellan's face twisted inexplicably as a sharp pain suddenly shot through his abdomen.
"What were you just doing?"
"Managing the Prison Guard Beasts."
Storm answered calmly.
"The Blue Gorilla, the Sphinx, and the Warden Beasts—they're all creatures with low intelligence.
"Managing these Prison Guard Beasts properly requires a great deal of effort."
"I kno—ow~"
Magellan nodded, about to say something.
But when he reached the last word, his tone suddenly rose sharply, and his legs instinctively clamped together.
Storm could vaguely see wisps of pale purple poison mist drifting from the corners of Magellan's mouth.
"Warden."
Storm instinctively took a step back, avoiding the toxic fumes.
"You… don't have a habit of relieving yourself in public, do you?
"Though it's a normal biological function for animals, I'd still recommend seeing a doctor."
"Ha! Ha!"
Magellan forced out two dry laughs, then reminded him word by word.
"Managing Prison Guard Beasts—fine! But don't—cause—too much—commotion! Absolutely! Don't! Become! Shiryu!"
After throwing down these words, Magellan immediately scurried away, his buttocks clenched.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Storm seemed to see purple smoke trailing from the warden's rear.
"Absolutely don't become Shiryu?"
Storm watched Magellan's retreating figure and shook his head.
"Who'd want to become a destined failure?"
Storm dismissed Magellan's warning.
His Observation Haki hadn't detected the presence of a second Warden Beast.
But it didn't matter—Impel Down was full of Surveillance Den Den Mushi!
Storm headed to the monitoring room in Scorching Hell and, using the powerful surveillance system, instantly pinpointed the location of the second Warden Beast.
The Platinum Trophy hunting operation had begun…
In the following days.
Storm continuously sought out Warden Beasts to spar with, honing his skills.
With the help of several Warden Beasts.
Storm trained his Armament Haki in the mornings, his Observation Haki in the afternoons, and practiced Life Return during meals.
These four-star abilities were all mastered thoroughly by him.
Storm could now wield both types of Haki with great ease in battle, wasting not a single drop.
His combat endurance had improved dramatically.
Beyond his personal growth.
Storm's greatest gains were the Grand Prize Trophies provided by the four Warden Beasts.
Setting aside the Grand Prize Trophy from the Minozebra.
The Mino Cow, Mino Koala, and Mino Rhinoceros had collectively given Storm three Platinum Trophies and three Golden Trophies.
Storm didn't use the three Platinum Trophies just yet.
He only consumed the three Golden Trophies.
Storm invested two Golden Trophies into his Endurance attribute and one into his Speed attribute.
These two stats became—
[Endurance: ★★★★★]
[Speed: ★★★★☆]
By the time Storm fully adapted to his drastically increased Physique and Clay-Clay Fruit abilities.
It just so happened to be the day Shiryu was released from confinement, emerging from Extreme Cold Hell.
Scorching Hell, Warden's Office.
Several "big shots" of Impel Down had gathered together.
They had all come here under the Warden's orders.
Magellan's idea was simple—he wanted to use this opportunity to ease the tension between Storm and Shiryu.
No matter how their conflict had erupted before.
Now they would let bygones be bygones and jointly govern Impel Down!
BANG! The door to the Warden's office was pushed open from outside.
Shiryu of the Rain stepped into the office, still carrying a faint chill from the outside world.
Under Magellan's meaningful gaze,
Storm stepped forward, approaching Shiryu.
"Deputy Warden."
Storm looked at Shiryu standing mere inches away, his face breaking into a radiant smile.
"The Warden wants us to let bygones be bygones, but I think..."
No sooner said than done.
Storm suddenly raised his right fist, channeling all his strength into it as he aimed a vicious punch straight at Shiryu of the Rain's face.
Dark, profound [Armament Haki] coated his fist, amplifying its destructive power.
Shiryu never expected Storm would attack him right in front of Magellan!
Caught completely off guard, Shiryu took the full brunt of the punch to his left cheek.
Workplace—Face-Breaking Fist!
Storm's [Armament Haki]-wrapped fist smashed squarely into Shiryu's face.
The latter's jaw underwent terrifying deformation from the violent impact.
Thick blood mixed with several white teeth traced a graceful arc through the air of the Warden's office.
Shiryu's body was sent flying backward by the tremendous force, crashing straight into the office wall.
Dead silence filled the room.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"
"That's more my style!"
Storm shook out his fist, then turned to look at the stunned Magellan.
"Warden, get me a ticket to the Extreme Cold Hell!"