Calyx Clone!
With a thought, Ian released several masses of white clay. Under his control, they fused and reshaped themselves.
In less than a minute, a figure stood before him—
A white clay puppet identical to Ian in every aspect… aside from the color.
This was a Clay Clone, created using the four-star power of the Clay-Clay Fruit.
Its base stats—strength, speed, durability—were all at four-star level as well.
The only drawback?
The clone had no mind of its own, carrying out Ian's orders mechanically and without initiative.
But that was good enough.
Ian used the Clay Clone as a sparring partner, focusing on sharpening his Tekkai and Kami-e.
Half a morning passed.
Sweat dripped down from his chin as he finally ended the session.
"Damn… that sudden cut-off feeling is really annoying."
The burst of inspiration granted by system chest "stat boosts" had a duration.
Once Ian's actual mastery caught up to the boosted rating, the ceaseless flow of insight in his mind snapped shut instantly—
as if someone had grabbed its lifeline and twisted.
Opening a cheat, only for the cheat to turn itself off mid-operation…
Truly painful.
Exactly like a sneeze dragging on, mouth wide open, lungs full of air—
yet refusing to come out.
Edge-denial was the deadliest kind.
Ian glumly glanced toward the Blue Gorilla squad.
Why couldn't these blue apes give higher-tier treasure chests?
Obviously—
because they weren't working hard enough!
Beasts were sensitive to danger.
Sensing malice in Ian's gaze, all the Blue Gorillas instantly threw their axes aside, dropped to the floor, hugged their heads, and stuck their rear ends in the air—
zero desire to resist.
Back then, Sadi-chan had to whip them to keep them in line.
Now a single look from Ian brought them to their knees.
These blue water monkeys had truly become his creatures…
"Go on. Back to the sea."
He waved dismissively.
The Blue Gorillas squeaked in terror, scrambling and rolling away as if pardoned from execution.
As guards of the Crimson Hell, they had two duties:
Suppress prisoners—
and go out to sea to supply Impel Down with food.
In simple terms—
catch fish.
"…Sea Kings, huh."
Recalling something, Ian dismissed the remaining clay clone and fell into thought.
He needed new treasure chest sources.
After some brainstorming, he found two options:
—Impel Down's lower levels.
—The Calm Belt beside the prison.
The prison held many pirates.
But the Calm Belt held… countless Sea Kings.
Ian had never tested himself against a Sea King before.
But if Blue Gorillas yielded silver chests,
then Sea Kings absolutely would too.
"...Still, I'll start with pirates. They're closer."
After weighing the choices, Ian temporarily shelved his Sea King farming plan.
Besides—
there were plenty of strong non-humans inside Impel Down, too…
He changed into his Warden uniform, hung the Flame-Iron saber at his waist, and tucked the Seastone baton inside his coat.
This was what you'd call—
abstinence-style male god energy.
With long strides, Ian headed toward the main elevator leading underground.
Impel Down's technological level wasn't bad; electrical systems saw widespread use.
As Ian waited by the elevator—
clank!
The doors opened, and a group of medical staff rushed out carrying a stretcher.
Ian looked carefully.
The person on the stretcher was none other than Sadi-chan, whom he hadn't seen in a while.
"What happened to her?"
A faint, weak voice drifted from the stretcher:
"Attacked… by a Jail Beast…"
"She can still talk? Then she's fine."
Ian shook his head and let the matter drop, stepping into the elevator.
Destination—
CRIMSON HELL.
Impel Down's structure resembled a massive inverted tower. The deeper one went, the broader the space became.
Crimson Hell was several times the size of the first floor above.
But contrary to Ian's expectations, it wasn't all jungle.
Its outer ring consisted of rows of cells—large and small, single and shared.
There were even "luxury" solitary rooms.
The inner ring, however, was the true Crimson Hell—
a blood-red forest filled with "sword-trees" and "needle-grass,"
where every step inflicted pain and shredded flesh.
That forest was the real punishment.
Prisoners were placed by bounty tier.
Those in Crimson Hell were typically under 10 million berries.
Rarely did one exceed that amount.
Holding the prisoner roster he'd borrowed from the archives, Ian walked steadily down the corridor.
With his uniform on, no one dared provoke him.
Anyone who tried was thrown into the blood forest.
After a few minutes inside, even the boldest shut up permanently.
During his patrol, Ian encountered only one minor issue—
A bullying incident inside a mixed cell.
Newcomers being oppressed by old inmates—
hardly surprising.
And easy to resolve.
Ian simply beat up everyone in the cell.
He didn't hit too hard.
It was an eight-person cell.
It provided exactly eight bronze treasure chests.
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