This four-star treasure chest—Ian had already decided exactly how to use it.
Without hesitation, he threw the System Chest straight into his Clay-Clay Fruit.
[Clay-Clay Fruit: ★★★★☆]
Ian looked down at the already-motionless Sphinx and once again drew the surrounding clay to his will.
A surge of inspiration exploded in his mind.
It was as if he could suddenly glimpse countless developmental paths for the Clay-Clay Fruit—possibilities without end.
Then, all at once—
Ian felt enlightenment.
He raised his right hand.
A wad of white clay bloomed from his palm and morphed in an instant into a vividly detailed miniature white dragon.
The little dragon beat its wings with effort, stirring the air into a sharp upward draft.
Once.
Twice.
Under Ian's eager gaze, its claws slowly lifted off his palm—
and the entire dragon floated up into the air.
Ian watched it circle freely overhead, and a line of thought flashed across his mind:
"Who said I can't fly?"
He guided the little dragon back down until it perched neatly on his shoulder.
Then he turned and continued his monster-farming tour.
After defeating "Boss One" of Beast Hell—the Sphinx—
Ian went straight after "Boss Two," the Chicken-Snake Beast.
Boss One couldn't resist.
Boss Two resisted even less.
The Chicken-Snake Beast collapsed at Ian's feet in no time.
But to his disappointment…
The Sphinx had dropped a Gold Chest,
while the Chicken-Snake Beast only dropped a Silver Chest.
Their power levels weren't even in the same league.
Ian next hunted down the Scythe Mantis—the "Boss Three" as rated by the jailers.
Boss Three, too, only dropped a Silver Chest.
In all of Beast Hell, only the Sphinx could drop a gold one.
Ian immediately lost interest in searching for the remaining beasts.
Still—
adding together the Silver Chests from the Chicken-Snake Beast, the Scythe Mantis,
and the many dropped from the Sphinx's pack…
Ian now held eleven Silver Chests!
He decided to digest these power-ups first before hunting for more.
Ian looked at the row of eleven Silver Chests…
and fed all of them into Rokushiki.
[Tekkai / Kami-e / Soru / Rankyaku / Geppo / Shigan: ★★★★]
"Other than Swordsmanship and Marksmanship, all of my skills and attributes are now four-star!"
Ian's eyes drifted toward the Haki section on his status panel.
"But… there's still Haki."
He spread and curled the fingers of his right hand.
It wasn't just his imagination—
When fighting the Sphinx earlier, Ian had wanted to use them to train Tekkai.
And during Tekkai's activation, he faintly felt a strange, different kind of "feedback."
Now, with Tekkai upgraded to four stars,
that special feeling was becoming clearer and clearer.
"Just a few more tries… and I'll catch it."
Ian glanced at his Tekkai, then at Haki.
"Could a four-star Tekkai… be the key to awakening Armament Haki?"
Finishing his tour of Beast Hell, Ian returned to the Warden Chief's office on Level 1.
He had barely sat down when someone started pounding urgently on the door.
"Ian! Open up!"
"…Why is it always you? Hannibal?"
Ian tugged the door open with a clay-tendril mechanism and stared at the intruder, speechless.
"Is the Chief Jailer's job really this leisurely?"
"Forgot my teachings already?"
Hannibal strutted into the office without shame.
"As long as you have a competent subordinate, all work can be delegated!
My Domino is extremely capable!"
Domino…
Ian thought back to the glamorous blonde with the voluminous curls.
No wonder she was never around—
Her scummy boss was overworking her to death.
Truly, the sorrows of the working class…
Hannibal happily approached Ian's desk—
and then froze when he noticed the little white dragon perched on Ian's shoulder.
"Eh? Ian, why is there a dragon on you?"
He leaned in, studying it closely.
"This is one of the constructs you made with your clay, right?
Hahaha! Clay can't fly—what's the point of giving it wings?"
What's the point?
Ian looked at Hannibal—so close he could smell the cheap cologne—
and a mischievous idea sparked.
The little white dragon suddenly swept its broad wings forward—hard.
SMACK!
Hannibal took the full brunt of the slap across his face.
What's the point of the dragon's wings?
To give the Chief Jailer the slaps he's always asking for, obviously.
"OW! That hurts!"
Hannibal staggered back, rubbing his face.
"Ian! How could I have such a lawless subordinate—
…Wait. Why does that sentence sound so familiar?"
"Ahem."
Ian cleared his throat lightly. "So, Hannibal-dono, did you actually need something?"
"Yes! I'm here with big news."
Hannibal planted himself before the desk, trying to look dignified.
"Though, uh… I just heard a little rumor…"
He leaned forward.
"Ian—
did you really defeat the Sphinx down in Beast Hell?"
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