I Officially Approve the Jail Beasts' Loot Quality!**
Bang!
Ian's giant fist slammed solidly into the stomach of the Minotaur-Zebra.
The force of the blow blasted the beast several meters back.
Its black hooves dug deep trenches through the scorched ground of Blazing Hell, dirt spraying in every direction.
But looking closely—
Not a scratch.
Its abdominal muscles were slightly flushed, nothing more.
The Jail Beasts' defense really was monstrous.
"Ssshlup!"
The Minotaur-Zebra sniffed wetly again.
Its primitive mind couldn't understand why that punch—strong enough to pulp most prisoners—hadn't killed this strange human.
But that was fine.
If one hit didn't work…
Then hit him again.
Tireless, the Minotaur-Zebra hefted its spiked iron ball and charged.
This time, Ian didn't wait.
With Soru boosting his speed, he shot forward, closing the distance in an instant—nearly as fast as the beast itself.
The Jail Beast swung its massive mace.
Ian swung his fist.
Unlike last time, this punch was wrapped in tendrils of dark, coiling haze—
Armament Haki.
His blackened fist collided head-on with the spiked iron sphere.
BOOM!!
A deafening blast erupted.
A shockwave of white air rippled outward, rolling across the entire fourth level—Blazing Hell.
Anyone anywhere down here could hear the impact.
Ian's physical stats were still lower than the Minotaur-Zebra's.
But with Armament Haki woven into his strike, the gap wasn't nearly as big as before.
Gritting his teeth, he held the line—forcing back the Jail Beast's monstrous strength.
And as he pushed, the black on his fist deepened, sharpened… solidified.
Half a minute of deadlock passed.
Ian's right arm trembled.
The Minotaur-Zebra seized the opening, swinging its weapon and blasting him away with raw power.
Ian flew backward more than ten meters before crashing to the ground.
His breath scattered; his chest rose and fell sharply.
The consumption… was far worse than he expected.
When he'd first awakened Armament Haki, its drain wasn't this brutal.
But a four-star Armament Haki?
His stamina bar emptied like someone had opened the floodgates—
Pouring out at knee-buckling speed.
"The body is the foundation… Teacher never lied."
Ian sucked in several deep breaths.
A sharp neigh cut through Blazing Hell.
"Hiiiiii—!"
Ian looked up.
The Minotaur-Zebra stood there with its mace pointed arrogantly at him.
Its elongated zebra face twisted into a very human sneer.
It was—
Mocking him.
Mocking him.
Ian's eye twitched violently.
He had worked diligently in Impel Down all this time.
And today… he was being heckled by a horse.
"…Hahh."
Ian shut his eyes and inhaled slowly.
Then—
He raised his right hand.
White clay gushed out like a broken dam.
He had wanted to test himself as a "regular fighter," without Devil Fruit reliance.
His reward?
Being laughed at by a striped horse.
Fine.
Fine.
He wasn't pretending anymore.
He was done being humble.
He was turning the hacks on.
"Minotaur-Zebra… your system treasure chest is mine today.
Not even Magellan can save you.
I said it."
Ian's strongest power was never his body or Haki.
It was his Clay-Clay Fruit, boosted into zero-cost overdrive by the Ring of Magic Control.
He unleashed the fruit's power without restraint.
Clay piled before him in endless waves, forming hill after hill of white earth.
Under Ian's control, the mounds shivered—grew limbs—grew heads—
Dozens of ten-meter-tall clay giants erupted across Blazing Hell.
The scene looked like a myth come alive—
The awakening of a mountain giant tribe.
The Minotaur-Zebra stared.
Its tiny brain couldn't parse what it was seeing.
The complexity exceeded the entire processing capacity of its mind.
System Error.
Jail Beast: Crashed.
But Ian certainly didn't freeze.
His army of clay giants charged as one, swarming over the striped Jail Beast.
For half an hour straight—
Blazing Hell witnessed the most ruthless "horse-beating" in its history.
And though Ian swore before the devils of this inferno that he held absolutely zero personal grudges—
The Minotaur-Zebra still fell beneath a storm of colossal fists.
Finally—
The monster collapsed.
And before Ian—
A new treasure chest materialized.
[Platinum Chest: Minotaur-Zebra]
[Chest Rating: ★★★★★]
A five-star platinum chest.
Ian's eyes lit up like twin suns.
As expected of the mightiest Jail Beast in all Impel Down.
He clenched his fist, trembling with excitement.
"Jail Beasts… your loot quality?
Approved!"
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