KRAASH!
Two Armament-Haki-coated fists — one massive, one smaller — slammed together with bone-rattling force.
The chief warden's office erupted like a thunderclap. Centered on the collision point between Ian's and Shiryu's fists, a shockwave blasted outward, ripping through everything nearby. A violent gust swept the room; loose objects whirled into the air and smashed against the walls, sending a nonstop racket of cracking and crashing through the chamber.
"So strong!"
"They're both insane strong!"
"Ah—my office!"
Sadi, Domino, and Hannibal — the three bystanders — were forced back, trying to distance themselves from the fight's epicenter. Magellan, however, showed no such restraint.
"You two—"
Dark purple venom dripped from Magellan's brow. In the next instant, his entire skin surface shimmered, coated in a horrifying, seething poisonous sheen.
As Impel Down's chief warden, Magellan's unleashed power inside the prison rivaled that of a Navy admiral.
"Poison Dragon!"
In the blink of an eye, Magellan exhaled a titanic, deep-purple venomous dragon. The stench of poison rolled off it. The dragon gaped wide and swallowed the two locked combatants whole.
At the mess hall earlier, Magellan's venomous dragon had been mere intimidation. Now, in his own office, he unleashed the terrifying, full horror of the Venom-Venom Fruit.
When the dragon's toxic drool hit the floor and dissolved, Ian and Shiryu reappeared. Shiryu was soaked in corrupting venom, his knee on the ground, face tilted bluish-purple — clearly poisoned badly.
Ian, on the other hand, had formed a full humanoid suit of white clay armor that encased him from head to toe with no gaps. When the toxic residue faded, the lumpy clay armor crumbled away, and Ian stood before everyone entirely unharmed.
"Hannibal!"
Magellan stared at Ian a long moment, then barked the warden's name.
"Send Ian to Freezing Hell!"
The chief repeated himself and added details.
"Three days solitary confinement! No one may visit him without my order!"
Hannibal gingerly picked his way around the puddles of venom and shuffled to Ian. He tugged at Ian's sleeve. Ian obediently followed Hannibal out of the warden's office.
They walked together down the corridor of Blazing Hell. Only after they were well away from the chief 's office did Hannibal let out a long breath.
"Ian… jeez," he fretted, shaking his head. "I told you not to provoke Shiryu. That man is a lunatic!"
"I didn't start it, remember? He attacked me first." Ian reminded him. "Back in the mess hall, Shiryu was the one who swung the blade. If someone cuts you, do you just stand there and take it?"
If not for the Clay-Clay Fruit's weird mechanics during the mess-hall brawl, Ian might've ended up seriously wounded by Shiryu. Revenge was appropriate. Ian's only regret was that his punch hadn't been stronger — hadn't floored Shiryu outright.
If his "office-smash punch" had packed more power, he might've immediately obtained the deputy warden's System Chest! What a pity.
Hannibal couldn't read Ian's petty disappointment, but he did eye Ian with a worried look.
Yes, Shiryu struck first. Hannibal thought. But did Shiryu really come away better?
From what Hannibal remembered, after both fights between Ian and Shiryu, Shiryu had always ended up worse off. Ian's clothes never looked dirty — and if they were, it was probably just Shiryu's blood. Hannibal shook his head and skipped the topic; he was worried Shiryu might seek revenge, but based on Ian's display, he figured that worry was unnecessary.
"Magellan's really furious this time," Hannibal said, switching topics to the Freezing Hell transfer. "Level Five isn't a place for humans. I'll see what I can do to get you moved to a different level once he calms down."
"No need." Ian was quick to refuse. He appreciated Hannibal's goodwill, but he wanted to go to Freezing Hell.
Ian's public beating of Shiryu had been partly catharsis — mostly a deliberate move to get himself shipped to the fifth level. If Shiryu could get a jail sentence to Freezing Hell by attacking a colleague, why couldn't Ian do the same? Ian needed Golden Chests to keep boosting his stats, and the Freezing Hell was crawling with prisoners whose bounties ran into the hundreds of millions. He'd been itching to hunt treasure chests there for a while.
This whole public assault — that was Ian's jail-entry plan.
Hannibal, blissfully unaware of this scheme, believed Ian refused his help to avoid losing face with Magellan.
"Ian!" he exclaimed, getting emotionally invested, "Don't worry. I'll definitely help you change levels!"
"Hannibal," Ian said, touched for a moment, then turned him down again. "You wouldn't want Shiryu to know you tried to override the chief's order, would you?"
"Sh-Shiryu?" Hannibal stammered. His face fell. Hannibal never cared about hiding his ambition in front of Magellan — he knew Magellan was a softie deep down — but Shiryu… that bastard really would stab a man. The idea of crossing him made Hannibal deflate.
"Sorry, Ian." His voice drooped. "I'm useless…"
Ian felt a twinge of guilt but shelved it for the sake of his chest-hunting plan. Before he could soothe Hannibal, the other man suddenly brightened with renewed hope.
"One day, I'll be chief warden of Impel Down!"
Ian patted Hannibal's shoulder. "…Good luck."
Having decided to be strictly businesslike, they headed to the wardens' office on Level One — the office of the chief guard.
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