I Crave More Worthy Opponents! (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

Received two new [Bronze Trophies].

Storm looked at his status screen and put these two trophies into [Tekkai] and [Kami-e].

The stars next to these two abilities flickered, then changed to—

[Tekkai: ★★★]

[Kami-e: ★★★]

He wanted to bring his actual skill level in [Tekkai] and [Kami-e] up to par with the data.

The best way to do that was through actual combat!

Storm turned his gaze back to the group of blue gorillas.

However.

This group of blue gorillas didn't dare make eye contact with him at all now.

Some looked up at the sky, some looked down at the ground, some picked at their fingers, some groomed their fur...

The blue gorillas' reactions were just like students in a classroom who were terrified of being called on by the Teacher.

Under Storm's watchful gaze.

One blue gorilla suddenly picked up a double-sided axe lying nearby.

But it wasn't attacking; it was using the axe as a mirror.

If the blue gorillas could speak, this one might have said—

"Hey, this axe... is really an axe!"

Without a doubt.

This entire group of blue gorillas had been "conquered" by Storm.

Even when Storm urged them to come forward.

The blue gorillas acted as if they were rooted to the floor, completely immobile.

"I seem to remember someone telling me before that Burger's people aren't very intelligent?"

Storm felt speechless.

Since the blue gorillas were unwilling to be sparring partners, Storm had to create one himself!

[Clay Clone]!

Storm's mind moved, releasing clumps of white clay and manipulating them to merge together.

In less than a moment.

A white clay doll, identical to Storm except for its color, appeared.

This was a [Clay Clone] created using the four-star [Clay Fruit] ability.

Its base stats, whether [Strength] or [Speed], were all four-star!

The only drawback of the [Clay Clone] was—

It had no intelligence and could only mechanically execute the commands Storm gave it.

But that was enough!

Storm used the [Clay Clone] as a sparring partner to train his [Tekkai] and [Kami-e] abilities.

A little over half the morning passed.

Storm, drenched in sweat, finished his training.

"Tsk! This feeling of being cut off halfway is so unsatisfying!"

The inspiration boost from adding points to the [Big Trophy] had a limited duration.

Once Storm's actual skill level caught up with the data, the endless stream of inspiration in his mind was suddenly choked off, as if its life source had been grasped and extinguished.

It was like being halfway through cheating and suddenly having the power cut off.

An incredibly frustrating feeling.

It was like trying to sneeze, opening your mouth wide with your lungs full of air, only to find you couldn't sneeze after all.

The agony of being on the verge.

Storm looked unhappily at the blue gorilla troop.

Why couldn't these blue gorillas provide higher-level [Big Trophies]?

It must be because they weren't trying hard enough!

The beasts' instincts were quite sharp.

The blue gorillas seemed to sense the malice contained in Storm's gaze.

They all dropped the axes in their hands, prostrated themselves on the ground, clasped their heads with their hands, and stuck their butts out, completely devoid of any will to resist.

In the past, Sadie-chan needed to whip these Blue Gorillas to control them.

But Storm only needed a single glance to make the Blue Gorillas completely submit.

These blue water monkeys had already been completely molded by him...

"Go to the sea!"

Storm waved his hand at the Blue Gorillas.

The latter acted as if they had received a great amnesty, chattering and scrambling away, fleeing out of the Warden's line of sight.

As Prison Guards of Crimson Lotus Hell.

Besides being responsible for suppressing the prisoners in Crimson Lotus Hell.

These blue water monkeys also shouldered the important task of supplying food for Impel Down.

Simply put--

Go to the sea and catch fish.

"Sea Kings..."

Storm put away his Clay Clone and fell into thought.

He now needed to find a new source of Big Trophies.

After preliminary consideration, he arrived at two possibilities.

One was Impel Down under his feet.

The other was the Calm Belt beside him.

The number of Pirates in Impel Down was indeed large.

But the number of Sea Kings in the Calm Belt was even greater!

Storm had not yet fought Sea Kings.

But since the Blue Gorillas could provide Silver Trophies.

Sea Kings naturally could too!

"...I'll go look for Pirates below, it's closer."

Storm considered for a moment and decided to temporarily abandon the Sea King trophy harvesting route.

Speaking of which, there were quite a few powerful non-human creatures within Impel Down...

Storm changed into his Warden uniform, fastened his Alcohol Iron Ore saber, and tucked the Seastone collapsible baton into his chest.

What do you call a stoic male god~

Storm strode forward, heading towards the large elevator hall on the first floor above sea level.

Compared to the outside world, Impel Down's "technological level" was quite good, with widespread use of electrical tools.

Just as Storm was waiting for the elevator.

The elevator doors opened, and a group of medical personnel rushed out carrying a stretcher.

Storm looked closely; the person on the stretcher was none other than Sadie-chan, whom he hadn't seen in a while!

"What happened to Sadie-chan?"

A weak response floated from the stretcher.

"Attacked by a Prison Beast..."

"She can still talk, so it's not a big problem."

Storm shook his head, the worry in his heart instantly dissipating.

He then ignored Sadie-chan and walked directly into the elevator, descending to--

Crimson Lotus Hell!

The overall structure of Impel Down was somewhat similar to a pyramid; the further down you went, the larger the area and the wider the space.

The total area of Crimson Lotus Hell was several times larger than the first floor above sea level.

However, contrary to Storm's impression, Crimson Lotus Hell was not entirely a forest landscape.

In the "outer ring" of Crimson Lotus Hell were numerous, heavily guarded prison cells of varying sizes.

These ranged from single luxury rooms to multi-person dormitories.

In the "inner ring" of Crimson Lotus Hell was a blood-red forest covered in "sword trees" and "needle grass."

Here, every movement the prisoners made would result in damage and torment from all directions.

This forest was the true "Crimson Lotus Hell"!

The prisoners confined within Impel Down were generally assigned to floors based on their bounty amount.

The bounty of the inmates in Crimson Lotus Hell was basically below ten million Belly.

Few prisoners have bounties exceeding ten million Belly.

Storm, holding the list of Crimson Lotus Hell inmates he'd requested from the archives upstairs, walked calmly down the prison corridor.

Thanks to his jailer uniform, hardly any inmates dared to provoke him.

Most prisoners who attempted to provoke jailers were thrown into the Blood Forest to taste the true Crimson Lotus Hell.

During his patrol of Crimson Lotus Hell.

Storm encountered only a minor trouble--

A riot had broken out in a certain mixed cell, with inmates bullying newcomers.

Such situations were unavoidable.

And not difficult to resolve.

Storm beat up all the prisoners in the cell!

He didn't go too hard.

An eight-person cell.

Resulted in only eight Bronze Trophies.

After dealing with the riot, Storm left the now quiet mixed cell and casually flipped through the inmate list.

"Mixed Cell No. 4, highest bounty is 9.31 million Belly, lowest is 3.64 million Belly, not a single one over ten million!

"All these prisoners only provide two-star Bronze Trophies.

"If we categorize by bounty amount.

"Anything below ten million bounty is a Bronze Trophy?!"

Storm wanted to confirm this guess.

So he went to find the inmate currently held in Crimson Lotus Hell with the highest bounty.

A bounty of 12 million Belly was already the ceiling in Crimson Lotus Hell!

But this ceiling was as fragile as a membrane before Storm.

Storm found an excuse.

-- He didn't like black and white clothes today.

Then he easily dealt with the opponent.

The moment the prisoner with a bounty of 12 million Belly lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

A gleaming Silver Trophy popped up before Storm's eyes.

"As expected!"

Storm ended his daily patrol and returned to the first floor.

"Below ten million is Bronze; above ten million is Silver."

This discovery caused Storm to revise his "Trophy Hunt Plan."

He was now the Warden of Crimson Lotus Hell.

But the number of Pirates with bounties exceeding ten million Belly in Crimson Lotus Hell was extremely small.

The Beast Hell on the second basement level.

The average bounty of the prisoners held there reached 15 million Belly.

Each prisoner was a Silver Trophy.

"No!"

Storm suddenly realized.

"Silver Trophies are becoming less and less useful to me now!"

Storm's Physique and Clay Fruit had both reached four-star level.

Three-star Silver Trophies couldn't improve four-star abilities.

Storm needed higher-level trophies!

Gold Trophies!

Storm recalled information about Impel Down.

The bounty of prisoners in Crimson Lotus Hell was generally below ten million Belly.

The average bounty in Beast Hell exceeded fifteen million Belly.

The prisoners in the third level, Hunger Hell, had bounties starting at fifty million Belly.

"To hunt higher-level Big Trophies, I need to go to at least the third level, Hunger Hell!"

Storm instantly set his target.

"But if the Big Trophy provided by a Pirate with a ten million bounty is at most a Silver..."

"Then I'm going to the fifth level, Absolute Zero Hell!"

The criminals imprisoned in Absolute Zero Hell all have bounties of 100 million Belly or more.

If you were to put them in the Paradise of the Grand Line's first half.

Every single criminal in Absolute Zero Hell would be enough to become a "Supernova"!

Storm remembered encountering Sadie-chan, who was heavily injured, in the elevator.

He made a direct call to Scorching Hell on the fourth level.

"Warden! I crave more worthy opponents!"

"What did you say? I don't understand."

"I want a promotion!"

Thirty thousand characters!

Please keep reading!

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