The floor between Scorching Hell and Extreme Cold Hell was violently blasted open by Storm.
Above was a sea of scorching flames.
Below was a frozen wasteland.
The enormous temperature difference created a terrifying pressure differential between the two hells.
At the instant the earth shattered.
An unprecedentedly powerful storm erupted within Scorching Hell.
"My Scorching Hell!"
Hannyabal, watching from a distance, clutched his head with both hands, his face filled with utter horror.
"My Scorching Hell was blasted through by Storm!!
"Magellan! You bastard, what exactly have you been stopping!!!"
They had clearly agreed beforehand.
Magellan had the authority to end the battle at any time.
Yet even after Scorching Hell had been smashed apart by Storm.
Magellan merely stood by and watched.
In fact.
Magellan himself was also stunned.
He had originally thought Storm's challenge to Shiryu was simply asking for trouble.
But he had never expected...
Storm's strength had actually reached such a level!
Just look at that Thousand-Armed Buddha towering into the heavens.
Magellan could not even imagine how many people in Impel Down could withstand Storm's attacks!
However.
Hannyabal's shouting still brought Magellan back to his senses in time.
Braving the strong winds, he rushed in front of Storm and promptly released the power of the Venom-Venom Fruit.
Magellan's already tall and imposing body instantly transformed into a "Venom-Venom Human" covered in poison.
Two hideous Poison Dragons grew out of Magellan's body.
They crossed in midair, forming a gigantic "X."
"Stop, Storm!"
Magellan shouted.
"The battle is over!"
Storm sat cross-legged atop the Buddha's head, looking down at Magellan from above.
At that moment, a rather subtle feeling suddenly surged within him.
Once upon a time.
In Storm's eyes, the warden of Impel Down had been incomparably powerful.
But now.
He looked like nothing more than a tiny "three-inch purple sweet potato."
Having defeated Shiryu of the Rain without expending too much effort, Storm's state of mind inevitably swelled somewhat.
There are no foes before us.
From this day forth, I shall stand above the heavens!
Storm took a deep breath.
He looked at the star rating of the Demon Ring.
Then he looked at the star rating of the Clay Fruit.
His inflated state of mind immediately cooled.
Without even Nine-Star strength, how could he speak of being invincible under heaven?
Storm controlled the white Buddha. The clay statue melted like a candle.
The clay fell onto the ground and rapidly repaired the shattered earth of Scorching Hell.
Before long.
The earth of Scorching Hell had been completely restored by the white clay.
The storm that had been raging moments before also gradually died down.
Storm returned to the ground and nodded at Magellan.
"Warden."
Faced with this excessively powerful subordinate, Magellan did not know what to say.
In the end, he could only put on a stern face and adopt a businesslike attitude.
"Are you satisfied with this result?"
"Not really."
Storm shook his head and said seriously.
"Shiryu's strength was much weaker than I expected."
That comment came straight from the heart.
In Storm's view, Shiryu's ability to take hits was far weaker than he had imagined.
The legendary "Shiryu of the Rain" among Impel Down's prisoners had not even managed a single sit-up!
Terrible!
With that level of toughness, how was he supposed to make a name for himself on the seas in the future?
It had to be known that the attack range of the "Awakened—Clay Fruit—True Thousand Hands" had looked exaggerated.
But in reality, Storm had not even wrapped the fists of True Thousand Hands in Armament Haki!
Ordinary clay fists alone had been enough to take Shiryu down.
And this could also be called the "Iron Wall of Impel Down"?
Could it be that Magellan was Impel Down's "Big Wall."
While Shiryu of the Rain was its "Second Wall"?
Magellan naturally could not hear Storm's silent complaints.
But Storm's attitude still gave Magellan an enormous headache.
What a troublesome thorn!
"Storm, you can stop targeting Shiryu now, right?"
Left with no other choice, Magellan finally steered the conversation toward work.
"Can you put your energy into your duties?"
Work?
Storm caught the keyword, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"Of course, Warden! I love my work!"
Storm fully displayed his initiative.
"However, managing the first five floors poses no challenge to me.
"I am now applying to go to the sixth floor, Infinite Hell!"
"No!"
Magellan rejected Storm's work application without hesitation.
"This is not up for discussion!"
After dropping those words, Magellan simply ignored Storm and waved to Hannyabal on the other side.
"Hannyabal! Go down to the fifth floor and bring Shiryu back!"
"Huh? Me?"
Hannyabal pointed at himself.
"Back to Extreme Cold Hell again?"
Magellan and Hannyabal walked away together.
Only Storm remained where he was.
Watching the backs of the current warden and the future warden, he silently shook his head.
As for Magellan's reaction.
Storm had actually expected it long ago.
Every prisoner held in Infinite Hell was someone the World Government guarded against with all its might.
Infinite Hell was of enormous importance.
Even among the prisoners held in Impel Down, many did not know that the prison had a "sixth floor."
The jailers of Impel Down did have the qualifications to go to the sixth floor.
The problem was.
Storm's personal credentials were simply too shallow!
As warden, Magellan did not trust Storm enough.
If Storm had worked diligently in Impel Down for more than a decade like Hannyabal.
Then he could casually go to Infinite Hell to "visit."
But Storm was ultimately not Hannyabal.
He could not even be considered a "die-hard government man"—he had been sent by the Marines!
Of course, if Storm was willing to endure hardship in Impel Down and work diligently for several years.
Magellan's trust in him would certainly increase greatly.
But it still came down to those four words—
Time waits for no one!
The storm of the new era was about to emerge. How could he afford to stagnate?
Storm exhaled a breath of stale air.
Since that was the case, he would act according to the original plan!
Storm summoned the [Diamond Trophy] he had just obtained and put it into the [Clay Fruit].
[Clay Fruit: ★★★★★★☆]
A six-and-a-half-star Devil Fruit ability!
Over the following days.
Storm maintained his daily training during the day while continually developing the [Clay Fruit].
With the boost from the burst of inspiration.
Storm smoothly researched quite a few "Awakened Skills."
In addition.
Based on his previous inspiration, Storm specifically developed two kinds of "special clay" with entirely new properties—
Super Light Clay was softer in texture than ordinary clay, and its own weight was also lighter than ordinary clay!
Heat Resistant Clay possessed far greater hardness than ordinary clay. Its fire resistance was first-rate, and the sea of flames in Scorching Hell had no effect on it at all!
Super Light Clay was secondary.
The key was Heat Resistant Clay!
Storm's development of "Heat Resistant Clay" could also be considered a small but meaningful enhancement to his own strength.
In the past, whenever he used the power of the [Clay Fruit].
Because of clay's inherent softness, many attacks could not achieve the desired effect.
But Heat Resistant Clay was different.
This stuff was hard!
Which was lighter: "one kilogram of cotton" or "one kilogram of iron"?
The answer was obvious.
But which was more effective when hitting someone: "one kilogram of cotton" or "one kilogram of iron"?
Iron, of course!
Compared with ordinary clay, the fairly hard "Heat Resistant Clay" represented the difference between iron and cotton!
And based on Heat Resistant Clay, Storm continued developing it further.
In the end, he researched a special clay with extraordinarily high hardness and a lustrous, smooth surface.
Rather than "clay," it was more accurate to call it "porcelain clay."
Or simply "ceramic"!
Storm was like a "human processing machine," refining the original "clay" into "ceramic."
Apart from deeply developing the Clay Fruit's properties and transformations.
Storm also did one other thing during those days.
Every night.
Storm used the Clay Fruit's assimilation ability to sneak into Infinite Hell on the sixth floor without anyone noticing.
The basic environment of Infinite Hell, the cells holding the prisoners under close surveillance, the locations of the Surveillance Den Den Mushi...
Storm continuously gathered intelligence related to Infinite Hell.
This was advance reconnaissance!
Storm's ever-growing strength was constantly craving the higher-starred [Big Trophy].
He couldn't enter Infinite Hell through normal means.
Once he chose to break into Infinite Hell, it would essentially mean a complete break with his former identity as a prison guard!
That meant Storm had to get the greatest possible return from a single operation!
But Infinite Hell was simply too vast.
And far too many prisoners were locked away inside.
In Storm's eyes, there were only a handful of prisoners worth targeting.
First, naturally, was Hunter of the Crescent Moon, Catarina Devon, who possessed the Nine-Tails Fox Fruit.
Next was World Destroyer, Byrnndi World, who possessed the More-More Fruit.
There was also Avalon Pizarro, the Colossal Battleship Sanjuan Wolf, Big Barrel Vasco Shot...
If Storm wanted his hunting plan to succeed, he couldn't blindly try to take on too many targets.
He had to deal the most damage in the shortest time! Take down the most targets!
That day.
Storm completed all his preparations.
The hunt in Infinite Hell officially began!
Impel Down, Level One, Crimson Lotus Hell.
Storm strode quickly up to his target.
Before the other man could react, he raised his right fist and slammed it hard into the man's face.
Bang!
The unsuspecting Deputy Warden went flying.
Storm's first target.
Was none other than—
Shiryu of the Rain!
Many thanks to "True Ancestor Shayu" for the 500 Qidian coins!!
At last, a big shot gave me a tip!
Thank you so much!!
Before you continue