Storm vs. Magellan! (Please Keep Reading! Please Vote!)

"The prisoners in Infinite Hell..."

Magellan stared fixedly at Storm.

"You don't get to decide whether they live or die!"

The instant his words fell, a ferocious giant dragon flew straight out from behind him.

Poison Dragon!

The giant dragon, covered in flowing purple venom, flew at an incredible speed.

In the blink of an eye, the Poison Dragon had reached a point not far in front of Storm.

Just then, a dragon-headed turret abruptly shot up from the ground of Infinite Hell.

From its dragon head, to its long, slender body, down to every bright, lustrous white Dragon Scale...

A lifelike white clay dragon instantly appeared before Storm.

Unlike the wyvern perched on his shoulder, this clay dragon resembled the [Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Fruit] far more closely!

This was—

[White Dragon]!

With a thought from Storm, his [White Dragon] charged straight at the incoming Poison Dragon.

One purple, one white.

The two long, winding dragons, their colors sharply distinct, collided fiercely in the air above Infinite Hell.

Crack!

The moment they touched, the "Poison Dragon" made of venom had its head smashed apart by the [White Dragon], which was formed from high-hardness clay!

The "Poison Dragon's" enormous head exploded in midair, and viscous venom scattered in every direction like celestial maidens strewing flowers.

The [White Dragon] pressed its advantage and flew onward, smashing apart more than half of the "Poison Dragon's" body.

It was as if a light drizzle of venom had begun to fall inside Infinite Hell.

"Warden Magellan."

Storm controlled the [White Dragon] as it withdrew to his side, then asked calmly, "Why are you so angry?"

Hearing Storm's words, Magellan was so furious he nearly laughed.

"Every prisoner in Infinite Hell was once a heinous villain guilty of monstrous crimes!"

Magellan answered with great seriousness.

"Because their crimes were too bloody and cruel, the Government even erased their pasts!"

"What you mean is that very few people outside know the legends surrounding the prisoners in Infinite Hell."

Storm nodded and continued questioning him.

"So why doesn't the World Government simply sentence these criminals, who have already been erased from history, to death?"

Magellan's expression suddenly froze.

To be fair, he truly was a warden with strong principles.

Not only was he tolerant and kind toward his subordinates, but he also rarely punished prisoners.

But even Magellan had to admit one thing.

Impel Down really held far, far too many pieces of human trash!

Among these criminals, many had committed crimes more than worthy of sending them to a real hell!

Yet...

the Government had not sentenced these criminals to death.

Especially in Infinite Hell.

Very few prisoners on this level were executed.

The overwhelming majority had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Life imprisonment.

Did it really work on these utterly evil people?

"Infinite Hell..."

Magellan fell silent for a moment, then came up with an official explanation.

"Quite a few of the prisoners held here are extremely dangerous Devil Fruit Users.

"Once these prisoners are executed, their Devil Fruits will be reborn somewhere in the sea..."

"Heh! Then setting aside the Devil Fruit Users, what about the criminals without abilities?"

Storm let out a cold laugh.

"Does the World Government keep these scum alive because it has nowhere else to spend the Heavenly Tribute?"

Magellan fell silent again.

He did not know how to answer that question either...

"Since you don't know how to answer, let me ask another question."

Storm spoke unhurriedly.

"Magellan, you just said that the World Government fears that after executing Devil Fruit User criminals—

"The Devil Fruits they possessed will randomly be reborn somewhere in the sea.

"Why does the World Government fear the rebirth of Devil Fruits?

"Because they know that once those Devil Fruits fall into the hands of pirates or evildoers—

"They will disrupt and damage the world's existing stable order.

"So here's my question.

"Why does the World Government assume that whoever obtains a Devil Fruit will be an evil person? A pirate?"

Magellan opened his mouth, but still did not know what to say.

"Heh!"

Storm gave a mocking laugh.

"You can't answer that question, so let me answer it for you!

"Because the World Government knows full well that under its rule, this sea has already rotted to the core!

"There are far, far more people who hate the World Government than those who support it—"

"Enough!"

Magellan's furious shout cut Storm off.

He glared at Storm, his chest heaving violently, revealing the turmoil in his heart.

"I'm just an ordinary Jailer.

"I don't care how people outside view the government...!

"And I don't know why the higher-ups in the government deliberately keep these criminals alive!"

Magellan said each word slowly and clearly.

"I'm just a Jailer.

"My duty is to guard this prison!

"Vongola Storm, what you have done today has severely disrupted Impel Down's order.

"As the Warden, I will execute you according to the rules!"

After finishing those words, Magellan took a deep breath. His body swelled like a balloon.

Then, he opened his mouth toward Storm and spat out a huge number of purple poison balls in his direction.

"Poison Puffer!"

A dense barrage of purple poison balls flew toward Storm.

Each poison ball was powerful enough to easily kill a Sea King!

Faced with this attack, Storm did not even raise an eyelid.

At the same time.

The White Dragon beside him opened its jaws, and clumps of Hard Clay shot out like a string of cannonballs.

As though fitted with automatic tracking devices, those clay clumps struck the "Poison Puffers" with unerring precision.

In midair.

Clay and poison collided once again.

Under the interception system formed by the overwhelming barrage of clay clumps—

Not a single "Poison Puffer" reached Storm. They all exploded like fireworks.

A poisonous drizzle fell once again within Infinite Hell.

Two successive poisonous rains.

A thin layer of poisonous water spread across the floor of Infinite Hell.

Magellan controlled the poisonous water, shaping it into a path that allowed him to slide at high speed—

"Poison Path!"

Riding the venomous passage, Magellan charged straight at Storm.

After several clashes in battle, Magellan had realized that ordinary venom had no offensive effect on Storm whatsoever.

But that was fine.

If his ability was not enough, he would make up for it with physical combat!

Magellan shot up to Storm with a whoosh.

He raised both hands, grabbed the two huge curved black horns on his forehead, and tore them off in one swift motion.

Gripping the black demon horns like a pair of short swords, Magellan fiercely thrust them forward.

Unfortunately, every one of Magellan's movements was within Storm's perception.

Before he could launch his attack, Storm controlled [White Dragon] to fly back in front of him.

[White Dragon] coiled its body around itself, forming an oddly shaped shield as tall as a person.

Magellan's demon horns viciously stabbed forward, only to strike this "White Dragon Shield"!

Clang!

The demon horns collided with the hardened porcelain clay, producing a crisp metallic ring.

The next moment, Magellan infused his Fruit Ability into the demon horns.

A highly potent venom secreted from the tips of the demon horns, rapidly softening and corroding the "White Dragon Shield."

Sizzle—

Amid a strange sound, Magellan's demon horns melted a large hole straight through the "White Dragon Shield"!

Just as Magellan was about to press his advantage and pierce through the "White Dragon Shield" in one go, at that moment, [White Dragon] suddenly looked toward Magellan, its pale dragon eyes faintly reflecting his image.

Sensing the movement, Magellan immediately turned his head.

His gaze met [White Dragon]'s in midair.

A powerful sense of danger suddenly welled up in Magellan's heart.

The next moment, [White Dragon] blinked.

A powerful shockwave erupted instantly from before [White Dragon].

It slammed directly into Magellan, whose arm was still stuck halfway inside the "White Dragon Shield"!

Rumble—

A deafening roar rang out.

Magellan took White Dragon Blink head-on.

The terrifying explosive force blasted Lord Warden away, sending him straight back to his original position.

"Cough! Cough!"

Magellan clutched his stomach and broke into a fit of coughing.

"Your strength is even more troublesome than I expected, Storm...

"I originally didn't want to use this move..."

Storm and Magellan were fighting in Infinite Hell.

Magellan's [Venom-Venom Fruit] ability was powerful.

But the damage it inflicted was essentially indiscriminate.

In other words, while fighting Storm, Magellan had to constantly ensure that his attacks did not affect the prisoners in the nearby cells.

Even if those prisoners... might already be dead.

But even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance.

Magellan did not want to make the already dire situation inside Infinite Hell even worse.

But at the moment...

If Magellan did not go all out, he feared it would be difficult to take down Storm, the true culprit.

"Phew..."

Magellan let out a deep sigh.

Purple toxic mist poured from his mouth, instantly spreading throughout Infinite Hell.

"Poison Cloud!"

Even pirates with bounties exceeding a hundred million would gradually lose their five senses upon touching this poisonous gas, eventually becoming lambs led to the slaughter.

However...

Whoosh—whoosh—

A violent gust of wind blew in from the other side.

More than half of the dense poisonous gas from "Poison Cloud" was blown away.

"Magellan, don't bother showing off such petty tricks."

At some point, several massive clay fans had appeared behind Storm.

Their broad, flat blades spun at extreme speed, whipping up a force-eight gale.

"Otherwise...

"I'll start treating you like trash on Shiryu's level!"

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