Obtaining the Chop-Chop Fruit

Jiang Lin had no idea that one decision of his would drastically change how events were supposed to unfold.

"Hey! Jiang Lin, we meet again!"

As Jiang Lin swept through the first level toward the second, Luffy and Buggy came running toward him with a pack of Blugori hot on their heels.

"Luffy? Why are you running? Don't tell me you can't beat them."

Jiang Lin was baffled. Luffy could handle the Blugori, so why was he running alongside Buggy?

"Oh! I forgot!"

Luffy scratched his head sheepishly. When he saw Buggy being chased, he had simply started running too. It had never occurred to him that he could fight back.

"Then let's take them out together!"

At Jiang Lin's words, Luffy and Buggy stopped, turned around, and braced themselves for the charging Blugori.

"Luffy! A real man takes them on alone. As for our friend Buggy here, I can tell he's a rare martial arts prodigy. I've decided to teach him a few moves!"

Jiang Lin threw an arm around Buggy's shoulders and shoved Luffy toward the Blugori. Buggy wasn't much of a fighter right now anyway. Better to keep him close than let him get in Luffy's way.

"You've got this, Luffy! Believe in yourself!"

As Jiang Lin cheered Luffy on, he stole a glance at the timer on his system interface. It had started counting the moment he put his arm around Buggy.

"Okay... here I go!"

Luffy let out a roar, stretched his arms, and charged.

"Are you Luffy's underling?"

Buggy gave Jiang Lin a disdainful look.

"Thinking of attacking me?"

Jiang Lin smiled at Buggy. He knew Buggy was no innocent. The only reason Buggy was standing obediently beside him was that he was waiting to see how Luffy's fight turned out. Whether Luffy beat the Blugori or lost to them, Buggy would be the first to make a run for it.

"No! Of course not!"

Buggy grew uneasy under Jiang Lin's stare and hurriedly waved his hands in denial.

One minute elapsed. Chop-Chop Fruit copied successfully.

Jiang Lin smiled at the notification, took his arm off Buggy's shoulders, and brushed some dust from them. "Thanks for the effort!"

"Huh? Am I supposed to say it was hard work or that it wasn't?"

Buggy was thoroughly confused. He hadn't exchanged blows with Jiang Lin, but he had a feeling that if he dared attack him, it would end very badly.

"Anyway..." Jiang Lin glanced at the bands around Luffy's arms, then smiled and shook his head. "I'm heading down. I'll leave this place to you, Luffy!"

"Okay! Jiang Lin, Ace is on the fifth level. Let's meet there!"

Luffy shouted to Jiang Lin while attacking the Blugori.

The fifth level? I'm not strong enough yet. Even with the Empress's and Buggy's powers, I still can't take on Blackbeard and that terrifying warden!

Jiang Lin decided to go ahead on his own. He needed more Devil Fruits. To get them, he had to reach a deeper level before causing an even bigger uproar.

There were hardly any "important" figures on Impel Down's first level. If Buggy had been any stronger, he probably wouldn't have been locked up there either.

After parting ways with Luffy and the others, Jiang Lin turned into lightning and shot straight toward Impel Down's second level.

Along the way, guards and Blugori rushed at him in droves, trying to trap him on the first level. But how could anyone corner Jiang Lin when he possessed speed beyond anything in the world? He tore across the first level, found the entrance, and descended to the second.

The second level of Impel Down felt far more sinister than the first. Vicious prisoners watched Jiang Lin with unsettling eyes.

That man should be on this level. Come to think of it, his power would be a big help with what I'm planning.

Jiang Lin wandered onward, trying to remember where Galdino was being held.

"He's already reached Level 2? Who the hell is he?"

In the surveillance room, the staff stared at Jiang Lin on the monitor, baffled.

Jiang Lin's wanted poster probably hadn't even been issued yet, so no one outside knew who he was. That would make his next moves much easier.

"Is that... a hippo?"

Jiang Lin shook his head at the little pink hippo before him. A hippo was hardly a threat.

"Go on!"

The little hippo pumped its four short, powerful legs and charged. Jiang Lin stayed where he was, put a little force into his left foot, and gave it a light tap. The hippo shot away like a cannonball and embedded itself deep in a nearby wall.

There are quite a few beasts on this level. They do look a lot tougher than the ones upstairs!

As Jiang Lin moved on, he dealt with one monstrous beast after another. Birds, mantises, lions—they all appeared in his path.

"Oh, what a pain!"

Jiang Lin casually dispatched each attacker while scanning the cells on either side. He was looking for Galdino so he could copy his Devil Fruit power.

But the second level's layout was complicated, and the guards kept slowing him down. By the time Jiang Lin found Galdino's cell, its occupant was long gone.

"Forget it. I'll look farther down!"

Jiang Lin glanced at the prisoners trembling inside their cells, then sped past them toward the entrance to the third level.

When Jiang Lin reached it, an enormous beast lay across the entrance, glaring at him irritably.

The beast stood over ten meters tall. It was the staircase's guardian, the Sphinx!

"Thin noodles!"

At the sight of Jiang Lin, the Sphinx raised a forepaw high and brought it crashing down at him without warning.

Whoosh!

A dazzling flash streaked past as Jiang Lin easily dodged the blow.

"Ramen!"

When its first strike missed, the Sphinx raised its huge forepaw again and swiped at Jiang Lin.

"Soup noodles!"

"Char siu noodles!"

"Dan dan noodles!"

"Iken noodles!"

"..."