Chapter 18: The Hunt Begins

Storm gazed at the magnificent trophy floating in front of him, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"As expected of the Jailer Beast in Impel Down," he muttered.

He had to admit—the quality of trophies obtained from Jailer Beasts was exceptional.

With a satisfied expression, he stored away the Platinum Trophy and controlled his clay giants to step aside, clearing the area around the unconscious Minozebra.

A single Jailer Beast had just given him a five-star trophy. If he could continue to defeat it repeatedly, wouldn't that mean more high-quality trophies?

Thinking back to his battle with the blue gorillas, he estimated that the Minozebra could provide at least a four-star gold trophy upon another defeat.

'All for the sake of a higher-tier trophy,' Storm justified to himself, reinforcing that this wasn't personal revenge—it was pure strategy.

It wasn't long before the Minozebra began to stir. The biggest advantage of Zoan-type Devil Fruits was their immense durability.

Jailer Beasts were failed awakenings of Zoan abilities, but even so, they possessed extraordinary resilience. While they had lost human intelligence, they gained monstrous endurance and recovery speed.

Suffering a knockout didn't mean much to them.

The Minozebra shook its head, still dazed from the beating. As it regained its bearings, its narrow eyes scanned the surroundings.

No more white giants.

Only the human it had previously knocked away with ease.

A mere human.

The Minozebra snorted in disdain, regaining its confidence. It reached down to retrieve its fallen mace, scraped its hooves against the scorched ground a few times, and then charged forward once more.

Storm, who had been sitting cross-legged to recover, opened his eyes. Having rested for half an hour, he was back in peak condition.

This time, he wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Rather than carelessly exhausting his Armament Haki, he would rely on Six Styles to dodge and counter, using Haki only when necessary.

And with the Minozebra's relentless aggression, he had the perfect training partner.

Boom!

The battle resumed.

Storm swiftly maneuvered with Shave, dodging the Minozebra's wild swings. He tested the limits of his Haki, honing both Armament and Observation. Each clash, each dodge, each impact was refining his combat abilities further.

The battle roared through the Burning Hell once again.

Meanwhile, on the fourth level of Impel Down, deep within the Director's office, Magellan sat on the toilet, his face twisted in both pain and relief.

The familiar cramps had come, signaling that it was finally time for him to purge his poison-laden body.

Then—

BOOM!

A deafening explosion echoed throughout the whole floor.

Magellan's eyes widened in shock. The sudden noise caused his entire body to tense up.

The worst part?

The urge to relieve himself instantly disappeared.

"Who is it?!" Magellan roared in frustration.

Grimacing, he pulled up his pants and stormed out of the bathroom, his annoyance reaching dangerous levels. Someone was causing chaos in Impel Down, and they had disrupted his sacred detoxification process.

That was unforgivable.

His first stop was the surveillance room. He needed to see exactly who was responsible for this disturbance.

"Who is causing trouble in the prison?!" he demanded upon arrival.

The prison guards, who had been engrossed in the monitors, barely noticed his entrance. They were watching something incredible unfold on the screens.

"Amazing! The Chief Guard is unbelievable!"

"Neither the Head Jailer nor the Jailer Beasts are his match!"

"It's the Giant Legion again! The unstoppable Giant Legion!"

Despite watching through surveillance footage, the guards were reacting as though they were witnessing a live-action blockbuster.

Magellan frowned.

'Chief Guard? Jailer Beast?'

His instincts immediately told him the culprit's identity.

But—

'What the hell is this "Giant Legion" they're talking about?'

With narrowed eyes, Magellan turned his attention to the live feed.

Storm, now fully recovered, had called forth another wave of clay giants. Dozens of towering, ten-meter figures charged the Minozebra, overwhelming the Jailer Beast in a relentless assault.

Magellan's jaw nearly dropped.

Was this really Storm?

The same Storm who had only recently become Chief Guard?

And why did the Minozebra look like a rag doll in his hands?!

While Magellan struggled to process what he was seeing, Storm had already achieved his next goal.

The prolonged battle had yielded another golden trophy.

However, as Storm examined it, a thought crossed his mind.

'Defeating the same opponent multiple times in a short span reduces the quality of their trophy…'

Sitting cross-legged on the ground once more, he waited for the Minozebra to awaken once more.

'I wonder—just how much will the quality drop?'

Before long, he had his answer.

[Silver Trophy: Minozebra]

[Star Rating: ★★★]

Storm exhaled.

"That's enough. No need to fight anymore," he concluded.

Instead of pushing his luck further, he stored the silver trophy and turned his sights to a new target.

"A single Jailer Beast provided a five-star trophy and a four-star trophy. That means—"

Storm counted on his fingers.

"Minotaurus, Minokoala, Minorhinoceros... that's three five-star trophies!"

His eyes gleamed.

He had to hunt them down.

Before moving on, however, he made sure to allocate his newly obtained trophies.

Tossing the [Silver Trophy] into his [Swordsmanship] skill, he saw an immediate upgrade.

[Swordsmanship: ★★★]

'Right now, my only one-star ability is [Spearmanship]. That looks a little unbalanced…'

Storm thought about it and decided he would eventually need to raise both [Swordsmanship] and [Spearmanship] to at least four stars.

It wasn't too difficult, and it wouldn't take much effort.

His real focus remained on the highest-tier trophies.

His gaze shifted to the Clay-Clay Fruit in his status.

With a smirk, he tossed in a golden trophy.

[Clay-Clay Fruit: ★★★★☆]

But he wasn't done yet.

The moment he received his platinum trophy, he had already decided where it would go.

Storm didn't hesitate.

He threw the five-star platinum trophy into the Clay-Clay Fruit.

[Clay-Clay Fruit: ★★★★★☆]

A surge of power coursed through his body.

The Clay-Clay Fruit—his primary ability—was now nearing perfection.

A devilish grin crept onto his lips as he cracked his knuckles.

'We are only one step away from six stars!'

'Now, let's find the second Jailer Beast.'

A sharp red light flashed in Storm's eyes as he unfolded his Observation Haki.

The 'sounds' from the outside world were captured one by one, feeding him detailed information about his surroundings.

At that moment, Storm sensed an extremely powerful presence approaching him.

But what surprised him even more was that this aura was stronger than the Minozebra!

"Director?"

Storm used Shave to rush forward, and soon, he saw Magellan walking toward him at a slow pace.

"Ah, Storm—"

Magellan greeted him, but before he could finish, his face twisted inexplicably, and he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.

"What were you doing?"

"Managing the prison," Storm replied calmly.

"The Blugori, the Sphinx, and the Jailer Beasts are all creatures with low intelligence."

"It takes a lot of effort to keep this place running smoothly."

"I know—"

Magellan nodded, about to say something else.

However, just as he spoke the last word, his tone rose sharply, and his legs clamped together involuntarily.

Storm could vaguely see wisps of light purple poisonous mist seeping from the corners of Magellan's mouth.

"Director."

Storm instinctively took a step back to avoid the spreading poisonous gas.

"You... don't have the habit of urinating and defecating anywhere, do you?"

"While that may be a normal physiological activity for animals, I still recommend that you see a doctor."

"Ha ha ha!"

Magellan let out a dry laugh before reminding Storm word by word:

"Managing the prison, fine! But don't make too much noise!

"Absolutely! Don't! Become! Shiryu!"

After saying this, Magellan immediately ran off, clutching his stomach as if his life depended on it.

Storm wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he could swear he saw purple smoke trailing behind Magellan's retreating figure.

"Never become Shiryu?"

Storm watched the fleeing Director and shook his head.

"Who wants to be a lost cause?"

With that, he tossed Magellan's advice aside.

His Observation Haki had not yet detected the presence of the second Jailer Beast.

But that didn't matter.

The prison was filled with surveillance Den Den Mushi!

Storm arrived at the Burning Hell's monitoring room and, using the surveillance system, locked onto his next target instantly.

The 'Platinum Trophy Hunting Operation' had begun.

In the days that followed, Storm relentlessly sought out Jailer Beasts, using them as sparring partners to hone his skills.

With their help, his training schedule became finely tuned:

Mornings: Armament Haki training

Afternoons: Observation Haki training

After every meal: Life Return training

After several intense battles, he had thoroughly mastered these four-star abilities.

Storm could now freely utilize both Armament and Observation Haki in combat, ensuring that no energy was wasted.

His combat endurance had improved significantly.

But beyond personal growth, his greatest reward was the trophies provided by the four Jailer Beasts.

Setting aside Minozebra's trophy, the Minotaurus, Minokoala, and Minorhino had gifted him a total of:

Three platinum trophies and three gold trophies

Storm had yet to use the platinum trophies, choosing to save them for later.

However, he immediately allocated all three gold trophies.

Two Gold Trophies were invested in endurance.

One Gold Trophy was placed in speed.

As a result, his attributes now stood at:

[Endurance: ★★★★★]

[Speed: ★★★★☆]

Once Storm had fully mastered his rapidly increasing physical attributes and Clay-Clay Fruit abilities, an important event took place—

The day Shiryu's confinement ended.

Inside the Director's Office in Burning Hell, several of Impel Down's highest-ranking officers gathered.

They had all been summoned by Magellan.

His goal was simple:

To ease the tension between Storm and Shiryu.

No matter what had transpired between them in the past, they needed to put aside grudges and work together for the sake of Impel Down.

BANG!

The door to the Director's Office was abruptly pushed open.

A figure, still carrying a chilling aura from the Freezing Hell, stepped into the room.

It was Shiryu.

At Magellan's signal, Storm stepped forward, stopping directly in front of him.

"Mr. Head Jailer"

Storm flashed a bright, sunny smile at Shiryu.

"The Director wants us to put aside our differences, but I feel that..."

It all happened in an instant.

Before anyone could react—

Storm suddenly raised his right fist.

Gathering all of his strength, he launched a devastating punch straight toward Shiryu's face!

The deep blackened glow of [Armament Haki] covered the surface of his fist, amplifying its destructive force.

Shiryu never expected Storm to attack him so openly—and right in front of Magellan!

Caught completely off guard, he couldn't dodge in time.

Storm's Haki-infused punch connected directly with Shiryu's left cheek.

'Workplace Assault: Face-Breaking Punch'

The impact was brutal.

Shiryu's jaw violently contorted, bending in an unnatural direction.

A mixture of blood and shattered teeth sprayed into the air, forming a gruesome arc above the office.

BAM!

The sheer force sent Shiryu hurtling backward, smashing him straight into the office wall.

The room fell completely silent.

"...An eye for an eye, blood for blood!

"This is my style!"

Storm shook his fist casually, then turned toward Magellan, who stood frozen in shock.

"Director, give me detention to Freezing Hell!"

*******************************

Please consider leaving a review!

If you would like to gain early access, you can join me at www.patre on.com/bookbattalion