Chapter 9: Fishing First, Then Aura Farm

Kasumigaoka Utaha: "So, Mr. World Noble… did he succeed in subduing those people?"

Yamamoto Mei: "Not exactly. Shiryu and Stussy seem to have made up their minds, but Akainu and Magellan are still hesitating."

Miyuki Uchiha: "Lame! With the power of the Chaos Dragon Leviathan, even if His Highness Daemon can't destroy the whole One Piece world, it's pretty close, right?"

Yamamoto Mei: "...You really are an idiot. That's the dumbest take I've heard today."

Yamamoto Mei: "Do you understand that One Piece is most likely Mr. Daemon's main world? If he turns it into a mess and ruins its future, with no new heroes or legends... wouldn't that make his ability completely useless? Like a dragon slayer with no more dragons to slay."

Esdeath: "Mei makes a good point. But all of this is based on the assumption that cross-world travel won't happen anytime soon. So, it's not a real concern… for now."

…

Honestly speaking, Daemon just scoffed at Miyuki Uchiha's reckless comment.

He wasn't some war-crazed lunatic or genocidal maniac.

Why would he wreck the One Piece world for no reason?

It's not like the girls here aren't pretty enough.

Princesses, queens, nobles... soft as clouds and warm as silk.

What was the point of being strong if not to enjoy life?

Just like Mei had said—his [System Reward] required strong individuals at the peak of their lives to awaken powerful treasures.

The One Piece world was his fishing ground.

And he was the fisherman.

Fish too hard, and you'll empty the pond. Then what?

Until he could travel to other worlds safely and consistently, it was best to fish slowly... and cultivate the strongest catches.

…

Under Magellan's lead, the new warden of Impel Down, Daemon and his group had arrived at the gates of Level 6.

In just a few hours, Daemon had recovered his stamina and personally executed more than a thousand prisoners.

Among them, over 900 from Levels 1 through 4 didn't provide a single treasure.

Clearly, they didn't qualify as legendary.

The rest—dozens from Level 5—had slightly better luck.

They at least triggered the [Hand of Hermes] and produced a handful of Noble Phantasms.

But their quality? Disappointing.

At best, they were inferior to the throwaway weapons fired from Gilgamesh's treasury in the Fate world.

Many weren't even as good as high-grade swords native to One Piece.

It was like drawing ten gacha pulls and getting all R-rank junk.

Standing before the gate of Level 6, Daemon fell into contemplation.

Where did it go wrong?

Were the prisoners too weak?

Too unknown?

But that couldn't be. Prisoners on Level 5 were at least overlords in their own right—any one of them could cause chaos in the Four Blues.

Or maybe the strength of the treasure wasn't fixed.

Maybe luck played a role?

After all, the Chaos Dragon Leviathan he'd just gotten felt like a god-tier roll—his luck must've exploded at the time.

With no better ideas, Daemon simply posted the question to the chat group.

—

Miyuki Uchiha: "I have no clue, Your Highness. My brain is full of girls and tropes. I'm the kind of protagonist who's allergic to thinking."

Sakura Tosaka: "I'm sorry, Brother Daemon… Sakura doesn't understand either."

Kasumigaoka Utaha: "Apologies… I'm not feeling well. I've never seen so many people die at once before…"

Esdeath: "I think it's both. Strength and fame set the lower limit. Your luck determines the upper limit."

Yamamoto Mei: "I agree with Esdeath. But more testing is needed."

Daemon: "Got it. We keep moving."

—

Daemon exited the chat group and gestured for Magellan to open the final gate.

"…Please go easy on them, Daemon Saint."

Clutching his stomach, weakened by his own poison, Magellan's expression was bitter as he unlocked the gate to Level 6.

He knew he'd gone insane.

If the Five Elders found out he let Daemon Saint slaughter prisoners in Impel Down, they'd skin him alive.

Daemon, though?

He'd walk away untouched.

Hummmm—

As the gate opened, Daemon immediately sensed over a dozen strong Observation Haki signatures scanning him.

"What now? Didn't they just drop off food last month?"

"Heh, I know that guy! Akainu, right? That magma punk from the Navy?"

"Magellan, Shiryu... you here to sing us a song or something? I'd pay to see Shiryu dance in a bikini—but Magellan? Ugh, I'd rather die."

Laughter echoed through the prison floor.

No one gave Daemon a second glance.

He didn't wear the pompous Celestial Dragon uniform. No bubble helmet. No exaggerated coat.

Just an elegant nobleman—clean, composed, handsome.

The kind of face that made women swoon and men scowl.

Daemon frowned.

Noisy. Disrespectful.

"Shut them up, Magellan."

His voice was calm, like a noble brushing dirt off his sleeve.

"Yes, Daemon Saint!"

Without delay, the pungent stench of poison flooded the air.

"AAAHHHHH!!"

"DAMMIT!! It's Magellan's venom! IT BURNS—!!"

The screaming was intense... but brief.

Soon, the sixth floor fell into silence, save for shallow gasps and ragged breathing.

They weren't dead.

But they wished they were.

Daemon stepped forward.

"How many are imprisoned here?"

"Forty-seven, total," Magellan replied quickly. "Most have bounties between 100 and 500 million. A few over 1 billion. And only two... over 3 billion."

Of course, one of those was the Pirate King himself—Gol D. Roger, who had surrendered recently.

The other was 'Lonely Red' Redfield, the madman who had once defeated a Fleet Admiral.

Forty-seven might not sound like a lot, but in this context, it was massive.

In the original timeline, Blackbeard had caused the prisoners of Level 6 to kill each other.

Only a handful had survived to join his new crew.

That meant no more than twenty had died in that event—so the current number was already considerable.

"Get out. Wait outside."

Daemon drew a sword from his collection of recently acquired, disappointing treasures.

A junk weapon, really. But it was sharp enough.

He strode into the shadows of the prison, his presence like a blade itself.

"It's hunting time… scum."