One Piece : Prince of Charlotte Family

You can read the advance chapters here : patreon.com/Vigilante04

---------------

Clang!! Clang!!

Within the icy Freezing Hell, the sound of metal clashing against metal echoed endlessly.

Two figures moved like lightning, their clashes as fast and intense as thunder strikes.

Cold light gleamed, and afterimages flickered everywhere.

They were too fast for the naked eye to follow.

The air was filled with dazzling streaks of movement.

A powerful shockwave rippled out with every clash, sweeping up ice, snow, and shards of rock into the air. The gale tore through the battlefield, leaving the frozen landscape in chaos.

Shhhhhh... BOOM!

At the center of the battlefield, bursts of terrifying sword energy and slashing strikes erupted, surging wildly in every direction.

In moments, the entire area was left devastated—huge cracks and craters marred the frozen ground, creating a scene of complete destruction. The biting cold only intensified the chaos.

"Momo! Thirty times faster!"

Suddenly, Shiryu of the Rain's speed exploded.

He became an afterimage, vanishing in an instant.

With his amplified speed, his body carried an immense impact force as he charged at Wilhelm, slashing fiercely.

Clang!!

Sparks flew.

The clash was deafening, the sound reverberating through the icy landscape.

The shockwave from their collision rolled out in all directions, shaking the battlefield.

The two figures stood locked in a powerful clash, the sheer intensity of their battle overwhelming to witness.

"Not bad," Wilhelm said with a calm smile, the Seven Star Sword firmly blocking Shiryu's powerful strike. "In just three days, it seems you've started to grasp the ability of the Momo-Momo no Mi."

Looking at Shiryu, whose strength had significantly increased thanks to the Paramecia Momo-Momo no Mi, Wilhelm added, "Now, it's up to you to see how far you can push its potential."

Shiryu of the Rain shrugged helplessly. "After all, I'm nowhere near your level, Master Wilhelm."

Over the past few days of sparring, Shiryu had come to deeply respect Wilhelm's terrifying strength.

He had thought that with the power of the Momo-Momo no Mi, he would at least be able to force Wilhelm to go all out.

But even after using the fruit's abilities to the fullest and fighting with everything he had, he found himself unable to beat Wilhelm. Wilhelm hadn't even needed to rely on his Devil Fruit powers.

Still, Shiryu wasn't discouraged.

After all, he had only recently acquired the Momo-Momo no Mi.

For now, he could only use the fruit to amplify his abilities thirty times over.

But given more time to train and fully master its power, Shiryu was confident he could push the Momo-Momo no Mi to greater heights.

Wilhelm wasn't one to relax so easily.

"Brush—"

In a flash, as Wilhelm had expected, he and Shiryu of the Rain disappeared and reappeared in the lobby on the 5.5th floor.

Waiting there was Johnny, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user with the power of the Disguise-Disguise Fruit. Despite being sixty or seventy years old, the skinny man still managed a wide grin, showing his big yellow teeth.

"Master Wilhelm, over the past few days…" Johnny began eagerly, "While we couldn't act as openly as we did in Starvation Hell on the third floor or Freezing Hell on the fifth, the results have been quite good."

Wilhelm smiled. "Indeed. Besides the Paramecia Momo-Momo Fruit we gave to Shiryu, we've also acquired the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan Type: Feathered Serpent. That was a pleasant surprise!"

In addition to the Feathered Serpent, over the past three days, Wilhelm and his crew had recovered several powerful Devil Fruits from the Blazing Hell (fourth floor) and the Eternal Hell (sixth floor).

Among them were:

Zoan: Bear-Bear Fruit,

Model: Brown Bear

Zoan: Lizard-Lizard Fruit,

Model: Monitor Lizard

Paramecia: Diamond-Diamond Fruit

Paramecia: Bone-Bone Fruit

Shiryu of the Rain, lighting a cigar, listed more of their spoils with a grin:

"From Zoan types, we've got: Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Black Eagle; Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Lion; Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Pitbull; and even the rare Ancient Zoan, Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Velociraptor.

"As for Paramecia types, we've acquired: Hard-Hard Fruit, Fast-Fast Fruit, Explosive-Explosive Fruit, Melting-Melting Fruit, and Fluctuation-Fluctuation Fruit."

Shiryu added with a chuckle, "The Eternal Hell on the sixth floor will take more time to explore thoroughly."

He glanced at Wilhelm, who sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. "Over the next two months, we'll have the Jailor Beasts 'handle' these prisoners—torture them until they're on the brink of death. If they 'accidentally' die, so be it."

Wilhelm nodded. "As for the Jailor Beasts themselves, their abilities aren't needed for now. Leave them be. When the time comes, we can harvest them."

Wilhelm was pleased with the results so far. There was no need to rush and strip every Devil Fruit user in Impel Down of their powers all at once. Such actions could draw unwanted attention from the World Government or Marines.

For now, with access to the Charlotte family and pirates from across the world, there wouldn't be a shortage of Devil Fruits any time soon.

Impel Down had effectively become their "private land." With Shiryu leaving trusted subordinates in place, they could "harvest" new prisoners with useful abilities at any time.

"By the way, did you find out anything about what I asked?" Wilhelm asked, something coming to mind.

"Yes," Shiryu replied, exhaling a puff of smoke. "We've nearly completed the investigation. Several renowned scientists are indeed imprisoned in Impel Down, all detained by the World Government at different times."

He paused before continuing. "One of them matches your criteria, Master Wilhelm. He was imprisoned around the time Dr. Vegapunk rose to fame. This man was once a world-renowned expert in biology and physics, now locked away on the sixth floor of Eternal Hell."

"His name is Hawkins Ain," Shiryu explained. "The World Government claims his crime was performing dangerous biochemical experiments on living humans.

"At the time of his capture, he had a bounty of 144 million berries. He bypassed Freezing Hell on the fifth floor entirely and was sent straight to Eternal Hell."

Shiryu's tone soured as he gritted his teeth. "That b*****d Magellan kept this from me when I was in charge. He refused to explain why, saying it was an order from above. Imagine—me, the warden of Impel Down, not even allowed to know why a prisoner is on the sixth floor. Just a loyal dog for the World Government, nothing more."

Wilhelm chuckled, standing up. "Bring him here. We'll get answers soon enough."

He had brought the Paramecia-type Munch-Munch Fruit specifically for this purpose: to find a worthy candidate. If Hawkins Ain turned out to be part of the infamous MADS, the rogue scientific team that once included Vegapunk, Vinsmoke Judge, "Queen" from the Beast Pirates, and other top scientists, it could make things very interesting.