One Piece: Starting at the War of the Best

"This is as far as I can help you. Be careful with the rest."

As Inazuma cut away the last piece of stone, the air shifted, and the most mysterious level of Impel Down—Level 6: Eternal Hell—finally unfolded before Katie's eyes.

"Thanks. I'll take it from here."

Without the slightest hesitation, Katie stepped forward and left.

But Inazuma remained frozen in place. In that brief moment, he had caught a glimpse of Katie's eyes—eyes so intense they gleamed like glass beads under sunlight, shimmering with an eerie green light. It was the look of a woman who had starved for three days and nights suddenly spotting a roasted chicken. Inazuma couldn't fathom why Katie would have such an expression. This was Eternal Hell, not paradise!

With one last glance in the direction Katie had gone, Inazuma muttered a silent wish for good luck before turning away. Not only was Shiryu potentially lurking nearby, but the very atmosphere of this place was unbearable.

Violence, slaughter, bloodlust, despair—every negative emotion imaginable festered here. Leave a normal person in this place for a few days, and they'd go insane!

Yet none of this affected Katie in the slightest. But that didn't mean her emotions were unchanged.

On the contrary, the moment she set foot on this level, her heart was already overflowing with excitement, exhilaration—even intoxication. There was no room left for any other negativity.

Because the system's notifications in her mind hadn't stopped since she arrived. The first was the reward for completing her previous mission: 50,000 exchange points and 7 skill points were deposited into her account. Combined with what she had left from earlier, she now possessed 8 skill points and 50,300 exchange points—a modest fortune.

But Katie wasn't in a hurry to spend them.

Compared to the system's offerings, Level 6 was no less valuable—in fact, it was even more enticing. After all, everything here was absolutely free.

Only after thoroughly exploring this entire level would she use his points. That way, she could maximize his gains.

However, not everything was going as smoothly as Katie had hoped. Far away in the darkness, a pair of eyes glowed with a subtle light.

A low murmur escaped his lips: "The rat has finally appeared."

The next instant, the figure vanished without a trace, as if he had never been there at all.

Waves of warmth surged through Katie's body. At this moment, she couldn't imagine anything more satisfying.

Each surge represented a stronger, rarer ability—even Armament Haki and Observation Haki, powers typically found only in the New World. Katie could feel it: in this short span of time, her strength had climbed to an entirely new level. It was a sensation of rebirth.

"New mission issued. Please check."

The system's alert snapped Katie out of her euphoria. She quickly focused on the update.

"The sea was never meant to be ruled by a single man. Companions, allies, and influence—none can be lacking."

Mission Objective: Level 6 holds countless powerhouses. Host must form alliances with at least two of them.

Reward: 100,000 exchange points, 11 skill points.

The moment he finished reading, a figure flashed in Katie's mind.

Marshall D. Teach—Blackbeard. A schemer comparable to Cao Cao.

For a second, Katie wondered if she could mimic Blackbeard's method—shouting into the darkness, inciting the prisoners to fight until only the strongest remained.

But she dismissed the idea almost instantly. She wasn't Blackbeard.

First, her current strength wasn't at that level. If she released the top-tier monsters here, they might not submit to her.

Second, the people Blackbeard had recruited… weren't the ones Katie wanted.

In that brief moment of contemplation, Katie had already thought of better candidates—two legendary figures.

"The Lone Red Baron" - Douglas Bullet.

"The Demon Heir" - Shiki the Golden Lion.

The former was a man who had fought and defeated the former Fleet Admiral, Kong, in single combat. The latter was a former rival of Silvers Rayleigh on the Roger Pirates, a man so dangerous the Marines had once launched a Buster Call just for him.

Compared to these two, who cared about the weaklings Blackbeard had recruited?

The only question now was how to find and convince them. Difficult? Absolutely. But worth trying.

With his goal set, Katie pressed forward. Since she hadn't encountered them yet, they must be held in the deeper cells.

But just as Katie began moving—

Unbeknownst to her, a shadow appeared where she had stood just one minute prior.

A pair of crimson eyes locked onto Katie's retreating figure. Shiryu found himself suddenly enjoying this cat-and-mouse game. The thrill of striking at the moment her prey thought they had succeeded—just imagining it was intoxicating.

In truth, Shiryu had detected Katie the moment she arrived. Though they hadn't met face-to-face, his Observation Haki had picked up the intruder.

Unlike Magellan, Shiryu's mastery of both Haki types was far superior. Without a Devil Fruit, he had focused solely on honing his own strength.

Yet despite discovering Katie immediately, Shiryu hadn't killed her outright. Instead, he had silently followed.

He wanted to know—what was this kid's goal? Of course, it was also because he had absolute confidence in his ability to end Katie's life whenever he wished.

But what Shiryu didn't know was that, thanks to the system, Katie's power was growing every second. Who would emerge victorious was still anyone's guess.

Katie had lost count of how many times the system's notifications had interrupted her. But this time, she truly had to stop—because she had found his targets.

Both of them.

And by sheer coincidence, they were imprisoned right across from each other.

She had the system to thank for that. But gratitude was the last thing on Katie's mind—because it had just delivered unwelcome news.

Her ability to copy others' powers was now capped at Mastery Level 10.

Meaning, even if she encountered abilities beyond Mastery Level, he couldn't acquire them.

So, what she obtained from Bullet and Shiki were only Armament Haki (Mastery Lv.10) and Combat Arts (Mastery Lv.10).

Despite this, Katie couldn't bring herself to celebrate. If she could have copied their full strength, she would've dared to fight Magellan head-on. After all, Bullet's Armament Haki was no joke—one punch could flatten a Supernova.

But there was nothing she could do.

The system had spoken.