Luo Yu glanced at his recently swollen little treasury.
After defeating Drought Jack and reporting it after the fact, he'd earned a 20 million Berries bonus.
Canceling the deal with Blackbeard netted him another 20 million.
Then Blackbeard's surprise attack forced Luo Yu into overtime, burning 3 million Berries—leaving him with 37 million.
Hijacking Kizaru's mission and bringing Fire Fist Ace back to Marineford early earned him another 20 million.
Add the 10 million for this escort mission, and he'd just barely scraped together 67 million.
Originally, he'd planned to return after this mission and open three to five gold treasure chests—maybe get lucky and hit the jackpot.
He hadn't expected the system to suddenly offer an upgrade opportunity.
Was the system trying to block his path to that 100 million goal?
But when Luo Yu saw the description on the Platinum Chest, he couldn't help but feel tempted:
"First-time opening has a high chance of granting top-tier interdimensional skills or items—Diamond-tier rewards!"
Capitalism really was evil—always targeting the weakest parts of human nature.
Luo Yu looked again at his bloated little treasury and suddenly felt… poor.
After all that hard work, he still hadn't hit even a modest goal.
"System, how long do I have to upgrade the chest?" Luo Yu asked, shaking off his thoughts.
With the looming war at Marineford and the possible arrival of the Four Emperors, he didn't want to face the endgame with nothing but an unused fusion card.
"Ding! You have 45 days remaining to upgrade the chest. After that, all exchangeable chests will be capped at Gold tier."
Forty-five days?
Luo Yu was surprised.
The system was being unusually generous this time.
Once this escort mission was complete, his points would total 67 million.
He still needed 33 million to hit the 100 million goal—but with 45 days, that wasn't out of reach.
And that fusion card from the last chest? It was time to put it to use.
He had a bold idea to test.
"Admiral Luo Yu, we've arrived at Level 6. The prisoners here are all deemed extremely dangerous by the World Government—infamous pirates who've caused chaos across the seas. It took everything we had to lock them up."
The elevator jolted to a stop. Luo Yu glanced at the glowing "6" on the panel.
He hadn't realized how quickly time had passed while chatting with the system.
Thankfully, due to Ace and Jack's special status, they were exempt from torture for now—saving a lot of time.
Otherwise, getting from Level 1 to Level 6, plus the usual processing, would've taken half a day at least.
As for how terrifying Impel Down really was—one look at Blackbeard, trailing behind like a trembling lapdog drenched in sweat, said it all.
Ding!
The elevator doors slid open.
A dim corridor stretched ahead, lined with massive cells.
The prisoners inside, hearing the rare sound of the elevator, perked up.
"Heh… didn't expect visitors at this hour. Who's the lucky soul getting tossed in this time?"
A sharp female voice rang out, laced with mockery.
"Hey, Sand Kid—you were the new guy not long ago. Looks like someone's finally replacing you."
"Aren't you going to say something tough?"
"Shut it, you man-faced hag," came a growl from the shadows.
Crocodile, clad in prison garb, looked up from his cell. The moment he saw who had arrived, his pupils shrank.
"You idiots better shut your mouths. Don't waste that guy's time—or you'll regret it."
Waste his time? Regret it?
The prisoners paused—then burst into raucous laughter.
Catarina Devon laughed so hard she had to hold her forehead.
"What's the matter, Sand Kid? Scared? We've been rotting in Level 6 for years. You think we haven't suffered enough?"
"Unless it's that psycho warden Shiryu, who else would dare walk in here and make us suffer?"
"Right, Basque, San Juan, Avalo, Warden Shiryu—am I wrong?"
Level 6 wasn't crowded.
But the mocking laughter echoed down the corridor.
Magellan's face darkened.
"You bastards, shut up! This is Admiral Luo Yu, the Navy's new Fourth Admiral. He's here to personally escort Fire Fist Ace—Whitebeard's Second Division Commander, bounty 500 million—and Drought Jack of the Beasts Pirates, bounty 1 billion, to Level 6."
"These aren't people you can afford to provoke."
"Whitebeard and Kaido's men?" Catarina Devon froze.
The laughter died instantly.
They'd been locked in Level 6 for years.
But Whitebeard and Kaido had become Emperors even earlier.
Now the Navy was throwing their top officers into Impel Down?
That was insane.
Anyone could see this would trigger a war between the three great powers.
Has Marine HQ lost its mind?
"Whitebeard and Kaido's men?"
A mocking laugh rang out from the end of the corridor.
From a solitary cell emerged a hulking, crimson figure.
"Hahaha! You Marines really think you can handle the wrath of two Emperors?"
"So this is your new Admiral? Just a blond brat. Don't tell me you only got this far because of that old fossil Garp tagging along."
"You don't look like someone who's tasted the sea's cruelty. Let me, a relic of the old era, give you a proper beating."
"Barrett, don't you dare!"
Magellan's face turned ashen. As the warden of Impel Down, he was being humiliated in front of a Marine Admiral—on his own turf.
It made his blood boil.
But before he could act, Luo Yu took a swig of his liquor and said calmly:
"Three minutes. That's all you've got, trash. I'm on the clock. If you've got something, bring it now."
"Otherwise, I'm off the clock and you're out of luck."
Catarina and the others blinked.
Time was meaningless in this place. That was part of the torture.
But they all knew—neither Impel Down, nor Marine HQ, nor the World Government had ever operated on a "clock-out" system.
And yet, this new Admiral…
He was different.