Endless darkness filled his vision. Inside, the blackness was so complete that even light seemed to be devoured. The torches from the corridor could not reach within. The atmosphere was oppressive, as if primordial beasts dwelled in the void.
The moment he stepped inside—
Boom!!
The air grew unbearably heavy. A vast pressure filled the pitch-black chamber.
At this time, it was so dark he couldn't see his own hand.
Flick!
Creed pulled out a flint and snapped it. Flames lit the wall torches, casting light over the chamber.
The prison appeared before his eyes.
The room was several hundred square meters, lined with dozens of seastone cages. Only eight of them held prisoners.
When the torches flared, the captives squinted and shielded their eyes, long unused to light. After a while, they finally adjusted and opened them.
Inside, six figures glared out, bloodshot and gaunt, their sanity eroded, their eyes tinged with madness.
For beings of their level, the tortures of the upper floors were meaningless. LV6 did not torture with fire or beasts—it tormented with silence and eternal darkness.
That was the true horror.
A lightless tomb where time ceased to exist. No sense of day or night, nothing but endless black gnawed at their minds.
Yet these eight had endured without breaking. Any ordinary person would have gone insane within two days.
"Tch. I thought it was that Magellan bastard again. Didn't think it'd be someone else. Hm… has it been a month? No… maybe a year… or several years since he last came?"
From one of the cages, a deep voice rumbled. A dark-skinned giant sat chained, a flight cap on his head, his limbs bound by massive seastone shackles bolted into the wall.
Creed recognized him. Former Vice Warden of Impel Down—Shiryu of the Rain. For his bloodlust and slaughter of prisoners, he had been defeated by Magellan and cast into LV6.
"This place… only vice wardens should be allowed in, no?" another voice spoke.
Creed turned.
From another cage, scarlet eyes gleamed in the dim firelight. The man's skin was pale, his body shackled with seastone chains, submerged in seawater.
Calm eyes, no bloodshot veins—only a chilling serenity.
Creed's gaze narrowed.
The Lonely Red—Baroric Ledfield.
A monster of the old era, rivaling Whitebeard, Roger, and Shiki.
In those days—Garp fought Roger, Sengoku fought Whitebeard, Zephyr fought Shiki… and Fleet Admiral Kong fought him.
Their battle raged ten days and nights. Incredibly, Ledfield had defeated Fleet Admiral Kong. But weakened and without allies, he was eventually captured.
Had he not been caught then, the seas may not have known Four Emperors—but Five.
"I am the new Director of Impel Down." Creed said.
"Bwahahahaha!!"
Shiryu erupted into wild laughter.
"Sengoku's gone senile! A brat, as director?!" His eyes flashed with murder, a cruel grin splitting his face.
Boom!!
An oppressive aura erupted from him, rattling the seastone chains, pressing down on Creed like a mountain.
Creed's eyes narrowed.
Boom!!!
His own aura exploded skyward, surging like a storm, clashing with Shiryu's in thunderous force.
Thud!!
The walls groaned under the pressure, the whole of LV6 shuddering.
But as fast as it came, it vanished.
"…Not bad. I'll admit, you've got some strength." Shiryu licked his lips.
Creed's eyes narrowed again. Above Shiryu's head, he saw a faint purple glow.
A treasure chest. Shiryu was one of them.
He probed Shiryu's stats:
[Name]: Shiryu of the Rain
[Attributes]: Strength: SS | Agility: SS | Defense: SS | Spirit: S
[Abilities]: SS+ Armament Haki, SSS Swordsmanship, SSS Rokushiki, SS Observation Haki
[Devil Fruit]: None
[Overall Strength]: SSS
Then he checked Ledfield.
[Name]: Baroric Ledfield (Weakened, Aged)
[Attributes] (Weakened): Strength SS (SSS), Agility SS (SSS), Defense S+ (SSS+), Spirit S+ (SSS+)
[Abilities] (Weakened): S+ Conqueror's Haki (SS+), S+ Observation Haki (SS+), SS Armament Haki (SSS), SS Swordsmanship (SSS)
[Devil Fruit]: None
[Overall Strength]: SSS
Creed sucked in a sharp breath.
As expected of a man who once stood equal to Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki. His stats alone made Creed's scalp tingle.
But then doubt crept in.
The system's power scale—was it broken?
Could his system be flawed? A defective one?
Redfield and Shiryu both labeled as SSS… but clearly their levels weren't even close.
He remembered—Garp was also SSS. Ledfield being SSS made sense. But Shiryu?!
Impossible.
Even among past opponents, Creed noticed inconsistencies. Crocodile could crush five giants at once—yet his rating was the same as theirs. Just half a tier higher.
And now, with the system's "four-dimensional attributes," Creed saw the issue.
Skills like Haki were just that—skills. Like abilities in a game.
But the four attributes were the true stats. The higher the stats, the more devastating the same skill became.
Yet the system only calculated "skills" for overall combat power. Ignoring attributes.
That meant someone with SSS Haki but low stats was ranked the same as someone with SSS Haki and monstrous stats.
How could that be the same?!
It was like saying a level 1 ultimate move was equal to a level 10 ultimate move. Both the same skill, but the power vastly different.
A bomb packed with 100 tons of gunpowder versus one with 10 tons—both bombs, both explode, but the devastation is not equal.
Before, without four attributes, Creed hadn't noticed. But now? The flaw was glaring.
And surely Haki itself must have finer divisions.
For example, Katakuri's ability to glimpse the future. His Observation Haki was SSS. But others at SSS didn't have such gifts.
So had the system broken the power scale?
Just then—
"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
The system's interface flickered before his eyes.
"Patch update detected. Combat Power System updating…"
"Ding! Combat Power System update complete."
(End of Chapter)
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