"Magellan, you're nothing without your poison. If your venom fails, so do you."
"Too bad for you, my venom hasn't failed. You will die here. Poison Channel!"
Magellan's voice was like thunder. In the next instant, poisonous liquid surged from his feet and spread like a rushing river across the floor, heading straight toward Qin Chuan.
Reacting instantly, Qin Chuan activated the Chiyo character card.
Ding. Host has successfully used the Chiyo character card. Remaining usage count: minus one.
With the system notification in his ears, Qin Chuan leapt back more than ten meters at high speed, narrowly avoiding the oncoming stream of poison.
Though the toxin didn't touch him, it spread rapidly through the air, forming an invisible wall of deadly gas.
"Let's see how long you can run! Poison Pufferfish!"
Magellan opened his mouth wide and expelled a barrage of purple, balloon-like venom spheres that floated through the toxic mist toward Qin Chuan.
Realizing he couldn't afford to delay, Qin Chuan sprang into action. If even one of those orbs exploded nearby, he'd be melted down in seconds.
"White Secret Technique: Ten Puppets of Gold Pine!"
With a low command, ten chakra threads shot out from Qin Chuan's fingers. At their ends stood ten puppets clad in white robes, each wielding a different weapon. These were the Ten Puppets of Kinmatsu, masterpieces of the legendary puppet creator Monzaemon.
With precise finger motions, Qin Chuan unleashed the puppets, sending them hurtling toward the floating poison spheres.
In a flash, the orbs were destroyed mid-air, burst apart by the puppets' coordinated assault. However, their vaporized contents instantly tainted the surrounding air.
Magellan's eyes narrowed. His surprise deepened.
"Hmph. So you're not just brute strength. Fine. Let's end this. Venom Demon: Hydra!"
With a roar, three colossal poison dragons surged from Magellan's body, roaring toward Qin Chuan like real serpents, their twisted forms dripping with corrosive venom.
Qin Chuan didn't flinch. He needed to counter, and fast.
"Let's see whose technique dominates—your toxic dragons or my puppets! Puppet Technique: Three Treasures Suction Kill!"
Three puppets moved into formation. One leapt atop the shoulders of the other two. As the toxic dragons closed in, they thrust their arms outward, summoning a whirling vortex.
A tornado formed with violent force, sucking everything in front of them. Within seconds, the three poison dragons were drawn into the spiral, their bodies crushed into dense toxic clouds and hurled straight back at Magellan.
Magellan didn't fear his own poison—but when he saw his own signature attack redirected toward him with such force and precision, his expression shifted into something rare—uncertainty.
Knowing this was his only window, Qin Chuan acted decisively. He couldn't afford to drag the fight out any longer. The poison fog was still expanding. His puppets surged forward, weapons gleaming, charging Magellan from multiple directions.
Meanwhile, far below, in the most terrifying sector of Impel Down—Level Six, Infinite Hell—Domino stood before a heavy, pitch-black prison gate.
Her palms were slick with sweat, the keys trembling in her hand. Her heart pounded. The pressure in this place was suffocating. Every cell on either side of the corridor was eerily silent.
This was where only the worst were kept—prisoners sentenced to death or eternal imprisonment. No one here had hope. Only death awaited them.
Worse, the crimes committed by inmates on this level were so vile they were redacted by the World Government, never reported, their records buried. Even for someone as high-ranking as Domino, standing here was unsettling.
"Domino... something serious must've happened above, right?"
A deep, gravelly voice came from the darkness.
"Shiryu of the Rain. We need you now."
Her voice was heavy. She hesitated before saying it, but there was no alternative.
"Hmm. You sound grim. The fighting must be intense. But I'm more curious—what kind of man could force our beloved Warden Magellan into a corner?"
"An unknown prisoner from Red Lotus Hell," Domino replied grimly. "He used strange Gold List abilities and has already defeated Chief Guard Saludes, Sphinx, Little Sadi, and even Deputy Warden Hannibal."
"And now, unless something changed, he's battling Warden Magellan on Level Four."
Shiryu's eyes lit up with interest.
"Fascinating. I never thought I'd see a jailbreak like this in my lifetime."
Just then, a shrill, mocking female voice rang out from a nearby cell.
Had Qin Chuan been here, he would've seen a woman with garish makeup, bizarre clothing, and an unnaturally high-bridged nose.
"Catherine... you'll never see daylight again!" Domino snapped.
"Heh. You'd better watch yourself. They'll come for you soon," Catherine Diemei said with a sly whisper.
"No need to wait. They're already here. Open the door."
Shiryu stepped forward from the shadows and approached the cell door, his presence sending a chill down Domino's spine.
The calm, lethal aura surrounding him confirmed it—Shiryu of the Rain was ready to be unleashed once more.