Chapter 69: Brewing Skill Max

A powerful force came from the chains, making it hard for Vivian to breathe.

This guy… even with Seastone handcuffs on, he still has this much strength?

Vivian's eyes rolled back, almost fainting. He reached back, grabbed Ace's shoulders, and slammed him to the ground with a suplex.

"Cough! Cough, cough!"

Ace coughed violently. Before Vivian could catch his breath, Ace flipped up and aimed a punch at Vivian's jaw.

Unable to use his Devil Fruit powers and with his strength greatly reduced, Ace hoped to knock Vivian out with a single blow to the jaw.

However, Vivian, whose attributes far exceeded those of an average person, easily dodged Ace's weakened attack. Stepping back to avoid Ace's rising punch, Vivian then kicked Ace hard in the stomach.

Thud!

With a dull sound, the force of nearly a hundred points made Ace double over, blood seeping from his mouth, and he fell to his knees.

"Don't waste your energy, Portgas. Even without the Seastone handcuffs, I wouldn't necessarily lose to you."

Of course, Vivian didn't know if Ace had mastered Haki, as he died too early in the anime. There were hints that Ace might have awakened Conqueror's Haki at a young age, but now, with his hands and feet bound by Seastone, he couldn't use any Haki, no matter how many types he had.

Grabbing the necklace around Ace's neck, Vivian threw him against the wall. Before he could speak, a task prompt appeared.

[Task: Help Ace remove the chains and take him down from the wall. (Completed)]

[Next Task: Beat up Ace and conduct a real interrogation. (Current Step Two)]

The air suddenly grew silent.

Vivian was stunned.

Beat up Ace?

Even though he didn't have much feeling for Ace's character in the original story, he hesitated to beat up someone he didn't know and who hadn't provoked him.

Wait… didn't he just try to choke me unconscious and escape?

Hmm, that counts as provoking me.

Nodding, Vivian approached the pained Ace and punched him in the face.

…

Meanwhile.

Thud!

Thud—thud!

Heavy thuds echoed from the cell.

Around the corner.

Hannyabal and Domino peeked from behind the wall, watching Vivian, who was relentlessly punching Ace with a fierce expression.

"The new guy… hits hard," Hannyabal said.

"Yeah," Domino nodded. "I didn't expect it. I thought he was a gentle person."

"But… any pirate sent to Level Six must be extremely evil. It's understandable that Vivian is so angry."

She even thought that Vivian, usually so gentle and polite, looked quite handsome when he suddenly showed this side of himself.

"Should we keep watching?"

Sadi-chan asked from behind.

"Let's report this to Warden Magellan first."

"Understood."

…

"Heh…"

"Ace, with his face covered in blood, had his hands chained and suspended from the wall. He looked at Vivian with disdain and said, 'Even if you beat me to death, I won't tell you anything about my old man.'

"Oh? You're quite tough," Vivian said, punching Ace in the stomach again. As Ace spat out a mouthful of blood, Vivian slightly turned his head and glanced at the corridor outside the cell with the corner of his eye.

Finally left?

He had noticed someone following him earlier but didn't pay much attention to it.

With a little thought, he could guess that this was probably the work of those old guys from Sengoku, who didn't trust him and sent someone from Impel Down to monitor him, so they could report back at any time.

After all, his recent actions did raise some suspicions of being a 'spy'...

[Task: Beat up Ace and conduct a real interrogation. (Completed)]

[Starting random reward draw...]

[You have obtained: Maximum Brewing Experience]

[Congratulations, your brewing skill has been upgraded to the maximum level]

"Directly upgraded from intermediate to maximum level?"

Looking at his skill bar.

[Brewing: Master Level (Max/Max)]

Since it's already at the maximum level...

"Then the wine I brew must be incredibly delicious," Vivian thought, wiping the blood off his hands. He then looked at Ace and said, "That's enough for today. I'll bring you food again at this time tomorrow."

Without caring about the severity of Ace's injuries, Vivian picked up the lunch box and left the cell.

With the last remaining cigar in his mouth, as he passed by the corridor, his gaze fell on another cell.

'Shiryu?' he said.

In the cell, a tall, burly man in uniform, also with a cigar in his mouth, stood up from the ground upon hearing this. He smiled with interest and said, "Newcomer? You dare to beat up the prisoners in this layer. It seems you have quite the guts, much more than the other jailers."

"Not bad," Vivian shrugged. "If you want, I can come in and beat you up another day."

Shiryu: "..."

"Looking forward to the day you open the cell and come in to beat me up."

He said, almost laughing to tears.

...

Rain Shiryu, the former chief guard of Impel Down, was sentenced to death by the Marines for frequently killing prisoners and for killing his colleagues over trivial matters. He was imprisoned in the sixth level underground.

Extremely powerful, his swordsmanship was particularly outstanding. After joining the Blackbeard Pirates, he was highly valued by Blackbeard and became one of the 'commanders' of the Four Emperors' pirate crew.

This was achieved without even consuming a Devil Fruit, relying solely on his swordsmanship and Haki.

It could be said that if Vivian really opened the cell and tried to beat up Shiryu, Shiryu, who would not be affected by the Sea Stone handcuffs, would likely kill Vivian on the spot.

"There's still a month left…"

By then, he would have to think of a way to stop this guy and Blackbeard.

With Garp and Magellan present, the chances of victory should be at least double compared to the original storyline.

Thinking about this,

Vivian, who had returned to his dormitory and was about to lie down on the bed to check the progress of the Straw Hat crew's story, was surprised to see Nami completely naked, facing away from the camera, in a bathroom.

Vivian: ???

ヾ(o゜ ,゜o)ノ