Chapter 147: Magellan, Let Me Cure Your Diarrhea

At this moment, the fierce battle between Buffon and Magellan was underway.

After exchanging a few moves, Magellan fell into a deep state of self-doubt.

He had absolute confidence in the power of his Devil Fruit. In every previous battle, the venomous cloud had never failed. Anyone who touched the poisonous gas released from his body would gradually lose their five senses, slowly slip into hallucinations, and eventually lose the ability to fight.

An attack in the form of a gaseous cloud possessed no physical entity. Wearing a gas mask was completely useless against it; the effect remained identical the moment any part of the body came into contact.

Yet Buffon right before his eyes acted as if nothing was wrong, his movements completely unrestricted.

"Could it be that because this guy is also a doctor, he injected himself with an antitoxin beforehand?"

Magellan's guess was only half right. Buffon had indeed injected an antitoxin in advance, but it was not something he researched through medical skill. Instead, it was a new ability developed using the Hormone Fruit—Anti-toxin Hormones.

Recalling the original story, Buffon was extremely clear about Magellan's moves, so before coming up, he had isolated the power of the Hormone Fruit and applied it to himself.

However, this skill had a time limit. Given Buffon's current mastery of it, the duration was roughly one hour.

Although Magellan was known as the Poison Man, his Devil Fruit ability was not of the Logia type, but rather Paramecia, meaning he did not possess the ability to turn his body into elements.

Therefore, Buffon could strike his physical body without needing to use Armament Haki, which was another point that deeply frustrated Magellan.

Past opponents had long since lost their fighting capabilities under the indiscriminate attacks of his venomous clouds. Even the few who could endure it suffered a plummet in combat strength.

A legend had always circulated in Impel Down: one should practically never engage in close-quarters combat with Magellan, because touching his body meant instant poisoning.

Thus, ever since acquiring this fruit, much like numerous Logia users, his physical body had not been struck by an enemy for years.

At the same time, his Venom-Venom Fruit had a very obvious drawback: the toxic gas exhaled from his mouth contaminated food. When the user ingested food tainted with toxic gas, it severely impaired their physical condition.

Furthermore, if he frequently utilized his fruit's abilities, his own body would remain in a constant state of diarrhea due to inhaling excessive toxic gas.

While this did not cause substantial damage to his health, having to endure severe abdominal cramps while battling Buffon made him feel extremely miserable.

With his sharp battle instincts, he dodged a slashing wave hurtling toward him from Buffon and decided to change tactics.

Magellan instantly took to the air, expelling bubbles filled with tear gas from his mouth to attack Buffon.

At this moment, Buffon felt a slight pang of annoyance in his heart. Even without relying on the Anti-toxin Hormones, he could have utilized the Wax-Wax Fruit's ability to neutralize toxins to fight Magellan, entirely avoiding the constraints of the hormone's time limit.

However, the original owner of the Wax-Wax Fruit, Mr. 3, was also currently inside Impel Down, rendering that ability unusable to him.

Knowing he had a better way to deal with Magellan yet being unable to use it made Buffon feel somewhat helpless regarding this limitation of his cheat-like system.

Still, this was for the best; at the very least, his secret would not be exposed for the time being.

Buffon instantly switched his fruit power to the Pyre-Pyre Fruit, emitting bursts of high-temperature flames from his fingertips to meet the toxic gas bombs spat out by Magellan.

The moment the high-temperature flames collided with the toxic gas bombs, a massive explosion occurred. The air current generated by the blast also dispersed some of the lingering venomous cloud.

The Den Den Mushi surveillance camera, previously paralyzed, temporarily resumed its function.

It was precisely this brief moment of recovery that allowed the jailer responsible for observation in the monitoring room to discover a few clues.

Even though the footage lasted only a few tens of seconds, the jailer managed to confirm Buffon's identity from those blurry images.

In an instant, this news was transmitted to every single level of Impel Down!

Hannyabal, who had just taken the elevator to Level 6, froze like a statue upon hearing the news.

"When did this guy sneak in? Could he have gotten in through disguise?"

Everyone who entered or exited Impel Down today, except for Crocodile's group, had undergone a cleansing bath in seawater; not even Impel Down's own jailers were an exception.

This was an additional inspection measure implemented after Moria was sent here, specifically to prevent Buffon from sneaking in.

Because Buffon had Bentham and Absalom by his side—two users skilled in disguise and concealment—only after everyone had been cleansed by seawater and their Devil Fruit abilities temporarily disabled could their true identities be sorted out.

Thinking of this, Hannyabal suddenly realized where the problem lay: Buffon and his companions must have disguised themselves as the three jailers who escorted Crocodile down.

"Dammit!"

Hannyabal cursed himself under his breath and strode toward a secret room on Level 6.

...

After the massive explosion subsided, Magellan looked at Buffon, who stood there unharmed, and the ominous feeling in his heart grew heavier.

Through the recent battle, he re-evaluated Buffon's strength and felt that the slightest carelessness would lead to his defeat by Buffon's hands.

The riot on Level 5 was clearly also orchestrated by Buffon to coordinate the rescue operation for Moria.

If this riot remained restricted to Level 5, it would be manageable, but once it spread to Level 6 and released those monsters imprisoned there, the consequences would be unimaginable.

As the Warden of Impel Down, properly guarding the prisoners within was his primary duty. As for assisting the World Government in surrounding and suppressing Buffon, Magellan considered it secondary.

Succeeding wouldn't earn him a promotion, and failing wouldn't severely impact him—at worst, he would just be demoted to Vice Warden.

In any case, he felt his whole life would be consumed by Impel Down!

With that thought, three massive pools of purple venom instantly erupted from behind Magellan.

As the venom rose into the air, it gradually formed the shapes of three vicious dragons and lunged toward Buffon.

"Out comes the Venom Demon? It seems Magellan is finally getting serious."

Buffon muttered to himself inwardly, then switched his fruit to the Shadow-Shadow Fruit state.

Although Magellan's fruit was of the Paramecia class, the toxic attacks he released were undoubtedly elemental attacks.

Having fought Blackbeard and Ace, Buffon was well aware of the destructive power of elemental attacks, so he did not dare to lower his guard.

Covering his entire body in Armament Haki, concealing Black Water beneath his gloves, he charged toward Magellan.

Under Magellan's control, the three venomous dragons opened their massive jaws and lunged to tear at Buffon.

While using the goalkeeper's ultimate technique, Pendulum Shatter, to dodge the venomous dragons, Buffon secretly attempted to absorb the dragons' toxins using Black Water.

His dodge was fine, but it spelled disaster for the prisoners locked away in the Level 4 prison.

Although Buffon was the primary target of the attack, the venomous dragons were massive in size. Once Buffon dodged, the prisoners bound hand and foot in their cells could not escape unscathed.

The toxic gas released earlier merely caused people's five senses to gradually fade.

But these venomous dragons were made of genuine, physical venom!

Once again, piercing screams echoed throughout Level 4: "If you can't beat the new guy, just surrender! Don't drag us into this!"

"Magellan, you bastard! Can't you aim properly? Is a fledgling newcomer really enough to make you lose your touch?"

Of course, there were also pirates whose strength slightly exceeded the rest, such as Mr. 1.

Though they remained silent on the surface, in their hearts they hoped Buffon would thoroughly defeat Magellan.

Perhaps then Buffon would experience a sudden surge of benevolence and release them to escape together.

Buffon rushed right up to Magellan, his left hand condensing a mass of black material, and pressed it directly against Magellan's chest.

Magellan did not dodge; at this point, he wanted to land a heavy blow of his own. Even if he couldn't completely defeat this guy, he had to at least injure him.

Only then could he break away to suppress Level 5 and safeguard Level 6.

He would also lure Buffon down to Level 6; once there, even if Impel Down's crew couldn't hold him off, the temporary reinforcements dispatched there could step up.

By then...

However, the moment Magellan's venom-drenched hand touched Buffon, he discovered not a trace of corrosive effect.

Not only was Buffon's combat suit completely undamaged, but the fabric also seemed to possess an absorbent property, continuously devouring the venom on Magellan's body.

Startled, Magellan quickly pulled his hand back, but his chest had already been struck by Buffon.

The toxins within his body were rapidly diminishing under the influence of that mass of black material.

Even the abdominal pain that had tormented him for years showed a trend of easing up.

Momentarily stunned, Magellan actually forgot to continue his attack.

Buffon, too, felt bewildered. Logically speaking, Black Water's attack should be able to suck in and absorb all matter it touched, but why did it only absorb Magellan's venom this time?

Could it be that the venom's density was too high, causing the Black Water to selectively filter it?

A moment later, Buffon withdrew his hand and stepped back, then used the Black Water controlled in his palm to release all the absorbed venom back out.

Fighting poison with poison, he shot it toward Magellan.

Seeing this, while astonished by Buffon's abilities, Magellan sneered from the bottom of his heart: "I am a Poison Man myself. Will using a toxin attack against me have any effect?"

Yet, the moment he came into contact with the venom, a heart-wrenching pain made Magellan face reality.

Though both were toxins, Buffon's venom, whose color infinitely approached black, clearly exerted a suppressing effect on him—a very distinct suppression against the toxins within his own body.

Buffon did not find this particularly strange. After all, he knew that Black Water's ability possessed the effect of absorption followed by compression and reorganization.

For ordinary objects, that might be a destructive disaster, much like Snow Princess's clothes earlier.

However, for venom, this function became a means of purification and sublimation.

Having discovered this new function, Buffon felt that Magellan's toxins truly posed no significant threat to him anymore.

Moreover, the fact that the venom's corrosive action was ineffective against the Wapalloy combat suit also allowed him to heave a sigh of relief.

Buffon estimated the time; the Anti-toxin Hormones should last for about another 15 minutes. If he couldn't resolve this trouble with Magellan, he had no idea if administering another shot would cause any side effects.

Meanwhile, Magellan, whose body was being corroded by venom for the first time in his life, felt his anger reach its absolute peak—a humiliation he had never suffered in his entire life.

He had long since thrown the task of detaining Buffon to the back of his mind. Ever dutiful, he now only wanted to break away from this battlefield as quickly as possible to quell the turmoil on Level 5.

With that thought, he unsealed the restriction on his body, elevating the power of his venom to a higher tier.

Magellan released a mass of bright red venom from his body, which moments later formed the shape of a demon with small wings on its back.

This was his ultimate trump card!

Venom Demon: Judgment of Hell!

Releasing a skull-shaped giant of lethal venom from his body, unlike the usual purple poison, this move utilized a specially crafted crimson poison. Any substance that came into contact with it would become infected, gradually spreading and eroding everything, while a human touching even a trace of it would watch it relentlessly crawl over their body until death.

The demon's size was equivalent to several times Magellan's own body, stretching all the way from the ground to the ceiling of Level 4.

Under Magellan's control, the demon opened its arms and lunged toward Buffon.

Looking at the crimson demon, Buffon instantly recalled the tragic state of the entire Impel Down when this move was unleashed in the original story, and a hint of worry rose in his heart.

There were no historical records in the original work to reference, and Buffon dared not be certain whether his combat suit could withstand it.

After weighing his options, Buffon decided that using the Shadow-Shadow Fruit was the safest bet.

In an instant, Buffon raised one hand high above his head, and a massive mass of dark material appeared in his palm, expanding continuously.

Simultaneously, within the Level 4 cells, most of the prisoners let out despairing wails: "Magellan, are you trying to destroy all of Level 4? Are our lives in your eyes..."

"Shut your traps, all of you! As long as you don't escape, your life or death inside Impel Down rests entirely in my hands!"

With that, Magellan controlled the Venom Demon to lunge toward Buffon, believing that Buffon's absorption ability must have a limit; otherwise, why would he have stopped earlier?

At this moment, the dark material in Buffon's hand had also expanded to its absolute limit. Seeing the Venom Demon charging at him, Buffon employed the goalkeeper's ultimate technique, Precise Pitch, hurling the mass of darkness forward.

The instant the two intersected, a scene unfolded that left everyone on Level 4 in disbelief.

The Venom Demon was slowly being absorbed by the dark material—first an arm, then the head...

Seeing this, Magellan increased his output of venom!

"You want to absorb it? I'll let you absorb your fill! I'll bloat you to bursting with venom!"

His roar echoed across the sky of Level 4. Hearing those words, the pirates felt as though the sound were the death knell tolled by the Grim Reaper for them.

Looking at Buffon, he had already switched his fruit to the Munch-Munch Fruit.

He was terrified that the dark material might genuinely burst from overabsorption, leaving him no choice but to rely on the Munch-Munch Fruit's power to patch it up.

Crucially, he had no idea what the consequences would be if it ruptured.

As for whether he would be poisoned, Buffon wasn't too worried; the Munch-Munch Fruit's ability worked by devouring and synthesizing.

It shouldn't cause any substantial harm to his body.

"If only Reiju were here, she could just suck it all away!"

Thinking to himself, Buffon charged directly into the mass of dark material he had just created.

Under its cover, the crimson venom and dark material surged together into Buffon's mouth.

Meanwhile, Magellan grew increasingly alarmed, sensing that Buffon's absorption capacity had no end in sight. If this continued, he feared...

Yet if he stopped now, goodness knew whether the venom generated by Buffon's move would become even more tyrannical.

Before he could make a decision, however, a sudden wave of refreshing clarity washed over his body.

The abdominal cramps that had plagued him for years miraculously vanished, feeling just as they did before he became a Poison Man.

"Could this... be the mark of a top-tier doctor?"

Before this absurd thought could fully process in his mind, Buffon's fist was already hurtling straight at him.

Unable to evade in time, and lacking even the fraction of a second needed to activate Haki for defense, Magellan was knocked unconscious by Buffon's single punch in that exact manner.

"It seems this guy's venom isn't inexhaustible either!"

Glancing at the "unconscious" Magellan, Buffon looked at the three dark-red little dragons coiled around his hand, a new phase of his plan already forming in his mind.

"Since you're never leaving Impel Down anyway, your shadow might as well go toward replenishing my zombies."

As for Level 4, it plunged entirely into a state of deathly stillness.

The inmates inside the cells never expected Buffon to actually defeat Magellan.

With jaws agape, they stared at Buffon until a voice abruptly shattered the silence: "Big Boss, take me with you! I'm willing to follow you for the rest of my life!"