"What does what he did have to do with me?! And another thing, I'm Lucy, not Luffy!"
"Ha! Now I'm even more certain you're that guy's grandson. Only someone from the Monkey family could think like that."
In Chinjao's eyes, the first half of Luffy's sentence could only be said if he acknowledged that Garp was his grandfather, while the second half seemed like a clumsy attempt to cover it up.
What Chinjao didn't know was that, given the current situation, the Monkey family's intelligence was probably all concentrated in Dragon; at least before Dragon had more screen time and his prestige completely diminishes.
Boom!
Chinjao's feet had already shattered the arena beneath him, and his beard was gradually fluttering up and down under the force of his aura.
"Enough talk, experience for yourself the resentment I've built up over decades!"
The Haki in Chinjao's body began to flow in a special pattern. The Happo Navy's secret technique, passed down through generations of its leaders: Drill Dragon Nail.
It didn't necessarily require using one's head to strike; it was a unique way of generating power. Whether using the head, the feet, or a weapon, as long as one could break through the Ice Continent, they were deemed worthy.
Up to this day, even the 13th Leader of the Happo Navy, Sai, had yet to truly master this secret art. He was still in the process of learning.
In the Happo Navy's twelve generations of inheritance, each leader had their own way of executing it.
It was just that Chinjao's drill-shaped head subtly allowed him to unleash its power to the maximum.
"The leader of the Happo Navy, Chinjao, seems to have his eyes on Lucy! There appears to be some bad blood between them, and the surrounding contestants are wisely keeping their distance…oh, wait, there's one exception!"
Gatz's urgent commentary echoed from above. His words, unintentionally, even helped some contestants by letting them understand the shifting situation through his narration.
At this moment, Gatz's voice suddenly grew more excited.
"It's the man who reveres our king, Doflamingo, who fought his way all the way from the first half of the Grand Line, wiping out every last one of those who mocked us as a nation of savage pirates, Deadly Bullet of Dressrosa - Bellamy!
"At today's grand event, this man seeks to realize his long-held dream: to openly ascend and become an officer of the Donquixote Family!"
"Known as the Hyena, he's launching a surprise attack on Chinjao and Lucy!"
Bellamy, with a bounty of 195 million Berries, had once been instantly defeated by Luffy's single punch back in Mock Town. Two years later, here he was again.
He bore no hatred toward Luffy. That punch had, in a way, awakened him, and made him stop being a frog at the bottom of a well.
He had made it this far fueled purely by his admiration for Doflamingo.
And with Diamante's "accidental" elimination, Bellamy, who aspired to become a Donquixote Family officer, naturally became the new favorite of the audience.
"Straw Hat! Take this! I'm not the same man I was two years ago!"
Besides his lingering devotion to Doflamingo, Bellamy also remembered Luffy clearly. He'd been wanting to talk to him about some things.
As the audience cheered, Bellamy's legs transformed into springs, repeatedly compressing and then rebounding, as he used the surroundings of the Colosseum to continuously build up kinetic energy through his spring-like motions.
"Spring Death Knock!"
Compared to two years ago, Bellamy had grown a lot, but he'd picked the wrong time. Chinjao had already marked Luffy as his prey, determined to take him down personally. Bellamy's attempt to intervene only ended up drawing Chinjao's attention first.
"Don't get in the way, brat!"
Aiming for Luffy, Bellamy never even got close before Chinjao smashed him away with a single punch. The same cheers that had been deafening just moments before now turned into an awkward silence.
The Corrida Colosseum had always been the Donquixote Family's playground. There were many competitors, but as the arena's long-time champion, Diamante had always projected an image of invincibility, power engraved into his being.
But these people, skilled in civil wars, all appeared pitifully weak when facing the true top-tier powerhouses of the seas.
Diamante, who was "instantly defeated" by the "nameless old man," and Bellamy, now smashed into the ground by Chinjao, gave everyone a peculiar feeling — the Donquixote Family was weak. Their so-called strength in the past only existed because they had never met real strong opponents.
"Brat, looks like you've made quite a few enemies."
"Yeah, I remember him... was his name Mally or something?"
"It's Bellamy! You idiot, at least remember your enemies' names! Forget it, this has nothing to do with me! Die, Hasshoken Secret Art: Drill Dragon Nail!"
Chinjao pressed his palms together, then leapt high into the air, Haki condensing into a single point before crashing down toward Luffy below.
"It's here! Boss Chinjao's ultimate move, the legendary weapon said to have shattered the Ice Continent with one strike!"
"Facing Lucy, Chinjao has gone all out, using his strongest technique!"
But contestant Lucy didn't choose to clash head-on, he's dodging instead. Wait! The match is over! The D Block winners are Lucy and Chinjao!"
Gatz rubbed his eyes in disbelief, as if seeing something bizarre.
There was no doubt about the power of Chinjao's Drill Dragon Nail, yet Luffy's reaction was uncharacteristic. He avoided the attack instead of meeting it head-on.
That was the result of Hercules's two years of training. Luffy had learned that if there was no need to take a hit, he shouldn't.
Since the attack relied on Chinjao's head, once he locked onto his target, changing direction midair was nearly impossible. So when Luffy dodged, Chinjao's Drill Dragon Nail struck the arena directly.
Having recovered his pointed head much earlier on, the decline in Chinjao's strength wasn't as terrifying as before. So, his headbutt shattered the entire arena, and the powerful shockwaves sent both Sai and Boo flying.
When the dust finally settled, only Luffy and Chinjao were still standing on the remaining arena, thus triggering the condition for the match's end.
"Is Luffy really this lucky?"
Ace glanced at Marco beside him. He'd thought Luffy might struggle in this fight, but now it seemed he had underestimated his little brother's luck.
"Old man! This is a tournament stage! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Sai, having fallen into the water, slashed down a fighting fish trying to attack and asked irritably to Chinjao.
"Damn it! The grandson of Garp actually didn't go head-to-head? I was careless..."
Hearing Gatz's warning that further fighting would lead to disqualification, Chinjao temporarily swallowed his rage.
"Straw Hat boy, cherish these last days of yours while you can! I'll crush you myself in the finals! Don't even think about running, I'll be watching you."
Advancing to the finals was quite important to him, so he didn't attack again. After pulling his grandson out of the water, he returned to the preparations room with a furious scowl.
After D Block's match concluded, Redfield had Pato make some preparations. He handed Pato a few leaves.
"Alright, that should do it. These will be enough to let you advance."
"Oh, thanks, boss. That makes things much easier."
These were no ordinary leaves, they were transformation leaves.
Pato wasn't strong in direct combat, but he was the user of Mythical Zoan, Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Bake-danuki, capable of transforming into various objects using the transformation leaves in his hands.
He could even turn into a pen, allowing Redfield to use his power to bring to life any person from his memories.
Though those recreations couldn't display the original characters' full strength, they could still copy their abilities. Even greatly weakened, they were more than enough to deal with some opponents.
On his own, Pato could only transform into simple tools like a telescope, but with Redfield's help, he could manifest people from Redfield's own memories.
These transformation leaves were Pato's summoning contracts. In essence, among this group of warriors, Pato was an unconventional kind of summoner.
"Which block are you in?"
"Block F, still a while to go. Boss Red, by the way, did that girl agree to your offer?"
"No. Being a pirate isn't the kind of life she likes."
"Then Boss Red, do you still plan to help her?"
"That depends on my mood. Who knows? Come on, let's go. We'll come back when it's your turn."
Setting Pato on his shoulder, Redfield walked away with him. On the way to the spectator stands, they happened to cross paths with Yamato and her group, and suddenly, his body froze for a moment.
"What's wrong, Boss Red?"
"Nothing. But this Dressrosa… is even more interesting than I imagined."
Reading minds had become a habit for him. When meeting someone unfamiliar he wanted to understand, Redfield instinctively tried to use his ability.
The Straw Hat crew, Rebecca—he had already encountered many fascinating people according to his standards. But now, he found an even stranger group.
When he looked toward Yamato, all he saw was emptiness. Neither her memories nor her thoughts were visible to him.
At first, he simply assumed her strength was great enough to resist him. Her bounty, her identity, and how much importance others placed on her all supported that assumption.
So, he turned his attention to the people beside her. But before he could see anything, a massive black dragon suddenly appeared there and directly "forced" him out.
He had met many individuals who could block his perception, but this was the first time he'd seen a whole group do it.
The islanders with missing memories, the mysterious Yamato and her group, the naive Straw Hats and Rebecca. This was probably the best voyage he'd had since his return
The one who had blocked Redfield's spying was, of course, the consciousness of Zekrom within the mental space. They had only exchanged a brief glance, with no further interaction. But in a corner of the Corrida Colosseum, a Marine quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"This is Vice Admiral Maynard, reporting the latest situation. The Beasts Pirates' Oni Princess has led a team to the Corrida Colosseum. There are six members in total, five of whom have bounties exceeding 100 million."
"From the Big Mom Pirates, the Sweet Commanders Katakuri, Daifuku, and Oven have been sighted, along with the Homies soldiers created by Big Mom herself guarding the ships along the shore."
"The Whitebeard Pirates, led by Marco the Phoenix, with Diamond Jozu and Fire Fist Ace leading the Decalvan Brothers and Ice Witch Whitey Bay. Their total numbers are unclear."
"Lastly… a possible sighting of the Aloof—ah!"
Maynard suddenly let out a scream, and then there was silence.
"Vice Admiral Maynard? Vice Admiral Maynard! What happened? Please respond! Please respond!"
An anxious voice came through the Den Den Mushi, but there was no reply, only the sound of liquid dripping onto the ground.
Behind Maynard, the one-armed Shiryu hung up the Den Den Mushi with a bloodthirsty smile.
"As expected… the Marines are here too."
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