Over a decade ago, no one believed that Sabo was still alive. Not only Luffy and Ace, but even Dadan had cried her eyes out.
Though she complained every day about how much she hated those brats and wished they'd disappear, Dadan, in fulfilling her duty as their foster mother, genuinely cared for them. The effort this mountain bandit put in for these three brothers had long exceeded what one would expect from a guardian in name only.
No one had expected that Sabo had been rescued by Dragon on his way home and later trained to become a high-ranking officer of the Revolutionary Army.
Normally, the noise of the audience wouldn't distract the contestants in the arena, but Sabo was different. He had already noticed Luffy and Ace, and the reason he hadn't approached them beforehand was because he wanted to give them a surprise.
Seeing the dumbfounded expressions on Ace and Luffy's faces, he felt his goal had been achieved.
"You two really haven't changed a bit."
Sabo muttered as he looked in their direction. The explosion had left only a scar on his face and had affected his brain enough to make him lose part of his memory; other than that, his body had suffered no serious injuries.
Over time, and with the help of certain news, he gradually began to remember the past. Watching Luffy being lectured by Hercules, he couldn't help but recall those earlier days.
"I'll catch up with them after I'm done here."
With that thought, Sabo suddenly raised his right hand and grabbed the spear thrusting toward him. Gatz had just announced the start of the match in H Block, and someone had already lost patience. Sabo could sense an intense killing intent coming from the attacker.
Most of the contestants were here for the Quake-Quake Fruit, but this person was different. He simply wanted to kill Sabo.
"Have we met somewhere before? I don't recall having any grudge with you."
"Don't remember?! How could you possibly forget something like this?! You people overthrew my country! My noble status, my slaves, everything I had is gone because of you!"
"And you are saying you forgot so casually?! Damn Revolutionary Army ba*tards, all of you should die!"
Under Dragon's leadership, the Revolutionary Army had been steadily growing over the years, taking more and more action, and by now had toppled the governments of several nations.
From the perspective of the Revolutionary Army, they were pursuing a great cause. But to kings and nobles, they were heinous villains; lawless evildoers more detestable than pirates.
Pirates mostly plundered wealth, and even if someone is robbed, the royal capital itself would remain fine.
The Revolutionary Army, however, was different. As Dragon's reach expands, these members of the Revolutionary Army were truly digging up their roots.
"Sir Veril of the Tatako Kingdom has launched the first attack! It's said he entered the tournament hoping to gain the power to restore his nation, but that dream seems about to shatter!"
Gatz watched as Sabo crushed the enemy's spear with one hand, then spun his arm and brought the pipe in his other hand down on the man's head, knocking him out cold on the spot.
Gatz's intelligence was relatively thorough; apart from a few details that were outdated due to time, the rest was quite comprehensive, and it is thanks to Marine bounty posters.
Bounty posters listed not only the reward but also the full name, and often came with a brief summary of the person's abilities, affiliations, and other details, though most people ignored that information.
For a commentator like Gatz, however, such details were crucial. Unless it was someone like Redfield, an old relic imprisoned for decades and who had long disappeared from public memory, he could usually find at least some information about them, enough to avoid being left speechless.
These days, anyone who could hold a top position in a major organization wasn't someone who couldn't fight…well, except for Buggy.
For Sabo, this arena held no particularly troublesome opponents. Most were of the level he could knock out with a single swing of his pipe. As for Yamato, she was indeed strong, but Sabo had no intention of fighting her. His goal was the remaining qualifying slot; he didn't need to be stronger than Yamato, only to outlast everyone else.
"Want to guess how long it'll take the young miss to finish this match?"
"No idea. Depends on her mood. If she feels like it, she could drag it out for half an hour. If she's not in the mood, one minute?"
"I'd say thirty seconds is enough…maybe even faster."
Speed and others, whose battle had already ended, began guessing how long Yamato's fight would last. They even discussed how Yamato might choose to end the match and placed a small wager: whoever guessed correctly wouldn't have to clean the deck for the next month.
Yamato didn't keep them waiting long. Watching the scuffle before her that looked more like children fighting, she decided to take the most direct approach.
"Let's wrap this up quickly. The finals should be a lot more interesting than this."
She had only come out to run away from danger; joining the tournament had never been her real goal. Even if she wanted to kill some time, she wouldn't do it through such meaningless battles.
From the moment she stepped into the arena, she hadn't shown any intention of drawing a weapon.
"This woman's bounty is 2.9 billion?"
"No idea. I can't really tell. Wanna give it a shot? If we take her down, we'll become famous overnight."
Because Yamato hadn't made any moves, some of the more naïve contestants started getting ideas. But before they could act, a terrifying aura burst out from Yamato's body, sweeping across the entire arena in an instant.
Even the surrounding seawater seemed to react to the surge of aura, as sudden waves rose and rippled across the already restless surface.
The air itself felt thick and sticky. Everyone in the arena felt a powerful sense of suffocation, and this was only the prelude.
Buzz!
A deep, resonant sound wave rippled through the air. For a moment, time seemed to freeze within the arena. Following that crashes and thuds echoed one after another as the warriors, who had been fighting fiercely only seconds ago, suddenly lost the strength to even hold their weapons.
Their eyes rolled back, and one by one they collapsed to the ground.
When it came to clearing out small fry, Conqueror's Haki was by far the easiest method. Under Yamato's Conqueror's Haki, only a handful of people in arena were still standing.
"Huh, there are still two on their feet? Guess I slipped up a bit."
Counting quickly, Yamato realized that including herself, there were three people still standing. She looked slightly displeased. Ever since she'd been unable to handle the twin dragons, the most tangible benefit she'd gained from the Dragon's Dimension was the growth of her Conqueror's Haki.
Conqueror's Haki was inherently an exceedingly rare type, possessed by only one in a million. Even though its prevalence has gradually increased with version update, it remains an exceptionally rare ability.
Those who awaken Conqueror's Haki are, without exception, powerful individuals; some may have aged, but all once dominated an era or made a name for themselves.
Yet even among such figures, there were few whose Conqueror's Haki could rival Yamato's.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, Hajrudin suddenly dropped to one knee, smashing a massive crater into the arena. Beads of sweat the size of basketball dripped from his forehead as he gasped desperately for air, mouth wide open.
Aside from Sabo, he was the only one who had managed to remain standing under the impact of Yamato's Conqueror's Haki. Just moments ago, he had seen Fenrir roaring at him, its razor-sharp fangs only a hair's breadth from his throat.
A slight movement would have been enough for those god-slaying fangs to end his life. Only when the waves of Conqueror's Haki subsided did he finally free himself from that terror.
A strong spirit and willpower are the means to resist Conqueror's Haki. The Giants have many ways to temper their minds; whether it's fasting during the Winter Solstice Festival or undergoing daily trials, each serves as training for both body and spirit.
Even so, Hajrudin had barely managed to hold on.
Yamato's Conqueror's Haki was released indiscriminately, and everyone within the arena was caught in its wave. Even her own mercenary subordinates were not spared, but this only made Hajrudin feel even more exhilarated.
For the battle-loving Giants, nothing was more thrilling than having a strong leader.
"Truly remarkable, Miss Yamato."
"Oh, you're not bad yourself. I honestly thought you wouldn't be able to withstand it, since you don't seem all that strong."
"..."
Lies don't hurt, it's the truth that cuts like a blade. Faced with Yamato's stark, unadorned honesty, Hajrudin felt even more wounded.
Meanwhile, Sabo adjusted his hat, realizing that things weren't going quite as he had expected. The giant and Yamato were actually on the same side.
If Yamato were to choose the second advancing contestant purely based on her personal preference, like Red had done before, things could get troublesome for him. Just as Sabo was preparing to deal with whatever came next, the previously calm audience finally snapped out of their shock.
Seeing the contestants in the arena suddenly collapse with their eyes rolled back, and the fighting fish floating lifelessly on the surface, they quickly realized that something extraordinary had just happened.
"What's going on? Out of 196 contestants in H Block, only three are still standing!"
It wasn't just them, even Gatz couldn't figure out what had happened. Because aside from the arena and the fighting fish in the water, Yamato's Conqueror's Haki hadn't affected anyone.
Her control over Conqueror's Haki had already reached a state of perfection. When it came to using it, indiscriminate release was easy; what was truly difficult was controlling its range and distinguishing friend from foe.
The stronger one's Conqueror's Haki, the finer one's control, and range was merely one aspect of that mastery.
This meant that those outside the arena had no idea what had just taken place. To them, Conqueror's Haki was something distant, something most would never witness in their entire lives.
Since Yamato's Conqueror's Haki hadn't affected them, all they saw was Yamato standing still while everyone else inexplicably collapsed, as if they'd all agreed to throw the match.
Ordinary spectators and commentators couldn't understand it, but some people could.
"Young Miss's Conqueror's Haki has gotten even stronger."
"Yeah, but… who actually won? Doesn't seem to match any of our guesses."
"I win. At least I guessed the method right, it just took a bit longer. Young Miss was a little too direct this time."
Mizerka won the wager by coming closest to the correct answer, though Speed and Solitaire weren't happy about it. Without Mizerka helping, their deck workload would double.
After all, neither of them had tails that could serve as high-pressure Water Guns to easily spray the decks clean.
They were Yamato's people, her trusted followers, and for them, the stronger their miss became, the happier they were. But outsiders didn't see it that way.
"Brother Katakuri…"
"I saw it. Her Conqueror's Haki… it's stronger than mine. Even stronger than it was a few years ago, how did she manage that?"
Katakuri had never fought Yamato, but they had crossed paths a few times before, and he'd witnessed the level of her Conqueror's Haki back then. That was precisely why he found this so hard to believe.
After all, Conqueror's Haki was something that can only be trained for control, it cannot be strengthened directly. It changes only as one's spirit grows.
For most people, the moment they awakened their Conqueror's Haki often marks its peak, representing the zenith of an ordinary person's spirit.
A child's spirit does not necessarily have to be smaller than an adult's. Being fearless and heedless of limits, these are precisely the factors that give some young people a higher drive.
"Interesting… how truly interesting. What an incredible youngster. The sea never stops giving birth to new heroes. With that kind of spirit, just how strong are you, I wonder?"
Redfield's attention was also drawn to that surge of Haki. He even sensed something unusual within it. His naturally heightened Observation Haki made his senses exceptionally sharp…so much so that even though he wasn't within the range of the Conqueror's Haki, he still perceived something distinct.
Some individuals' Conqueror's Haki contain special qualities that allow them to do extraordinary things. For example, Red Hair's Observation Killing could directly negate the opponent's Observation Haki, placing himself in a state where his movements cannot be predicted.
However, within Yamato's Conqueror's Haki, Redfield detected a unique form of intimidation - a power that interrogated the soul itself, capable of drawing out a person's deepest, most buried fears.
"Pato, once the tournament ends, don't leave my side. The number of guests on this island keeps increasing, and things here are far more complicated than I expected."
Redfield withdrew his hand from the head of an unconscious toy. Through mere proximity, his mind-reading could only skim the surface, but by touching directly, he could delve into detailed memories.
From the toy's memories, Redfield had already uncovered something unusual.
Meanwhile, in the arena, the H Block match had finally come to an end.
Yamato had no intention of helping Hajrudin advance, and Hajrudin, who believed in the Giants' honor, had no desire to progress through such a shortcut either. Yamato's Conqueror's Haki had cleared away the small fry, leaving only Sabo, the opponent Hajrudin deemed worthy of a real battle.
However, his massive size failed to grant him any real advantage. Instead, as he swung his arm, Sabo used it as leverage to climb up along it. This time, he didn't use his metal pipe. Instead, he raised his right hand.
Pressing his index and middle fingers together while keeping his ring and little fingers aligned, Sabo formed a peculiar hand sign.
"Dragon Claw Fist • Dragon's Breath!"
Sabo's fingers gripped Hajrudin's helmet, then a tremendous force erupted, sending Hajrudin crashing to the ground, signaling the end of the H Block match, and the beginning of Doflamingo's plan.
TN: Hey guys, I've picked up a new One Piece novel. You can search it: One Piece: The Undying King.
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