"The winner of the seventh division is 'Fire Fist' - Portcas D. Ace!"
Sabo greeted Ace as he walked off the field and praised, "Ace, you did a good job."
"Of course, you don't even know who I am." Ace grinned: "By the way, Sabo, are you going to play soon?"
"Well, I'm in the tenth division. Fortunately, we are separated and don't fight in the same division."
"This must be the strategy of the Dawn Pirates..." Bello Betty on the side said with a smile: "If you meet in advance in the audition, wouldn't you lose a powerful player in the one-on-one duel in the knockout round? ?This will lead to lower ratings."
"Commander, are you saying that the Dawn Pirates are controlling the martial arts competitions?" Haku couldn't accept it.
"It's not manipulation, it's just trying to satisfy the audience's appetite." Betty bit her cigarette butt and replied casually.
"Isn't this cheating?" Kerla was a little angry.
"Huh?" Bello Betty glanced at her: "Why, do you think it's unfair to other people?"
"Uh..." Kella was speechless.
"For strong players, no matter who the opponent is, they will win and then advance to the finals. For the audience sitting in the audience, they can see a more exciting battle, and no one will suffer."
"But those low-powered contestants..." Kerra said frustratedly.
"The moment these contestants signed up, their inner desires defeated their reason." Bello Betty educated: "They all put their own lives at risk, why do you worry about them?"
"Do you understand?" Bello Betty finally emphasized.
"I, I understand." Kerra nodded.
Sabo said jokingly: "How serious, Commander."
"I'm not kidding." Bello Betty said with a serious expression: "Although my stay in the Kingdom of China was limited, I found that the entire Kingdom of China is developing vigorously: no one will be ridiculed by others because of their humble background. , as long as you have the ability and merit, you will rise to a high position, and people are no longer forced to be limited to one level due to class reasons."
Ace nodded as if he had some understanding and said: "That's why the Kingdom of China can easily defeat the World Government and defeat those non-joining countries."
Sabo shrugged and said, "However, there is no objection from the nobles here."
"The nobles of the Kingdom of China? They have all died a long time ago!" Bello Betty sneered: "Or they were put in prison for reform through labor. There were originally two classes of daimyo and samurai here. After two major purges, the original The old strata were swept away so Eric could make drastic improvements.”
"Well..." Bello Betty nuzzled at the two of them: "Won't you two be living in prison in a month?"
"Uh..." Ace and Sabo lowered their heads at the same time.
"I-I'm ready to go on the field..." Sabo made an excuse to escape, followed closely by Ace.
"Huh..." Bello Betty opened his mouth and spit out the smoke along with his annoyance: "Saab is too young. Although his strength is not weak, he is too easily influenced by the outside world."
"Kirra, you have to keep a close eye on Sabo."
"Me?" Kerla pouted: "He doesn't listen to what I say."
"Really?" Bello Betty chuckled, noncommittal.
…
Yamato sat down and said, "That fire fist just now was very powerful."
"Well, he is this year's super newcomer after all." Robin replied casually and continued to flip through the books in his hand.
Not only Xiangling, Eric recalled many members. Robin was responsible for sorting out information. Yamato, Chitong, Kurotong and others increased their defensive strength to prevent short-sighted thieves from causing trouble during the martial arts festival.
The crisp sound of "ta da" boots was getting closer and closer, and Crocodile, wearing a black fur coat, revealed his figure in front of the two of them.
Robin asked in confusion: "Shichibukai? Are you looking for me?"
"Nicole Robin..." Crocodile's eyes flashed and he said, "I have wanted to see you a long time ago."
"..." Robin closed the book and put the book in his hand on the table.
"Robin, do you know him?" Yamato asked doubtfully.
"No, I don't know him personally, but we should have seen each other on the wanted poster." Robin pursed his lips and replied.
"I have something to talk to Robin." Crocodile turned his eyes and landed on Yamato.
"Oh..." Yamato was still sitting on the sofa, showing no intention of getting out of the way for Crocodile.
"..." Few people dared to ignore what he said, and veins bulged on Crocodile's forehead.
"If you have anything to do, just say it here." Robin said. Even if Yamato left, she didn't want to be alone with Crocodile.
"I heard that you like history?" Crocodile could only get to the point from Robin's interest: "I know where there is a historical text."
"Oh?" Robin raised his eyebrows and looked calmly at Crocodile, who had hidden most of the information.
"Where?"
"Alabasta."
"..." Robin fell silent. She was familiar with history and knew that the Neferutali family, the royal family of the Kingdom of Alabasta, was one of the 20 royal families that created the [World Government] 800 years ago. However, for some unknown reason, Naferutali family The Filutali family refused and moved to the Holy Land of Marigioa to become Celestial Dragons.
If it is an ancient royal family that existed eight hundred years ago, it may not necessarily have preserved a small number of historical texts. If you see that historical text, you may be able to know the blank hundred years...
Robin suddenly stopped guessing that Crocodile, one of the Seven Sea Warriors under the King, did not go to sea but instead became a hero who wiped out pirates in the Kingdom of Alabasta. This was unreasonable.
Could it be that he has stayed in Alabasta because of this piece of historical text? But history is so attractive that a great pirate spent more than ten years looking for it?
She thought of the historical text inlaid just below the golden clock that she saw on Sky Island - recording the location of the ancient weapon Neptune.
Could it be that this piece of historical text records the location of another ancient weapon?
"Thanks for letting me know." Robin smiled and said, "If I have the chance, I will definitely go to Alabasta to read the historical text."
"...When you come, remember to notify in advance." Crocodile had no intention of snatching Robin away in front of the Dawn Pirates. He threw a note and left without looking back: "I will do my best to serve as guest and host." It’s appropriate.”
Robin reached out and grabbed the falling note: "Definitely."
After Crocodile left, Yamato asked: "Robin, do you really want to go to the Kingdom of Alabasta? I feel like this person has a strong..."
Yamato suddenly stopped, not knowing what words to use to describe it.
Robin smiled and asked: "Conspiracy?"
"Yes, yes! It smells like a conspiracy!" Yamato nodded repeatedly and said, "If I hadn't stayed with you, I feel like he would have kidnapped you directly."
"I think so too, but at least I have you." Robin pursed his lips and smiled at Yamato: "I can trust Yamato's strength."
"Haha!" Yamato scratched the back of his head: "If Eric hadn't allowed me to participate, maybe I would have won first place."
"Yeah." Robin agreed. Although she would not go to Alabasta alone, if she went with a companion...
Well, I wonder if Crocodile's expression will be so gloomy that he can shed tears?
…
Sabo clenched his hands tightly, and his raised fists were covered with a rich layer of armed domineering force. He hit the ring hard, his fists sank into the ground, and several huge cracks appeared on the ring: "Dragon Claw Fist——"
"Dragon's Breath!"
Then, using a zero-distance attack method similar to that of Cun Jin, a large amount of gas was poured into the ground through the position where his fists sank into the ground, causing the ground to begin to shatter with Sabo as the center. Finally, this power burst out in one breath, like a dragon's breath. The entire ground was destroyed.
The remaining dozens of contestants were all knocked away.
"It's amazing!" The person in charge of the commentary explained enthusiastically: "A dark horse has appeared! A Saab player who is only 17 years old has stood out from the audition and advanced to the knockout round!"
"Huh..." Sabo wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was different from Ace who ate the Burning Fruit. Except for Smoker's Smoke Fruit, the other natural types all had their own large-scale attacks, which was especially good for dealing with miscellaneous soldiers. use.
When it was Sabo's turn, he could only use his physical skills to knock away the other contestants one by one. He even showed mercy and none of the contestants he defeated died.
"Saab, you have become more powerful!" Ace said, "I really want to fight you once and see who is more powerful now!"
Sabo smiled and said: "Let's wait until the martial arts tournament is over before competing!"
"We agreed!"
…
"Aramaki's fingers stretched out and turned into vines!" The commentator shouted loudly: "Could he also be a Devil Fruit user!?"
"Hey, hey, hey..." Aramaki kicked away a corpse that he had sucked dry: "If I lose to you trash, how can I survive on the sea in the future?"
"Damn it, what kind of fruit power user is he-!?" The other contestants looked at Aramaki and the dozens of mummies hanging on the vines with fear on their faces.
"Hurry up and admit defeat, I don't want to waste time on you!"
Aramaki walked toward his opponent step by step. With every step he took, flowers and green grass would grow under his feet, forming a green belt full of flowers and grass.
"How could we give up so easily!"
"Since he can turn into a tree, who would use fire!? Burn him to death!"
The other contestants discovered Aramaki's weakness and immediately wanted to target it.
"This martial arts association has a good rule, that is, no matter how many people are killed during the competition, it will not violate the law..." Aramaki said slowly, his eyes full of contempt:
"Lahahaha, since you don't want to surrender, then I will kill you all!"
"Don't blame me? If you want to blame, blame you for being too weak!" Aramaki's hands connected to the ground, constantly spawning a large number of plants, and the entire arena turned into a forest in the blink of an eye:
"Forbidden hatred!"
"——!" Many people looked at Huang Mu who had turned into a monster, their eyes widening.
Sabo said to Ace: "Ace, your ability can restrain him..."
"Yeah." Ace agreed casually, and the two continued to watch the battle.
Aramu's body merged with the giant tree and turned into a huge tree man. A large number of branches and roots were crisscrossed, like an unstoppable forest wave, rushing towards everyone.
"Ahhhh——!"
The front thorn of each branch will penetrate several human bodies. Nature turns into a ferocious beast that kills without blinking an eye, ruthlessly harvesting the lives of the contestants.
One contestant lost the will to fight, turned his back to Aramaki and ran away, shouting loudly: "I, I abstain!"
However, Aramu, who indulged in bullying the weak, didn't seem to notice. He raised a spiral branch and pointed its sharp branch at the escaping person from a distance.
"Crackling"
A dark bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, looking extremely dazzling in the daylight.
Arammu, who was about to launch an attack, shook his body and shouted in extreme horror: "Overlord color and domineering force!?"
"Who is it!?"
Esdeath stood in the main venue, looking at Aramaki on the big screen expressionlessly: "You are not allowed to attack those who abstain. This is the rule of the martial arts association."
As if hearing Esdeath's stern warning, Aramaki hurriedly agreed: "I, I understand—!"
"Esdeath, don't suddenly release your domineering aura in the crowd..." Black Eyes pointed at the auditorium not far away: "Look, the audience fainted."
"If I don't do this, I can't stop him from breaking the rules of the martial arts association." Esdeath shrugged his shoulders and raised the corner of his mouth: "However, this guy's strength is pretty good..."
The black pupil was stunned: "Esdeath, are you thinking..."
"Hey!" Arammu turned around and glared at the other contestants: "Those who want to give up should leave the ring as soon as possible!"
After less than half of the contestants left the field, Aramaki began to deal with the enemy again.
"Burn him to death!" Several of the contestants had already used their own unique methods to ignite flames and attack the branches and trunks wrapped around Aramaki.
"Useless—firebreak!"
"I deliberately showed off such an obvious weakness. Don't you think that I will be killed so easily by you?"
The remaining contestants originally hoped to defeat Aramaki with flames, but they did not expect that Aramaki had a way to deal with it.
Seeing that the situation was irreversible, the remaining contestants abandoned their weapons and gave up. In the end, Aramaki won without any suspense.
…
The two Shichibukai, Bartholomew Bear and Boya Hancock, also easily advanced to the knockout rounds.
The bear uses Bear Blast, blowing up all the contestants. Hancock uses his powers to turn all contestants into stone. What the two of them did made their reputations even more terrifying.
The 64 auditions alone took five days. There was a day's rest between the auditions and the knockout rounds. It took four days to predict 32 games of 64 to advance to 32; it also took four days to predict 32 to advance to 16...
Although there will be fewer trials in the following competitions, the strength of each player is becoming more balanced. With the average physical strength of each player, it may take a lot longer.
After a day of brief repairs and a shady drawing ceremony, the exciting one-on-one battle finally began.
Some people died, but not completely...
