119 [119] Pure Dominance (1)
Chapter 119: Pure Dominance (1)
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On the tall tower-like structure built on top of the colosseum, the four guests and the host of this entire event exchanged words. All of them happened to be people of few words, with King and Smoothie being the most withdrawn, but Tsunade and Hancock did exchange some words, and that pushed the words to talk a bit as well.
"So far, things have only proceeded as predicted. It's our people who are winning, though there have been a few close calls." King the Wildfire commented, looking down at the arena that was being repaired for the next game.
"Indeed. Especially Don Chinjao, he was an unexpected enigma in this event, I wasn't expecting to see him here. Your representative got lucky, King." Charlotte Pudding added, giving King a look with her one eye that wasn't covered by her white hair.
King didn't take the 'lucky' jab in silence. "Careful, your representative's match is next. Luck may not shine on him if you bicker with others."
Smoothie just scoffed at that comment. Charlotte Daifuku was the middle brother of the triplets consisting of Katakuri and Oven, and while he was the weakest of the three in Smoothie's opinion, he was definitely one of the top 10 fighters in the family. Ulti herself was top 10 in the Beast Pirates, as she was a part of the "Fling Six" who were the strongest after Kaido and his three commanders. So really, Ulti and Daifuku could be said to be of similar strength, even if Smoothie would argue her brother was stronger than that little girl.
So, yes, she didn't think Daifuku would lose – even if he had a bounty of 300 million, a hundred less than the girl. Unless there was an enigma surpassing Don Chinjao in Block D, which she very much doubted, then things will indeed go as predicted and Daifuku will win.
"Now, guests. It would be better if you pay attention to the arena now, the participants for this match are walking in." Doflamingo intervened before any more talk could happen, and everyone respectfully looked down.
Many kinds of warriors walked in, varying in appearance and size, but few caught their attention. Other than the obvious Charlotte Daifuku, one of the warriors who caught their attention was a giant man, and they recognized him based on previous rumors.
When the word "giant man" was said, it didn't mean a particularly large man like Don Chinjao or even the taller King the Wildfire, it was a more literal word – because this was a 72 feet tall giant warrior from Elbaf.
Hajrudin the Mercenary.
There were another few eye-catchers, but the one that everyone noticed was Cavendish of the White Horse, the exiled prince of the Bourgeois Kingdom. Despite everything, the ladies in the room seemed to admit the titles about his beauty weren't exaggerated. Even Boa Hancock, the World's Most Beautiful woman, frowned slightly at him – though that probably went to show just feminine the man looked if his looks made Hancock worry.
Tsunade, Hancock, and Smoothie were one thing, but even the three female escorts present behind their seats were strong women. Such feminine beauty from a man wasn't attractive to them, unlike the general population of girls who yelled from the audience.
Just when they thought nobody interesting would be entering, the last participant of this entire event walked in. It was King the Wildfire who reacted first, nearly standing up. The others shot him a look, and while the escorts didn't know what was going on, the main guests understood.
The young man who had walked in was special, with full muscle visible through his cotton white tee shirt that had an open chain running down to his chest. That wasn't the special part, of course, the special part was the pair of wings behind him, with a wooden slate hanging between the two wings. From this far it wasn't very clear, but they were of dark color as if made of black feathers just like King himself.
"A fake."
But apparently, it was a fake – as the last Lunarian himself confirmed it. It wasn't Armament that made the wings black, they would have felt otherwise, but whatever King looked under his suit, it didn't suit the young man. So the wing itself wasn't enough to judge his identity.
"Probably some sort of Devil Fruit?" Doflamingo suggested. "Could be the Crow-Crow Fruit. Sadly, he is wearing a mask, can't say for sure who he is."
Whatever the case was, they would find out soon after. The inhabitants of this room, despite the passive tense aura present, as nobody had their guard down, watched the match begin. In the next few minutes, they were guests to one of the oddest fights in this colosseum to date.
* * *
"What is he doing?"
Mikita asked curiously, and Robin pulled on her white hat once more, trying to shade from the sunlight, as she stared down at the arena. The girls beside her whispered, looking at the black-winged figure that was surely Hashirama.
"Looks like he is hiding his identity from someone. His sister? He probably won't use his wood powers, but that'd leave him vulnerable in the fight with fewer cards on his sleeves. So he decided to take the help of his wings and changed the leaves' color and shape to take on the form of actual feathers. Must have taken a few minutes of intense concentration, but it looks strong." Robin added to the conversation, watching the girls take in the words and nod.
"Makes sense. You think we need to intervene?" Nami asked, looking a bit worried but excited.
"Not here, anyway. Maybe in the finals, and definitely after that." Vivi added, and Mikita and Nami nodded.
They were whispering, unwilling to let the nearby spectators hear their words. They were keeping necessary words out of their conversation anyway, so nobody would be able to guess what they were actually talking about, but they maintained silence anyway.
Yet, an old voice commented on their conversation.
"Your companion, truth be told. Haah, I would have bet on him, but sadly I ran out of money from a gambling game earlier. I should have held onto some…"
It came from the seat right below them, where a man wearing light-purple yukata sat. The girls frowned, and Mikita spoke away.
"Excuse me, sir? Have you been eavesdropping on our conservation? Not very gentlemanly of you."
"Oh. Ah, my apologies."
The old man turned his face around, and the girls paused. The man was blind, with a sword wound running up both his eyes. Yet, they noticed he was carrying a sword, currently resting his hands on its hilt as it pointed down on the ground.
"After losing my eyesight, my other senses are a bit exposed. I hear a lot of things I am not supposed to, but I couldn't help but comment this time thanks to that young man. To my senses, he feels… bright. As if he is a bulb of life."
Robin quickly apologized. "The apology is ours, and I am sorry for your sight. If it's not too much to ask, the match is beginning, we should talk later."
"Ho-ho, it's fine. We should do that." The old man turned back to the arena, and while the girls questioned if he could even 'see' the fight, they quickly understood that he could – if his comment earlier was anything to go by.
Though they still wondered just how strong his Observation Haki was, for him to be able to use it as a replacement for his eyesight. That question made all the girls realize the man in front of them wasn't as plain as he looked.
* * *
'Holy shit, is that Fujitora?' Hashirama was stunned when he flicked his eyes around the spectators in search of his girls.
He found them all present and watching. But he also found a stupidly overpowered Marine Admiral sitting in front of them.
But thinking again, was Fujitora a Marine already? He shouldn't be, according to what Hashirama remembered, he only joined the marine in the two year time skip.
So it was more accurate to call him [Issho] now, instead of [Fujitora]. He probably still has his Devil Fruit, though. Which meant he still was a Marine Admiral level threat, and currently he was chilling right in front of his girls. They were strong, but could they face a meteorite? Fuck no.
'I don't think he will hurt them though. My lovely ladies aren't evil, and since Issho probably doesn't know they are pirates, it's all good. He isn't a man to hurt innocents.'
Hashirama decided, and not that he had any other choice as he host announced the beginning of the match.
["Ladies and gentlemen, keep your eyes open and ears sharp! Our last round before the Finals begins. Against 139 enemies, only one would come out at the top, and nobody knows who! Thus the battle royal… begins!"]
Gun fires were shot toward the sky, and all hell broke about. The audience's screams were like cries of hawks just as everyone ran at one another.
Hashirama grabbed Rebbeca by her waist and yanked her from the trajectory of an attack. Then, blocking another attack with his wings, he shot a glare at the world, and the world lost all sound.
For a brief moment, the entire colosseum was painted with an ethereal green. A dome of domination covered the entire area, concentrated the most only in the arena. The audience felt just a breeze of the unleashed will, yet that was enough to knock out some of the younger people.
In the arena where the will was directed, concentrated, ordering reality to submit, all hell broke about. Dozens of cracks spread on the stone floor, and almost all fighters just dropped to their faces.
["Uh… ah, oh."]
The host's voice gasped after the will withdrew, his gulp traveled through the mics and around the entire country.
["What did we just witness?! Was that a show of C- Conqueror's Haki! Compared to this, the legendary Don Chinjao feels like a child! Ladies and gentleman, we have witnessed true power! In just five seconds, a total of 130 fighters have been knocked out! Now only 9 remain, and even they look shaken! Perhaps we already know the winner of this block, the unstoppable Ra!"]
Hashirama decided to warm up a little. As he would have to truly let loose, for the first time in his life, in the larger battle ahead.
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