Chapter 1216: The Legendary "Weakling" - The Crimson Lone Wolf

“Mr. Diamante seems to be struggling in a tough battle! The biggest dark horse in Zone B has appeared! He is… he is…”

Gatz tossed the list of Zone B competitors behind him, one sheet after another. Each match had about two hundred people, so he couldn’t remember everyone.

Before the tournament, he would organize some of the more famous contestants and highlight their introductions.

In most cases, the winner would only emerge from among them. Even if there was a dark horse, it wouldn’t be terrifying, as there needed to be a gradual process, like first eliminating a few opponents consecutively.

This way, Gatz would have ample time to search for their information. But just now, Diamante specifically divided this group of weaklings and used Death Star Shards to clear the field, making it so those truly unknown individuals couldn’t withstand Diamante’s attacks.

At this time on the ring, aside from Diamante and Redfield, only Rebecca, who was protected by Redfield, remained.

The time was too short, and the changes were too great. Gatz had originally planned to declare Diamante as the sole victor.

The rule was for two to advance, no more, but it wasn’t said it couldn’t be less.

Now Gatz was forced to stall while urgently flipping through information.

“Found it! This dark horse that suddenly appeared is named Red, and it’s… gone?!”

Aside from an empty name, there was no other information at all. Based on past experience, this name is likely fake, but there’s no choice. The commentary has to continue.

“Mr. Diamante launched a barrage of fierce attacks! Red has been retreating continually, already forced to the edge of the arena, it seems Mr. Diamante is preparing his finishing move!”

Gatz’s commentary was filled with personal emotions. If he didn’t like a contestant, even if they won, Gatz wouldn’t praise them too much.

But during this process, he would also pay attention to audience preferences, like he genuinely admired Rebecca’s combat but couldn’t express it contrary to the audience’s overwhelming dislike, lest he face unemployment soon.

Diamante was undoubtedly the most famous contestant in the Bullfighting Arena, so naturally, he should be spoken well of. Only Diamante in battle knew that the opponent was truly toying with him.

No matter how he swung his sword, it would ultimately miss, and so far, there wasn’t even a bead of sweat on Redfield’s face.

[The information is wrong, this old man has issues, what kind of monster is this…]

“Lord Diamante! Come on!”

“Lord Diamante, stop messing around and take out that old guy already!”

Encouragement kept echoing in his ears. Normally, Diamante would happily accept such praise, but now, he only found it annoying.

“You have quite a few fans. Letting you lose here would certainly be interesting.”

“What a joke. I’m the hero of the Bullfighting Arena! Bullfighting Lance!”

The weapon in Diamante’s hand suddenly softened, then formed into the shape of a bull’s head like a cloth strip.

Utilizing the ability of the Float-Float Fruit, Diamante transformed his sword into a “gun,” with sharp horns forming the weapon’s gunhead, then aimed at Redfield’s chest to stab.

This time, Redfield didn’t dodge but raised his umbrella again, blocking Diamante’s attack head-on, then grasping the umbrella in both hands. Just a simple pushing motion with the umbrella created a shockwave that sent Diamante flying.

“What?! Red actually blew away Mr. Diamante! I get it; he must be some kind of mysterious ability user, and Mr. Diamante is probing his ability!”

Gatz found a reason to patch things up for Diamante, a reason that convinced most of the audience, but insiders were different.

Outsiders watch the commotion, insiders watch the skills; only the sufficiently strong could truly understand what’s happening on the field.

…

“Marco, that Red is just playing, isn’t he…”

“Probably. The gap in Haki is too great. If he wanted, he could’ve split that Diamante in half just now.”

Ace and Marco could see that the Haki entwined on Redfield’s umbrella tip was on a completely different level than Diamante’s. The externally released Armament extended his attack range silently.

“Wow, Old Red is really strong. No wonder he dared to sail alone with a raccoon cat.”

“You know him?”

Luffy’s tone made Ace feel odd, and Luffy’s subsequent answer dispelled Ace’s doubts.

“Before arriving in Dressrosa, Old Red’s ship was wrecked and almost fell into the sea. I pulled him up. Oh, and he’s a fan of Brook.”

Ace listened with some interest to Luffy’s explanation, but Marco was different.

There weren’t many people whose Haki could be this strong. Redfield’s silhouette made him feel a sense of familiarity, especially with the name Red.

“Could it be… him?”

Marco was initially indecisive, but as Redfield opened his umbrella, the pattern on the umbrella completely confirmed the other’s identity for Marco.

“The Lone Red…”

…

“Katakuri bro, are you sure…”

“Almost certainly, the man who fought with Mom in my memory… it’s him.”

After the era of Rocks ended, Golden Lion, Roger, and Whitebeard became legendary figures among the pirates, representing the pinnacle of that time.

And beneath them were powerful pirates like Wald, Charlotte Linlin, and Redfield was one of them.

But Redfield was imprisoned early. Although Impel Down is a good place, where people can gain insights in a short time, and the 6th Floor of Infinite Hell even allows some to persist in hard training, like Bullet.

But Redfield was always solitary. Compared to the large fleets like Golden Lion’s, Redfield, as a lone wolf, left relatively few traces, and even members of the Sea Emperor had no impression of him.

However, people like Katakuri and Marco, who became key figures early on and have strong abilities, are exceptions. They still remember the once-dominant solitary Red.

Though a lone wolf, his intimidation was not any less than Whitebeard or Golden Lion.

Not only was he personally powerful, but he had no ties, no territory or partners, and his whereabouts were unpredictable.

The difficulty in capturing him was no less than directly attacking the fleets of Golden Lion or Whitebeard.

After all, if he were to escape, the Navy could barely withstand his random retaliatory actions.

“Fought with Mom…”

“Yeah, you guys were too weak back then, totally incapable of witnessing that kind of battle. Red Earl – Patrick Redfield, I thought he was dead, I didn’t expect this old monster to be drawn here too, Owen, don’t be careless, this guy might just be the most troublesome opponent.”

…

Diamante isn’t like Marco or Katakuri, who have experienced the competitions of the New World in the past.

Like most people, even when he saw the symbol on the umbrella, he didn’t recognize the other party’s identity.

Diamante just knew that if he couldn’t even make it to the finals, it would be truly embarrassing. At this moment, his thought wasn’t to defeat Redfield.

It’s not that he didn’t want to, but the pressure Redfield brought was too much, he had no confidence, and under these circumstances, he thought of a clever method.

Now, with only three people left in the arena, as long as he could eliminate Rebecca, he would naturally secure a spot.

“Army Flag!”

Diamante touched the ground with one hand, and in an instant, the entire stage began to roll up and down like a piece of cloth, turning the entire stage into a waving flag with his ability.

Rebecca, already on the edge of the stage, lost her balance and almost fell off, but finally stabilized herself with skills honed over many years, but Diamante’s attack had already reached her.

“Half Moon Funeral!”

The fluctuation of the ground made it impossible for Rebecca to stand firm, and Diamante took the opportunity to slash a sword qi at her, leaving a huge gap on the stage.

Like cutting through tofu, the entire stage was split in two by Diamante, but after the strike, he didn’t hear Gatz announce the end of the match.

“How ugly, it seems not only is your ability suitable for a clown, but your behavior is also that of a clown.”

Redfield can control his Haki, he doesn’t have to read others’ memories, but this ability has become a habit for him, and he can’t restrain this habit.

From within Diamante, he read extremely dirty thoughts and vile deeds.

“Why are you helping her, old man! You obviously have nothing to do with her?!”

“Why? Because this old man likes to do so. Getting older, with less energy, this battle should also come to an end.”

As Redfield spoke, his umbrella slid twice in mid-air, and scarlet sword qi flew toward the Diamante below, whose body became flat at this moment, fluttering like when using Kami-e.

“I can also float around, your slashes can’t hit me at all!”

The airflow from the impending slash would create wind, allowing his body to use this wind to evade attacks, but he ultimately underestimated Redfield.

But this was unavoidable. If he had known Redfield’s true information earlier, Diamante would never have been in the same group as him.

Unlike Vergo, who refined his Haki, Diamante mostly relied on his Fruit Ability, but his ability was utterly inadequate in front of Redfield.

Scarlet slashes traced a curve in mid-air, leaving two massive wounds on the flag-transformed Diamante.

If the match wasn’t still ongoing, and Diamante wasn’t an important cadre of Doflamingo, Redfield’s attack would have been enough to kill him completely.

But even with Redfield holding back, Diamante, struck by the slash, still fell into the water.

“Mr. Diamante actually lost!! B… Zone B winners are Redfield and Rebecca! Rescue team! Quick, save him, Mr. Diamante can’t swim!!”