Chapter 1221: The Invincible Comic Relief, Ghost Princess’s Guard

Boom!

The high temperature generated by the Buggy Bomb explosion instantly melted the Candle Armor created by Mr. 3. Although the wax made by Mr. 3 was as tough as steel, it still retained its original property of being susceptible to heat.

Under the influence of the heat, the wax blocks instantly melted, and the power of the Buggy Bomb successfully cleared Buggy’s underlings, even Buggy himself was blown to pieces by the explosion.

His foot, being closer to the explosion source, was sent toward the edge of the arena and was ultimately swallowed by a leaping fighting fish.

“This is bad! Captain Buggy’s foot got eaten by the fish!”

The underlings who fell into the water were in a panic upon witnessing this scene, and a ridiculous human-chasing-fish drama unfolded outside the arena.

“The Buggy of the Seven Warlords of the Sea has caused a great explosion! The effect is quite remarkable, at least in this explosion, there are hardly any people left on the stage! But now he will face Shiryu directly; is this the confidence of the Seven Warlords of the Sea? It seems that he didn’t make a move earlier because there was no one worth his time!”

Gatz worked hard at praising Buggy. After all, Doflamingo was once one of the Seven Warlords, so praising Buggy is essentially praising Doflamingo.

If someone lowers the overall standards of the Seven Warlords, it wouldn’t look good for Doflamingo, even if the current information publicly states he is no longer one of the Seven Warlords.

“Shiryu launched fierce strikes at Buggy, but all his attacks were dodged by Buggy! No matter how he swung his blade, he couldn’t land a hit on Buggy!”

The Chop-Chop Fruit is the nemesis of slashes; when faced with slashes, the Chop-Chop Fruit’s user will directly split into pieces, no slash, regardless of its power, can hit them.

In the Summit War, even Hawkeye could only slice Buggy into thin sheets without causing effective damage.

Either Hawkeye didn’t use Haki, or the Chop-Chop Fruit’s ability itself is a passive one that automatically splits before a slash arrives, similar to Katakuri’s ability, causing an enemy’s attacks to completely miss.

If this is the case, then this passive may be even more troublesome in some cases.

Seeing his slashes being ineffective, Shiryu lifted his leg to kick Buggy, but before his attack could land, Buggy suddenly started moving. His fractured body began to fly erratically along the periphery of the arena.

This was due to that fighting fish from earlier; Buggy’s power relies on his foot as the foundation. No matter how dispersed his body is, it can’t stray too far from his foot. Once this radius is exceeded, his body is forcibly dragged closer to his foot.

The fighting fish was swimming at the edge of Buggy’s ability, with Buggy’s foot in its stomach, causing his body to uncontrollably follow the fish’s movements.

Even Shiryu’s Observation Haki couldn’t predict Buggy’s next move, because Buggy himself didn’t know what was going to happen next; simple predictions are useless. Only those with Future Sight could foresee Buggy’s actions.

The more he couldn’t hit Buggy, the angrier Shiryu got, and the angrier he got, the more he wanted to cut him down.

Below the stage, Buggy’s underlings were chasing the fish, while on stage, Shiryu was chasing Buggy. Unlucky individuals who appeared on his path were all slashed down by Shiryu, causing Mr. 3 hiding in the corner to shiver, but at the next moment, he realized something.

“Candle Ship!”

A giant Candle Ship appeared nearby, and then Mr. 3 shouted loudly, “If you don’t want to die, get on the ship! That lunatic is going for the kill!”

After Buggy’s explosion cleared the stage and Shiryu’s slaughtering, Zone E was filled with broken limbs and severed arms, marking the most serious scene of death and injury since the start of the match, and it was also the one with the most enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

The battles of Katakuri and Redfield were spectacular, but the crushing force was so exaggerated that the audience couldn’t see what actually happened before the match was over.

Shiryu’s gruesome style was more suited to the current Bullfighting Arena, but such a cruel match wasn’t as friendly to the contestants.

Realizing he couldn’t win, and with Shiryu persistently pursuing Buggy, the remaining people fled to board the Vessel of Life created by Mr. 3.

“Galdino exploited the rules! His ability can actually create a ship! But I despise this behavior; there’s nothing hot-blooded about it! Now only two people remain on the stage, Zone E’s victors are Rain’s Shiryu and Star Clown Buggy!”

Though not pleased, Gatz still announced this result.

“Damn it….”

Looking at Buggy who was almost unscathed, Shiryu was surprisingly furious. This guy ran around erratically, and after chasing him for so long, Shiryu hadn’t touched him at all.

If he wasn’t craving the power of the Quake-Quake Fruit and didn’t want to log off the match, he would definitely have ignored the rules and forcibly cut down Buggy.

But by now he had slashed many people, temporarily suppressing his desire for greater goals, he sheathed his sword and left.

Buggy wasn’t as fortunate; his underlings struggled intensely to catch the fish and rescue Buggy’s foot from its belly.

However, Buggy reaped a wave of reputation; his underlings believed Buggy and Mr. 3 did it all to save the others from Shiryu, gaining them considerable respect.

…

Zone E’s match didn’t destroy the arena, so Pika didn’t need to step in, and after a simple cleanup of the blood and fixing some gaps, the F group match quickly followed.

“What an interesting grouping, putting the three of us together, but it’s annoying that we can’t use bows for this competition.”

“Do you really need weapons for these kinds of opponents? Have you forgotten what your ability is? I don’t see any troublesome opponents. If you need to rely on weapons for them, then you probably need some re-education, Speed.”

“The point is valid, but could you put down your four swords before saying that?”

Speed and Sorlithia bickered with each other, which was a daily activity for them.

The rules of the Bullfighting Arena first affected archers and snipers on the Sea. Unless they’re oddballs like Raider Jean, who can pick up any weapon and use it as a bullet, their strength is somewhat affected.

At least for Speed, her best long-range attack methods were sealed off just like that.

But it’s different for Sorlithia. Ambipom’s ability made her a Four-Sword Style user, and at this moment, she was checking her weapons in front of Speed.

“Can’t help it, you use a bow after all.”

“Damn it, even without the bow and arrow, you’re no match for me. Why don’t we settle it with a fight?”

“Alright, what’s the point of arguing? We’re just extras in this, anyway. The eventual winner is sure to be the young lady, so whether we advance or not doesn’t matter.”

Mizerka stepped in with a diplomatic solution, ending their debate this time.

“Even if you want to fight, wait until we take care of everyone else first. Don’t you think this feels familiar?”

“Now that you mention it, it kind of does.”

With Mizerka’s words, the three recalled the days years ago when Kaidou was selecting suitable subordinates for Yamato through brutal combat.

Although they hadn’t formed a three-member team back then, they managed to survive the chaos and, after years of cooperation, had grown accustomed to this kind of arena fight.

“Even though the main character is the young lady, we still have to give it our all. Otherwise… I wouldn’t want to get caught up in Governor Kaido’s training sessions, would you?”

Sorlithia seemed to imagine a terrifying scene. Following Yamato came with many benefits. The young lady was not only strong but also didn’t put on airs, and the perks were considerable, making it a cushy job.

Because of Yamato, the three gained a lot more as well.

Though this was exchanged through their initial combat, it still couldn’t have happened without Yamato’s connections.

But with the position comes risk. There’s only one young lady, but more than one person wants to be by her side.

Although Yamato herself wasn’t the type to change staff unless dissatisfied, what they feared wasn’t being replaced but that Kaidou might think they were too weak and take them for harsh training.

Even Yamato and Queen, who were rough and thick-skinned and faced beatings regularly, couldn’t bear Kaidou’s training. One can only imagine how terrible it must be.

“Governor Kaido probably… wouldn’t care about this, right?”

“Don’t fool yourself, Speed. Wherever the young lady is, Kaido Captain’s attention will always be drawn. With so many big shots here, something big is bound to happen sooner or later. Let’s give it our best.”

Sorlithia and Mizerka’s words added a hint of somber determination to Speed’s spirit. For the sake of their promising future, the three finally mustered their courage and stepped onto the arena.

…

“Ladies and gentlemen! As usual, this moment should have been the finals, but the Quake-Quake Fruit’s allure was just too great, attracting competitors from all over the world. The Zone F match is now about to begin. Let’s see which star contestants are present today! Admiral of the Yotamaria Grand Fleet, Slaughter Dominator—Orlumbus! Rumor has it his whip has magical power that makes enemies uncontrollably obey his commands! Former Bounty Hunter, the mastermind behind the World Government agency explosion case, Jet and Abdullah! Tank Lepanto of the Dressrosa Kingdom’s army! And… the most powerful pirate crew on the Sea today, the Numberer Trio of the Hundred Beasts crew! As everyone knows, Hundred Beasts Kaidou ranks his subordinates by numbers. Even though these three’s numbers are outside the top 20, don’t underestimate them! Because they have another identity as the Ghost Princess’s Guard!”

This was already the sixth match hosted by Gatz, and under high-intensity commentary, Gatz’s voice started to crack, but it couldn’t hide the excitement in his tone.

With Whitebeard’s death, Kaidou’s era had begun. At that moment, the world knew that the Hundred Beasts had become the strongest pirate crew, and Kaidou was the man closest to the Pirate King’s position.

Now the Hundred Beasts’ contestants were officially participating; even if they weren’t high-level officials, they were enough to catch the attention.