Chapter 522: I Admire the Blood-Eyed Ninja from the Bottom of My Heart

Chapter 522: Chapter 522: I Admire the Blood-Eyed Ninja from the Bottom of My Heart

"There doesn’t seem to be anything useful here," Meiser said, rubbing his chin.

There was indeed a large number of weapons here, but he wasn’t a true Sword Master. He couldn’t rely on ordinary blades to unleash a Flying Slash, so taking them was pointless.

As for Wind Release?

That could only be channeled through chakra-conducting metal, so picking up these ordinary swords was meaningless.

And the armor?

Was that stuff really harder than his own Armament Haki?

To put it bluntly, wearing that would be worse than just wearing his own clothes. At least his own clothes looked good.

With that thought, Meiser gave up on the idea of taking anything from the armory.

Meanwhile, Luffy, clad in the heavy gear he had just put on, walked up to the weighing official to see if the armor he was wearing met the regulations.

Clearly, he didn’t quite believe Cavendish’s words.

"Overweight," the staff member said expressionlessly. "The armor you’re wearing is three times the weight of what others are wearing."

To be honest, he had never seen anything so ridiculous.

"I see..." Luffy said unhappily. "Then forget it."

Cavendish: ??

"Didn’t I just tell you that!" Cavendish shouted, his face contorting into a Shark Mouth. "Were you even listening to me?"

He had gone out of his way to explain it, yet this man hadn’t listened at all?

This...

"I... this is the first time I’ve met someone who could ignore the radiance emanating from my body." Cavendish watched the backs of Luffy and Meiser, thinking: Very well, you have successfully caught my attention.

At this thought, Cavendish flashed a smile like a domineering CEO.

Unfortunately, such an expression was lost on both Meiser and Luffy.

"Can I really not wear it?" Luffy asked again.

The armor looked so cool; he wanted to try one last time.

"Of course not," the staff member replied blankly.

If everyone wore such heavy armor, how long would the battles be dragged out?

So, this was forbidden from the very beginning.

"Alright then..."

Seeing the staff member’s firm stance, Luffy could only compromise.

He then looked at Meiser and asked, "Why didn’t you take anything?"

"None of it is useful to me," Meiser replied.

If there were a particularly cool-looking single piece of armor, he wouldn’t mind trying it on. But unfortunately, nothing caught his eye.

Upon hearing Meiser’s words, Luffy thought about the other’s fighting style and nodded in understanding. "True, you really don’t need it."

Just then, a wave of cheers erupted from outside, sounding like the audience was rooting for a particular contestant.

"It’s so lively," Luffy laughed. "Are they cheering for the contestants?"

"Something like that."

Cavendish, who was sitting nearby, smiled and asked, "Hey, do you know what gets the audience the most excited?"

"What?"

"Blood."

Cavendish raised and shook a red rose in his hand. "To the audience, gladiators are nothing more than exhibits."

"Only the blood of the defeated can send them into a frenzy."

"You could say the arena reveals the truest nature of humanity."

"All the negative emotions they usually suppress in their hearts can be vented here to their heart’s content."

Cavendish paused for a moment before continuing mockingly, "No one wants to see a safe match where swords and armor merely clatter. All they want to see is a bloody battle!"

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this place a gathering spot for evil.

Whether it was the audience or the gladiators.

"How truly nasty," Meiser sneered.

Then again, it wasn’t surprising for such a thing to exist in a country ruled by a pirate.

He just wondered what Doflamingo’s purpose was for doing this.

Could it be to screen for subordinates?

Luffy, however, didn’t pay much attention to Cavendish’s words. For him, the only purpose of being here was to seize the Diamond-Diamond Fruit.

"Do I have to take off my cape too?" Luffy asked. " I think it looks really cool."

"If you want to wear the cape, then take off the helmet," the staff member said flatly.

"That won’t work."

Luffy shook his head. "I still need the helmet."

With it, he wouldn’t have to worry about people seeing his Straw Hat, so the headgear was a must.

"Then ditch the cape."

"Fine..."

Though dissatisfied, he had to give up the cool cape for the sake of the competition.

"Hey, I say... I saw you insta-kill that big guy earlier." Cavendish looked at Luffy curiously. "Who exactly are you?"

"Ah, I’m Luffy."

"Hmm?"

The moment he said that, Cavendish’s expression changed instantly.

The surrounding contestants also showed looks of horror.

Luffy?

Was it that great pirate with a 500 million Berries Bounty, Straw Hat Boy Luffy?

If that were the case, what chance did they have?

Meiser looked at Luffy with a shocked expression. This guy just blurted it out just like that?

"Are you really Luffy?" Cavendish stood up and demanded.

"That’s right!"

Luffy raised his head and declared, "I’m the man who will become the Pirate King!"

Hearing this, Cavendish’s hand instinctively moved to his sword hilt, clearly intending to kill.

Just then, several men noticed the contestant name on Luffy’s back.

"Like hell you’re Luffy!" one man roared with a Shark Mouth. "It clearly says Lucy right there!"

"You bastard, don’t use such weird pronunciation!"

They had almost thought they were going to face a pirate with a 500 million Berries Bounty.

"Ah, right, it’s Lucy," Luffy said, scratching his head.

He was Lucy right now.

Meiser breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed their cover wouldn’t be blown early.

He then glanced at Luffy with slight annoyance. Fortunately, the name on his back had saved them, or they would have had to fight prematurely.

Once Cavendish confirmed the name wasn’t Luffy, he lowered his sword.

"You seem to hate the Straw Hat Boy quite a bit," Meiser noted, looking at Cavendish curiously. "Do you have a grudge against him?"

Luffy also looked at Cavendish with confusion. He didn’t remember ever crossing paths with this man.

"Of course!" Cavendish said without hesitation. "That guy stole the spotlight that belonged to me, so I want nothing more than to kill him!"

"Huh?"

Both Meiser and Luffy stared at Cavendish, their heads filled with question marks. What kind of bizarre reason was that?

What did he mean by stealing the spotlight that belonged to him?

What was this guy talking about?

Perhaps sensing their confusion, Cavendish explained, "Three years ago, I made a grand debut as a Supernova with a 200 million Berries Bounty, causing a worldwide sensation!"

"Newspapers competed to report on me. You could say there was almost no one in this world who didn’t know me."

"In the end, even my Wanted Posters were sought after and collected by women, to the point where the Marines couldn’t keep my posters on the streets."

"You were that famous?" Luffy asked, surprised.

Though he didn’t quite follow everything, he gathered that the man had been very popular.

Meiser looked at Cavendish with some surprise; he hadn’t realized this guy was also a Supernova.

"That’s right, I was that famous!" Cavendish raised his head proudly. "Otherwise, where do you think my title, the ’Pirate Prince,’ came from?"

"Since you’re so famous, why do you say Luffy stole your spotlight?" Meiser asked curiously.

"Because of what that bastard did, of course!"

At this point, the composure on Cavendish’s face vanished completely, replaced by intense anger.

"That guy and Whitebeard drew the attention of the entire world during the Summit War two years ago!" Cavendish fumed. "And the Supernovas of his year were praised as the ’Worst Generation’!"

"Precisely because of that, the reporters won’t even spare me a second glance anymore... I hate them!"

"So, I’m going to slaughter all these annoying juniors!"

Finally, Cavendish pulled out a Wanted Poster that had been slashed many times. The image on it was none other than Luffy.

Meiser: ...

So that was the reason after all this time?

He really hadn’t seen that coming.

For a moment, Meiser didn’t know what to say.

Luffy spoke up, exasperated, "You’re just taking it out on others."

He hadn’t asked to be in the news, but he had no control over such things.

"I don’t care!"

Cavendish turned around and glared fiercely at the Wanted Poster he had placed on a stool. "Anyway, to win back the world’s attention, I’ll drive these guys to extinction!"

He wouldn’t let anyone who dared to steal his radiance go!

With a cold snort, Cavendish tucked away the Wanted Poster, turned back toward Luffy, and said, "You—"

He froze mid-sentence, realizing Luffy had ignored him again and run off to be weighed.

Cavendish: ...

Dammit, not again!

"Bastard Lucy, I’m definitely getting the Diamond-Diamond Fruit this time!" Cavendish gritted his teeth. "Then you won’t dare treat me with this attitude anymore!"

Damn it, this was the first time someone had ignored him to his face... he was so angry!

No, he had to get the Diamond-Diamond Fruit and make this brat look at him with new eyes!

Watching the fuming Cavendish, Meiser found it somewhat amusing.

He felt like Cavendish was like a spoiled child.

Then, thinking of something, he asked curiously, "By the way, I remember the Blood-Eyed Ninja is also one of the Straw Hat Crew. He’s done quite a few big things too. Why don’t you hate him?"

Strictly speaking, what that guy did was even more outrageous than Luffy.

"Him..."

Cavendish’s expression gradually became complex. "Although what he did was even more exaggerated than the Straw Hat Boy, he is dead, after all."

"Besides... I actually admire him quite a bit."

"Admire?"

Meiser was surprised. This guy actually admired him?

"That’s right, I admire him from the bottom of my heart!" Cavendish nodded. "Because of my unique background, I know exactly what kind of people those nobles are, not to mention the Celestial Dragons."

"So... I admire what he did."

As the former son of a king, he knew the ways of the nobility all too well.

And the Celestial Dragons were the worst among them!

For the Blood-Eyed Ninja to be able to attack Mary Geoise was indeed an admirable feat.

Furthermore... the man was dead. What else could he do?

So he had to give up on that target.

"Hey, Cavendish."

The people nearby looked at Cavendish warily. "Some things shouldn’t be said lightly."

To ordinary people like them, the Celestial Dragons were like gods.

If word got back to them about what was said here, wouldn’t they...

"Heh, a bunch of cowards."

Cavendish sneered, but he didn’t pursue the topic further.

"Alright, I’ll see you in the match," Cavendish said.

With that, he turned gracefully and walked out.

"Aren’t you taking any equipment?" Luffy asked, confused.

"This sword is enough for me," Cavendish said without looking back.

Watching him leave, Luffy remarked, "What a strange guy."

Why would anyone like being in the news?

So weird...

Meiser smiled, then leaned in close to Luffy and whispered, "You’d better not let him find out who you are, or he’ll really try to cut you."

He could tell that this man named Cavendish was serious.

If he knew this was Luffy, he would definitely draw his sword and strike without hesitation.

Luffy: ...

"I got it."

If possible, he didn’t want to expose himself in front of this guy.

Shaking his head, Luffy turned and walked outside, soon returning with Meiser to the statue of Kyros.

"I still think this old guy looks really cool," Luffy said, looking up. "Hey, can we move this thing?"

"Move it for what?" Meiser said, exasperated. "You’re not planning to put it on the ship, are you?"

"Stop joking. If we’re making a statue, we should make one of ourselves."

Why would they take someone else’s statue?

Luffy blinked, then nodded. "You’ve got a point."

"Speaking of which, don’t I look a lot like him in this gear?"

Meiser looked at the statue, then back at Luffy, and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

If he had a sword in his hand, the resemblance would be even stronger.

But Luffy wasn’t a swordsman, so a sword would be useless.

"Are you two very interested in this person?" Rebecca said with a smile as she walked up behind them.

"Hmm?"

Hearing the voice behind him, Luffy instinctively turned to look at Rebecca. "Who are you?"

Meiser looked at Rebecca with surprise. Could this girl be a contestant in this tournament?

Seriously?

"I’m Rebecca," she said. "I’m also a gladiator in this tournament."