Chapter 323: The Barking of a Defeated Dog!

Looking at Jesus Burgess acting unscrupulously in the waiting area, Luffy's eyes beneath the mask were instantly covered with a layer of frost-like chill.

Although Ace had luckily survived the Marineford War.

The blood feud from years ago, when Blackbeard severely injured Ace and handed him over to the Marines...

Luffy had not forgotten it for even a second in his heart.

He clenched his teeth and balled his fists.

He was ready to rush up and send this clamoring big guy flying to avenge the past humiliation.

Just at the critical moment when Luffy was about to act, a slender and powerful hand firmly pressed down on his shoulder.

Tatsuya stood beside Luffy, his gaze passing over the bustling crowd to look at the arrogant Burgess ahead, letting out a cold sneer:

"Calm down, Luffy."

"Don't start a fight here over a defeated dog like this and end up getting disqualified for no reason; that would be more loss than gain."

Tatsuya folded his arms and said indifferently: "A crippled pirate crew that was beaten into a mess during the Marineford War and could only flee in all directions."

"Now they just want to rely on this rubbing of the road poneglyph to help their useless Captain, who only knows how to scavenge scraps, compete for the throne of the Pirate King again."

"Leave this brainless stupid bear for the ring; it won't be too late to deal with him slowly then."

Hearing Tatsuya's words, Luffy forcibly suppressed the boiling rage in his heart.

He took a deep look at Burgess in the distance, nodded heavily, and released his clenched fists.

Just then, from the giant amplifying Den Den Mushi above the Corrida Colosseum, came the passionate shouts of the live commentator, Gaz.

With a high-pitched voice, Gaz addressed the tens of thousands of fanatical spectators in the stands and the contestants rubbing their palms in the waiting area.

He loudly announced the incredibly cruel rules for this battle for the 'road poneglyph':

"All registered warriors!"

"You will be randomly divided into four major blocks: A, B, C, and D."

"Then, you will engage in a bottomless, indiscriminate elimination battle royal in the ring!"

"Attention! It is an indiscriminate battle royal!"

"Only by stepping over the bodies of countless fallen opponents in your respective blocks..."

"And being the last one standing will you be eligible to enter the final championship ring!"

"And the final winner will obtain that key ticket to the supreme throne of the Pirate King—the rubbing of the road poneglyph!"

Following Gaz's announcement, the giant mechanical screen in the center of the waiting area began to rapidly scroll through the random grouping lists for each block.

The screen finally froze with a series of beeping sounds.

Jesus Burgess's conspicuous name was placed in Block A, which would start the fight first.

While 'Hyena' Bellamy and the notoriously infamous 'Cannibal' Bartolomeo were placed in Block B.

As for 'Lucy', the alias Luffy used while wearing a white beard, his name appeared prominently on the death list for Block C...

After a brief wait.

Accompanied by the heavy toll of a bronze bell that vibrated the soul and the nearly screaming passionate shouts of commentator Gaz, the battle for Block A kicked off.

Over a hundred fierce pirates and underground fighters with scarred faces from all over the New World flooded into the giant water ring like beasts released from a cage.

In an instant, blades flashed, and the dull sounds of flesh colliding accompanied by shrill screams immediately echoed through the air above the Colosseum.

And amidst this chaotic slaughter.

To re-establish the terrifying reputation of the Blackbeard Pirates to the whole world, Burgess performed quite crazily and high-profile in the ring.

He stood in the very center of the ring like an immovable iron tower; facing enemies swarming from all directions, he didn't even spare them a second glance.

The rock-like muscles on his arms bulged high, instantly erupting with a staggering and terrifying monstrous strength.

Then his right arm suddenly stretched backward before booming forward with a destructive momentum:

"Hadou Elbow!"

Accompanied by a deafening and violent sonic boom.

A visible, powerful transparent shockwave centered on him, sweeping across the entire massive ring like a violent storm.

With just this unreasonable strike, more than half of the contestants in Block A, along with the incredibly hard stone slabs of the ring beneath their feet, were blown away into the turbulent moat water outside the arena.

Screams rose one after another as water splashed everywhere.

With an overwhelming absolute military advantage, Burgess took the only qualifying spot for Block A without any suspense.

He arrogantly displayed his ambition to obtain that poneglyph to the entire audience and the powerhouses lurking in the shadows.

Meanwhile, the scene switched back to the sunny streets of Acacia Town.

Franky was braving the scorching sun, pulling aside local residents on the bustling streets and asking in a low voice about the hidden location of the 'SMILE Factory'.

However, the situation was unexpectedly eerie.

The originally warm smiles of all the civilians who heard this name vanished instantly, replaced by deep fear.

They waved their hands and fled as if avoiding a plague god.

They hurried away, not daring to say a single word, as if that name were a curse that brought death upon touch.

Just as Franky was hitting a wall on the streets and feeling at a loss.

He turned into a secluded alley and happened to run into several thuggish gangsters who were cornering a helpless young girl, bullying her wantonly.

Just as Franky was about to step forward to teach these scumbags a lesson, suddenly, a small figure descended from the sky.

It was a toy clockwork soldier wearing a guard uniform with only one leg.

It was like a red flash, incredibly twisting its mechanical body in mid-air, using a series of magnificent chain kicks to smoothly knock all those tall thugs to the ground, cleanly rescuing the frightened girl.

Franky stood at the entrance of the alley, looking somewhat surprised at this strange toy soldier with explosive combat power.

He keenly felt that this one-legged toy soldier seemed a bit different from the ordinary toys he had just seen on the street that only knew how to work and entertain.

After the toy soldier comforted the girl, it turned its head, and its painted eyes looked straight at Franky.

It said to Franky in a very firm mechanical voice:

"Outsider, I know what you are looking for everywhere."

"Follow me; the joy on the surface of this country is all fake."

"The darkness hidden behind it is much deeper than you imagine."

Hearing these words, Franky's eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, instantly lit up.

After searching for so long in this weird country, there was finally some substantive progress.

He reached out a thick finger to push up the sunglasses on his face and, without any hesitation, steadily followed the one-legged toy soldier hopping ahead to lead the way.

Inside the boiling Corrida Colosseum.

The battle for Block A had ended with Burgess's crushing victory.

After the staff quickly cleared the broken ring, the Block B contestants began to gather and enter through the tunnel entrance one after another.

Luffy stood by the railing of the waiting area, hands gripping the iron bars, watching the upcoming new round of battle royal on the ring below with great interest.

Just then, a massive old man, shaped like a mountain of flesh with a large, thick white beard, silently walked through the crowded crowd and stood behind Luffy.

The old man's tall frame blocked the overhead lights, casting Luffy entirely into a shadow.

He slowly lowered his head, and in his eyes, hidden under aged eyelids, there was a thick sense of long-standing hatred.

He stared fixedly at the ridiculous and crude mask and fake beard on Luffy's face, growling in a low voice through gritted teeth:

"Straw Hat boy..."

"Grandson of that damn bastard Garp..."

"Did you think this little trick could deceive everyone?"

"Even if you stick on this idiotic fake beard and wear these flashy clothes."

"This old man can clearly smell that nauseating scent of the bloodline you share with that bastard from ten miles away!"

This mysterious old man who suddenly appeared was none other than the pirate who once shook the world with a bounty exceeding five hundred million—Don Piiman the 'Drill'.

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