Chapter 126: Advancement and Chaos

On the host platform.

Zango and Jasmine kept constant watch on the situation in the arena, providing real-time commentary on the battle to facilitate the broadcast by the Den Den Mushi nearby.

According to the rules first announced by Zango, the preliminary stage would select the final two people standing in each of the four arenas—East, South, West, and North—to enter the finals.

At this moment.

Only Akkin and Dellinger remained standing in the arena, having already met the conditions for advancement.

Zango picked up the microphone, just about to announce their advancement, when a sudden roar erupted from the arena below!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Amidst a series of explosions.

Akkin and Dellinger were clashing at an unimaginable speed.

The iron crutch and the fish-man's sharp-toothed high heels even sparked fire as they collided in mid-air!

Yet neither had the slightest thought of taking a step back.

For one step back means a step back in every way; one step back is disadvantage, is decline, and is defeat!

"Waaah—!"

"Ha—!"

The increasingly dense assault left countless craters in the arena in the blink of an eye; countless stones flew into the sky, and some tiny ones even smashed into the spectator stands, fortunately injuring no one.

The two directly ignored the rules and launched a further battle.

This scene only stirred the bloodthirsty instincts of the audience, which had been restrained by law and morality!

"Kill! Kill to your heart's content!"

"Indeed, no free fighting or sanda sparring can compare to the thrill of an unrestricted death match!"

"Who cares about prizes or not? The battle itself is the greatest reward of the Martial Arts Tournament!"

"Even if I die this time, I'll have gotten my money's worth!"

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

In the arena.

Dellinger's speed grew even more ferocious, even vanishing directly into the air; only the footprints constantly appearing on the ground testified to his presence.

The ultra-fast speed resulted in an even more fierce assault.

"Pistol High Heels!"

Amidst the dense kicks, Akkin remained calm, sweeping his double crutches horizontally.

Every time he managed to strike fast against slow, blocking all of Dellinger's attacks and sending them back.

After nearly two months of cultivation, his Observation Haki had improved significantly, and his physique had advanced further, making him far stronger than before by several times.

Even his height had undergone a sudden surge, reaching nearly two meters, with his frame growing a size more muscular.

The result was strength far greater than before.

Watching Dellinger, who was constantly being pushed back and then regrouping for another wave of attacks, Akkin couldn't help but think of Xiang Keluo, saying calmly:

"With this kind of speed, even if I broke my legs running, I couldn't catch up to that guy; this farce should end soon!"

Saying this.

Akkin swung his right hand, pushing Dellinger back.

His other hand quietly pressed the mechanism on the handle of the iron crutch.

The sphere at the top of the iron crutch slid off, revealing a short metal rod inside, turning this iron crutch into the most iconic iron crutch of all.

This was originally a killing move he had prepared to fight Xiang Keluo at the Martial Arts Tournament.

After all, as his physique grew stronger and stronger, the powerful kinetic damage brought by the high-speed rotation of the iron crutch was barely keeping up with his own inherent strength.

At this moment, even if Akkin merely used his full strength to thrust the iron crutch forward, the resulting impact could easily pierce through massive stones or even sturdy ships.

Shhh!

Like the sound of a blade piercing the air, it instantly made Dellinger's pupils shrink slightly, and his skin even broke out in goosebumps due to the sense of danger:

Something's wrong!

The destructive power of this strike is far greater than previous attacks!

But...

It should be like this; if I didn't have this level of power, I wouldn't be excited at all.

Dellinger's lips curled into a sinister smile; he reversed his attack, and the sharp horn on his head, originating from the fighting fish, suddenly thrust toward Akkin!

In the next instant, two extremely powerful forces were about to clash directly in mid-air!

"That's enough!"

Accompanied by a helpless rebuke, a figure suddenly darted out from behind.

The newcomer arrived later but struck first.

One hand grabbed Akkin's iron crutch, the other pressed down on Dellinger's arm, directly absorbing all the force from both of them.

Boom!

The floor beneath the newcomer instantly cracked, spreading like a spiderweb all the way to the edge of the arena.

It was also at this moment.

Akin finally saw the face of the newcomer clearly:

"Xiang Keluo?!"

"Ah, this is the first Martial Arts Tournament; the rules cannot be broken."

A flush of red crossed Xiang Keluo's face; clearly, having taken both of their attacks head-on, he was not unscathed himself.

After all, even though his combat power surpassed these two, he leaned toward speed; his physique, though stronger than Akin's and Doflamingo's, was ultimately limited.

But he understood even more clearly that if the first regional match could not be executed according to the rules, the subsequent matches, and even future Martial Arts Tournaments, would inevitably be affected.

After forcibly swallowing the metallic, bloody taste in his mouth.

Xiang Keluo turned his head to look at Doflamingo beside him and said calmly:

"This fight ends here. If you want to fight, go fight on the finals stage behind us."

Doflamingo gritted his teeth, feeling the entire arm Xiang Keluo had grabbed tremble.

How could he not know that the combat power of the person before him was far beyond his own!

Such power, aside from a few high-ranking officers within the Tang Jikede family and Lao G after his liberation power was activated.

I'm afraid no one would be this fellow's match!

At this moment, Doflamingo's pupils trembled; he could only grit his teeth and nod.

Seeing this, Akin also turned around, gathered the iron balls on the ground, and reinstalled them onto the top of his crutch.

He then waved at Xiang Keluo and slowly walked down from the arena.

In the next instant.

Roars like a mountain call and a sea surge erupted from the scene; countless spectators became excited by this battle, which could only be considered a rehearsal.

"It's merely the preliminary round, yet it's already this intense; a sudden dark horse already possesses combat power capable of suppressing the Bullfighting Arena's champion?!"

"The intensity of this battle has surpassed all competitions I have ever seen!"

"Truly worthy of the name Martial Arts Tournament!"

"And what I look forward to even more is that the man who stopped the fight between Akin and Doflamingo is clearly superior to these two and also seems to be a participant."

"Now I am even more curious: to whom will the final victory fall!"

The wave of sound.

Rose and fell continuously.

Some emotionally agitated men and women even stripped off their shirts and danced a hot dance right there, causing a chorus of howls and screams from the crowd.

Seeing the situation brought under control, Xiang Keluo raised his head and waved at Zango on the host's platform; the latter immediately understood and announced at once:

"The Eastern Sea's first Martial Arts Tournament, the qualifiers advancing from the Eastern Regional Preliminaries."

"Ghost Akin! Fighting Fish Doflamingo!"

Having said that.

Another round of cheers erupted from the scene, lasting fully nearly a minute, before Zango announced that the competition would be suspended for half an hour for specialists to clean the arena.

Interspersed during this time were various performances featuring Eastern Sea characteristics, so overall it was not boring.

At the same time.

The Den Den Mushi image projector above the Martial Arts Tournament transmitted the match footage here to other regions of the world, allowing spectators unable to come to the scene to watch.

Dressrosa.

Doflamingo watched the performance on the projection screen, but in his mind he pondered the scenes of Doflamingo's previous clash with Akin.

"Ghost Akin and Hundred-Stratagems Xiang Keluo; even if placed in the New World, these two's combat power would be respectable."

"That battle seemed to end in a draw, but if they had continued fighting, Doflamingo would have lost more than he won."

"If even that Akin couldn't be taken down, let alone Hundred-Stratagems Xiang Keluo, who is clearly superior."

As he spoke, the corner of Doflamingo's mouth curled up, emitting his signature laugh.

You must know that if Doflamingo were released alone, he could easily become a pirate with a bounty over one hundred million; yet now he cannot subdue a power in the Eastern Sea?

Such a thing, he had not only never heard of, but never even imagined; yet now it appeared directly before his eyes?

"First rising rapidly in the Eastern Sea, fighting all the way to a bounty over one hundred million; now directly copying the Bullfighting Arena's model and snatching food from my bowl."

"This world is becoming more and more interesting."

"I truly look forward to when this fellow will enter the Grand Line, Enter the New World."

"By then, perhaps even the balance of power among the Seven Warlords of the Sea will have changed."

As he spoke.

Doflamingo's expression changed slightly; he suddenly remembered that not long ago, Hanafusa had just perished in the Eastern Sea.

That incident also caused all of his human trafficking networks deployed in the Eastern Sea to be uprooted by Zephyr.

Although he escaped in time and ultimately did not draw the Navy's attention to himself, how could there not be a bit of anger in his heart?

"The World Government's public intelligence states that Navy Commodore Smoker killed the Seven Warlords of the Sea Hanafusa, but was it really that simple?"

"Hanafusa's combat power, though not particularly strong, was after all one of Kaido's Flying Six from the Kaido Pirates."

"He only suffered a crushing defeat at Jack's hands while competing with Jack for the position of top commander."

"How could an ordinary Navy Commoditor be that fellow's match?"

"Moreover, neither the World Government nor the Navy are people who like to tell the truth."

While pondering.

A guess inevitably appeared in Doflamingo's mind:

"If this matter is confirmed, I won't even need to lift a finger; the Gao Wen Pirates will fall directly."

"No matter how much potential they possess, facing a monster like Kaido, who stands at the world's pinnacle, they are ultimately far too weak."

"Fuffuffuffuffu—!"

Above the castle of Dressrosa, a low, ferocious laughter rang out, lasting for a full several dozen seconds before slowly dissipating.

Doflamingo immediately ordered his subordinates to transmit the intelligence from Loguetown back to him, and finally, his gaze settled upon one thing.

"That fellow Hanafuza... the ship he boarded to enter Loguetown was a marine warship..."

"As expected!"

"The World Government joined hands with the Marines to seal off news of the blockade on Loguetown, but inevitably, some traces would leak out!"

"This is the flaw!"

"The one who killed Hanafuza was not some marine named Smoker, but a pirate!"

"Knight Gao Wen!"

Thinking of this.

Doflamingo immediately changed his mind, grabbed the Den Den Mushi at hand, and dialed Onisel, who was far away at Raven Port in the East Blue.

After a few breaths, the call connected, and Onisel's voice came through the receiver:

"Young Master?!"

Doflamingo spoke directly:

"Stop all unnecessary movements on your end; just focus on completing this tournament, and pay attention to preserving yourselves."

"As for Knight Gao Wen, someone will make a move against him—a man who absolutely cannot be defeated!"

(End of Chapter)