Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice

Chapter 462: The First Battle Begins!

"Oh!!!"

"Such a huge building!!!"

The sun was bright and the atmosphere was heated; whether they were natives of Dressrosa or overseas guests who had come from afar for the famed reputation of the Float-Float Fruit, everyone, upon approaching that incomparably enormous building, couldn’t help exclaiming in surprise.

Even Sabo couldn’t help but feel awkward, his mouth wide open as he looked up. He muttered,

"Although I’d heard that one of Dressrosa’s features is its battle arena where fighting never stops, this size is just too exaggerated..."

"Yeah, it looks like it can hold ten thousand people, right?!!!"

A citizen passing by, clearly able to tell they were from elsewhere, spoke with enthusiasm,

"Actually, the original arena wasn’t this big. The amazing thing is that it suddenly became many times larger overnight later on. To be honest, we locals were shocked too~ hahahaha!!!"

"And they say it can’t be destroyed at all~"

"Can’t be destroyed?"

The two watched that citizen walk into the arena, then exchanged a glance.

"It just looks like ordinary stone. How could it not be destroyed?"

Ace folded his arms, walked up beside the arena, and knocked suspiciously on the bricks. Sabo was even more straightforward—seeing that no one was around—

"Zheng—"

Pitch-black Armament Haki instantly wrapped around his hand.

"Sabo?"

Ace stepped back two paces, watching Sabo. Sabo’s fingers slowly bent, forming something like a dragon’s claw.

"Dragon Claw Fist!!!"

This was a martial art inherited from Dragon, famous for its destructive power and hardness. When used by a regular martial artist, it could display tremendous force capable of tearing down fortifications. And someone like Orin, a monster who already possessed immense raw strength.

But such a tremendously powerful Dragon Claw Fist, capable of squeezing cracks into large stretches of terrain, when it collided with the wall of the gigantic arena—

"Zzzt zzzt..."

Sparks burst again and again, and arcs of electricity appeared where Haki leaked—yet not a single stone chip or lump of earth appeared.

"How could this be!!!"

The Armament Haki faded from Sabo’s hand. His eyes widened as he stared at the completely unharmed wall, doubting life itself.

"Let me try..."

Seeing this, Ace also became interested. He immediately clenched his fist; immature black-and-red lightning entwined around it—but Sabo instantly stopped him.

"Forget it, let’s go in first and find Luffy. Your move will cause a commotion."

...

On the other side, the Straw Hat Pirates, aside from a few who stayed on the ship, all headed for the island.

"I’m really looking forward to it, a duel and all!!!"

Luffy, disguised as Lucy, successfully slipped into the arena and registered for the tournament. Originally, Zoro had gone with him, but while searching for the sword stolen by the Tontatta tribe... he accidentally got lost.

Sanji wasn’t interested in the arena and accidentally got lured away by a beauty.

There was no helping it—Luffy could only register for Zoro first and try to find him before the match. Wandering inside the arena, Luffy’s recklessness almost got him recognized several times. Here, Luffy also encountered other contestants—such as Cavendish.

With the arrival of that figure, many women in the arena had hearts in their eyes and fainted onto the ground—though his expression didn’t look good.

After a brief introduction with Luffy, he asked Luffy’s name, and Luffy nearly said the wrong one, drawing Cavendish’s attention.

"You’d better not be Straw Hat Luffy. If you are, I’ll take you out right here."

As he spoke, Cavendish seemed to grow more indignant.

"I entered the New World three years ago. Because of my beauty, women across entire countries refused to marry, and I was expelled. I thought I was the most charming man in this world!!!"

"But that man—the one the world calls the ’Black Gun’—has always firmly occupied the world’s attention. When people mention the most handsome and most charming man, they only know Orin!!!"

Cavendish was fuming, yet could do nothing—he could only shift his anger toward those who shone brightly in the Summit War, furious that they had stolen his spotlight and popularity.

During this time, Princess Rebecca, the freebie princess, also appeared—wearing clothes that made it unclear whether she’d come to compete or just to sell sex appeal—and she said goodbye to Luffy.

Not just Luffy—others who had successfully registered included Ace, Sabo, Lucci, Zoro, Burgess, Cavendish, Bartolomeo, a mysterious female swordsman, and so on...

The audience quickly took their seats. In the commentary booth were Gatz, the arena’s veteran commentator, and a mysterious long-haired man wearing sunglasses.

"I...I’ll introduce him to everyone. This is our guest commentator for this event, Ogu-san!!!"

"For this tournament, we’re using a special arena that absolutely won’t affect the spectator stands and absolutely cannot be destroyed. Everyone, please enjoy yourselves watching!!!"

"Without further ado, the match is about to begin!!!"

...

"That is definitely Orin-san, right?"

Sabo felt a bit embarrassed. He was standing in the front row of the audience, while Ace was already nowhere to be seen.

And soon the first elimination match began. Among the others who weren’t particularly eye-catching, the main attraction was still the muscular man with a paper bag on his head laughing "Wehahaha," and a man wearing a red coat who had stuck on a fake handlebar mustache for his disguise.

"Wehahaha!!!! The Float-Float Fruit is mine!!!"

"Wave—Elbow Strike!!!"

With mighty gathered force, the burly man blasted a bunch of small-time thugs who’d come to try their luck clean off the stage.

On the other side, the young man with the fake mustache, who had inexplicably registered, was sleeping beside the ring. Seeing this, Sabo showed a helpless expression.

"Hey... Ace~!!!"

He called in a lowered voice, but it was useless.

Soon someone set their sights on the young man in the red captain’s coat with the handlebar mustache.

"Hmph!!! What idiot actually falls asleep in the arena? If he dies, he’s got no one else to blame!!!"

Raising a blade, he slashed toward the man’s chest—but at the instant the blade was about to cut across, it was as if it hadn’t touched anything real. A few tiny flames rose and passed through; the attacker lost his footing and staggered off the edge into the water.

The sleeping youth slowly woke up. Looking at the arena that had been crowded moments before, now only the figure of the burly man remained before him.

"Well... I guess it’s about time to wrap this up?"