Flame-Flame Fruit (1)

Straw Hat Boy's way of doing things is never conventional. If you tell him to do something a certain way, he will definitely do it a certain way. He will absolutely ignore what you say.

Since he couldn't change Straw Hat Boy's behavior, he decided to ignore it and just watch the show from the sidelines; that would make him feel better.

"That's true. That kid likes to cause trouble; nobody can stop him," Ren Fang said, unconvinced. "Let's go then. Let's find him and see what he's up to."

Although the Straw Hat Boy was reckless, he wouldn't act so recklessly. It was truly baffling that he would run off to fight in the arena at such a crucial moment. She felt there must be something fishy going on, but she just didn't know it yet.

"Okay, let's go." Fanxin nodded, and then everyone followed suit without hesitation, heading in that direction.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the fighting arena, Fanxin and the others paid a fee and went inside.

Once inside, Fanxin went to the audience seats, where they focused their attention on the center of the ring.

At this moment, the Straw Hat Boy is fighting in the ring.

On the central arena, many people were fighting in a chaotic melee, with only one victor to emerge victorious. This victor would participate in the finals, while the rest would not qualify.

The arena is very large.

The arena is surrounded by seawater, inhabited by ferocious fighting fish that love to eat people. If you fall into the water, then I'm sorry, you're doomed.

Therefore, all the combat personnel were extremely careful and meticulous, making sure they didn't fall into the sea. Because falling into the sea meant death.

Among all these people, only two were truly unique: one was the Straw Hat Boy, and the other was the pot-bellied, white-haired old man.

The old man's name was Chinjao, and he was the leader of the Chinjao Family, a violent criminal organization. His most powerful weapon was his head.

His head was originally cone-shaped, pointed, like a cone. If he were to wrap his Haki around it, he could smash through the icy continent that was covered by ice all year round, his power was extremely strong.

However, the cone on his head is now gone, replaced by a circle.

The reason for this is that his cone was knocked off by the Garp the Hero with a single punch decades ago.

Thus, the title "Chinjao the Drill" ceased to exist. He subsequently retired from public life.

He's currently hunting down Straw Hat Boy, and the reason he's doing so is because Straw Hat Boy is the grandson of the Garp the Hero.

His cone was destroyed by Garp, so he couldn't get revenge on Garp. Therefore, he harbored a grudge against Straw Hat Boy Luffy.

In the center of the arena, only the two of them were fighting fiercely. Everyone else was relegated to the sidelines, not even having a chance to get close.

Especially after the two unleashed a Haki attack, the people around them were blasted away by the immense force of their impact and fell into the water.

Many people have been eaten by fighting fish in the sea; only a few powerful ones have survived.

On the field, only Chinjao and Straw Hat Boy remained to fight.

Both fighters unleashed their strongest attacks, and in the end, the outcome was decided.

The Straw Hat Boy was slightly better; he defeated the Chinjao. More importantly, the Straw Hat Boy knocked the Chinjao's cone back. The Chinjao's head, which was originally round, now had a sharp cone-shaped head.

The Straw Hat Boy's punch was essentially paying off his grandfather's debt.

The host announced the end of the battle, with the Straw Hat Boy emerging victorious.

And so the competition came to an end.

Straw Hat Boy quickly left the battlefield and went to his resting place.

"Let's go too!" Fanxin said.

He came here to find Straw Hat Boy, not to watch the match. Now that Straw Hat Boy has finished his fight, he naturally has to go and look for him.

Bingfeng and the others did not object and immediately followed.

With Fanxin in his eye, he used his Haki to pinpoint Luffy's location. Then, he headed straight for it.

Upon arriving at Luffy's location, Fanxin Xin immediately stopped Luffy.

"Hey, Fanxin? You're here." The Straw Hat Boy smiled as soon as he saw Fanxin.

"You came to join the battle just for that Flame-Flame Fruit?" Fanxin asked.

He had already heard that the prize for this competition was the Flame-Flame Fruit, an artificial Devil Fruit.

When Straw Hat Boy came to join the battle, Fanxin thought that he was most likely after that fruit.

Straw Hat Boy has his own Devil Fruit, so he doesn't need the Flame-Flame Fruit. However, the previous owner of that Flame-Flame Fruit was his older brother.

Fanxin felt that the Straw Hat Boy's participation in the competition was most likely related to his brother.

"Yes. I can't let my brother's things fall into someone else's hands. I must take them back," the Straw Hat Boy said firmly. His eyes were piercing, without the slightest hesitation. Clearly, he was determined to get the Flame-Flame Fruit.

"Sigh, it seems you haven't aged much." Fanxin nodded and said, "Alright, since you want to go, then go ahead, I don't object."

"But what about our plan? What are you going to do about it?" Fanxin asked.

They didn't come here for fun; they came for a specific purpose.

Now, a key player is going to compete here. Therefore, their plans must be changed, otherwise, things will really get complicated.

"Zoro and Sanji are outside, they're fine. You can go find them," Luffy said. "I'm going to stay here and hold out until the end. Once I get the Flame-Flame Fruit, I'll come back and help you guys."

"Alright, be careful. I sense there's a conspiracy brewing here," Fanxin said.

"Conspiracy? What conspiracy?" Luffy asked, puzzled.

"Hmph, after you and Law escaped, Doflamingo used the Flame-Flame Fruit to lure others here. And the Flame-Flame Fruit has some connection to you."

Fanxin said, "Because your Ace was originally the owner of the Flame-Flame Fruit. He brought this out to lure you here and even made you step into the arena to fight."

"This means that Doflamingo is setting a trap, and his target is undoubtedly you. If you're not careful, you'll definitely fall into his trap, understand?"

He had a premonition that Doflamingo definitely had ill intentions. Doflamingo must know that the Straw Hat Boy and Law had come here. However, they were delaying their appearance, allowing the Straw Hat Boy and the others to cause trouble in his territory, which was clearly unusual.

However, he still couldn't figure out Doflamingo's purpose. Therefore, he could only remind the Straw Hat Boy to be careful and not fall into his trap.

"Okay, I understand," said the Straw Hat Boy.

"Okay." Fanxin nodded, then looked at Bingfeng and said, "You and Jesse stay here! If Straw Hat Boy gets into trouble, lend a hand."

Straw Hat Boy loves to cause trouble, and now that his companions are gone, he's actually a little worried. So, he plans to leave a few people behind, that way they can at least look after Straw Hat Boy. Even if he gets captured, Bingfeng can come to his rescue.

"Understood," Bingfeng nodded in response. Jesse nodded in agreement as well.

"Alright, I'm leaving now." Without further hesitation, Fanxin Xin immediately took the Little Black Cat and Ren Fang and left, heading towards the outside of the arena.

Bingfeng, on the other hand, stayed with Luffy.

"Wait." Upon reaching the door, Fanxin went out. However, just then, two guards came up and blocked Fanxin and the others' path.

"What a foolish thing to do," Fanxin asked curiously.

"You cannot go out," the guard immediately said.

"Why?" Fanxin asked curiously. He could leave if he didn't want to watch anymore. But these people were stopping him and wouldn't let him go. He was truly puzzled.

"You can only go in, not out. Anyone who tries to leave will be arrested," the guard said. "So, you have to stay inside, understand?"

"What kind of rule is this?" Fanxin was annoyed. He had no interest in the competition, so was he supposed to force himself to stay here? That would be too much of a burden on himself.

"This is a decision made by the higher-ups," the guard said.

"Was it like this before?" Fanxin asked.

"No, this wasn't the case before. It was an order from the King not long ago," the guard said. "You'd better go back, otherwise we'll have no choice but to arrest you. Don't blame us for being ruthless then."

"Not long ago?" Fanxin sneered inwardly upon hearing this.

He knew something was amiss in this arena; Doflamingo must have had a purpose in luring the Straw Hat Boy here.

Now that he's forbidding anyone from leaving, his purpose is clear: Doflamingo wants to trap the Straw Hat Boy and the others here, preventing them from leaving.

"Okay, then we won't leave." Fanxin pondered for a moment, nodded slightly, and said.

After saying that, Fanxin led Ren Fang back.

"Why did we come back? We could have left easily if we had just taken action," Ren Fang said. They didn't take a few guards seriously.

"Of course I know that. But let's not act rashly now. Let's wait and see what Doflamingo is up to," Fanxin said. "That guy is definitely planning something, we just don't know it yet."

"Alright then! Since you want to wait, then wait!" Ren Fang could only agree. Fanxin Xin was a man of his word; once he made a decision, there was no going back. So, she didn't bother to waste her breath.

"Okay, that's settled then. Let's go, let's observe this arena and see what's so special about it," Fanxin said.

Doflamingo isn't letting them out; he's trying to trap them here. Clearly, there's something unusual here; otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy for them to hold him captive.

Therefore, Fanxin felt that there must be something fishy going on here, otherwise, Doflamingo wouldn't be so confident.

"So where should we begin our search?" Ren Fang asked.

They were completely unfamiliar with this place. It would be extremely difficult for them to find what they were looking for.

"Let's start here! I refuse to believe I can't find the secret here," Fanxin said with a light snort.

He will absolutely not agree to Doflamingo's plan to harm him. He will definitely find out Doflamingo's secrets.

"Alright, let's get started now!" Ren Fang nodded, without saying anything more.

Then they began to take action.

They searched room by room, leaving no corner unchecked.

However, after searching for a long time, they still found no secret, which made them very unhappy, because they hadn't found anything along the way. As a result, they had wasted a lot of time.

Finally, they arrived at the place where Straw Hat Boy was. Seeing them return, Bingfeng, Luffy, and the others were very puzzled, wondering why Fanxin had suddenly come back.

"What's wrong?" Bingfeng asked curiously.

"The guards won't let us out," Fanxin said. "Doflamingo wants to trap us here. There must be a secret in this place."

"Oh, does he really think he can trap so many experts here? That's unlikely!" Bingfeng immediately said upon hearing this.

Many powerful individuals have arrived here; almost everyone who desires the Flame-Flame Fruit has come. With so many experts present, it will be extremely difficult for Doflamingo to trap them.

She couldn't believe that this place could trap so many experts.

"Hmph, that's not necessarily true. Look at all those experts, they're fighting to the death. Once the battle is over, they'll all be wounded. Even if they're experts, they'll be wounded, and their strength will be greatly reduced," Fanxin said. "In that case, it might not be impossible for Doflamingo to trap everyone."

In every battle, there can only be one winner. And that winner must defeat all the other masters to secure victory.

Such a fierce battle would inevitably result in significant losses for both sides. Moreover, those defeated experts would be severely wounded, making it unlikely that they would be able to unleash their full power.

"Hmm, that makes sense," Bingfeng said. "So, what should we do?"

"Let's wait and see!" Fanxin pondered for a long time before saying, "However, we must get our hands on that Flame-Flame Fruit. We absolutely cannot let it fall into Doflamingo's hands, understand?"

Doflamingo used the Flame-Flame Fruit as bait to lure everyone here, so naturally, he had to take action and capture it. If he succeeded, then Doflamingo would have made a mistake.

He lured everyone here, so he definitely didn't intend to give the Flame-Flame Fruit as a gift. His taking the Flame-Flame Fruit will surely infuriate Doflamingo.

Since we can't do anything to Doflamingo right now, we can at least provoke him and cool off!