Rampage Fruit

One battle after another ended swiftly. Patch's winning streak had reached 850. Inside one of the arena's private rooms, a bespectacled, refined-looking young man kept wiping sweat from his forehead as he reported, "Supervisor, this won't do. The reserve beasts are almost all dead. If this keeps up, there won't be anyone left to fight him."

The middle-aged man seated before him crossed one leg over the other and spoke calmly. "Send someone to contact Patch later and ask whether he'd be willing to join us. If he is, let him achieve a thousand consecutive victories. If he isn't, heh heh, our Devil Fruit isn't so easy to take. Have one of our masters deal with him then. He's just a newcomer; he can't make much trouble."

"Another one! Another challenger has fallen! Is there truly no one who can stop Patch's winning streak? Esteemed heroes, are you really going to stand by and watch someone claim the honor of a thousand consecutive victories before your very eyes?"

There were actually quite a few strong fighters present with bounties of twenty to thirty million Beli, but out of caution, none of them dared to step forward and challenge him. After all, no one knew whether Patch had been using his full strength. And given his fighting style, it was impossible for him to hold back.

Just as cheers continued to ring through the arena, a discordant voice suddenly cut in. "Hey, big guy, you're pretty strong. Want to follow me?"

A young man in a black fitted outfit sat on the railing with one leg folded up, his manner carefree and unruly.

Quite a few people immediately burst out laughing. Judging by appearances alone, this young man was clearly no match for Patch. Comparing the two was like comparing a demon king to an ordinary man.

Patch turned his head toward Roy as well, grinning viciously. "Hahaha, of course. But you'll have to defeat me first. Before you, there were also some fools who made the same offer. Without exception, they all became piles of rotten flesh. Kid, do you still dare come down?"

"That sounds like a fine suggestion. I accept. Let's fight." Roy jumped directly from the towering platform. Yet when he landed, he did not even stir a speck of dust. The pupils of many who had been hoping to see him make a fool of himself shrank. This display alone showed that Roy was definitely no weakling.

"H-Hey, sir, you... you're breaking the rules! You haven't even registered!" the host said with a conflicted expression.

"Hahahaha! Who still wants to watch your boring hunts? This place should belong to a real battlefield."

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The audience had already begun roaring.

"Fine, then. Sir, you will be the 851st challenger. May I ask your name?" The host gave in helplessly.

"Roy."

"The 851st battle begins now! Nameless Swordsman Roy versus the terrifying slaughterer—Patch!"

"Come on, take one of my punches!" Patch seemed to enjoy the process of battle immensely. Even after fighting for so long, his energy remained astonishingly abundant. He even seemed to grow stronger the longer he fought.

Bang! A tremendous crash rang out. Roy had raised his sword, without even drawing it from its sheath, and held Patch's enormous fist at a standstill.

Countless people stared at the sight before them in disbelief. Roy had merely lifted his sheathed sword casually, yet he had stopped Patch's incomparably violent iron fist. Before this, hardly anyone had been able to clash with Patch head-on.

After getting over his initial surprise, Patch was delighted rather than angered. He roared, "Excellent! Again!"

His two fists created countless afterimages in the air, as though he had thrown hundreds of punches in an instant. Those who had previously been considering whether to enter the arena now felt fortunate. Patch had already been invincible by relying solely on his indestructible strength, but now even his attack speed was so terrifyingly fast. There were truly very few people who could withstand him.

Roy was delighted as well. In his eyes, the stronger Patch was, the better. Only strong people were worth subduing.

Roy did not move a single step from where he stood. The sword in his hand likewise formed countless sword shadows, seemingly matching Patch's fist shadows perfectly. To outsiders, it looked like a clash of equals, needle against awl.

Only Patch could sense just how powerful the young man before him was. Every strike of Roy's sword landed precisely on his fists, without the slightest deviation. And Roy's lazy demeanor made it seem as though an adult were instructing a child. The gap between them was so vast that they were practically in different dimensions.

"Damn it! Don't look down on me!" Patch roared. His eyes turned crimson, and the aura around him began to rise steadily. The force behind every punch increased, while his punching speed grew faster and faster.

To outsiders, even their afterimages had become impossible to see. Even those who considered themselves strong had to exert every effort just to barely keep up with the two men's speed. Any thought of competing with these two monsters had completely vanished from their minds.

Their eyes could barely follow, but their minds could not, much less their bodies. If they had been in the arena, they likely would not even have been able to launch a complete counterattack before being beaten into meat patties.

Roy once again raised his estimation of Patch. He had not expected Patch to be a Devil Fruit Ability user as well. Though he did not know what Patch's ability was, it suited his monstrous physical strength perfectly.

Roy estimated inwardly that before using his ability, Patch was probably slightly weaker than Violent Wolf. Judging by bounty levels, he was roughly in the thirty-million-Beli range. But after activating his ability, his strength had explosively increased, and his combat power had even approached the fifty-million-Beli level.

A person at this level would be considered a strong fighter not only in the North Blue, but even in the first half of the Grand Line. Roy praised himself inwardly. He had truly found a treasure this time.

It was precisely because of this that Roy's sword grew faster and faster, as he gradually began to get serious. After all, for a battle maniac like Patch, the best method was to directly make him submit through absolute strength.

Patch's thoughts were indeed just as Roy had expected. In his previous battles, whenever he used his Devil Fruit Ability in combination with his natural physique, almost no one could withstand his burst of power. Yet this time, he had been suppressed from beginning to end. The seed of Roy's invincibility could not help but take root in his heart.

"Alright, that's enough. Next, I'll attack with my full strength once. If you can't even block this strike, then you aren't qualified to be my crew member," Roy said seriously. Tests went both ways, after all. If Patch died from this strike, it would mean that he was only capable of that much. Roy would only feel regret, never remorse.

For a battle maniac like Patch, Roy's somewhat ruthless words suited him even better. He shouted, "Come on! I went to sea so I could constantly challenge stronger opponents. If I can't even block one strike, then I might as well die here!"

Upon hearing their words, every spectator's heart rose to their throat. The cheers and shouts abruptly ceased. The arena was so quiet that one could hear a needle fall. Everyone held their breath, ready to witness this rare battle.

Even the Arena Supervisor, who had previously dismissed them with contempt, clenched his sweaty palms. The strength these two had displayed had completely exceeded his expectations. Though they still could not compare to the force behind him, they would already count as powerful support. If he could recruit them into his organization, his status within it would certainly rise.

Drawing Sword Strike!

Light—light brilliant to the extreme, like the first ray of dawn; darkness—the heavens and earth fell silent, like the whispering call of death.

Between this ultimate light and darkness, no one could even open their eyes. Their minds and spirits were completely drawn into it.

It seemed like an instant, yet also like countless long years. Everyone's minds were still blank, and no one knew what had just happened.

Roy sheathed his sword. Patch knelt on one knee upon the ground, already turned into a bloody figure. His body was shattered like cracked glass, and his frame had expanded once more, reaching a full seven meters in height.

Roy saw it clearly. At the most critical moment, Patch had activated his Devil Fruit Ability once again, transforming himself into a berserk seven-meter-tall giant monster and barely managing to block the strike. Even so, he had nearly suffered irreversible damage.

"Captain, it seems I managed to take that slash. Unfortunately, my journey seems to end here. What a pity," Patch said. Surprisingly, he bore no resentment toward Roy. To the strong, death had never been something to fear.

"Congratulations on becoming my crew member. But it seems you'll have to keep fighting for me aboard my ship," Roy said, shaking his head. He pressed his right hand against Patch's body. A strand of seven-colored light flashed, and Patch's wounds gradually disappeared until they healed completely.

"Th-This... what is this? My injuries are completely gone. Captain, how did you do it?" Patch asked in disbelief.

"The origin of dreams is illusion and reality. What is real, and what is illusion? That is for me, the ruler of dreams, to decide."