Thousand-Person Slayer

Patch stared at Roy with a dumbfounded look. After a long while, he nodded dazedly. "All right. Captain, whatever you say goes."

"Mm." Roy nodded with the air of an unfathomable master, while his heart bled inside. Damn it, I didn't expect converting illusion into reality to consume so much Dream Power. Even if I have to cry, I need to keep this act going. Damn these itchy hands—I shouldn't have put so much force into it.

Roy's level of development of the Dream-Dream Fruit determined the upper limit of Dream Origin he could contain, representing the size of the pool. Dream Power, meanwhile, was like the water in that pool; every bit used up had to be replenished.

The spectators outside the arena also recovered from their brief deafness and blindness. None of them bothered to straighten their appearance before hurriedly looking toward the arena, where countless sharp gasps immediately rang out.

"Gasp... W-What the hell happened?"

"What terrifyingly majestic power! Is this truly a power that humans can control?"

"So this is the strength possessed by top-tier powerhouses? It seems the road ahead of me is still long. After I return, I'll train for a few years before heading to the Grand Line."

"When Roy invited Patch earlier, didn't he say he was the captain of some Pirate Crew? I wonder if they're still recruiting?"

The enormous arena had actually been split cleanly in two. A bottomless canyon had opened in the earth—something that had already surpassed the realm of human capability.

The Arena Supervisor, who had been observing from the shadows, had gone pale as well. Even someone like him, who had witnessed grand scenes before, was frightened by that utterly terrifying move. Let alone in the North Blue, even in the first half of the Grand Line, few could reach such a level.

"Huh? Patch is actually unharmed. That shouldn't be possible. I admit that he's extraordinarily strong, but there's no way he could take an attack of that level without so much as a scratch." No one had favored Roy at the start of the fight, but now, everyone's scales had tipped toward Roy.

"Yeah, look at how respectful Patch is toward Lord Roy now. There must be some unknown shady deal behind this." The strong deserved respect. Although Roy looked very young, that did not stop others from addressing him with an honorific.

"I really wonder how Lord Roy trained. That slender body of his can actually unleash such incredible strength—how enviable." If Roy had known what they thought of him, he would have sprayed them with salt soda. Which of your eyes saw me as slender? It's obviously your builds that are freakish, all right?

Roy raised his head and looked at the host, who was still somewhat stunned. "By the way, does this count as my first victory? Can the fights continue?"

Roy was being somewhat greedy—after gaining a powerful subordinate, he was still thinking about someone else's reward. But if a pirate was not greedy, could he still be called a pirate?

The host gave a dry laugh, unsure how to respond. Inside, he was ranting wildly. Never mind that the arena had practically been destroyed by Roy—more importantly, who the hell would still dare to come up and fight him?

Hardly anyone had dared to challenge Patch before this, and Roy was clearly a whole level above Patch. Yet he still had the nerve to bully people here. Yes, bully them.

"Ahem, well... it seems that no one dares to challenge you. But we can't exactly hand you the reward without you fighting, can we?" the host said, pretending to be troubled.

"Is that so? Fine, then. I won't make things difficult for you." Roy rubbed his gleaming chin. Before the host could breathe a sigh of relief, Roy raised his voice. "Hey, friends here! Does anyone want to fight me? Come on, bring me a full hundred people at once. And I guarantee I won't kill anyone. How about it?"

The host nearly pissed himself. He had not expected Roy to be this good at stirring things up. All he could do now was pray that the others would be intimidated by Roy's earlier display and refuse to fight. Otherwise, the Devil Fruit would definitely be taken by Roy.

But Roy had already put it that plainly. If they still did not dare to fight, it would be far too humiliating. Very soon, most of them accepted the challenge.

Some simply wanted to witness what the so-called top combat power of the North Blue was like, while others wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to Roy. After all, anyone with eyes could see that an overlord-class power was about to rise in the North Blue.

Seeing this, the host could not stop them. He could only force a smile and agree, and before long, the arena staged a battle like moths flying into a flame.

None of those hundred people were weak. Some were even powerful pirates with bounties of twenty or thirty million, yet under Roy's terrifying attacks, almost no one could withstand a second move. The hundred-man battle ended in barely over a minute.

But this did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the next group rushing into battle, because Roy had proven his words in the previous fight. Every attack of his was perfectly measured, only robbing his opponents of their ability to continue fighting. Not a single person died, and not even one suffered serious injuries.

Minor wounds meant nothing to people who made their living on the edge of a blade. For most of them, joining a top-tier battle at the cost of a few small injuries was an absolute bargain.

Before long, Roy had already completed more than half of his thousand-consecutive-victories achievement. The Arena Supervisor watching from above had long since turned green. It had been a very long time since anyone had achieved a thousand consecutive victories.

On one hand, it was inherently difficult to accomplish. On the other, whenever someone was nearing the thousand-consecutive-victories achievement, the arena would send people out to intercept them. In truth, one hundred million Beli was nothing to the forces behind the arena; it was the Devil Fruit that truly pained them to part with.

Although a Devil Fruit was valued at one hundred million on the Black Market, that did not mean one could definitely buy a Devil Fruit with one hundred million. They were treasures of the sea, after all. Any single fruit could create a top-tier powerhouse, and no force would ever think they had too many.

At first, he had remained calm and confident, convinced that the powerful fighters in the arena could stop anyone from taking away the Devil Fruit. But after witnessing Roy's heaven-dominating strike, he no longer had any confidence in that.

Just as he was thinking, earth-shaking cheers suddenly erupted outside. His expression darkened. There was no need to think about it—Roy had already achieved a thousand consecutive victories.

"Damn it, they're all useless. They couldn't even buy me a little time. Fine, it seems I'll have to make a move myself."

The atmosphere in the arena had become so fervent it seemed ready to boil over. After all, being able to personally witness an achievement that no one had accomplished in decades was undoubtedly a blessing.

Though the host had been cursing up a storm inwardly, he still had to maintain a smile on the surface and uphold his professional standards.

"Today, we have witnessed the birth of a legend. In less than twenty minutes, he completed a Thousand-Person Slayer, achieving this unimaginable feat. Who is he?"

"Roy! Roy! Roy!"

"That's right! Our warrior, Roy! Next, the Arena Supervisor will personally receive Lord Roy and present him with his reward. Today's battles will end here. Please leave in an orderly manner. Our arena must also urgently send people to carry out repairs."

Everyone felt that the trip had been worthwhile, and they left satisfied. Meanwhile, the arena sent someone to guide Roy.

"Lord Roy, please follow me."

Roy had no objection and followed behind him, prepared to see who stood behind this arena. Patch hurriedly followed as well, and the attendant glanced at Roy in question.

"It's fine. Let him come."

The attendant was somewhat surprised, but he understood that this was not something he could interfere with, so he simply pretended not to notice.