Hatcha

"Game, start!"

Queen raised the small box in his hand high and shouted.

"Oh!!!"

His voice instantly stirred up a frenzy in the square below. The grotesque, wild-looking pirates erupted into thunderous cheers.

Then, the pirates surged forward like a tidal wave, every single one of them wearing an ecstatic grin on their face.

"A Mythical Zoan! I'm claiming it!!"

"That's mine!"

"I'm gonna eat that fruit and become an executive!"

It was a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit!

If they could get their hands on that fruit, they'd surely leap straight to executive status—or even become a disaster candidate like Lord Sirius. It wasn't impossible.

The pirates here naturally couldn't resist such temptation.

"Ha, what a lively scene!"

Sirius stood up. Thanks to his height advantage, he could almost take in the entire venue at a glance.

All the pirates were charging madly forward, none of them willing to stop.

Sirius even spotted two small figures in the crowd excitedly dragging their blades as they rushed ahead.

But one thing stood out: from the very start, every pirate had deliberately avoided the corner where Sirius and his group stood, leaving an open space around them, as if they were something foul and untouchable. No one dared to come near.

The square wasn't all that big to begin with, and soon the leading pirates had reached the area beneath the platform hanging from the dome.

But the problem was: how to get up there and take the fruit?

Actually, before that, they had an even bigger issue to face.

"Get out of my way!! The Okuchi-no-Makami Fruit is mine!"

"You're the one who needs to get lost! Die!"

"I'm not afraid of you!"

The pirates instantly clashed into a brawl. Blades met flesh, blood and screams intertwined.

In just a moment, it was impossible to tell this was a game anymore. The square had become a battlefield, the game a slaughter.

"Ughahahaha! The passion is high!"

Atop a building beside the square, Kaido sat cross-legged on the ground, already guzzling from his giant gourd of liquor since early morning. "It's been a long time since it's been this lively!"

"King, don't interfere. Let them enjoy themselves to the fullest!"

Beneath the dome, King had transformed into a massive pteranodon, flapping his wings as he soared, his sharp eyes constantly scanning the square below. He was the referee of this game.

But even as referee, King didn't care how the pirates below fought—head-on brawls or dirty tricks, it made no difference to him.

King only had to make sure no one damaged the fruit. That was enough.

The smell of blood had already begun spreading across the square. Sirius, with his keen sense of smell, couldn't help but frown. "Let's finish this quickly. Grab the fruit fast."

That way, at least, they might reduce the casualties a little.

"Oh! Then hold tight!"

Jack roared with excitement. Thick fur instantly sprouted all over his body, and in the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a massive mammoth.

"Everyone, get out of my way!"

Bellowing, the giant elephant stomped forward and charged.

"Wait for me, Jack!"

Yamata leaped up in an instant, landing lightly on Jack's back. She nimbly hopped over to Sirius's side, her spiked club already in hand.

"Charge!"

She laughed, brimming with high spirits.

"Really, so I have to run on my own two legs?"

Black Maria complained helplessly. Then, in the next second, her body began to change. Her upper half remained a young woman's form, but below the waist, she transformed into a spider body. Her eight legs moved rapidly, letting her quickly catch up to Jack and the others.

The mammoth's charge was like a locomotive. The pirates in its path scrambled to dodge in panic, not daring to block it at all.

But that didn't mean there weren't any thick-headed fools—or rather, the Beasts Pirates never lacked for stubborn idiots.

"Even if you're Lord Jack, I won't give way!!"

The bloodthirsty pirates swung their blades at Jack.

But all they could do was roar twice. The next moment, Jack's pillar-like trunk swung out, sending them flying through the air.

Those who weren't hit by the trunk didn't fare any better. They slammed into Jack's body like they'd been hit by a train, spitting blood as they were sent flying too.

"Honestly, Sirius wants to help Yamato grab the fruit, so could you please not get in the way?"

Maria, following close behind Jack, sighed helplessly. The next second, she flicked her hand, and a mass of sticky spider web sprayed out, instantly trapping all the surrounding pirates inside.

The spiderweb had incredible stickiness and was extremely strong. All the pirates caught in it struggled in vain, unable to break free.

"Nice work, Maria!"

Sirius praised loudly.

"Maria's amazing!" Yamato turned back and grinned in admiration.

"Ara ara, it's nothing."

Maria, standing beside Jack, touched her cheek with her right hand, the tips of her ears slightly red. "Just a trivial ability."

"Enough chatter!"

Jack swung his trunk, sending nearby pirates flying, and shouted, "Sirius, figured out how to get up there yet?"

The platform hanging from the dome was hundreds of meters high—no ordinary method could reach it.

"I've got an idea."

Sirius casually swatted away a pirate who foolishly leaped at him with a single sword strike and called out, "But we need to get closer!"

"Got it!"

Jack responded loudly, charging forward with even more force on all fours, barreling straight through.

Sirius dealt with the attacking pirates while scanning the battlefield.

Carnage was everywhere. The pirates had completely lost their minds, blind to everything else.

But Sirius also spotted an amusing scene.

A little girl, catching a pirate off guard, stabbed him in the back with a knife.

Sirius vaguely remembered that pirate—one of the ones from last night.

The girl looked up excitedly, and their eyes met.

Sirius smiled at her. She glared back.

Annoying jerk! Don't get cocky! That fruit is mine!

Ulti shot a fierce glare at the man riding the elephant, then grabbed her younger brother's hand.

"P-Pei! Keep charging forward! We're definitely getting that fruit!"

The two siblings were so short that the surrounding pirates wouldn't notice them unless they deliberately looked down.

At this moment, their small size actually became their shield, and they encountered no real danger.

But their advance soon came to a halt.

BOOM!

With a howling gust of wind, a massive foot stomped down in front of them. Countless pirates were instantly crushed into pulp, and the ground shook.

"Eep!"

Ulti let out an adorable shriek of fright, stumbling back two steps while dragging her brother.

She instinctively looked up and saw a mountain.

"What is this?!"

"Hahahaha, Sirius!! That fruit is mine!"

A monster with sunglasses and a bowl cut, laughing wildly, raised a giant spiked club.

"Hatcha, you bastard!"

Sirius looked up. "Looking for a beating?"

"We'll see who gets beaten!!"

The Numbers member Hatcha laughed heartily and slammed the club down.