The Arena!
It was packed day and night.
The rules were simple: the last one standing won.
There was no such thing as holding back. There were only two rules.
Fight to the death or surrender.
The rewards varied by stage. All you had to do was hold the ring for ten matches without being knocked down by a challenger, and you would receive one hundred million Berries. Hold it for twenty matches, and you would get two hundred million. For thirty matches, three hundred million.
Of course, not just anyone could challenge.
You had to put down a deposit before challenging, after all. The ring champion wasn't going to fight you for free.
Bloodshed, brutality, and the most primitive kind of slaughter.
It made countless people scream, roar, and go wild.
The daily bets outside the ring easily reached tens of billions of Berries.
With a bit of luck, becoming a millionaire in a single day wasn't just a dream. More importantly, there was fame.
Some pirates weren't all that interested in money. Fame, on the other hand, was something they craved.
There were already quite a few famous ring champions. Some had held the ring for thirty matches, and were riding high, reaping both fame and fortune. Even the outside world had news columns reporting on them.
"I heard someone's challenging Ripping Hand today. He's a real monster who's held the ring for twenty-five matches. Every challenger before him was torn in half while still alive."
"They say Ripping Hand's got giant blood. He's ten meters tall, all muscle, and incredibly strong."
"I'm betting a hundred thousand Berries on Ripping Hand!"
"Three hundred thousand!"
The Arena was as lively as ever today.
Looking at the names projected by Den Den Mushi above the battlefield, they saw that some