The Battle in the Arena (2)

Facing Wallace's punch, he also sensed the danger; he could feel the intense heat emanating from it from afar.

But he wasn't about to back down. Wearing an iron gauntlet, he threw a punch just like before. This fight was much more intense than the previous ones. Either they gave up or were knocked out with a single punch due to carelessness. Watching it made them want to fall asleep.

The real battle began, and the onlookers watched with growing seriousness. Meanwhile, members of the same pirate crew were still cheering on the pirate fighting Wallace.

Fists clashed, and Wallace, with his amplification abilities, held the upper hand in the fight. The pirate's face contorted slightly; one could imagine the sensation of his fists striking steel with each blow.

Meanwhile, Wallace's fist had turned crimson red without anyone noticing. The intense heat, combined with the hardness of steel, was irresistible to his opponent. He let out a painful scream, clutched his bright red fist, and fell off the battlefield.

"Don't engage him head-on. Using weapons would be better, even though they're less effective against his steel body. He still needs to expend energy to use his abilities," one pirate observed, understanding Wallace's fighting style and the effectiveness of his powers. "If someone is skilled in speed, that would be even better."

With his keen eye, Wallace is still too young. Although he is very capable, he is still inferior to these pirates who have been training on the sea for many years in terms of combat experience and physical skills.

Even someone with sharp eyes like him could see that in this battle, besides the head-on clashes, many of Wallace's punches were dodged by the pirate, who then landed a counter-punch on Wallace. Although the pirate was defeated, he also exhausted a great deal of Wallace's strength.

Upon hearing his words, the pirates who were preparing to challenge Wallace nodded in agreement, realizing they now understood how to deal with Wallace.

Wallace's expression was somewhat grim, but he hadn't expended too much energy. His Iron Body didn't consume energy; it was a passive ability he gained from eating Devil Fruit. Only his Molten Steel Fist did consume some energy.

This also shows that he deliberately feigned weakness in order to mislead them into misjudging his strength.

However, the pirate was right; that was indeed his weakness. Although his fists could turn into steel, they didn't actually deal that much damage. In short, his strength was insufficient, despite his hard training.

"He's still too inexperienced; he needs more training in physical skills." Watching Wallace fight, Teach noticed Wallace's weaknesses.

"Hmm, far from it." Gari said, unusually. Wallace's combat experience was far inferior to Gar's at the age of three. The reason for this was that Gar knew Teach had the idea of recruiting this young ability user.

"People always grow up. When the time comes, I'll have to trouble you to train him, Gari." Teach smiled and looked at Gari beside him, causing Gari's face to stiffen. He hadn't expected Teach to ask him to teach this pirate.

Gari is currently learning the Marine Six Styles, but he has only selected Shave, Geppo, Kami-e, and Life Return from it. This is just the beginning of his learning. He also plans to learn Armament Haki and Observation Haki. Gari's physical strength has already reached the standard for learning Haki.

Although he hasn't mastered it yet, Teach has already shared everything he knows with Gari and occasionally gives him pointers. Gari usually trains on his own.

Teach also needs to train to strengthen his physique and martial arts. By now, his swordsmanship can no longer keep up with his progress. He no longer needs to use a knife. Even in Kendo, he can train without a knife. After two years of honing his skills, he has successfully combined his swordsmanship with claw techniques.

The further you progress, the less useful swordsmanship becomes, gradually returning to simplicity and reaching the point where brute force can overcome all techniques.

Whether it's Hawk Eyes in the future, Genryuusai Shigekuni, or Roger, they all condensed their swordsmanship into a single move. Roger's Kamunabi Teach is still impressive to this day, as it avoids all attacks and strikes the opponent's body directly.

This is the ultimate speed, and it also combines Roger's ability to Voice of All Things. Teach once pursued this as well, but he quickly gave up because it was not the path for him.

Even the Dragon Abyss Sword, which Teach had high hopes for, was transformed in Teach's mind from a sword into a weapon.

"Haha, this is also a good training for you." Seeing Gari's expression, Teach smiled and looked down at Wallace on the dueling platform.

Wallace won ten battles in a row, which surprised everyone. No one expected Wallace to be so tenacious. The pirates around him looked at Wallace with more respect. The strong are always worthy of respect.

They could all see that no one would underestimate Wallace based on his bounty, because Wallace had already defeated more than ten pirates with bounties exceeding 40 million. As long as Wallace didn't die along the way, he would definitely become a powerful pirate.

Even with a half-hour break in between, Wallace was still panting heavily. Half an hour was not enough to recover his strength; in fact, the continuous fighting caused his stamina to decrease.

Correspondingly, these pirate crews were also getting anxious. They had already lost 180 million of the Beli, with large pirate crews taking 70 million. Wallace had won eleven battles, leaving them with only 120 million Beli to fight over.

I thought Wallace was capable, but his strength was just so-so. As long as we could easily defeat Wallace, the rest of the Beli would be ours. But I didn't expect Wallace to be so tenacious.

We can't let Wallace keep winning like this. Even if they get some Beli, it will only become a stepping stone for Wallace to become famous.

Compared to Beli, a pirate crew's reputation is the most important thing. With a high reputation, they can continuously attract new pirate members and Great Pirate crew's overall strength.

Half an hour later, Wallace looked at the pirate who had walked up. The pirate had the Simon Pirates' symbol on his neck, a cruel smile on his face, and his tongue was sticking out. A black heart was printed on his right cheek.

Seeing him, Wallace prepared for battle. "Wallace's going to suffer," Teach chuckled as he watched the pirate approach.

"Hmm, quite strong." Gari was very sensitive to auras. According to the information around him, this was a pirate with a bounty of 46 million, but his actual strength was much stronger than those pirates who had been defeated by Wallace before.

"Are you going to help? What if you die?" Baccarat smiled. She knew about the feud between Wallace and the Simon Pirates, and that Wallace might really go all out this time.

"No, you can't kill Wallace, but you might injure Wallace." Wallace has mostly survived these battles thanks to the power of the Steel-Steel Fruit, making it very difficult to kill him.

"This is their duel. If I were to interfere rashly, I would break the rules. Wallace has no connection with me now. If he dies, it can only be said that we were not meant to be." Teach looked at Wallace below, a smile on his face, but his words were somewhat cold.

"In other words, if he's connected to us, you have a reason to interfere, Teach. You don't seem like someone who follows the rules." Baccarat smiled mysteriously, realizing something.

"Hehehe, rules are meant to be broken, and I'm going to be the one making the rules." Teach looked at Baccarat, wondering what she was up to.

"You need to start training too. The Marine Six Styles are perfect for you. Your abilities need to be combined with strong strength to truly be effective," Teach teased, causing Baccarat's expression to change.

Training! This is too much for her. She finally had two days of relaxation, and she can't forget the scene of training on the ship. She is an ambitious woman and naturally wants to have great strength, but she just didn't know how to become stronger before. Teach happens to have a complete set of Marine Six Styles.

Thinking back on those days, her legs went weak and her muscles trembled involuntarily. Teach's training plan for her was specially tailored to her body, but it only took into account Baccarat's limits. However, Baccarat couldn't push herself to the limit at all and only completed half of the training plan during those days, which made her complain endlessly.

However, Teach did not force her. In his plan, Baccarat was not a main combatant, but she needed to have the ability to protect herself. As long as she continued to train, that would be fine.

Wallace threw a punch, which the pirate easily dodged. At the same time, the pirate kicked Wallace in the stomach. The steel body had a greater weight, requiring more strength to strike. This kick to Wallace's stomach made Wallace's expression change.

This person's strength is not as simple as it seems on the surface; it surpasses the bounty. I was careless, Wallace thought to himself. A body of steel doesn't mean it's invincible, but it has greater resilience, comparable to the hardness of steel, though not quite reaching the level of steel. Further development of its abilities is needed.

The powerful impact passed through Wallace's body, and Wallace felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He took two steps back, forcibly stopping himself, and threw a backhand punch—a crimson steel fist, like steel that was about to melt.

The onlookers were already very familiar with Wallace's move, and the powerful pirate opposite him was naturally aware of it as well. He retreated to avoid the punch, then charged forward and threw a punch at Wallace's head.

This caught Wallace completely off guard. Instinctively, he scalped his head, his hair turning into steel and exuding intense heat, and ducked down, using his head to block the punch.

"Sizzle!" The intense heat caused the opponent's expression to change. At the same time, it was incredibly hard. Wallace's high temperature could not only be used for attack, but also had a strong defensive effect.

This powerful ability makes Wallace like a hedgehog; anyone who hits him will feel pain. Wallace has good combat talent and knows his weaknesses. He uses defense as offense and leverages his strengths to injure his opponents little by little.

The others frowned upon seeing this, especially Simon, whose henchman was far more powerful than the bounty hunter. Judging from the situation, Wallace had already gained an advantage, and victory was only a matter of time.

However, the effects were also significant; Wallace's condition and stamina were steadily declining.

Simon clenched his fists so tightly that the steel ball in his hand was slightly deformed, demonstrating his immense strength and anger.

He was well aware of the strength of his subordinates, but he hadn't expected Wallace to be so strong. Although they were capable, their combat strength was still somewhat immature compared to a pirate with a bounty of over 100 million. His strength was naturally very easy to deal with Wallace, and Wallace's abilities could only last a little longer in his hands.

However, what he feared was Wallace's potential, and he didn't want to give Wallace the opportunity to grow.

Today, Wallace must die, even though their relationship hasn't reached the point of life and death. Who knows if Wallace will come after them in the future?

Moreover, he was genuinely furious with Wallace, the lone pirate who stole his championship, and given his personality, it was impossible for him to befriend him.

Seeing Wallace's potential, Simon's desire to kill Wallace intensified. As for rules, he didn't care about any rules; he could simply leave this sea area and develop elsewhere.

Wallace is unaware of Simon's intentions. His stamina is dwindling, and he has now become the one initiating the attack.

Teach shook his head at the sight of the battle. His physical skills were terrible. If he had any better physical skills and faster speed, his combat power would have increased several levels when combined with his abilities. But this battle was simply unbearable to watch.

His physical condition is quite good; it's obvious he exercises regularly, otherwise he wouldn't have a bounty of nearly 30 million.

Of course, Teach could still see that Wallace had good combat awareness and had improved somewhat in combat after so many battles.

"Steel Fist - Melting Steel." Wallace spread his arms and rushed forward to hug the pirate, the scorching heat burning his opponent's body.

"Ah..." Struck by Wallace, he screamed in agony. The scream could be heard from afar, sending chills down one's spine. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Wallace's thigh, now made of molten steel, had pressed directly against the pirate's groin. The pain he felt far exceeded the sum of all the pain he had experienced throughout his body.

Overwhelmed by the weight of Wallace, now transformed into steel, and by his own pain, he involuntarily collapsed to his knees.

He became utterly powerless to resist, and Wallace, with all his might, delivered two punches directly to his head, showing no mercy whatsoever.

The pirate fainted immediately. Looking at his horrific state—his skin was red and pale, covered in blisters—he was dragged away without any resistance.

Simon's face was grim. Seeing the miserable state of his men was like a slap in the face, fueling his anger. People around him instinctively moved away, as if they could feel the murderous aura emanating from Simon.