The Melee
Without a doubt, upon hearing the news of the Juice-Juice Fruit and the Bean-Bean Fruit, Big Mom agreed without hesitation.
These days, she felt like she was in paradise, enjoying all kinds of delicious food and desserts every day, without repeating any. Moreover, it didn't cost her anything, so she took out seven ordinary Devil Fruit and one Ancient Species Dragon- Dragon-Dragon Fruit in Thunder Dragon form.
Producing fourteen ordinary Devil Fruit would be a bit difficult for Big Mom, but it's still manageable, since she mostly feeds the Devil Fruit to her children, many of whom become Devil Fruit users at a young age.
However, she still had her pride. If she were to take out fourteen ordinary Devil Fruit, people would definitely gossip. Ordinary Devil Fruit weren't very useful; what people would pursue were rare abilities.
The Thunder Dragon Fruit was originally intended to be traded with Kaido, in case it was needed, to obtain an opportunity for Kaido to make a move.
This put Kaido in a dilemma, because there are three Ancient Species Devil Fruit: the Thunder Dragon, with its enormous size and abilities comparable to Queen's Queen of Plague Fruit; the carnivorous Pig-crocodile; and the Ancient Centipede.
Thus, news of the five-way battle quickly spread throughout the Combat Pyramid and even the entire world.
The enormous reward of a total of thirty-four Devil Fruit was offered jointly by five different parties. After reviewing the format of this chaotic competition and the selection of rewards, many people understood that this was nothing more than a transaction involving Devil Fruit.
The most important event is the five-way battle, a contest between young, powerful individuals under the age of nineteen, protected by the Four Emperors and the Night Pirates.
The tense atmosphere that had been building as the kendo tournament approached suddenly intensified, attracting the attention of countless people. Although it wasn't a battle between leaders, it still represented the top pirate crews.
"Haha, Tsuru, I didn't expect them to pull off something like this without making a sound. This is hilarious. Why don't we talk to Sengoku and join in? I'm sure they'll give me face given my connections," Garp said with a laugh.
"Devil Fruit?" Kake couldn't help but ask.
Garp waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Why don't we just let Borsalino go? At his speed, it won't take him long to go back and forth."
Borsalino, who was quietly sipping his coffee, paused. Was he being dragged into this? He had to work overtime even when there was nothing wrong with him.
"No, this is a battle between pirates, we won't get involved. Our main purpose this time is to observe and watch the other Marines participate." Tsuru shook her head. "Don't cause trouble. If we really participate, we'll only humiliate ourselves, and we'll be the first to be eliminated."
He sighed inwardly. The age limit alone eliminated a large number of people; they didn't have anyone they could offer.
"Let's see how they fight. Those chosen by Shiki others will definitely become powerful executives and pillars of the pirate crew in the future. They need to be closely monitored." Tsuru's eyes gleamed. "Just wait and see."
The participants were quickly decided by all parties, but the Beasts Pirates faced a more difficult situation.
Krell is a given, but who should be the other candidate? Kaido suddenly realized that, in his mind, he couldn't think of a suitable other candidate, even though he was only thinking about Devil Fruit and Krell.
"Father, let me go!" Young Yamato, his eyes shining brightly, rushed to Kaido's side excitedly.
"No!" Kaido refused without hesitation. He had been protecting Yamato very well. If she participated in the exhibition, she would undoubtedly attract everyone's attention, which was something he didn't want to see. Besides, Yamato hadn't even grown up yet.
"Yamato, why are you getting involved? This is too early for you." The other members advised against it. They didn't want Yamato to participate in the battle either. Sending a child who wasn't even ten years old would make the Beasts Pirates weak.
Although Yamato is quite strong, having inherited her captain's powerful aptitude and possessing Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit ability, most pirates are no match for her now.
"Hmph! I'm going to participate, you stupid black-haired Masira." Yamato wasn't going to give up so easily. He glared at his father and cursed him without any politeness. Judging from this, it wasn't the first time.
"No, absolutely not." Kaido his arms, looked down at his daughter, and said firmly.
"I'm going! If they don't agree, I'll go outside and shout, 'I'm Kaido's child!'" Yamato, though young, crossed his arms like Kaido, showing a bit of Kaido's style.
A cunning glint flashed in his eyes; he seemed certain that Kaido was in his grasp.
"Huh?" Kaido's eyes widened. "You dare? I'll lock you up here for the next few days." He had gone to great lengths to protect Yamato; how could he let her be exposed like this?
"Do you think I dare or not? I don't care, I'm going to participate. It's just an Ancient Species Devil Fruit, right? I'll get it for you." Yamato didn't back down at all, confidently stating, exuding a Haki.
The two men remained in a standoff, while the others watched silently, unsure how to intervene, as this was their captain's "family matter."
Finally, Krell spoke, "Governor, since Yamato wants to participate, let her participate, but her identity needs to be kept secret." He was also very troubled by this matter, and among the Beasts Pirates, Yamato was the strongest under the age of eighteen besides himself.
Therefore, to obtain two Ancient Species Devil Fruit, it's safest to have Yamato participate in the competition, since pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million are generally no match for Yamato.
Kaido doesn't want Yamato's identity to be exposed, and this is something they also don't want.
The only option is to balance both. "Hide Yamato's identity, put on a mask. Actually, as long as Yamato's identity isn't exposed, that's fine. After all, Yamato has been inside the Combat Pyramid for so many days, he's probably already been noticed."
Having great potential is not important; what matters is Yamato's identity.
Krell's words pleased Yamato, who looked at Kaido with gratitude in her eyes.
But the final decision rests with Kaido. If Kaido disagrees, even if Krell speaks up, it won't work.
Kaido moment, then said, "Alright, then, make sure you disguise yourself properly, and change your age as well."
After all, Yamato also needs to grow, even though she has plenty of training within her own pirate crew.
"Yay! That's great!" Yamato exclaimed Yamato upon hearing his father's approval.
It didn't take long. Once the decision was made in the morning, the melee began early the next morning. The battleground was an arena on the seventeenth floor of the Combat Pyramid. The hall was located above the seventeenth floor, and by opening a mechanism, one could see the situation in the arena from inside the hall.
The participants have been announced; each pirate crew will send two people to participate in the free-for-all.
Big Mom Pirates: Fourteenth daughter Charlotte Smoker, twentieth son Charlotte Haifa.
They were fifteen and sixteen years old, respectively.
Smoker has already demonstrated her amazing talent and has been valued and nurtured by Big Mom. She possesses the ability of the Juice-Juice Fruit.
Big Mom doesn't care about the lives of her children. Most of them start fighting from a young age to expand the territory of the Big Mom Pirates. Although she is only fifteen years old, Smoker is already a pirate with a bounty of over 100 million.
As for Haifa, he's just a good-for-nothing. He's tall but only average in strength, and he doesn't have any outstanding children in his age group, either because they haven't grown up yet or because they're too old.
However, the Big Mom Pirates also have one advantage: they have Homie, their own Homie, which can enhance Smoker and the others' fighting power.
The two young pirates of the Flying Pirates, the brothers Kuroro and Kururu, are also known as the "Wolf Tiger Brothers." They are 18 and 17 years old respectively, and both are Zoan Devil Fruit users. One Inu Inu no Mi in its Forest Wolf form, and the other Cat-Cat Fruit in its Black Tiger form.
His bounty was also over 100 million, and he was quite well-known within the Flying Pirates.
It's already quite good that these two were selected. After all, the Flying Pirates are basically already formed, and pirates value strength above all else, so who would care about training young pirates?
In this respect, the Golden Lion Pirates are at a disadvantage, unlike the Night Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, Beasts Pirates, and Whitebeard Pirates, whose main members are actually quite young.
Most of Big Mom's children haven't grown up, and even compared to the Beasts Pirates, they are somewhat weak in terms of high-end combat power.
The Beasts Pirates haven't been around for many years, and several of their Devil Fruit users are less than ten years old, needing time to grow. Compared to the Whitebeard Pirates and the Flying Pirates, they have fewer officers.
Therefore, there is still a significant gap in both their individual strength and the overall strength of their pirate crew.
The sons of the Whitebeard Pirates are also quite young, as most of them were adopted by him.
Needless to say, the Night Pirates were even more formidable.
Therefore, among the Four Emperors and the Night Pirates, the only pirate crew that has reached its peak is the Flying Pirates, making them the uncrowned kings of the New World.
Other pirate crews still have great potential for growth, but they need time to develop.
The Whitebeard Pirates sent their two sons: seventeen-year-old Haruta, the 12th Division Commander, and Apoide, a current member of the Whitebeard Pirates and future captain of a subsidiary pirate crew.
He is now exactly eighteen years old, wearing a white hat, and his clothes are segmented like a caterpillar. He is the user of the Bug-Bug Fruit - Caterpillar Form.
The Beasts Pirates sent out eighteen-year-old Krell and a thirteen-year-old (or eight-year-old) girl named Mina (Yamato).
Although it involves falsifying names and ages, as long as the person is under nineteen, it's acceptable.
Kaido originally wanted to make Yamato's age sixteen or seventeen, but that would look too fake, since Yamato isn't very tall right now.
The Night Pirates, on the other hand, sent out Kaguya, who is now fifteen years old, and Clemons, who is sixteen years old.
One is Paramecia Bone-Bone Devil Fruit User, and the other is a Paramecia Muscle-Muscle Devil Fruit User. Both are young officers of the Night Pirates and have proven their strength on the battlefield. Both have also mastered Two types of Haki.
In terms of bounty, Kaguya reached 300 million Beli, while Clemons exceeded 200 million Beli.
The Night Pirates are destined to be the biggest rivals of other pirate crews.
Early the next morning, many people arrived at the arena on the seventeenth floor, which served as the battleground. The huge arena could seat 20,000 people, but it was still far from enough compared to the nearly one million people inside the Combat Pyramid.
Based on the principle of first come, first served, the seats were already full before the battle even started, with many people standing and even more watching the battle from outside via a large screen.
The five pirate crews that organized this chaotic battle, along with members from various factions, arrived at the scene quite early.
Although it wasn't a battle between pirate crews, it represented the top fighting force of the younger generation under the age of nineteen on the sea, in the eyes of many.
However, in the eyes of some, there are even stronger monsters, such as Teach and Big Mom. Their fighting power at this age represents the pinnacle of the sea, and they are even famous Great Pirate and strongmen who dominate the sea at a young age.
But players like Teach and Big Mom are few and far between. The competition between young powerhouses is a compelling story and carries significant weight.
The news spread and attracted the attention of countless people, including the elite training camp of the Marine Headquarters. Instead of starting training that day, they watched the live broadcast together.
If they are the elite of the Navy's current generation of young pirates, then those sent out in this chaotic battle involving the Great Pirate crews are the elite of the younger generation of pirates.
Of course, Charlotte Fahait is an exception. Although she inherited some of Big Mom's talent and has a very tall body, she is not very strong and is not valued by Big Mom. She doesn't even have Devil Fruit ability.
This is something that naturally needs attention.
Those who can enter the Marine Elite Training Camp are undoubtedly geniuses within the Navy. They can receive instruction from Zephyr, become Zephyr's students, and upon graduation, they will possess high military ranks and have a very high starting point.
Zephyr showed this to them to undermine the confidence of these geniuses and show them just how vast the world truly is.
After obtaining information about the participants in the free-for-all, Zephyr knew exactly how monstrous these young pirates were; even the weakest of them, Haifa, was far superior to most of the pirates in the training camp.
Although his strength is lacking, it depends on who he is compared to. The person who will easily defeat him in the future is Knight of the Sea Jinbe, one of the Shichibukai, Jinbe strength already surpasses that of Vice Admiral.
Moreover, his tall stature also meant he inherited some of Big Mom's strength.
The others all have the potential to become Vice Admiral, and the training they have undergone is incomparable to that of the young marines in the training camp. Although they have also fought against pirates on the high seas under his leadership, compared to these young pirates, they are like flowers in a greenhouse.
Like Smoker and Haifa of the Big Mom Pirates, they started fighting when they were seven or eight years old.
The "Wolf Tiger Brothers" of the Flying Pirates set sail at the age of fifteen.
The two young pirates of the Night Pirates are even more powerful, having joined the Night Pirates at the ages of ten and twelve.
"Watch closely, there are a few of them who are a match for all of you combined." Zephyr said in a deep voice, looking at the somewhat unruly students. He was simply stating a fact.
Seeing their incredulous looks, Zephyr remained silent.
The training camp hasn't seen any monsters in a long time: the first batch had Sakazuki and Borsalino, the second batch had Kuzan, and the batch with Gion and Kake.
After all, such monsters are few and far between.
However, even without the qualifications to become top-tier combatants, they can still become the backbone of the Navy, but this requires their own hard work, not complacency based on their perceived genius. (To be continued)