The Tournament Continues
After half a month of battles, the 1,024 spots were finally decided.
Each contestant who advanced was represented by a densely packed image on a large screen inside the Combat Pyramid.
Among them, many famous and unknown swordsmen stood out and became the subject of much discussion.
Those who made it onto the list and advanced were all considered quite strong in the sea, even the weakest of them were no weaker than a pirate with a bounty of 100 million Beli.
To stand out from so many swordsmen, some must be as strong as Swordmaster. After all, the division of combat power depends on factors such as combat awareness, physique, or Two types of Haki.
The competition also has limitations on Devil Fruit abilities, unless one can combine Devil Fruit abilities with swordsmanship.
Some young powerhouses, such as Shanks and Mostima, are not at a disadvantage even when facing Great Swordmaster, of course, only ordinary Great Swordmaster.
Shanks, the apprentice pirate of Roger Pirates, also participated in the kendo tournament.
Despite his young age, his formidable strength has made him a figure of great interest. His immense potential, combined with his powerful abilities, and his Two types of Haki —even defeating a Great Swordmaster with them—makes it clear that this Supernovas will become a powerful figure in the ocean.
Many members of the Night Pirates, including Lafitte, Mostima, Shiryu of the Rain, Rediat, Xiouyapufu, have also distinguished themselves in the ongoing battles of the Kendo Tournament, delivering outstanding performances.
Lafitte and Nelson have returned from the Golden Sea, and this kendo tournament is a great opportunity for them.
Instead of them, Teach sent Gari, along with several other members.
Apart from Rediat, who became Great Swordmaster early on, most of the other officers of the Night Pirates are stuck at the level of Swordmaster.
Characters with exceptional swordsmanship talent, such as Mostima, Shiryu of the Rain, Xiouyapufu, have remained at the peak of the Swordmaster for several years now.
This opportunity is a great chance for them to break through to the level of Great Swordmaster, and it is the same for most Swordmaster.
After all, opportunities to spar with all sorts of Swordmaster are actually quite rare. Constant battles can accelerate their progress and help them gain insights.
Breaking through the bottleneck of Great Swordmaster is not easy; countless people have been stuck at it. Besides the difficulty of overcoming this bottleneck, the opportunity, or luck, also plays a role.
Over the years, Mostima has devoted a great deal of time to making up for his shortcomings.
There are still many things to deal with. This is not something that can be achieved through quiet contemplation and ascetic practice. Fighting is often the most effective method.
If Mostima can break through, his strength will definitely improve significantly.
The same applies to Shiryu of the Rain. In Impel Down and after joining the Night Pirates, his strength improved, but the bottleneck of Great Swordmaster still held him back, making it difficult for him to break through.
Teach had no doubt that they could break through and become Great Swordmaster; it was just a matter of time, but the sooner they broke through, the better.
Five years have passed since the start of the Great Pirate Era, but the real explosion is yet to come in the next few years.
With events unfolding at sea, the navy is now turning its attention to the New World.
The suppression of pirates in "Paradise" has not been effective in controlling the four seas; the number of pirates continues to increase, and the world situation is becoming increasingly chaotic, even though the Navy's power has been strengthened.
The time available for the development of the new era of pirates is simply too short, except for special cases like the Night Pirates. However, unlike before, there is no situation where the Four Emperors divide the entire New World. Instead, many powerful figures divide the New World, and even if things stabilize, there will still be many vacant territories at the borders of the major powers, serving as buffer zones.
These buffer zones are the foundation upon which these ambitious pirates develop and survive.
After the first round of the kendo tournament, there will be a three-day rest period. During this time, not only will the participants who have advanced recover, but the Night Pirates will also need to repair the arena damaged in the battle.
However, such arenas are relatively rare, since destroying an arena requires considerable power.
The Night Pirates also need to make new arrangements for the battles of those who advance.
The margin for error is lower this time, and each person needs to fight five battles. In addition to the fact that the battle time between strong players may be longer, this is also to speed up the progress of the competition and prevent fatigue from occurring due to excessive time.
What's truly anticipated is the final battle between the Great Swordmaster, vying for the title of "World's Greatest Swordsman." Compared to that, everything else is just an appetizer.
The amazing performances of each swordsman made people clearly aware of the power of swordsmanship and the strength of the swordsman group. At the same time, as the swordsmanship competition unfolded, more and more people learned swordsmanship and wanted to become swordsmen.
Kendo dojos around the world have seen a significant increase in the number of students enrolling during this period.
There are only 112 spots for advancement in the second round, roughly one-tenth of the total, making the competition even fiercer. Apart from Great Swordmaster, ordinary Swordmaster simply cannot advance without sufficient strength.
Now, the Kendo tournament is truly entering its peak. Battles between the strongest fighters may end in an instant, but they are more likely to become a stalemate. Either way, this is what residents and spectators all over the world want to see.
"That's great, Captain. You didn't disgrace the Red-Haired Pirates." The voices of his crew members came through the Transponder Snail, through which they could see each other's images.
Shanks was shirtless, soaking in a steaming hot tub in a private room, enjoying the sauna service.
"Haha, of course, I'm not kidding, it feels so good here." Shanks said, basking in the water, his entire body submerged, with only his head sticking out.
Meanwhile, on Beast Island, his crew, along with the members of the Clown Pirates, were watching him with envy.
"Boss, when we get to the New World, take us to enjoy it too," Laki Lu said enviously. At that moment, even the roasted leg in his hand didn't taste so good anymore.
"Of course! A soak after a battle makes you feel so relaxed," Shanks readily agreed.
"Hmph! You Shanks, your Red-Haired Pirates are just penniless bastards, do you even have any money?" Buggy's voice rang out, disdainful, but there was a hint of sourness in his tone; Buggy was envious.
After all, the services at the Combat Pyramid are renowned for their indulgence, and they even include some herbs that are beneficial to the body. Of course, they are expensive, but they are definitely worth the price.
Shanks is currently enjoying the benefits for free as a participant; they will need to pay for it after the kendo tournament.
"Shanks, how are things on your end?" Beckman asked, as this was what he was concerned about. After all, apart from regular phone calls, they could only watch Shanks' battles through live video streams.
"Hmm? Not bad. I've met quite a few swordsmen, and the Combat Pyramid is pretty good too. There's a swordsman named Mihawk among them, and we get along quite well. I'll introduce you to him if there's a chance," Shanks said with a smile, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"I feel that I'll break through that bottleneck soon, and before long, I'll be able to get my ticket to the final battlefield, although I'll never become the World's Greatest Swordsman."
At this point, even the usually serious Beckman became somewhat excited, as did the other members of the Red-Haired Pirates, who naturally knew what Shanks was talking about.
This is also Shanks' main purpose in participating in the kendo tournament: to break through and become Great Swordmaster. If he truly breaks through, Shanks' strength will definitely skyrocket, giving them more confidence to establish themselves in the New World.
After all, they would need to go to the New World soon after the Kendo Tournament ended. The New World was in chaos. Besides the territories of the major powers, the competition for smaller territories was also fierce, since there were many pirates and those who could occupy an island possessed considerable strength.
Moreover, given their ambitions, they will naturally not be confined to small places; sooner or later they will clash with those dominant pirate crews or even the Sea Emperor.
Now, Shanks is quite famous in the Kendo Tournament and the Combat Pyramid, and the Navy has naturally gotten wind of it.
The absence of any other Red-Haired Pirates indicates that Red-Haired Shanks arrived in the New World alone.
The Red-Haired Pirates are still hiding in a corner of "Paradise," so the Navy has intensified its search for them, seemingly wanting to annihilate the Red-Haired Pirates their Red-Haired Pirates is away.
After all, Shanks' potential and the Red-Haired Pirates' potential are obvious to all. If they are not curbed or eliminated, they could very well become the next Night Pirates.
These messages came from Aunt Xia, but this is Calm Belt, so it's absolutely safe. The navy doesn't have the technology to embed Seastone under warships, or rather, no one has even thought of it.
Of course, it won't be long, since Vegapunk is currently at the naval science base. With his intelligence, he'll surely be able to think of such a need.
At that time, the value of Seastone will increase significantly. Therefore, taking advantage of this opportunity, the Night Pirates are buying up large quantities of Seastone and obtaining raw Seastone from Wano Country.
Furthermore, Seastone itself contains an energy, which is a precious energy source.
Regardless, it possesses extremely high value. The World Government has never given up its covetousness of Wano Country since the Wano Country opened its doors to the world.
Therefore, the World Government and Wano Country are hostile, but a real war has not yet broken out. However, Wano Country has noticed the World Government's subtle moves.
Moreover, Kozuki Oden himself posed a significant threat to the World Government. The great contributor who helped Roger reach the Laugh Tale was also someone who knew everything, and what he knew posed a huge threat to the World Government.
Even though the members of Roger Pirates have all retired, the World Government remains uneasy. As long as they are alive, they will not let their guard down. It is possible that by now, many members of Roger Pirates have already been found and executed by the World Government.
With Kozuki Oden still active on the seas, and given Wano Country's important geographical location, they will definitely take care of Oden whenever they have the chance.
This is one of the reasons why the World Government is so eager to return to the New World. Compared to the power of pirates, these forbidden secrets and the Void Century pose a greater threat to the World Government.
The Night Sea Domain, Pagila Island, is now teeming with naval spies, World Government agents, and even CP0 agents.
The convergence of various forces, a melting pot of good and bad, often presents the best opportunity for infiltration.
After all, although Teach's Observation Haki was terrifying, they didn't think Teach could release Observation Haki all the time. Besides, they had special codes to communicate and exchange messages.
A single, casual remark can convey an important message.
Their primary mission is to first go infiltrate the Night Sea Domain, Pagila Island, and other important islands to gather intelligence; this is not something that can be accomplished overnight.
What they couldn't have imagined was that Teach's Observation Haki was truly terrifying. Most of the sea area was within the range of Teach's Observation Haki. Through years of training, he was able to filter out unnecessary information and find the location and candidates of most spies and agents by observing emotional fluctuations and subtle good and evil.
With Rediat and Pito's Observation Haki, they could easily catch all the agents and spies.
Even the most skilled agents can fool themselves, and even deceive Teach and Pito's Observation Haki. However, if they reveal the slightest flaw or emotional fluctuation, Teach will notice and hand them over to Rediat, since not many people can hide from Rediat's Observation Haki.
Of course, Teach has only eliminated some of the spies so far, not all of them.
Only if nothing happens would the World Government be on alert.
If they are completely wiped out, the World Government will be even more wary of the Night Pirates.
It doesn't matter if intelligence personnel and agents are lost; they can be trained again. As long as they can stay on the Night Pirates' territory and provide them with intelligence, that's a success. After a while, their intelligence personnel will be able to settle down on the Night Pirates' territory and even develop further.
Given the size of the World Government, it is perfectly capable of handling it, after all, there are many places in the world that train agents.
If he can maintain a proper balance, Teach only needs one Devil Fruit now. Once he gets it, he can eliminate all these spies and agents without any worries, and even turn them into his own people.
Furthermore, they would infiltrate the intelligence agencies of the Navy and the World Government, substituting one intelligence agency for another, and turning these intelligence agencies into their own.
That Devil Fruit is the Memory-Memory Fruit that appeared in the original work.
Devil Fruit User possess the ability to read, alter, and delete memories.
In the future, Big Mom's daughter will become Devil Fruit User, but she hasn't been born yet, and might never be born.
The Night Pirates are searching for this Devil Fruit. It hasn't yet been obtained by the Big Mom Pirates. Teach has an encyclopedia entry and knows what it looks like. Even if it's been eaten, he can still retrieve it, as it's crucial to the Night Pirates' grand plan. (To be continued)