Sabaody Archipelago, Island No. 3.
This was a notorious lawless zone, where all kinds of forces ran dark businesses such as human trafficking and slave auctions. Yet compared to those shadowy underground dealings, one of Island No. 3's many enterprises was even more famous.
It was a place filled with flowers, cheers, and blood.
Sabaody Arena!
Nobles and wealthy men sent their slaves into the arena and made them slaughter one another. The victors earned cheers and gold, and might even gain their freedom.
The losers were mercilessly discarded. Those fortunate enough to survive became the lowest-ranking gladiators in the arena, spending the rest of their lives in misery.
Watching slaves tear each other apart in bloody combat was one of many nobles' favorite forms of entertainment.
And sometimes, it also attracted the attention of nobles among nobles—the Celestial Dragons.
Inside the arena.
Surrounded by flowers and cheers, a man slowly stepped onto the platform.
He wore a golden suit and held a Den Den Mushi megaphone, shouting loudly:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am your old friend, the arena's finest host, Spink!"
"Wooooo!!!"
Spink was greeted by the roaring cheers of the arena audience.
"All of you are nobles from every corner of the world. I believe there is only one reason you came here. What is it? What is it? What is it..."
Spink bent forward, then suddenly threw back his head and roared, "Of course, it's for the duels!"
"Duels! Duels! Duels!"
The nobles' enthusiasm flooded the entire arena, and Spink immediately added more fuel to the fire.
"And! And! We have just received word that a Celestial Dragon will be attending today's matches! Do you know what that means?"
"Yes! Today, our legendary gladiator, the undefeated legend who serves a Celestial Dragon—that man will take the stage!"
"Let us shout his name!"
At this moment, inside the arena's waiting room.
Saint Almace, a Celestial Dragon wearing a bubble helmet, was staring at a black-haired man.
He was not very old, but his body was strong and well-proportioned.
What was even more astonishing was that although he shared a room with a Celestial Dragon, the man had his back to him and was simply eating the meat on the bone in his hand.
Meanwhile, servants continuously brought delicacies from around the world out of the kitchen and placed them before the man.
Watching the man clear plate after plate, Saint Almace did not get angry. Instead, he smiled. "Well? Is it good?"
The man shook his head. "It tastes awful. I can even smell your stench from here."
The servants around them nearly collapsed at the knees upon hearing that.
What kind of person dared speak to a Celestial Dragon like that? Even the Marines could not do such a thing!
"Hahahaha, you can talk big all you want right now. I will not be angry." Saint Almace stroked his beard, and the smile on his face gradually turned cold. "But if you lose even one duel—just one—I will make you experience pain beyond anything human!"
"Me? Lose? Did that bubble suffocate your brain?"
The man swallowed the last bite of fish, then stood up, wrapped bandages around his hands, and headed for the door.
His fists slammed together.
"It is time to take the stage."
Step by step, he walked out of the dark waiting room and into the light outside.
Cheers reached his ears.
Spink shouted, "Let us welcome the strongest fighter, the arena's undefeated legend, the man known as BOSS—Lynn Barek!"
"Wooooo!!!"
"BOSS! Lynn! BOSS! Lynn!"
Amid cheers and flowers, Lynn entered the arena.
He spread his arms and welcomed the cheers of the audience.
Compared to the hulking gladiators, this man was not particularly large. He stood only around two meters tall, and his build was not exaggerated. Yet the hard muscles on his body and the scars covering him were especially striking.
Lynn's gaze swept past the nobles before he raised his head to look at the sky above.
After coming here several years ago, he had gradually grown accustomed to this world's passion.
Lynn Barek, originally named Lynn, was a transmigrator.
On the day he arrived in this world, Lynn had been captured by slave traders and fitted with an Explosion Collar.
It was only when Lynn heard the title of Celestial Dragon that he finally realized this was the world of Pirate King.
Unfortunately, after waiting several weeks and even being bought by a Celestial Dragon as the lowest kind of slave, his golden finger still had not appeared.
Not until the Celestial Dragon fed him a Devil Fruit as an experiment in order to add another gladiator.
The Hero Fruit.
Full name: Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Hero Form.
A familiar panel finally appeared before Lynn's eyes.
Name: Lynn Level: 1 Energy Value: 10/10 Hero Form: None
After spending another full half year drawing upon Fleet Admiral Sengoku's development of the similar Human-Human Fruit, Great Buddha Form from his memories, Lynn finally figured out his Devil Fruit ability.
Simply put, a Devil Fruit User who had eaten the Hero Fruit could use their own energy to selectively strengthen their body, thereby gaining corresponding abilities.
Lynn called this kind of enhancement Hero Form.
Of course, changes through Hero Form required a massive supply of the user's own energy. The more outrageous and powerful the resulting ability, the more Energy Value it required.
The most common way to replenish Energy Value was to eat.
For example, Lynn could turn himself into a god of this world, but that would require an astronomical amount of energy. Perhaps even eating all the food in the world would not be enough, and Lynn's body would not be able to withstand it anyway.
Conversely, the more grounded an ability was in reality, the less Energy Value it required.
Aside from the Energy Value limitation, the Hero Fruit was still ultimately a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. It could only alter Lynn himself and could not create physical objects out of thin air.
For example, if Lynn wanted to strengthen himself into a hero wielding a battle axe, he first had to actually possess a battle axe.
Taking those two points into account, Lynn quickly settled on his first Hero Form—
Sett.
Because the development of a Devil Fruit ability was closely tied to the user's imagination, it was better to use someone he knew best than to create a Hero Form himself.
Furthermore, compared to the demigods and superpowered beings in the League of Legends world, Sett's abilities leaned more toward physical strength and came with no weapon restrictions.
Most importantly, Sett and Lynn were both gladiators. Though their statuses differed somewhat, they could at least be considered half-colleagues.
Thus, after accumulating Energy Value for a period of time, Lynn relied on his Hero Form, Sett, to win his first match in the arena.
Over the more than four years since then, Lynn had won a total of 3,999 matches, becoming the arena's undefeated legend and earning the title of BOSS!
Such a record had earned Lynn's nominal master, Saint Almace, plenty of prestige among the Celestial Dragons. As a result, Saint Almace could tolerate Lynn's insolence to a certain extent.
Today was Lynn's four-thousandth duel!
Name: Lynn Level: 15 Energy Value: 1500/1500 Hero Form: Sett
Through constant battles, Lynn's physical abilities and combat experience had gradually improved. His level had risen to fifteen, and the maximum Energy Value he could store had reached 1,500 points.
An ordinary human usually possessed ten points of energy. Strictly speaking, Lynn had accumulated the equivalent of one hundred and fifty people's worth of energy within his body!
Fortunately, Saint Almace had prepared vast amounts of food for Lynn. Otherwise, replenishing such an enormous amount of Energy Value in the harsh environment of the arena would have been nearly impossible.
Lynn took a deep breath and looked at the drifting clouds overhead.
It was about time.
He had stayed in this arena long enough.
Having arrived in this world, Lynn had accepted it as it was. He did not dwell on his old life.
Now, he only wanted to go outside and see it.
The vast sea and endless adventures.
And the foundation of all that was freedom.
Lynn rolled his neck. A specially made Explosion Collar was still around it. Because he needed to use his Devil Fruit ability in duels, the collar was not made of Seastone.
"Admiral-level fighters generally will not be on the Sabaody Archipelago. As long as I deal with this Explosion Collar, no one will be able to stop me."
As Lynn accepted the audience's cheers, he silently calculated in his mind.
"The only question is, what point in time is this? The Roger Era? Has Straw Hat set sail yet? Or have they already come to the Sabaody Archipelago?"
Years of life as a gladiator had severely limited Lynn's sources of information, and Saint Almace would never allow him to inquire about the outside world.
"Before escaping, it would be best to find someone familiar to determine the timeline."
Just as Lynn thought that, he heard Spink shout from the host platform:
"Now, let us take a look at BOSS Lynn's opponent!"
"He comes from the depths of the sea and possesses physical abilities ten times greater than those of a human!"
"Today, he will become the Shinigami and bring Lynn's four-thousand-match winning streak to an end!"
"He is the Fish-Man, Fisher Tiger!"
Hearing that familiar name, Lynn could not help but freeze.
That legendary Fish-Man who had gone from explorer to slave, then later stormed Mary Geoise, freed the slaves, and became a pirate—
The Boss of Fish-Man District, Fisher Tiger?
He was not dead yet, and had not even caused the "Mary Geoise Incident"?
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