Gladiators

Lynn's punch came so suddenly that even Fisher Tiger, who was closest to him, failed to react in time.

The entire arena fell silent, with only the sound of stones hitting the ground audible.

A few breaths later, a rustling sound began to rise.

It was the clatter of armor and weapons.

Lynn's punch had blasted a huge opening into the prison holding the arena's defeated gladiators.

And from within that gap, the former losers rose one after another and slowly emerged through the billowing dust.

There were humans, Fish-Men, Longarm Tribe members, and even a Giant Tribe warrior.

There were many of them—more than a hundred in total.

They wore armor and held sharp blades, with not the slightest trace of exhaustion on their faces.

Tiger immediately recognized their condition.

Rather than prisoners awaiting death in their cells, they looked more like warriors who had been conserving their strength for a long time!

Tiger turned to Lynn.

"You helped them?"

"For myself." Lynn rolled his wrist. "After all, it'd be far too difficult to escape this place alone."

Tiger frowned. "But you forgot about this."

He pointed at his own neck.

It was the arena's specially made Explosion Collar. Although it did not contain Seastone to restrict Devil Fruit Users, its most troublesome feature was still its remotely controlled explosive function.

Without dealing with that major problem, no number of people could leave this arena.

At the same time, the arena officials finally came to their senses.

"It's a rebellion! A rebellion!" the host, Spink, cried out. "Lynn has broken open the prison! Is he trying to start a rebellion?!"

The watching nobles cried out as well.

In their eyes, no slave would ever dare start a rebellion in the Sabaody Archipelago!

Meanwhile, the arena guards began to move. While calming the panicked nobles, they surrounded the gladiators in the arena.

There were not many guards, only about as many as the gladiators, yet not a trace of nervousness showed on their faces.

The Guard Captain took a remote control from his pocket, his expression cold.

"Lynn Barik, Fisher Tiger, and all other gladiators, if you abandon this rebellion now, you may still have a chance to live. Otherwise, I have the authority to execute you on the spot!"

Without a doubt, that remote control was the switch for the Explosion Collars worn by the gladiators present.

"Once the arrow is on the string, it must be loosed."

Tiger's face darkened as he whispered to Lynn, "Cover me. I'll seize the remote!"

"No rush."

Lynn reached out to stop Tiger, then shouted to the gladiators he had freed, "Wouldn't fighting be inconvenient with collars on?"

"That's right, Boss Lynn!"

The gladiators immediately echoed him. Then, before the guards' astonished eyes, they easily removed their Explosion Collars!

"What happened?!" The Guard Captain turned toward Lynn, his brows tightly furrowed. "You did this? When did you do it?!"

"Did you think I spent those four years in the arena for nothing?"

Lynn shrugged, then suddenly noticed Tiger trying to remove his own Explosion Collar. His scalp went numb.

"Stop! I haven't swapped out your collar yet. It'll explode if you mess with it!"

Tiger: "..."

You could've said that earlier.

But soon, Tiger realized that Lynn had not removed his own collar either.

"Why...?"

"Because only my key can unlock Lynn's Explosion Collar."

A harsh, grating voice rang out. Lynn was more familiar than anyone with its owner.

Saint Almace.

A tall, thin Celestial Dragon with a shriveled goat beard.

Saint Almace stepped forward and pulled another specially made remote control from his clothes.

"I knew long ago that you would start a rebellion, Lynn."

"But I wanted to see how much amusement a little bug like you could bring me."

"Now it seems, not much."

Lynn laughed and shrugged. "To be honest, I've disliked you for a long time."

"You abuse your Celestial Dragon authority to arrange gladiator fights however you please. Even when both sides are already covered in wounds and the fight has no entertainment value left, you still force them to keep fighting until they collapse completely."

"That's what you call fun?"

Saint Almace nodded and smiled. "Correct. I enjoy watching little bugs slaughter one another."

As he spoke, Saint Almace raised the special remote control in his hand.

"Lynn, and that Fish-Man, with just a light press of my hand, the collars around your necks will explode. The two of you will certainly die."

"But I, Saint Almace, am merciful."

"As long as you two decide the victor here and now, the winner will not only receive my forgiveness, but may even regain his freedom!"

"Of course, there is only one condition for deciding the winner—kill the other!"

Saint Almace looked at Lynn and Tiger with satisfaction. In his view, people like them had only one choice—

They would sacrifice themselves for each other.

They would tear off the Explosion Collars around their own necks and trade their sacrifice for the other's life and freedom!

This was the only choice available to those little bugs who prided themselves on being kind and righteous!

Saint Almace had seen this same tired scene countless times, yet he never grew tired of it.

However, Lynn's actions made Saint Almace frown deeply.

Lynn suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the Explosion Collar around Tiger's neck.

What was he doing?

Saint Almace froze.

Could he really be trying to kill Tiger?

But what Lynn did next was even more unexpected.

His other hand grabbed his own collar at the same time!

"Is he trying to kill himself?"

Saint Almace was stunned by the sight before him.

Tiger was equally bewildered. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Lynn answered, "Saint Almace, you made only one mistake: you didn't use Seastone to lock me down!"

"Since this collar only has its explosive function left, I just need to tear it off before it detonates!"

A dark golden glint flashed in Lynn's eyes. Both hands gripping his and Tiger's collars tightened at once, veins bulging across his arms.

Saint Almace's pupils shrank as a bad feeling surged within him.

In a panic, he hurriedly pressed the remote in his hand.

Blow them up! Blow them up!

At that instant, the Energy Value within Lynn's body was rapidly consumed, and a Hero Form move erupted once more!

Skull Splitter!

The original effect of this move was to seize enemies on both sides with immense wrist strength and smash them into each other. Lynn usually used it against groups of enemies.

Ultimate speed! Ultimate violence!

But now, Lynn had changed the targets of the move to the Explosion Collars around his and Tiger's necks!

Crack!

The metal collars were crushed out of shape beneath Lynn's hands.

Then—

Swish!

The instant Saint Almace pressed the remote, Lynn crushed the Explosion Collars a step ahead of the detonation and forcibly tore them off!

Boom!

The collars exploded in Lynn's hands!

Flames and smoke instantly engulfed the surrounding area.

When the smoke cleared, Lynn's arms hung at his sides, covered in burns from the explosion!

But everyone who witnessed the scene understood.

Lynn had succeeded.

At the instant the collars exploded, he had forcibly torn them off at the cost of both hands!

An explosion at the neck and an explosion in the hands were entirely different matters.

Both Lynn and Tiger possessed extraordinary physical strength. As long as the explosion was not point-blank at a vital spot, they would not suffer severe fatal injuries.

Compared to his and Tiger's lives, what were two hands worth?

Besides, everyone familiar with Lynn knew this.

The arena's undefeated king, BOSS Lynn Barik, possessed an inexplicable regenerative ability!

No matter how grievous his injuries were, Lynn always recovered completely before the next fight!

And that was indeed the case.

Before everyone's eyes, Lynn silently consumed the Energy Value within his body, and the burns on his hands healed at a visible speed.

Soon, Lynn's hands were restored once more!

Energy Value: 800/1500

"Only eight hundred Energy Value left..."

Lynn clenched his fists and turned his gaze toward Saint Almace.

The latter had already gone pale, backing away on trembling legs.

Even as he retreated, he continued ordering the arena guards around.

"Get them! Protect me, protect me!"

Though he said that, not a single guard around him dared step forward.

Saint Almace roared, "What are you afraid of?! There are only two of them!"

"Hey, hey, we can't pretend we didn't hear that!"

A deep, heavy voice rang out.

It came from the Giant Tribe gladiator among the group.

Wearing a helmet and holding an iron club, he slowly walked over and looked down at the guards.

His bare upper body was packed with explosive muscles. Even among the Giant Tribe, he was an exceptionally powerful specimen.

The iron club struck the ground, sending a faint tremor through the arena.

Seeing Lynn resolve the Explosion Collars on himself and Tiger, the other gladiators also picked up their weapons and gradually advanced toward the guards.

The Giant Tribe gladiator swung his iron club up and rested it on his shoulder.

His heavy voice rang out once more:

"Do you want to test the strength of gladiators?"