In the panic, the spectators showed their true colors. Young people shoved aside the elderly and children to save themselves, women were jostled, and the toys huddled in the corners of the aisles.
But the expected explosion never came. Bartolomeo had only thrown a baseball.
"How ugly!"
Bartolomeo sneered. "The way you acted just now, even we pirates have more dignity than you! Hehahaha!"
"Get out of here!"
Once the spectators realized their lives were safe, they started shouting at Bartolomeo again. It did no good. Why would a bastard like him care what the crowd thought?
To ease the tension, the announcer quickly introduced the next contestant. The moment he appeared, the arena erupted in cheers.
After all, he was Doflamingo's loyal lackey, Hyena Bellamy. Apparently, even after Luffy had beaten him, Bellamy had gone right back to fawning over Doflamingo.
The battle in Block B soon began, but Rubick could barely keep his eyes open. No one was strong enough to dominate the field. Several capable fighters clashed instead, until only a handful of them were left standing.
Bartolomeo had it easiest. His barrier was so strong that no one in the arena could break it. Rubick remembered that even someone as powerful as Oden had failed to get through one.
So there was no point obsessing over smashing a Barrier-Barrier Fruit user's defenses. Plenty of abilities could counter him, such as Rubick's Blink, the Door-Door Fruit, or the Flower-Flower Fruit.
"How boring."
Rubick yawned. Just then, the situation changed. Hacchi the Fish-Man ambushed Bartolomeo while he stood on the arena floor urinating into the water, but his fist struck a barrier and broke on impact.
Bellamy was also overwhelmed by the Barrier-Barrier Fruit. Then the King of Prodence, who had held the same pose since the match