A Conspiracy Hidden in the Shadows

Feeling Lu Ye's undisguised killing intent, Freck swallowed, cold sweat trickling down his cheeks.

"S-sorry... I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

With that, Freck tugged at his collar and strode away with his attendants, looking somewhat bedraggled from behind.

Doffy whispered, "Hey! Longinus, weren't you a little too hard on Freck?"

"Too hard?"

Tap-

Lu Ye propped his feet on the railing and tilted his head back, saying nonchalantly:

"Doffy, what's so enjoyable about watching other people fight in an arena?

If you admire violence, why not train your own bodies?

If you like bloodshed, a slaughterhouse would be happy to pay you for it.

If it has to be human blood, a job as an executioner might suit your tastes better.

Instead, a bunch of pathetic weaklings who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag invited me to watch slaves fight to the death. How boring!

Maybe you can imagine yourselves as the slaves fighting down there and experience a false sense of power, but I can't...

Put a lion's soul in a dog's body, and all I'd think was how clumsy and noisy they were.

After all, even as I am now, I can easily kill everyone here!"

When Lu Ye finished speaking, silence fell over the area.

Rosy looked around and realized there was no refuting him. Their third brother had beaten him and Doffy up when he was still wearing diapers. After thinking it over, he simply stood up to avoid getting caught in the attack on the group.

Jessica suddenly sprang to her feet and pointed at the colosseum's fighting area, jumping up and down in excitement. "Lord Saint Longinus, look, that's my dad! My dad's down there too!"

"Are you sure? Which one is he?"

Lu Ye jolted upright, picked up a pair of binoculars, and looked in the direction Jessica was pointing.

"The one with the axe and shield. He even painted my name on his helmet."

Lu Ye immediately spotted Jessica's father. He was a burly man a full four meters tall, with a resolute face and fine stubble all around his mouth.

He held a battle-axe in one hand and a round shield in the other. On his head was a comical pink watermelon helmet, with "Jessica" painted in white and a little heart drawn beside it.

He seemed to be a seasoned gladiator. As soon as he entered, he deliberately crouched low to make himself less conspicuous and slowly retreated into a group of people who looked somewhat weaker.

Lu Ye turned to glare fiercely at Rosward. "Hey, old man, didn't you say you weren't participating?"

"Wuhahahaha!"

Rosward clapped his hands and roared with laughter. "Do you mean Hector? I'm not participating. Hector is competing as your slave, so why do you look like you don't know a thing about it?"

Lu Ye ground his teeth, stood up, and looked around. "Can someone explain to me why Doffy's captain slave is Hector?!"

Cold sweat beaded on Doffy's forehead. "Calm down, Longinus. Hector is the captain slave I won from Rosward!"

Lu Ye's throat tightened, and he roared, "But he isn't a pirate captain at all! Wasn't the slave you won supposed to be a captain?"

Doffy froze. "Huh? He isn't? But he's strong!"

Rosward shook his head smugly. "Little Doffy, I never said the wager was a captain slave. I said it was a gladiator slave with nineteen consecutive victories.

You were the one who assumed he was a captain slave. I agreed to give him to you precisely because I found out he wasn't a pirate captain and realized I'd been deceived by the slave ship."

Doffy understood and immediately tried to reassure Lu Ye. "It's all right, Longinus. A slave with nineteen consecutive wins is already very strong, and we didn't pay anything for him in the first place, did we?"

"Like hell it's all right! I have to keep him alive!"

Lu Ye shouted, "Sullivan!"

Sullivan hurried forward. "Lord Saint Longinus, please give me your orders."

Gripping the railing, Lu Ye's eyes reddened as the black Armament Haki on his hand slowly spread over his forearm:

"Tell the colosseum's announcer to put out a message in my name: I'm keeping Hector alive. In this match, whoever touches my man, I'll chop them to pieces! Never mind Freck-even my own father won't be able to save them!"

"As you command. I'll make the arrangements right away."

Sullivan bowed slightly and hurried off.

Hoffman stepped forward. "Lord Saint Longinus, let me go with Sullivan. This place belongs to Lord Saint Augustus, so it could be troublesome."

"Then sorry for the trouble, Hoffman."

Lu Ye was somewhat surprised that Hoffman had volunteered to do something. Although Garling claimed the Hoffman Squad was Lu Ye's guard, Lu Ye knew full well that the squad's loyalty had always been to the Hero King Garling.

"If any other Celestial Dragons interfere, just remember their faces. I'll deal with them."

Hoffman gave an uncharacteristic smile, then flickered away after Sullivan.

After the two left, Lu Ye rubbed his temples, still uneasy. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd fallen into a trap, and hesitated over whether to go himself.

Doffy frowned and asked in puzzlement, "Longinus, aren't you overreacting? He's just a slave..."

Lu Ye immediately realized: That's right! He's just a slave. No one would use a bug on the roadside as a threat, and under normal circumstances, no one would try to use a slave to manipulate a Celestial Dragon either.

So... was all of this a coincidence?

Lu Ye had originally planned to show Jessica the truth about gladiatorial combat: it was nothing more than entertainment for the powerful and privileged when they were bored out of their minds. It could never lead to freedom, much less have anything to do with honor.

Rosward had said he wasn't participating in this match, so Lu Ye had unconsciously assumed Jessica's father wouldn't be fighting.

He had planned to send Doffy to visit afterward and buy Hector from the captain-obsessed Rosward on the grounds that Hector wasn't a captain slave.

Finally, he would set father and daughter free.

Though they were only NPCs in this hot-blooded manga story, Lu Ye had been a righteous police officer in his previous life. After hearing about them, he couldn't bear to see them die and wanted to casually lend a hand.

Who would have thought Hector would end up in Doffy's hands and, through a strange combination of circumstances, enter the colosseum as Lu Ye's slave?

Lu Ye had Doffy describe how he and Rosward had made their wager:

At first, Doffy had merely been at the colosseum, betting with Charlos on an ordinary five-person gladiatorial match. The two kept raising the stakes until Doffy had put up all his savings. Naturally, the slave Doffy had picked lost.

That was when Rosward got involved. Not only did he refuse to take Doffy's Beli, he even offered a slave with nineteen consecutive victories, betting only that Doffy couldn't get Lu Ye to come to the North Star Colosseum.

Doffy had no reason to refuse those terms, so Lu Ye had come.

Was it just an accident?

The unease in Lu Ye's heart eased slightly.

Rosward, who was beside them, listened to their conversation and suddenly threw back his head in wild laughter.

"Stupid little Doffy, Freck had you dancing in the palm of his hand!"

Veins bulged on Doffy's forehead. "Bastard Rosward, you'd better explain yourself!"

Rosward couldn't stop laughing. He excitedly swung his golden scepter, smashing it again and again against the iron mask of the slave beneath him. Bang, bang, bang, bang...

"Using Hector as the wager was Freck's idea in the first place. He's always wanted to meet little Longinus.

I was willing to go along because he promised to give me another captain slave from the colosseum!"

With snot flying, Charlos also leaned close to Doffy's ear. "Hehehehe... Doffy, Freck put us up to our bet too. He promised to give me a mermaid girlfriend, and I was going to share her with you..."

Doffy's face fell. He shoved Charlos away and demanded angrily, "So the match was rigged too?"

Charlos picked his nose and flicked away a piece of filth, chuckling.

"Doffy, this is the North Star Colosseum. Apart from the grand gladiatorial events where guests provide their own slaves, the colosseum supplies the slaves for every other match. Of course whoever Freck wants to win will win."

Doffy's expression darkened. After a long while, he said in disgust, "Gladiatorial combat is so boring..."

Lu Ye stared at Charlos and asked, "Hey, Freck and I don't have a grudge, do we? Why did he have to come and provoke me?"

"I may know the answer to that."

Mjosgard spoke calmly. "Cousin Longinus, everyone in the Holy Land knows Lord Garling values you. He even saw fit to give you his personal guard, the Hoffman Squad. There are also rumors that you're already a reserve member of the Knights.

So every ambitious fellow like Freck wants to put you down and prove his own worth to Lord Garling."

"What a hassle!"

Lu Ye sighed and turned to glance at Rosward. "Then what about you, old man? What are you after by telling me all this?"

Rosward rested his bloodied scepter on his shoulder and chuckled.

"Little Longinus, although I'm not a man with real power like Lord Garling, I'm not someone a brat like Freck can order around as he pleases.

It's been eight hundred years, and some fools have sprung up among us. But among the nineteen families, there will always be people willing to show goodwill to outstanding juniors."

Charlos sniffled and made faces. "Of course, heh heh! The most important thing is... it'll be more fun this way!

Isn't that right, Longinus?"