Chapter Summaries

Lu Ye used Longinus's authority to protect Hector from being killed in the gladiator match, but Freck declared that the match would proceed and offered freedom as its grand prize. Hector had to survive the contest to escape Mary Geoise with Jessica.

• Rosy asked Longinus to withdraw Hector from the match, but Charlos explained that contestants could not leave the arena and that only Garling could stop the event.
• Sullivan announced Longinus's decree sparing Hector, backed by Hoffman saying Garling would regard Longinus's will as his own, and Freck declared the decree would take effect.
• Jessica asked Longinus to let Hector fight freely, and Lu Ye agreed, believing Hector had to survive the match to return safely to the sea.
• Freck announced an increased prize, including freedom for the victorious slave and their family, and promised the reward would reach the winner's family even if the victor died.

Jessica celebrated the truth of the Gladiator King’s promise while Hector fought in the arena, but the brutal opening clash showed her the violence of gladiatorial combat. Lu Ye warned her that no medicine could heal every wound, leaving her faith shaken as the spectacle continued.

• Jessica rejoiced that the honor, prize money, freedom, and healing promised by the Gladiator King were real, while Hector prepared to fight his way home to her.
• Freck offered Hoffman a place as captain of his personal guard, but Hoffman declined and left with Sullivan to report back.
• Hoffman told Sullivan that Lord Saint Garling had ordered his squad to follow Sullivan’s orders when Longinus gave none, then questioned how Sullivan had reacted so quickly without knowing Observation Haki.
• The arena bell rang, and Hector was immediately attacked by a group of slaves; he defended himself with his shield and battle-axe as the crowd cheered.
• Jessica watched Hector and the other gladiators suffer gruesome injuries and tried to believe the Gladiator King would heal them, but Lu Ye told her no medicine could mend every external wound.

Jessica broke down after realizing that her father’s stories about gladiator honor were lies, while Lu Ye decided to let Freck’s wager play out and make him pay for targeting Hector. In the arena, Hector rejected an offer to team up, and Polo the Mountain killed the Longleg gladiator before turning his attention back to Hector.

• Jessica hugged her knees and sobbed as she remembered her father’s violent actions and the lies he had told her about gladiators.
• Lu Ye told Rosward that he would wait for the match’s outcome and warned that Freck would pay for his move against Hector.
• Hector defeated a red-bearded opponent and retreated to the arena’s edge as the remaining gladiators struggled against Polo the Mountain.
• A middle-aged Longleg gladiator offered to team up with Hector, but Hector refused because he did not trust pirates.
• The Longleg gladiator attacked Hector, but Polo the Mountain cut him in two and said he would deal with Hector after the others.

Lu Ye and the other Celestial Dragons watched Hector face Polo the Mountain in the arena, where Hector was knocked down and declared defeated. As Jessica cried for her father, Lu Ye jumped from the stands with her, and Hoffman caught them safely.

• Hoffman described Polo the Mountain as an average fighter despite his strength and size, while the Celestial Dragons watched the bloody gladiatorial match.
• The Mountain and Hector became the final contestants after the other fighters were swept into the shark-filled pool.
• Hector attacked with his shield and axe, but the Mountain’s Tekkai stopped his blow and the Mountain smashed him into a crater.
• The Mountain celebrated as the host announced Saint Freck’s victory over Saint Longinus, while Jessica cried out for Hector to get up.
• Lu Ye grabbed Jessica and leaped from the stands, and Hoffman and his agents appeared below to catch them safely.

Lu Ye confronted Freck after rescuing Jessica and threatened to kill him, but Freck invoked the gladiator tournament’s rule that only one fighter could leave alive. The chapter ended with Freck ordering Polo the Mountain to kill Jessica’s father, Hector.

• Lu Ye arrived with Jessica, while Shalria watched jealously from the stands and argued with Charlos.
• Jessica reached the arena’s barrier and cried out to her father as Freck gloated over his apparent victory.
• Lu Ye counted down and threatened to kill Freck, who tried to use the threat to call for Garling’s intervention.
• Lu Ye warned Freck not to leave his basket, but Freck insisted that the tournament’s rules still required one victor to survive.
• Hector rose in the arena, and Freck ordered Polo the Mountain to beat him to death.

Hector fought the Mountain in the arena while Jessica watched and begged her father to survive. After the Mountain deafened himself to escape Freck’s orders, Hector exploited his wounded chest and prepared one last attack.

• Jessica begged Hector to stay alive, and Hector promised her he would win.
• Hector attacked the Mountain with Armament Haki, but their clash shattered Hector’s left forearm and sent him flying.
• The Mountain’s wound reopened as he pounded his chest, and Hector bound a broken naginata to his damaged left hand.
• Unable to endure Freck’s commands, the Mountain stabbed blades into his ears and then struck Hector with overwhelming force.
• Hector rose behind the Mountain, dodged his grasp, and drove his fist into the bleeding wound while shouting for Jessica to go back to the sea.

After Lu Ye won the gladiatorial match, he left the arena and started back with the other Celestial Dragons, but gunshots drew him back. He found Augustus and Freck had bound and shot Hector, Jessica, and the Mountain, and Augustus offered him money as compensation.

• Lu Ye ordered the Donquixote Family doctors to treat Hector and help conceal his mark, then left the arena with Doffy and the others.
• As the group departed, three gunshots sounded, so Lu Ye, Doffy, Rosy, and Mjosgard turned back to investigate.
• Lu Ye found Sullivan and the medical staff forced to kneel while CP Agents guarded the wounded Hector, Jessica, and the Mountain, who were hanging from the arena mesh with gunshot wounds.
• Augustus introduced himself as Freck's father, claimed his family had accidentally killed Lu Ye's slaves, and offered checks totaling 3.25 billion Beli.

After Jessica was killed, Lu Ye awakened the Timidity trait and received a final mission to act alone against the forces disrupting the seas. He attacked Augustus and Freck in the arena while Saint Garling ordered his agents to observe, leaving the two Celestial Dragons badly injured and Lu Ye at risk of punishment.

• Lu Ye saw Jessica's blood, awakened the Timidity trait, and received a mission declaring that he had no teammates or reinforcements and answered only to his own justice.
• Lu Ye confronted Augustus and Freck over Jessica's death and dodged Freck's gunshot before crushing the weapon's muzzle.
• Flora identified Lu Ye's Observation Haki, and Hoffman reported the situation to Saint Garling, who ordered the agents not to intervene and to record Lu Ye's actions.
• Lu Ye beat Freck, slammed Augustus to the ground, and pinned both men with iron rods as their agents were held back by Hoffman, Flora, and Evan.
• Lu Ye gave Doffy and Rosy the checks he had taken from the two Celestial Dragons, then burned Augustus and Freck with hot oil and smashed their bubble helmets.

Lu Ye killed Augustus and his son after they killed a slave he wanted to free, and Garling confronted him over the murders. Lu Ye tried to justify the killings by claiming pureblood Celestial Dragons were superior, but Garling left his fate unresolved as his laughter rang through the North Star Colosseum.

• Mjosgard put his bubble helmet over the Fish-Man slave, and Garling arrived to ask what had happened.
• Lu Ye admitted killing Augustus and his son, and Garling kicked him through several walls before ordering the area cleared.
• Lu Ye attacked Garling, who pierced his chest with a Flying Finger Pistol and asked whether he had come to his senses.
• Lu Ye claimed he killed Augustus and his son to defend pureblood dignity, then declared that he wanted to kill every dirty-blooded Celestial Dragon.
• Garling said Lu Ye still had to be executed under the current rules, but Lu Ye challenged him to a future fight and Garling burst into laughter.
• Outside, Doffy vowed to avenge Longinus, while Mjosgard decided he would ask his mother about being adopted into her family.

After surviving Garling’s beating, Lu Ye learned that Garling had arranged a future challenge and a training path for him. Garling rewarded Sullivan and ordered him and Hoffman to guide Lu Ye’s training, confident Lu Ye would follow his own ambitions without asking about the plan.

• Lu Ye emerged from the arena with Garling, reunited with Doffy and Rosy, and told Mjosgard that he and Garling had agreed to fight to the death when he turned twenty if he could not surpass him.
• Hoffman took Sullivan to Garling’s residence after Garling ordered them summoned once Lu Ye’s Haki had faded.
• Garling explained that he had chosen Sullivan as Lu Ye’s private butler because Sullivan would not expose him to cruel slave games while he was young.
• Garling rewarded Sullivan with a Zoan-type Bat-Bat Fruit, Model: Fruit Bat, and told him the fruit would help him survive while caring for Lu Ye.
• Garling ordered Hoffman and Sullivan to guide Lu Ye’s training, predicting that Lu Ye would keep advancing without asking about the plan.

Lu Ye convinced Homing and Liana not to abandon their Celestial Dragon status, warning that the family would face deadly hatred if they left the Holy Land. After learning about the World Government’s oppressive order and the timeline leading to Luffy’s rise, Lu Ye rejected waiting for someone else to overthrow it and resolved to reform it himself.

• Hoffman explained that the Path of the Strong was a dangerous training program, and Lu Ye learned that Garling had ordered Hoffman not to interfere with his participation.
• Homing proposed that the family leave the Holy Land, but Lu Ye warned that commoners might target them because of the Celestial Dragons’ crimes; Doffy agreed, and Homing reconsidered.
• Lu Ye told Homing that becoming ordinary people could wait until the seas grew peaceful, then declined his father’s invitation to read together.
• Lu Ye studied Jinbao’s information about the World Government, the affiliated nations, slavery, and the lawless seas, and realized Luffy would set sail in thirty-two years.
• Lu Ye rejected waiting for Luffy to overthrow the Celestial Dragons and declared that he would reform the World Government by placing power in a cage, beginning his efforts the next day.

Pucott woke to the sound of Lu Ye training outside and went to order him to stop, only to be struck down when he challenged him. Lu Ye announced that he would continue his training in the Holy Land every day, leaving the other Celestial Dragons dismayed.

• Pucott recalled the previous night's slave fights and dreamed up a new idea for an underwater gladiator match.
• After hearing loud impacts, Pucott learned that Lord Saint Longinus of the Donquixote Family was working at a forge and went outside to confront him.
• Pucott found Lu Ye training with a huge iron ball while his attendants supported him and displayed banners inviting challengers.
• Lu Ye offered Pucott a chance to fight, then punched him in the belly when Pucott refused and mocked him.
• Lu Ye told the Celestial Dragons he would train until sunset, with breaks every thirty minutes, and said he would do this starting today.

After Lu Ye beat several Celestial Dragons, they gathered in Pucout's bedchamber to curse him and discuss whether the Holy Knights would punish him. They learned that Longinus had killed Augustus and Freck, then resolved to seek Lord Garling and demand revenge.

• Lawrence and other injured Celestial Dragons joined Pucout in his bedchamber and cursed Lu Ye for beating them.
• Old Nielsen warned the gathered Celestial Dragons that the Holy Knights' Path of the Strong used Celestial Dragons as targets to help chosen candidates grow.
• Pucout dismissed the warning until a clear voice reported that Longinus had killed Augustus and Freck at the North Star Colosseum.
• Lawrence discovered that Shalria had entered the room to listen to them curse Longinus, and she left to tell him what they had said.
• Charlos confirmed Augustus and Freck were dead, prompting Pucout and Lawrence to call for Lord Garling and demand Longinus's punishment.

Hoffman taught Lu Ye the stages of Armament Haki, from Hardening and Infusion to projecting Haki and damaging targets internally. Lu Ye began practicing, determined to grow stronger with the help of his unusual abilities.

• Hoffman demonstrated Armament Haki Hardening and explained that Lu Ye needed to learn to control where he directed his Haki.
• Hoffman showed Lu Ye Armament Haki Infusion, outward projection known as Ryuo, and Internal Destruction.
• Lu Ye asked whether Internal Destruction was Armament Haki's final form, and Hoffman explained that the strongest could fuse Armament Haki with Conqueror's Haki.
• Lu Ye tested his Haki by punching an iron ball and resolved to keep training.
• Lu Ye recalled Jinbao's account of a superhuman ten-year-old in Pallet Town and looked around for the guandao Jinbao had mentioned.

Pucout and Lawrence sought Garling’s help against Longinus, but Garling refused to let the Holy Knights intervene and revealed that Augustus and Freck had been declared dead in a sea disaster. After learning that Longinus had claimed Garling’s permission for the Path of the Strong, Garling summoned Hoffman, while Lawrence planned to appeal to the Five Elders.

• Pucout and Lawrence led injured Celestial Dragons to the Holy Knights’ headquarters and asked Garling to punish Longinus for beating them.
• Garling said Longinus was a child and told the Celestial Dragons they could fight back themselves, as long as they did not kill him.
• Garling said Augustus and Freck had perished at sea, that the North Star Colosseum would return to World Government management, and that the matter was closed.
• Lawrence asked whether Garling was protecting Longinus because of the Path of the Strong, and Pucout explained that Longinus’s flag claimed Garling’s special permission.
• Garling ordered a CP Agent to summon Hoffman and left, while Lawrence proposed asking the Five Elders to station Marine Admirals in Mary Geoise.

Garling learned that Longinus had challenged the Holy Land and defended his right to follow the Path of the Strong. After the Five Elders summoned Longinus, Garling confronted them in the council hall, where their dispute over the selection plan remained unresolved.

• Hoffman told Garling that Longinus had shared meat with everyone and seemed concerned for Sullivan, but Garling insisted Longinus’s kindness came from seeing others as no threat.
• A CP Agent informed Garling that the Five Elders had summoned Longinus, and Garling went to the council hall.
• Longinus was carried into the council hall, then took the empty seat beside the Five Elders while Garling arrived and sat on a sofa brought in by Hoffman.
• Garling challenged the Five Elders for summoning Longinus and defended the Path of the Strong selection plan, calling sacrifices by lesser Celestial Dragons a contribution.
• The Five Elders criticized Garling for hiding the selection criteria and letting fear spread through the Holy Land, while Garling questioned their failure to stop Roger and Rocks’ remnants.

Lu Ye challenged the Five Elders over the Celestial Dragons’ weakness and proposed drastic changes to protect the Holy Land. The Five Elders rejected both proposals, and the chapter ended with Doffy sneezing at Pangaea Castle’s school.

• The Five Elders confronted Garling over injuries caused by the Path of the Strong, and Lu Ye claimed responsibility while mocking their weakness.
• Lu Ye argued that the Celestial Dragons’ behavior tarnished their bloodline and challenged the Five Elders to live without protection.
• Lu Ye proposed executing the weaker Celestial Dragons, but Garling objected that turning against their own would endanger the whole clan.
• Lu Ye proposed redirecting the Heavenly Tribute to capable, pure-blooded Celestial Dragons, but the short, blond-haired Elder refused because his own family had disappointing offspring.
• Lu Ye said he would sacrifice his parents and two older brothers if it served the Celestial Dragon families’ interests, while the Celestial Dragons in the corner trembled.
• At Pangaea Castle’s school, Doffy sneezed and blamed the wind after enjoying Third Brother’s barbecue.

Lu Ye proposed a clan system that would assess Celestial Dragons, punish those deemed useless, and reward those who served the family. After the Five Elders tentatively accepted the idea, Lu Ye challenged their understanding of who the World Government’s real enemies were.

• Homing arrived at the council hall with food, and Lu Ye seated him beside the Elders and offered everyone roast meat.
• Lu Ye proposed a clan system in which the Knights assessed Celestial Dragons and assigned them roles and Heavenly Tribute according to their abilities and merit.
• Garling supported the proposal, and the Five Elders agreed to consider it.
• Lu Ye questioned why the Five Elders treated commoners as irrelevant and mocked the balding Elder for identifying only pirates as enemies.
• Lu Ye argued that competing interests could turn apparent allies into enemies, using two neighboring gangs as an example.

Lu Ye persuaded the Five Elders that Celestial Dragons needed the lowborn as allies and that nobles and Marines could not be trusted, prompting them to agree to reconsider Longinus's third proposal. Outside the council hall, Pucout and the other Celestial Dragons begged Lu Ye for forgiveness, and he warned them that their complaints had helped cause cuts to their Heavenly Tribute.

• Lu Ye argued that Celestial Dragons and lowborn shared an interest in peace, and that winning ordinary people’s loyalty would strengthen the World Government.
• Lu Ye warned the Five Elders that kingdom nobles might betray them and that Marines could turn against the Celestial Dragons in the name of justice.
• The bald Elder called for the Five Elders to discuss Longinus's third proposal again, and the other Elders agreed; Garling supported the decision.
• Lord Jupiter asked Homing which book had inspired Lu Ye’s street-gang metaphor, and Homing identified The Martin Family of Cook Street.
• Pucout and the other Celestial Dragons encountered Lu Ye in the corridor and fell to their knees, begging for forgiveness.
• Lu Ye reminded the Celestial Dragons that their complaints had led to reduced Heavenly Tribute, then told Pucout to call him daddy when begging next time.

Lu Ye explained his plan to use Celestial Dragon privilege and clan rules to restrain the powerful while helping commoners, and argued that Joy Boy—not Imu—could be seen as the villain. After returning to the street, he found Shalria eagerly greeting him and then fawning over Flora.

• Homing staggered back to his palace after meeting Lu Ye and the Five Elders, and Lu Ye sent Sullivan and the Hoffman Squad to escort him.
• Lu Ye told Jinbao that clan rules could bind Celestial Dragons and give commoners room to live, while also giving him cover to kill those who broke the rules.
• Lu Ye defended Imu and argued that Joy Boy’s history as a pirate and would-be liberator made him the villain, while Jinbao played a recording of Doffy saying that the victor was justice.
• Lu Ye claimed his arrogant Celestial Dragon behavior was an undercover persona, but Jinbao said it resembled his usual personality.
• Lu Ye reached Pucout's palace street, where Shalria greeted him and then ran to hug Flora when she returned with Sullivan and the Hoffman Squad.