Doflamingo gave a brief explanation of the rules for the Death Match to decide the new owner of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
The format was simple: the contestants were split into four blocks—A, B, C, and D. Each block contained over two hundred combatants fighting simultaneously in the massive central Golden Colosseum. The last survivor of each block would advance to the final round, where the four top powerhouses would engage in a definitive battle for the prize.
"Now! Let the games begin!"
Doflamingo flew up to a high balcony and vanished behind the curtains, leaving his lead executive, Diamante, stationed at the highest point to oversee the proceedings.
"That brat Law definitely won't let this opportunity slip by. I'll have to deal with him properly, fuffuffuffu..."
With Doflamingo gone, Diamante took control of the Death Match.
Although there was a massive gap in strength between him and the elite powerhouses who had arrived from all over the world, he was, after all, once known as the "Hero of the Colosseum." When it came to whipping a crowd into a frenzy, he had no equal.
After working the spectators into a fever pitch, he officially announced the start of Block A.
On another high balcony, Tesoro gave a slight flick of his finger. Golden stairs surged out from the walls, connecting the contestant waiting room directly to the edge of the arena.
Hungry for the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, warriors of significant renown couldn't wait to pour into the center of the ring.
Meanwhile, Alucard, already seated in the most luxurious VIP lounge, watched the arena through a massive screen projected by a visual Den Den Mushi.
In a transparent cabinet to Alucard's right sat the very Tremor-Tremor Fruit that these men were so desperate to possess.
"Oh? Teach isn't in this block?" Alucard scanned the participants of Block A but saw no sign of Blackbeard.
Teach surely understood the strength of individuals like Fire Fist Ace who were gunning for the fruit; he wouldn't just send a subordinate. He would definitely make a move personally. To Alucard, he was the most promising "dog food."
"Yawn..."
In stark contrast to the boiling fighting spirit of the others, a loud, long yawn drew the attention of the entire stadium.
Diamante seized the moment to stoke the fires, shouting into his microphone, "Well now, quite the big shot has stepped onto the stage!"
"The Lead Performer of the Beasts Pirates, one of the Three All-Stars—Queen the Storm!"
At Diamante's shout, the atmosphere reached a breaking point. Ace, leaning his hands against the window of the waiting room as he looked out at the arena, said in surprise, "Taking the field personally? But I remember Queen is already an ability user. I guess he's winning it for a subordinate?"
"Man... so sleepy."
As soon as Queen entered the arena, he dropped to all fours and collapsed onto the ground, closing his eyes for a nap. This drew immediate resentment from the other contestants.
Even if you're a great pirate with a bounty over a billion Bellies, you can't look down on people this much, can you?
"Hm?"
Alucard suddenly sensed a disturbance below. His lounge was located at one of the highest points of Gran Tesoro, and he was monitoring the entire building via the "shadows" he had spread throughout the structure.
Though his strength meant he didn't need to be on guard, he disliked being watched.
"Straw Hat?"
Despite sitting in the lounge, Alucard could clearly see what was happening at the base of the tower. He saw Franky and Luffy scaling the walls of the skyscraper, climbing steadily upward.
Alucard only noted their presence briefly before ignoring them. While Luffy was a "protagonist" with his own plot armor, and Alucard had once felt a flicker of interest in him, that interest had been completely exhausted during their first clash at Marineford.
Right now, Luffy held less appeal for him than Queen did.
Alucard returned his gaze to the projection. As the bell rang to signal the start of the battle, the entire arena instantly descended into a chaotic free-for-all.
While the usual strategy is to pick off the "soft persimmons" first, Queen was no soft fruit, he was a foul-smelling, rock-hard boulder. If anyone wanted a chance to advance to the finals, they had to deal with him first.
At least a hundred people shared this thought. Gripping their weapons with ferocious expressions, they glared at the All-Star.
Queen, sensing the killing intent while he feigned sleep, cracked one eye open. After a moment, he sighed lazily. "I guess this works. If I take you all out at once, I can get a decent nap in afterward."
A man leading the charge, possessing heavy dark circles under his eyes, a top-knot, and strange pauldrons on his shoulders, settled into a fighting stance. He roared, "Don't look down on us! Queen, do you realize how many masters you're facing right now?"
"Who's that guy? He's got guts to provoke Queen," Ace remarked curiously.
"That's Ideo, the famous underground boxer. If he had a bounty, it'd likely be between 150 and 200 million," a nearby contestant explained to Ace.
"Huh... well, I'm more interested in Queen's ability." Ace's attention was fixed entirely on the All-Star. In his eyes, Queen was the opponent most worth watching besides Teach.
Inside the arena, Queen opened his mouth as if to respond to Ideo, but said nothing. He only muttered a barely audible, "Not worth the breath. Too much effort."
Ideo and the hundred or so warriors around them felt a wave of intense insult from Queen's dismissive attitude. Enraged, they attacked en masse. Within two seconds, a barrage of attacks converged on Queen, forming a feast of finishing moves.
Ideo's "Destruction Cannon" led the way, coming within half a meter of Queen's face.
Whirrr—
Suddenly, the instant before the attacks could connect, it was as if they hit an invisible barrier. Half a second later, a violent gale erupted. Amidst a whirlwind of dark green storm-winds, Queen's body expanded to thousands of times its original size.
In an instant, a massive eagle head thrust out from the tornado, followed by sharp talons and wings. Finally, a lion's torso and tail emerged!
"There it is," Benn Beckman muttered as he patrolled Gran Tesoro, watching the live broadcast on a street-side screen. He looked at the gargantuan creature that covered nearly a quarter of the arena's floor space.
"The Ancient Zoan: Gryphon Fruit."