The arrangements for those few people would naturally be handled properly by Tamago.
However, the matter of Pekoms and the others presenting Devil Fruits gave Roy an idea.
Combined with Dressrosa's arena from the original story, a rather interesting concept gradually took shape in his mind.
After thinking it over, he gave Jelro a call.
…
Three days later, a bombshell of a piece of news ignited the entire New World. Even the first half of the Grand Line had heard of it.
Thunder Emperor Roy had used his powerful Devil Fruit ability and a huge amount of gold to build an arena around his Golden Palace on Raijin Island!
Actually, that alone was not such major news. At most, it was just a matter of the Thunder Emperor's personal taste.
But right afterward, the Thunder God Pirates released further information about the arena.
The arena would hold competitions from time to time, and the winners would receive generous rewards.
Those rewards might be Beli, training manuals, famous swords and weapons, or even one of the sea's greatest treasures—a Devil Fruit!
And most importantly, if someone managed to make a name for themselves in the arena, they would receive the courtesy of the Thunder God Pirates. They might even be able to join the Thunder God Pirates and become someone on the level of a division commander!
After the arena was completed, the first tournament would be held one month later. And as the reward for that first event, Thunder Emperor Roy was putting up a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit!
That was a Mythical Zoan!!
Something even rarer than a Logia!
At present, among pirates known to the world, there were only two known Mythical Zoan users: Marco the Phoenix of the Whitebeard Pirates, and Devil Sheriff Tofit of the Hody Pirates.
As for Sengoku, people with poor access to information naturally would not know about him.
This instantly stirred everyone's excitement. They were stunned by Thunder Emperor Roy's extravagance, and their eyes filled with greed and desire.
Most crucial of all, the Thunder God Pirates had not explicitly stated that members of other pirate crews were forbidden from participating.
That meant everyone could join!
Even Big Mom, Whitebeard, or a Marine Admiral could personally take the field if they wanted.
Of course, such people would never come in person, and even their subordinates would be unlikely to attend.
In the original story, when Doflamingo offered the Flame-Flame Fruit as a reward, only people from the Blackbeard Pirates showed up. The other three Emperors had not sent anyone.
So even though Roy had now offered a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, those sea overlords still would not send people to participate. They still cared about their dignity.
That meant the ones who would come were famous lone wolves of the New World, or powerful experts from various kingdoms.
Roy had sent Pekoms and the others to participate this time. On one hand, it was to give them some experience. On the other, he also wanted to see just how many true experts this tournament would attract.
Pekoms, as a member of the Mink Tribe, was already impressive on his own. Coupled with the boost from an Ancient Zoan, he could definitely be considered one of the favorites to win.
The reason for holding this arena tournament was naturally to recruit powerful subordinates.
If even a Mythical Zoan Fruit could not draw out any strong people this time, then there would be no need to place too much importance on arena events in the future.
On the other hand, if powerful fighters emerged one after another, Roy could consider properly developing this event and turning it into a signature feature of the New World.
This time, the Mythical Zoan Fruit Roy had put up as the reward was the Devil Fruit he had previously obtained from Kurozumi Orochi: the Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: Yamata no Orochi.
Roy had no interest in that fruit anyway, so using it as the prize was perfect!
And in order to prevent anyone from deliberately stirring up trouble during the event, Roy had specially called in Jinbe, Jack, Queen, and Burgess to oversee the scene.
If anyone dared make trouble, they would first have to get past those four!
After everything had been arranged, Roy handed the matter over to Tamago and the others, then once again chose to enter seclusion.
Raijin Island was especially lively today. Powerful figures from every corner of the New World had come rushing over for the sake of that Mythical Zoan Fruit.
Even some fairly strong forces and kingdoms from the Grand Line and the Four Seas had sent people to compete for that Devil Fruit!
At this moment, Raijin Island could truly be described as a place where countless powerhouses had gathered.
Looking around, nearly everyone in sight was a well-known figure whose identity could be recognized on sight.
As those experts registered one after another and entered the arena, the crew members of the Thunder God Pirates who were responsible for security stood guard at the side.
"Look at that guy. He's a famous newcomer on the seas right now, called Crocodile."
"I know him. He's already a Devil Fruit user, and yet he still came to compete for a Mythical Zoan."
"And the ones entering from the east—I feel like they look really familiar."
"How could they not? That's the Happo Navy of Kano Country. They're terrifyingly strong. The one leading them is that legendary figure Chinjao. At his peak, he was a great pirate with a bounty of over 500 million Beli!"
"How scary. They're all monsters… Hey! Look over there in the west. Isn't that Gecko Moria? Wasn't he defeated by Captain King from our side?"
"It really is him. But he was only defeated by Captain King, not killed. It's perfectly normal for him to come participate. It's just a pity that his chin is gone, and he looks a lot fatter now."
"And aside from them, there are plenty of other famous figures too. That one reeking of alcohol is the Heavy Drinker Vasco Shot. The one dressed in flashy, gaudy clothes but still looking pretty ugly is Crescent-Moon Hunter Catarina Devon. Tsk tsk, they're all dangerous characters!"
"…Why do you know so much?"
"Ah, because my cousin is one of the staff members in charge of compiling the registration list."
Once all the participants had entered the arena, the audience members who had long been waiting also could no longer hold back. Waving their spectator tickets in hand, they scrambled toward the stands.
Some of these spectators were natives of Raijin Island. Some had come specifically because they had heard of this tournament and wanted to watch the matches. Others simply wanted to see what a Mythical Zoan Fruit looked like and broaden their horizons.
Fortunately, with the fish-man force under Jinbe's leadership firmly keeping order, no one dared step out of line. Everyone entered obediently.
The arena itself was built like an ancient Roman coliseum, while also incorporating the style of Dressrosa's Corrida arena.
(End of Chapter)
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