"Whoa, is that guy a Devil Fruit user?!"
"How did he suddenly rush to the front?!"
"Brothers, charge! Anyone ahead of us—take them down!"
The dozen or so men who had been maintaining a dominant lead at the very front of the race were initially stunned when Arashi suddenly appeared ahead of them. But their confusion quickly turned into anger.
These men were a group.
They had entered this competition together for one purpose—to clear all obstacles for their leader.
At the very front was a thin, monkey-like man wearing a black hat—their boss.
Arashi, who had suddenly surged ahead, didn't widen the gap. Instead, after spotting the skinny man, he deliberately slowed down and waited for him to catch up.
Seeing that the man had been sprinting for so long without even changing expression, Arashi blinked in surprise.
"Not bad, brother! I'm already exhausted from that sprint just now, but you're completely unfazed. Looks like the championship is yours!"
"Who the hell are you?!"
The skinny man glared at Arashi and snapped, "You call that exhausted? You're chatting while running—are you looking to die?!"
"Hey, why so aggressive?"
Arashi blinked innocently. "We've only just started, and there are still over 300 kilometers to go. Wouldn't it be nice to chat and make some friends while running?"
"Who wants to be friends with you?! I want the championship! I want to attend the king's banquet—I want to drink with the queen!"
"Oh ho~ so that's your real goal!"
Arashi's eyes lit up as he said excitedly, "But I saw the queen just now—Queen Sophia, right? She's really stunning. Mature, elegant, noble… absolutely breathtaking!"
"AHHH! I can't take this guy anymore!"
The skinny man suddenly exploded in rage. "Brothers, take him down!"
At his command, the men behind him accelerated, lunging desperately toward Arashi.
But how could their speed possibly match his?
No matter how fiercely they pounced, they couldn't even touch him—each attempt ended in failure.
And before they could even get back up, the oncoming racers behind them trampled over them, nearly crushing them on the spot.
Arashi had already suspected that this so-called ultra-long marathon wouldn't be simple.
And sure enough—right from the start, people were already using such methods to eliminate competitors.
As for what would happen over the remaining 300 kilometers…
He could already imagine it.
This was a marathon without rules.
And over a distance of 400 kilometers—
Many people would die.
Because that decrepit old king of Ilusia wanted exactly that—to see contestants collapse from exhaustion…
Or be killed by others.
When Arashi first realized this, he had mentally given the king a thumbs-up.
With a ruler like that, the Ilusia Kingdom probably wasn't far from ruin.
Of course, Arashi didn't care what happened to the country.
What mattered now was that the system had given him such an interesting mission.
And as a traveler—
He intended to enjoy it to the fullest.
After effortlessly evading all the attackers, Arashi suddenly leapt forward, appearing right in front of the skinny man. With a grin, he said:
"Alright, I'm done playing with you."
The next moment—
He vanished like a gust of wind.
"????"
"Ah!! That guy has to be a Devil Fruit user!"
The skinny man blinked in confusion before suddenly shouting, "I'm reporting this! I'm reporting this! There's a Devil Fruit user in the race—!"
Before he could finish—
Tap tap tap—
Robin, dressed in her maid outfit, rushed past him like a breeze, chasing after Arashi.
"What the hell?!"
"What kind of nonsense is this?!"
"Since when are maids this strong?!"
The racers behind paid no attention to his shock.
As the massive crowd surged forward, the skinny man and his subordinates were instantly swallowed by the tide—
Their screams echoed as they were trampled beneath countless feet.
"Mr. Arashi!!!"
Robin quickly caught up, though slightly out of breath. "Your speed is too fast—I'm worried I won't be able to keep up!"
Arashi had already slowed down. Glancing at her, he said with a smile:
"Right now, the issue isn't whether you can keep up with me…"
"It's that this old king of Ilusia is trying to kill people."
Hearing this, Robin quickly looked ahead—
And her pupils shrank.
About a hundred meters ahead, there was a stretch of grassland.
But it wasn't ordinary grassland.
Hidden within it were several crocodiles.
While such creatures wouldn't pose much of a threat to powerful fighters or Devil Fruit users—
Most participants in this race were just ordinary citizens.
As the two approached, even knowing what lay ahead, they were stunned by the sheer number of crocodiles.
Hundreds of them.
They occupied a swampy patch of land less than a hundred meters wide.
One side was fenced off with thorns, guarded by armed soldiers.
The other side—
A cliff, with turbulent seawater below.
It was obvious.
Every participant had to pass through this swamp—
Or forfeit.
And if they tried to stop?
The massive crowd behind them would push them forward—
Straight into the crocodile-infested swamp.
Just as Robin's heart tightened at the thought—
Arashi suddenly leapt forward.
Landing directly in the swamp, he stepped onto the head of a crocodile and let out a low shout:
"Scram!"
The moment that domineering word fell—
The crocodiles froze, as if struck by lightning.
Then—
As if they had encountered some terrifying monster, they frantically fled, scrambling over each other and plunging off the cliff into the sea.
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