Lucy and the Statue of Kyros

The waiting room erupts after the impossible sight of Spartan smashed into the stone. From outside and above the arena, voices cry, "He took down Spartan!!" and "Oi!! What's up with that little guy!?" The fighters stare at the cratered floor. One asks, "But how!?" Another insists, "He's the star gladiator of this Colosseum!!!" A third can only guess, "He... he must have just tripped over his own feet..." but the impact says otherwise: "But he's embedded into the floor!!" Luffy, still disguised as Lucy, stands among the crowd and calmly wonders, "Let's see... where should I go..." The officials do not share his calm. One points at him and shouts, "You! For causing this disturbance...!!" Another orders, "Please leave immediately!! You're dis-qualified!!" Luffy reacts with a shocked "Ehh!?" because he has barely begun and already risks losing his chance at Ace's fruit.

Before the officials can remove Luffy, a new group crashes into the scene. Someone calls, "Hey, hey," while another guard warns, "We don't stand for hooligans who incite violence before the matches have even started." The response is immediate and rough: "Come off it, ya dumbass!!" The men identify the real offenders: "The one who started it was that big oaf over there!! If anyone's disqualified, it should be him!! Although he's already out cold." The speakers are introduced as the Hanokuni Gang, Chinjao Family: Don Chinjao, Boo, and Xai. Their presence changes the mood of the room. These are not random brawlers; they are hardened fighters from the Land of Flowers, and their confidence makes the nearby gladiators understand that famous names are gathering in the same block as Lucy.

The crowd recognizes the newcomers at once. "Whoa!! It's Xai and Boo from Hanokuni!!" someone gasps, and another adds, "Even Don Chinjao showed up!! They're already practically legends!!" Boo laughs, "Kahkah," while Luffy politely says, "Thanks for that!!" The old man answers, "No need for thanks!!" but Xai is less patient. When Luffy does not thank them properly, he snaps, "Take it back, you scum!!" Boo apologizes for him: "Sorry about this. He gets excited a bit too easily." Luffy, confused by their codes of respect, asks whether they really just thanked him, and gets caught in the brothers' shouting. Xai warns, "Don't you ever thank us again!! Fuck you!!" Elsewhere in the room, a huge figure accuses another fighter: "You... scheming something with strong guys in the same block!? Dagama!!" Dagama merely notes, "All sorts of people here, huh."

The room fills with dangerous names and political motives. A pair of assassins from a neighboring country are introduced as the Funk Brothers: younger brother Bobby Funk and older brother Kerry Funk. One fighter points out the scale of the field: "Oi oi! Big names from every country are showing up, one after the other... It must be the case that they're scrambling to obtain the Devil Fruit and raise the status of their homelands!!" The announcer stresses the rules: "These fights are on an individual basis!!" Only one winner can leave each block, even if nations and factions try to conspire behind the scenes. The King of the Prodense Kingdom, "The Fighting King" Elizabello the Second, appears with his military strategist Dagama. Dagama boasts that a country possessing the Mera Mera no Mi "would, even with all its other weapons aside... be able to achieve unparalleled advantage in both diplomacy and war alike!!"

The parade of contenders continues. Abdullah and Jeet are named as "former bounty hunters involved in the bombing of a government institution!!" Neck-Chopper Slayman is introduced as "the A-rank war criminal from the sea battle of Dias," and Orlumbus the Ruler as "the made-up massacre adventurer!!" Bellamy appears too, announced as "the brutal 'over 100 million' pirate!! Bellamy the Hyena!!" and noted as entering "on recommendation by the Donquixote Family." The crowd expects every one of these men to be plotting. "Think none of them are plotting anything!? I expect that even you are!!" someone says. Another adds that "the insane rookie from one year ago, 'Balto Romeo', are also said to be participating," while someone else notes, "And although they're not here right now, the nobleman pirate... Cavendish" is among the threats.

The rules of the first stage become clear: "The first round is a battle royale!!" Only survivors have any chance. The announcement lays it out: "A-block is about to start!! Totaling 4-block up with B-, C-, and D-blocks... Out of over 550 fighters, after the first round... only four winners will emerge!!" The stakes narrow brutally: hundreds of fighters, four paths forward, one Devil Fruit at the end. Luffy asks, "What block am I in?" The attendant replies, "I believe we already informed you at the registry desk, but... You're number 556, in C-block." Nearby, someone points out suspicious planning: "And you two... you bribed your way into the same block, yes?" The answer is dismissed as "Pure coincidence." Over all of it, the announcer declares, "Without any further ado, let's get out there and do our best, ladies and gents!!" Tomorrow, someone says, "the world will shift a bit," depending on whose hands the Mera Mera no Mi falls into.

Luffy reaches the fighters' preparations room and immediately treats it like a gear shop. "So I can really use anything in here!?" he asks, while the attendant explains, "As far as weapons, the only things prohibited are firearms." Around him, fighters call for "Helmets!!" and "Armor!!" as they equip themselves under the looming statue at the center of the hall. Luffy eyes the gear with interest and declares, "I want it!!" One display draws his attention in particular: "A statue of a half-naked old man fighter!!" He says, "I'll take some armor!!" and then, spotting the statue's headgear, adds, "And a cooler helmet than old man statue!!" The room is framed around the statue of Kyros, even before Luffy understands who that figure is, while the fighters prepare for a battle royale with blades, shields, helmets, and armor.

Luffy appears in ridiculous armor, still under the name Lucy, and immediately attracts attention. He thinks the equipment "Looks good... neat...!!" while nearby women faint at the sight of a much more elegant entrant. Someone asks, "Hey, what's wrong!?" and another answers, "All the women are fainting!!" A voice identifies the cause: "It's... that's nobleman... nobleman!?" Then the crowd spots him clearly: "Look! It's him!! It's Cavendish...!!" and "The nobleman pirate!! Is it really him!?" Luffy, oblivious, says, "Wish Usopp and the others could see..." Another person comments that the room must be the equipment room. When Luffy reaches for more gear, an attendant stops him: "Ah, you, over there!! That won't do. There's a weight limit for one's gear." Cavendish's presence shifts the scene from comedy to threat; this is a celebrity fighter, and everyone knows it.

Cavendish of the White Horse lounges with theatrical beauty and total confidence. The page introduces him as "Captain of the 'Beautiful Pirate Crew': Cavendish of the White Horse, bounty: 280 million berries." He explains why he wants the prize: "Well... it doesn't really matter what you do... Because I will be taking the Mera Mera no Mi. Yes, it really is suitable for me... such a beautiful power." His pride is not only vanity; he has reached the New World without eating a Devil Fruit. "I've come this far without a Devil Fruit and without exerting too much effort. Just my own genius." When Luffy calls toward him, "Come here!!! Don't walk away when I'm talking to you!!" Cavendish snaps back, "You're over the limit," and Luffy answers with a small "Eh." The clash is already forming: Cavendish thinks the fruit belongs to his beauty, while Luffy wants it for Ace.

Cavendish explains the nature of the Colosseum with elegant contempt. Looking at the nearly naked statue, he says, "So that's why everyone is practically naked. Even that bronze statue." Then he lays out the truth of the arena: "This is a show!! The audience is looking to see blood." The ring, he says, is where cruelty is exposed: "The ring is where the true nature of humans is brought to light. Gladiators are showmen. It is the blood of the fallen... that excites the crowd...!! Who wants to see a match prolonged by swords and armor?" Luffy interrupts with brutal honesty, beginning, "Lu..." then declaring, "I'm Luffy!! The man who'll be king of the pirates." Cavendish freezes. "I saw you earlier, when you flipped that large man. Who are you?" Luffy's answer nearly destroys his disguise in one sentence.

The name on Luffy's back, "No. 0556 LUCY," becomes a small crisis. Cavendish snaps, "You mean Lucy!!" and knocks him back with a "Donk." Luffy complains, "You just said your own name wrong!!" while Cavendish admits, "For a second I thought Strawhat Luffy was here!!" Luffy recovers weakly: "Oh yeah, I'm Lucy." Cavendish says the truth could not be right anyway: "The real one is supposed to be an 8 meter tall giant." Then his obsession spills out. If Luffy truly were Straw Hat Luffy, Cavendish says, "I'd kill you right here and now." He entered the New World three years ago, stirred the hearts of the world as a "beautiful rookie" with a bounty over 200 million, and had his wanted posters stolen by girls everywhere like portraits of a star. Then the world changed without asking his permission.

Cavendish's hatred comes from losing the spotlight. He says, "And then what, one year later!! News of Whitebeard's 'Paramount War' drowned out everything else...!!" He names himself grandly: "I'm the nobleman pirate, 'Cavendish of the White Horse'!!" When someone calls, "Hey, you big star!!" he smiles, "Hmm? You mean me? Of course, fufufu..." But he rages over the "little rookies who sprang out after me," saying their "worst generation" name kept accompanying them and making a scene. "The reporters no longer cared at all about me!! And that's why I'd kill him, him, and all those rookies who stole my spotlight!!" Luffy stands nearby in silence, lucky that Cavendish still believes him to be Lucy. Cavendish then returns to the prize: "The Mera Mera no Mi... it shall be mine!!"

Luffy and Cavendish pass the statue of Kyros, and the statue draws questions from everyone. Luffy, looking at it, says, "I see... so I ended up looking like this old guy after all..." Cavendish asks, "Want to know about him?" Another voice asks, "Who is she?" and the answer is, "The gladiator, Rebecca." Spectators stare at a young armored woman and ask, "Whoa!! Is she a participant? That lady gladiator?" while one man leers, "Hehehe, looks weak... but she sure is cute." The statue, however, belongs to a legend: "He was the strongest gladiator in the history of Corrida Colosseum, 'Kyros'." Cavendish says, "But this statue is of a legendary man." The explanation continues: Kyros was "the undefeated winner of 3000 matches," and in all that time "he only received a single wound from his enemies."

Rebecca appears fully, labeled "Corrida Colosseum Gladiator: Rebecca," but her presence is tied to the mystery of Kyros. Cavendish explains, "But no one in this country... knows who he is!!" Luffy is confused: "Huh??" Cavendish continues, "Neither the elderly nor any of the gladiators have ever met him." That makes the statue deeply strange. "This is the most mysterious statue in all of Dressrosa. Whether the gladiator Kyros actually existed, or whether he was a mere contrivance... and why this statue appeared one day..." The chapter refuses to answer yet, but the importance is clear. Rebecca stands armed and guarded, connected visually to the statue's mystery, while Luffy hears that an undefeated champion known to history may be unknown to every living person in the country.

The mystery deepens beside Kyros's statue. Cavendish says, "All we know is what's inscribed on this plate. Nobody knew him... but nobody has ever tried to remove this... That too, is a mystery." Luffy stares at it and decides, "But I like this statue!! It's real manly!!" Rebecca quietly adds, "...I like it as well." The nearby fighters mock and insult her instead. "Yo!! Great warrior Rebecca-chan," one calls. "We're looking forward to seeing the 'undefeated woman' today!!" Another sneers, "Seeing your longtime bully Spartan put to shame!! Bet that made you feel good, before..." Someone else says, "Ha ha cut that out, stupid," but the hostility remains. Rebecca asks, "What're they talking about?" and Cavendish says, "Pay them no mind." Luffy, still sincere, insists about Kyros, "It's true, ain't it!!"

Rebecca finally states her own reason for entering. Under the shadow of her helmet, she says, "Today... I'll end it...!! I'll win the Mera Mera no Mi...!! And I'll have my revenge on Doflamingo!!" Luffy turns at that name: "Eh!! On Mingo...!?" They compare blocks. Cavendish asks, "What block are you in?" Rebecca answers, "C." Cavendish says, "Great! I'm in 'D'," and tells Luffy, "I hope we're both still standing at the end of the first round." Luffy answers only with his false name, "Lucy." Then the arena roars from outside: "The match is decided!!" The announcer declares that "in the blink of an eye, it's over!!" and reveals the winner from A-block: "The winner from A-block is the 'Masked Man'!!! Mr. Store!!" The crowd is stunned. "Huh!? Already!?" someone cries. "Who is that? He's monstrously strong!!"

The reveal shakes the entire Colosseum. The announcer corrects the identity of the A-block victor: "The winner of the battle royale!! From A-block!! From the pirate crew of the Yonkou, 'Blackbeard,' who silences even crying babies!! Captain of the first ship!!! It's Jesus Burgess!" Burgess stands laughing, "Uuuuuha hhahha!!!" as the crowd realizes what happened. "What an uproar of an opening event!! A truly unexpected participant!!" someone says. Others gasp, "Oh!! He's taken off his mask!!" and then recognize him: "It's that 'Champion' guy!!" "Why's he here!?" "Bu... Burgess!!?" The announcer marvels, "There's simply no way not to recognize this extraordinary strength!!" The page ends with the twist landing on everyone at once: the first block has already been crushed, and Blackbeard's crew is now openly in the race for Ace's power.

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