The Gladiator Prisoners

The chapter opens over the damaged Corrida Colosseum as the announcer declares, "This has been Corrida Colosseum's Battle Royale!!!" The rules of the tournament are laid out again: at this time, three fighters have earned the right to challenge the Donquixote Family. The winner of A-Block comes from the Blackbeard Pirate crew, "the Champion," Jesus Burgess; B-Block produced "the Cannibal," Bartolomeo, captain of the Barto Club; and then C-Block belongs to "our gladiator, Lucy!!!" The ruined ring below shows how violent Luffy's victory over Chinjao was. The staff regretfully announce, "Only one more fighter will move on to the finals!!" but also admit, "The ring has been heavily damaged!" so the start of D-Block must be delayed by fifteen minutes while they hurry to fix it.

Behind the arena, the chaos from C-Block continues. Staff shout, "Get the replacement ring!" and "Hang in there! D-Block is coming!" while Luffy runs through the corridor and someone recognizes him with "Straw-hat!?" Chinjao's men shout "Duran dal!!" and "Cabbage!!" as Cavendish and Chinjao both surge after Luffy, each with his own reason to stop him. Luffy is cornered by rage from multiple directions: "You've no longer anywhere to run!" Cavendish attacks with a flash of his blade while Chinjao's huge body barrels in from behind. Luffy is struck in the middle of the passage with "Dahh!!" and the crowding fighters turn the corridor into a second battlefield even after the official block has ended.

The other fighters realize that Cavendish has lost control again. Someone asks, "What's up with that?" while another warns, "Cavendish is going wild again!" They note that he keeps calling Luffy "Strawhat," and Cavendish snarls, "That bastard!" Nearby, Burgess laughs at the situation: "Dahahaha if he just went there to fail, well, even I could have done that!!" The fighters also discuss Luffy's reputation from Marineford, asking whether he is "Strawhat... isn't that, uh, you know, that guy?" and remembering him as "the pirate who couldn't save his own brother." Cavendish, crushed in the fighting, screams, "Behaaa!! Cut it out!! You're crushing me!!" and demands respect as "a noble from the country of Doelena!" while Luffy is still dragged into everyone's grudges.

Bartolomeo's devotion to Luffy becomes explicit. With tears and an intense face, he says, "...Listen up, Strawhat Luffy-senpai will... one way or another, he'll stand and bear the weight of this generation!!! He's the future King of the Pirates!!!" His admiration reaches back to Loguetown, where he says, "I... I saw it. Two years ago, but also before that... in the East Blue...! In Loguetown!" He remembers the legendary execution platform where the Pirate King Roger met his end. Facing certain death, Luffy had shouted, "I'm the man...!! who'll be king of the pirates!" and at that instant lightning dropped from the heavens. Bartolomeo insists, "But it didn't kill that man...!! I witnessed nothing less than a miracle!!" For him, Luffy's survival was proof, not rumor.

Bartolomeo explains that from that day on he devoured every article he could find about the Straw Hat crew: "Alabasta," "Enies Lobby," "Impel Down," and "the fateful 'Marineford'!!!" He says he looked up to Luffy as "an idol and role model," and that the thrill of Luffy's return from under Navy control in his homeland pushed him to set out to sea himself. The fighters around him are less impressed and more annoyed. Cavendish continues attacking Luffy for daring to compare himself to the idol Bartolomeo worships, and Luffy, exhausted, complains, "Why do we have to fight now? I'm tired!!" Cavendish demands, "Be a good boy and release my blade!" while Bartolomeo loses control too, shouting that anyone who talks about Luffy as if they are better than him deserves punishment.

The corridor devolves into a three-way scuffle. Luffy, Cavendish, and Bartolomeo smash into each other while someone calls, "Oi, somebody stop them!" Bartolomeo tries to stay cold, but the scar under Cavendish's eye distracts him. He admits to himself, "That scar under his eye... it's the real thing. It's so freaking cool. Huh? I can't see through all these tears." Then he panics at how close the fight has become: "We shouldn't get close. They're dangerous." Cavendish thinks of Bartolomeo as "that rotten cabbage asshole" and says he would tear him limb from limb to protect Luffy, but he cannot. Luffy sees him and calls, "Hey, Strawhat!" while Bartolomeo answers in broken excitement, "O... oi you! Cabi... cabechi! It's no good... I can't!!"

Sai and Boo drag Chinjao back into the scene, telling Luffy, "Listen up!! My grandfather has got something he wants to say to you!!!" Boo urges, "Hang in there, Gramps!" but Chinjao is already exhausted and emotional. Luffy assumes the matter is finished and says, "Give it a rest! I won already, didn't I?" Chinjao answers, "No, that's not it..." and struggles to speak through heavy breathing: "I cannot longer resent Garp... now I must express my deepest gratitude." Luffy is startled with "Ehh!?" Before Chinjao can complete the apology, Luffy sends him flying again with a blunt "Bow!" and "Whack!!" while Chinjao cries, "Please... accept my thanks for what you have done!!" The page flips their relationship: Chinjao is no longer chasing revenge, but Luffy is too harried to hear him.

Chinjao keeps chasing Luffy in gratitude rather than rage, calling, "Please don't go... grandson of Garp..." and then, as he almost catches him, "Ah! Hold it right there!!" Luffy panics, "Owahh!" and tries to escape, while the old man says, "Uwahh!! He passed by me! We were so close!! Um, excuse me... wait..." Cavendish refuses to let Luffy flee a duel, shouting, "Oi!! You can't run away from a fight!!" Chinjao tries to make a formal pledge: "As thanks for restoring my head... I hereby pledge to you... the Happou Navy of my grandchildren...!" Luffy, overwhelmed by enemies, admirers, and debt at once, stammers, "Wh... wh... what do I do what do I do. I want to talk to him, but what would I say!?" Then Rebecca grabs his hand and says, "This way, Lucy!"

Rebecca pulls Luffy through the arena corridors. He recognizes her, "Ah, it's you...! Uh, you're..." and she explains, "It's Rebecca. You've sure got a lot of people after you! Come this way." Luffy thanks her, "Ah, thanks a lot!" Bartolomeo, still nearby, watches him go and murmurs, "Ah, hold on captain." The scene also lets Burgess confront Luffy directly. He laughs, "Zehahaha come to think of it, the same could be said of Shillew, right?" and says they are talking about Aokiji: "No way we can trust him!!" Then he identifies Luffy plainly: "It's Strawhat!" Luffy realizes who is in front of him as Burgess says, "He's there, with you right now?" and Luffy answers with a wary "Hmm!?"

Burgess confirms what he has guessed: "So it's you, Blackbeard?!" Luffy is forced into a Den Den Mushi exchange with Marshall D. Teach, who laughs, "That's right! It's been a while... zehaha!! I heard you entered the tournament, 'Lucy'." Teach twists the knife by invoking Ace: "Can you really afford to be here right now? It's about to begin. Your brother's execution, that is... zehaha!!" Luffy goes silent, then understands the target of the tournament. "...!! Ace's power..." he says, and declares, "I'll make sure it goes to anyone except you guys!" Burgess laughs that the Mera Mera no Mi is going into his own belly and that he would be happy as if Ace had joined his crew. Rebecca asks whether Luffy knows that pirate, and Luffy answers, "You could say that... If nothing else, I won't let them win this thing...!!"

Rebecca leads Luffy into a quieter commercial-looking passage and tries to hide the route under ordinary movement. A vendor asks, "'Scuse me lady, can I have another sample?" while another scolds, "You just had one! Are you going to buy something or not!?" Rebecca apologizes, "I'm sorry, ma'am!" and Luffy, still hungry, asks, "Eh!? You are gonna buy one for me!? Which would you like, Lucy?" Rebecca thanks the shopkeeper, "Thanks for your business," but then reveals this is only a way through. Luffy says, "Sorry, I didn't have much money!" and Rebecca answers, "No, no, thanks for treating me, Rebecca!!" The corridor opens into barred rooms, and Rebecca explains, "This is where the gladiators of our colosseum are lodged... Some call it the 'prison dorms'."

Rebecca tells Luffy that guest participants are not supposed to come here, so he should be fine until he has to go out again. Luffy is delighted: "Really? That's great!" She offers him food and says, "That was an amazing match, you really surprised me with your strength, Lucy!" Luffy tries the colosseum lunchbox and asks, "But how is this colosseum lunchbox so tasty?" Rebecca asks, "...And aren't you hungry!?" but the question suddenly hits something private in her. She remembers the word "Mommy..." and says, "I'm hungry..." before forcing herself to recover: "I'm... fine. Don't worry about me...!" Luffy notices the attitude and says, "Hmm? You're acting like one of those samurai." Rebecca is identified as a fulltime Corrida Colosseum gladiator.

The mood shifts when prisoners behind bars call to Rebecca. One reaches out and pokes through the cell, saying, "Poke!" Fighters shout, "Alright!! I got him!!" and "If you're gonna do it, do it now, Rebecca!!" Luffy is suddenly grabbed and restrained by the gladiators as he cries, "Wah!" Rebecca looks tense while someone asks, "What's going on?" Another prisoner says, "That's why you brought him here, yeah?" and the threat becomes ridiculous and immediate: "Oi I'm gonna spill my food!!" Luffy protests, "Eh?? What the hell, Rebecca!!" He is held at sword point while Rebecca stands before him in silence. The page frames her betrayal carefully: she has not struck him yet, but she has brought him into a place where the other prisoners can.

The prisoners attack Luffy from every side while Rebecca moves with sharp, evasive footwork. A fighter shouts "Gyahhh!" and another "Gah!" as the scuffle crashes through the prison dorms. Luffy is struck, dodges, and protects the food even in the middle of the trap, chewing with "Munch munch" while others are thrown back. Rebecca watches and then flips away, her movement marked by "Flip!" and a shout of "Hiiyahh!!" The page is mostly motion: blades, bars, bodies, and sudden impacts. It shows that Rebecca is capable enough to control spacing, but it also shows Luffy treating the ambush less like mortal danger and more like an interruption to a meal.

Rebecca completes the setup by knocking Luffy down and holding her blade at him, the impact marked with a heavy "Ah!" Luffy lies on the floor with food still near him, murmuring "...kuhh...!!" while Rebecca stands over him and breathes hard, "Haa, haa..." The old fighters look on, one silent with only "......" as the scene becomes less comic and more exposed. Rebecca has succeeded in taking down the man who beat Chinjao, but the victory feels uneasy. The way she pauses over him, and the way Luffy looks more startled than truly hurt, makes clear that the ambush is not a simple murder attempt. The page ends on the tension between her apparent attack and her real reason for bringing him here.

The prisoners shout about the impossible result: "He took down... Rebecca!" and "How could he be faster than her!?" Luffy sits up bruised but calm, while Rebecca says, "...!! Do as you must with me... I'll accept my punishment...!" Luffy cannot understand the logic and asks, "Why would I punish... someone who bought me food...?" Rebecca finally confesses, "Because I tried to kill you!!" Luffy answers plainly, "It's fine. I'm not dead. And besides, you weren't really trying to..." Around them, the other prisoners identify the real problem: Rebecca can forgive too easily, but all this has shown is the true gap between her strength and Luffy's. One says that if she could have taken out even one top contender in advance, her odds would be much better.

Luffy mistakes the bandaged prisoners for corpses and asks, "Eh... mummies?" They snap back, "We're not mummies!!!" Then they explain who they are: "We're the gladiator prisoners." Rebecca, they say, is made to keep fighting until they meet their deaths in the ring as a show for the audience. The reason is political: every one of them opposed the Donquixote Family at some point. Doflamingo has promised that a gladiator who reaches a hundred wins will walk free, but even the most skilled fighter is bound to break after about a hundred death matches, and anyone caught plotting escape is promised execution. So they are left with no choice. Luffy hears that before Doflamingo became king, these gladiatorial fights did not exist at all; under his rule, the country has seen splendor and also the worst darkness.

Rebecca reveals why she entered the tournament. She decided that day, "I would win this tournament, at any cost," and obtain the power of the Mera Mera no Mi so she can take revenge on Doflamingo. The prisoners explain that Soldier-san intends to sacrifice his own life to bring everything down, and that he will wage war against Doflamingo. Rebecca says that today, to free them, the forces led by Soldier-san are going into action. Luffy asks whether Soldier-san is brave, and one prisoner answers that he is always by Rebecca's side. Rebecca cries, "I'm sick of always being protected!! This time, I'm going to protect Soldier-san!!!" The chapter closes on her tears and resolve as the note says, "This country's darkness after 10 years say it all!!!"

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