One Piece: Kaido the Beast Playing House.

Chapter 616: Archaon's Autobiography
(The first person in this chapter is called Archaon)

I have been in a cage since I can remember. What did my father look like? I have never seen him. Even my memory of my mother is so vague. If it weren't for Old John, who was also a slave, telling me about it, I might have completely lost my impression of my parents. I was raised by other slaves. I didn't know why they were so kind to me at the time. I just habitually accepted their kindness until I was ten years old, when my height began to surge.

From then on, I discovered that I was different from the people around me, at least in terms of body shape. I was taller than several of them stacked together, and my height did not decrease. Instead, I became taller and taller. My appetite was also increasing day by day. From time to time, I needed other slaves to save money and give me their rations so that I could barely avoid starving. This situation lasted for more than a year.

My life in that cage was hard. From the day I was able to lift heavy objects, I was required to work, all kinds of work, from carrying things, to cleaning, and even being a mount, everything was included. If I was slow, I would be beaten and scolded. The person who beat and scolded me was a man in strange white clothes. Of course, no one knew what the criteria for being slow or doing something wrong were, as if the beating and scolding were inevitable.

In fact, beating and scolding is the best outcome. I saw with my own eyes that they shot others and laughed in the flow of blood. The reason might be just for fun, or the breathing was a little louder. Old John died because of this. At that time, I was very angry. It was the first time I felt angry, the first time I had it. However, Old John, who was lying in a pool of blood, kept comforting me, telling me to stay calm, to live, and to escape from that damn place. Looking at the blood under Old John, I chose to listen, to listen to the advice of the person who raised me.

Time passed little by little, I grew older and taller, and soon, I stood out from the other slaves because of my height and body shape. They elected me as their leader, because my huge size allowed me to complete more tasks, and the beatings and scolding that followed were also reduced. But I never forgot what Old John said, I wanted to escape from this place, escape from here forever, but how could it be that easy?

When I was 20 years old, I was taken out of the cage. I was curious about where I would be taken to. Would that place allow him to leave this place? It was hard to say whether the ending was better or worse, because I was taken to a gladiatorial arena. Even before I got close, I could smell the blood there. In addition to the bloody smell, the red gravel on the ground where I walked barefoot was even more frightening. I didn't even dare to guess how much blood was spilled here. Is this my next fate? I couldn't help but think about it. No one could give me an answer.

Everything that happened next is something I don't want to recall in my entire life. After all, it was really too painful. I was thrown there and suffered inhumane training. My master, Saint Bilberg chose me as his gladiator to participate in the duel competition between the celestial dragons.

This is a competition among the Celestial Dragons to show off their slaves and their vision to each other, so unlike those where blood is shed at will, the slaves chosen here will not be sent out to kill at will, but will be trained first. No Celestial Dragon wants to fail in this battle, so they will constantly arm their slaves. And they also learned from the hideous instructor that their parents were the gladiators chosen before and after them. Similarly, if it weren't for this, they would not have lived so long, and would have been chosen to participate in the bloody game held every three years. After all, giants have always been high-scoring prey in that game.

When I heard what the instructor said, my heart was filled with anger again. I wanted to strangle to death on the spot that guy who looked like Douding to me. But unfortunately, I was no match for him at that time. Even though his height seemed very short to me, I was no match for that guy. I was beaten to a pulp every day, and then he would step on my head and taunt me, mocking me for being a waste and mocking the Celestial Dragons for misjudging a useless waste like me.

The rage in my heart was growing, and I wished I could eat his flesh alive, so I trained hard, hoping that one day I could kill this guy, tear him to pieces, and then step on his head to tell him that he was the loser. To this end, I even learned the Armament Haki that was thought to be impossible for me to learn, and finally during one day of training, I tore off the careless instructor's arms through a surprise attack. Then I realized one thing, that is, the instructor who was extremely powerful in my eyes was actually just a slave, and his destiny was to be defeated by me. From the moment I defeated him, his life also came to an end. His duty was to teach me, and then become the first person I killed. This was the fate given to him by the Celestial Dragons, and he had known this for a long time.

His ridicule and humiliation of me were actually all to make me completely lose confidence and give up on myself, so that he could tell the Celestial Dragons that I was a waste and could never fight for them, and then his life might be able to continue, although the way to continue was probably that he would be sent to fight in the arena. After that, I changed several instructors, and the end of each instructor was actually the same. I knocked him down, and then took him away, becoming another loser, and then died, until one day, no instructor appeared in the arena, and I was taken to another place. That day was my 22nd birthday.

I still remember clearly the feeling of the hot metal branding my face. The red-hot iron mask was pressed against my face. The sizzling flesh, the smell of burning and the piercing pain made me roar. But it didn't stop. Behind the iron mask was armor, and the armor was nailed firmly into my flesh with sharp steel nails. Every movement I made was accompanied by piercing pain.

In the last duel competition, Saint Bilberg was defeated by his mortal enemy, which made him extremely angry, so this time, he absolutely did not want to repeat the same mistake. In the past, the gladiators in the so-called duel competition would not be so valued and educated. They would simply choose the strongest one and send him up. It would not be like me now, who was put on the iron frame and put on an iron mask just so that I could resist a few more times.

The duel began soon. The enemy's strength was not as terrifying as I thought. It was not even as strong as the pain brought to me by this iron armor itself. Without a doubt, I defeated many enemies. In that scarlet arena, I became the focus. I heard that many people went to Saint Bilberg, ready to exchange my slaves under their hands, but they were all rejected by Saint Bilberg who laughed.

After that, I had a good time. Maybe it was because of the victory I brought him. My food became better, and I didn’t have to do anything else except daily training. I even got the chance to leave Marijoa, yes, leave, although it was suitable for me to leave with Bilberg Saint.

He took me around for exhibitions, to various countries, and held countless death-level duel competitions. When those gladiators finally survived, he would send me down and watch me tear those gladiators apart, watching the hope that those gladiators had finally had turn into complete despair.

Many years passed like this, and just when I thought that this was how my life would be, an accident changed everything. After a bloody game, Saint Bilberg disappeared. Everyone was saying that a madman had appeared. A powerful madman led a group of madmen to attack the Celestial Dragons. Many Celestial Dragons died, and Saint Bilberg was one of them. Many guards went to protect them, but never came back. Mary Geoise's defense was unexpectedly weak. I finally saw an opportunity, an opportunity to freedom.

As a "favorite" under Saint Bilberg for so many years, I was relatively free to some extent. At least I didn't have to wear an explosive collar during combat training. This gave me an opportunity. The guards who accompanied me in training had long relaxed their vigilance after my years of loyal performance. They didn't think I would escape at all. This was my chance, my only chance.

Those guards were dead. Before they could make a sound, I shot them to death on the spot. Then I walked towards the cage as if nothing had happened. The explosive collar on my neck was not fastened at all. Just like that, I swaggered into the room where the cage was, killed all the guards who had let down their vigilance, took out the key, and liberated all of Bilberg's slaves. We were free. We ran for our lives and seized a boat. After the sacrifice of several people, we successfully reached the surface of the sea through the elevator, but we were still discovered. An extremely special group appeared in front of us. With those strange abilities, we were defeated and fell into the water. I thought I was finished, I thought I was dead, but fate gave me hope. When I woke up, I was on a beach, surrounded by terrified villagers. I survived and I was free.

(End of this chapter)