One Piece Gunslinger

When the time came, several soldiers immediately came out to drive the prisoners away.

“This is not what we agreed on before. Shouldn’t we be doing it in groups?” some people immediately asked.

Jack thought about it for a moment and understood the reason: "Hey, it's just to make sure Rebecca is in danger and that the toy soldiers will take action. But this is actually more beneficial to my plan."

Chapter 251 Melee

"Ladies and gentlemen, and toys, a grand performance is about to begin."

Jack recognized the voice; it belonged to Gaz, the commentator for the bullring, the skilled observer who provided commentary on the entire Dressrosa incident—a man with a significant role in the story.

To be honest, Jack was quite impressed with Gaz. He seemed to have a thorough understanding of every competitor, and no matter what moves they used, he could explain them in a few words. He was practically the all-knowing expert of Dressrosa. Without a commentator like him, the audience would probably be completely confused.

"This will undoubtedly go down in history. Such a fierce battle has far surpassed all that has ever happened before," Gaz continued shouting into the megaphone.

Jack agrees with this point. Although Gaz was just trying to get the audience excited, today's battle will indeed go down in history.

Then, as usual, Gaz stirred up a few more waves of emotion before announcing the start of the battle.

When Rebecca entered the arena and saw the fighting fish in the pool, she understood why Jack had said her backwater sword dance was no longer effective.

This was originally a fighting technique that eliminated opponents by standing on the edge of the ring and using agile movements, defensive counterattacks, and leveraging their force to knock them into the pool, without causing them any harm.

But now, looking at the fighting fish swimming in the water, not to mention that even if someone is knocked out of the ring, that person will still die, even if Rebecca is facing away from the pool, she is very likely to be attacked by the fighting fish. She cannot wait peacefully at the edge of the ring.

This arrangement was undoubtedly targeted. Although Rebecca was not yet fourteen years old, her swordsmanship, personally taught by Cyrus, had already shown its sharpness. Among these prisoners, there was no one whose strength could absolutely overwhelm Rebecca, so this kind of arena was set up specifically to target the Backwater Sword Dance.

None of these prisoners are good people. Now that the fight has started, they'll naturally target the weaker-looking ones first. And little girls like Rebecca had already been targeted by many prisoners in the contestant area.

Immediately, a sword and an axe came slashing at Rebecca from different directions. Seeing the two weapons coming at her colleague, Rebecca instinctively raised her shield to block.

Before the two weapons could even fall, their owners had already collapsed as headless corpses.

Since Jack had promised the toy soldiers to protect Rebecca, he wouldn't let these two get away with it so easily. He immediately stepped in front of Rebecca and decapitated them both at the same time, blocking Rebecca's view as well.

"Kids shouldn't watch this~" Jack said casually, without even turning his head, as if he had done something insignificant.

Actually, Jack didn't want to turn around. His face was already covered in the blood of the two men, and he didn't want to scare the children.

Although Rebecca is skilled in sword dancing with her back to the river and never kills anyone, she has grown up over the years and is no longer a typical child; she has seen many such situations.

Why are you helping me?

"As I said, I was commissioned by the legendary gladiator Cyrus to participate in this gladiatorial contest, and the commission was to ensure your safety."

During the conversation, another person was casually stabbed through the chest by Jack.

Just then, Gaz's commentary rang out: "He easily took down three people in such a short time. Who exactly is that man?"

"He struck again, and with just one strike, he easily cleaved open another man's chest. The weapon he used was just a regular curved sword from the arena. Is there really no one who can stand against him?" Gaz's instigating words rang out once more.

Clearly, to make this duel more exciting, Gaz is planning to have the other prisoners deal with him. If the rest of the story is just like that, with Jack hacking down the criminals one by one, it would be far too boring.

At the same time, Gaz also wanted to see if these prisoners could make Jack show his true strength. After all, Gaz felt that Jack looked familiar from the first time he saw him, and he must not be a nobody.

However, Gaz was not a member of the Donquixote Family, and of course he did not know the significance of the Donquixote Family organizing this gladiatorial contest. He simply felt that the presence of a character whose fighting power was clearly superior to the others in this contest was somewhat unusual.

However, Gaz's words successfully provoked the nerves of many prisoners in the arena. Immediately, a burly man wielding a giant hammer rushed out of the crowd and smashed it down on Jack.

Gaz's commentary always comes in when everyone needs it: "This is the pirate who once attacked the port, Giant Hammer Levin. Ordinary soldiers couldn't stop him. In the end, it was only when Lord Rao G intervened that he was captured."

Jack initially dismissed the man wielding the giant hammer entirely, seeing no threat whatsoever in his speed and strength. After hearing Gaz's explanation, Jack's disdain deepened. Where did this idiot come from, brazenly attacking Doflamingo's port? And to make matters worse, he lacked any real strength, easily captured by a mere Donquixote Family officer. Lacking power yet still courting death—what else could it be but idiocy?

Moreover, this time no one else made a move, only this idiot rushed over, clearly everyone wanted to see if he could pose a threat to Jack, they were using him as cannon fodder to test the waters.

As the saying goes, fools are lucky. But idiots aren't.

Since he had no good fortune and could only bring trouble to others his whole life, Jack thought it would be better to end Levin's mentally challenged life and restore peace to the world, as he watched Levin howling and charging towards him.

So Jack twisted his wrist, stepped forward with his right foot, and wielded his scimitar to meet Levin's giant hammer head-on, slashing horizontally.

Then Jack regretted it.

As Jack slashed forward, Levin's giant hammer was cleaved in two, and Levin himself was severed at the waist. He fell behind Jack, his upper body nearly landing on Rebecca.

"Well, I still scared the kids." That was Jack's first thought.

"What...what amazing swordsmanship!" Gaz's words ignited the arena once again. "I never expected to have such strength. Today I actually witnessed swordsmanship that can cut through steel."

Seeing Jack's swordsmanship, many prisoners hesitated and instead of advancing, they all took a step back.

"Who is he? Is there such a person among our prisoners?" Mahabais asked curiously.

Jack could only hide his strength before the match, but once the gladiatorial combat began, he would inevitably expose some of his abilities and attract the attention of the Don Quixote family's executives.

Rao G frowned and said, "Although that person was just an idiot, the fact that we could kill him so easily means he was no ordinary person. How could we possibly capture someone like that so easily?"

"So, he's just here to cause trouble, huh?" Deringer laughed. "We've been waiting for so long because he's already blended in with the mortals."

“How could the Revolutionary Army possibly have people with such strength? They’re supposed to be made up of a bunch of toys and little people.” Señor, the most eccentric of them all, said while lying in his stroller.

These four were the four champions of the arena, and also four ordinary officers of the Don Quixote family's Diamond Army. Diamanti was the highest-ranking officer of the Diamond Army, and could be considered their superior.

Diamanti watched as Jack took down the mortals one by one in the ring, but he didn't attack Rebecca. Moreover, whenever someone attacked Rebecca, he would go to her rescue. Even a blind man could see that he was clearly in a "I've got this person under my protection" attitude.

It was finally confirmed that Jack had come to rescue Rebecca, but this time he failed to lure out the toy soldier who was supposedly the leader.

Just as Diamanti was about to order an attack to capture Jack on the spot, the number of people in the ring dwindled. Gaz excitedly exclaimed, "One strike, one kill! No one has ever been able to withstand this man's attacks. But everyone can see that this man has been protecting the girl the whole time. However, there can only be one winner in this battle, so what will he do in the end?"

Upon hearing Gaz's words, Diamanti calmed down and gestured for everyone to remain patient and continue watching. Although he could easily capture the man with a single command and his officers, he also wanted to see how this person would ultimately be dealt with.

Should they just grab Rebecca and rush out? Or do they have other plans? Besides, the toy soldier hasn't appeared yet, and Diamanti feels that as long as the situation isn't out of control, they can wait. After all, the main target is still that toy soldier.

Jack's intention was to make every move visible to his enemy in order to lower their guard. That's why he acted recklessly in the ring.

But Jack also has to thank Diamanti for giving him this opportunity, an opportunity to change the mindset of the people of Dressrosa.

"The third to last person has also fallen, and finally only two people are left on the field. What will happen now?" As Gaz said this, the Donquixote family members tensed up and went on high alert. Now was the most likely time for an accident to happen. If there were any Tontatta or toy troops, they should have made their appearance by now.

However, Jack really came alone this time. The toy soldiers and others were waiting for news from Jack in places like underground ports or arms factories.

Looking at the expectant eyes of the people in the stands, watching their eyes turn bloodshot from the stimulation of blood, and their fierce roars.

Jack finally uttered his first words since arriving in the ring.

Chapter 252 The Quality of Gladiators

"The arena stands tall, and Dressrosa remains standing. But in my opinion, the arena has collapsed."

Jack had somehow produced his megaphone, and its effect was no less than the one Gaz had mentioned using.

"What do you mean?" However, no one reacted to Jack's words for a moment.

"What are you talking about? Hurry up and do it." These were some psychologically twisted people who were waiting to see Rebecca get killed by Jack.

Indeed, almost no one could understand what Jack was saying, given his sudden and seemingly nonsensical statement. Even Gaz and Diamante didn't grasp its meaning, let alone the ordinary citizens.

Jack's original quote is: "As long as the Colosseum stands, Rome stands tall. If the Colosseum falls, Rome falls; if Rome falls, the whole world collapses."

This demonstrates the significance of the Colosseum to the entirety of Rome, and Rome's significance to the world.

Jack didn't say the second half of his sentence, after all, the collapse of Dressrosa wouldn't cause the entire world to collapse, unless it was the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

Jack, of course, knew this would be the outcome, and continued, "The arena has existed for hundreds of years. The arena back then was completely different from what it is now. People who are a little older should still remember what the arena looked like before the Don Quixote family came to power."

The arenas of that era were filled with gladiators, each one harboring no hatred for the others, but rather acting like friends, honing their skills and improving together. They also tried their best to avoid harming others during combat. In fact, gladiators of that time developed excellent swimming abilities as a result.

Back then, the arena truly was an arena; everyone was filled with the spirit of striving for higher, faster, stronger, and working towards a better tomorrow. Even the spectators were inspired by these gladiators, going back to apply that spirit of struggle and hard work to their own lives.

Think about it again. The arenas nowadays are filled with bloodshed and slaughter, and gladiatorial combat with heavy casualties is held at the drop of a hat. Is this the kind of arena you want? What can you gain from such an arena? You learn about killing, you become accustomed to bloodshed, and then what? Do you go back and apply these things to your lives?

"Grab him! Make him stop talking!" Diamanti was now truly regretting his actions, his face ashen as he ordered the Don Quixote family crew to seize him.

This was more painful than killing him outright. It was a direct slap in the face to him, and to the Don Quixote family as well. These changes only began after he took over management of the arena. And now Jack was belittling these changes, calling them worthless, even catastrophic. How could he possibly listen?

Not only did he send out his subordinates, but he himself jumped off his seat, ready to personally kill Jack.

However, Jack had anticipated this. Seeing the Donquixote Family members' actions, he continued, "Look, this is their true face. I only said a few words, and they dared to come up into the arena and disrupt this sacred duel. Didn't Doflamingo teach you that the greatest ironclad rule of the arena is not to interfere with the gladiators' sacred duel?"

Diamanti was about to jump onto the ring, but Jack's words stopped him. Indeed, logically speaking, Jack's duel wasn't over yet, and therefore, this sacred rule passed down for centuries couldn't be violated.

The other cadres, noticing that Diamanti, who was running ahead, suddenly braked, naturally did not jump off and instead stood on the edge.

Although Diamanti didn't jump, he was still unwilling. Fortunately, there was still a loophole in Jack's words that he could exploit, so he said, "Hmph, then you should continue the duel and kill that girl. If you don't continue, then as the manager of the arena, I have the right to intervene, after all, you were the one who disrupted the sacred duel first."

Diamanti was now quite impressed with his own cleverness.

To everyone's surprise, Jack said, "Don't worry, since I've participated in this gladiatorial contest, I will definitely finish it and abide by the rules. There's no rule against talking during a gladiatorial contest. Besides, I only need two minutes, and the winner will be decided in two minutes."

Looking at Jack's expression, Diamanti was a little confused. What, did this guy really want to finish this gladiatorial match?

"Alright, if there's still no winner after two minutes, don't blame us for arresting you under the pretext of disrupting the gladiatorial combat."

However, Gaz remained silent. He was merely a commentator and dared not participate in the duel between the two. In fact, he had already realized that Diamante, the highest-ranking member of the Donquixote Family and the manager of the arena, was someone he couldn't afford to offend, and Captain Jack Sparrow of the Revolutionary Army was also someone he couldn't afford to offend. It was better to just quietly play the role of a bystander for a couple of minutes.

Jack continued, "I think I don't need to say anything more about the previous topic. You all have your own conclusions about which arena better suits the passionate spirit of Dressrosa."

So, the next question is, in their minds, what kind of gladiator is a true gladiator, a sacred gladiator in the arena?

I believe that only those who possess both great strength and a kind heart can truly be considered worthy of the title.

As you can see, I am now a gladiator stained with blood, a gladiator tainted by this new environment. Even if I say these words, it does not mean that I am a hero, a sacred gladiator.

Of course, from this perspective, they certainly aren't either.

As Jack said this, he turned and glanced at Diamanti and the others.

Diamanti and the other three were furious. Why four people? Because Señor was leaning against the wall, wearing sunglasses, sucking on a pacifier, and dressed in baby clothes, so his expression was unreadable.

"So, are there such gladiator heroes in this world? Of course there are, even if not now, they must have existed in the past few hundred years."

Then, ignoring the strange looks from the others, Jack lifted Rebecca up and shouted, "Only she has the hope of becoming a heroic gladiator."

Rebecca was caught off guard; she hadn't expected Jack to suddenly put her in the spotlight. She quickly closed her eyes, shook her head, and waved her hands, indicating that she was nowhere near the level Jack described.

However, Jack still ignored her opinion: "Of all the gladiators in the arena, she is the only one who has never killed anyone. Her back-to-the-water sword dance is not exciting or interesting to you. It has no thrill of slashing and bloodshed."

However, this is indeed a sword technique that has been passed down in the arena for hundreds of years and has been studied by countless gladiators. In other words, it is a sword technique that embodies the hard work of many gladiator heroes and contains a large number of gladiator skills.

She now possesses the strength of a gladiator; she merely lacks further refinement. Given time, she will undoubtedly reach the level achieved by gladiators throughout history.

At this point, Gaz suddenly remembered something: the Donquixote Family had suddenly declared martial law, as if they were on guard against something. And now they saw Captain Jack Sparrow of the Revolutionary Army here, whose actions clearly indicated that he was going against the Donquixote Family.

What does this illustrate?