Nagato in One Piece - Chapter 27

In the stands, Bruno had disappeared at some point, leaving only Nagato seated, unmoved. A newspaper featuring Enel’s photo prominently in the news was spread across his lap.

In reality, Nagato had dealt with Enel’s body back in Water 7, converting him into one of the Six Paths’ reanimated corpses. He also transformed the seabird hawk into the Animal Path’s summoning beast, using leftover black rods from processing Enel.

Twenty days ago, Nagato arrived in Dressrosa and immediately released Enel, now infused with the Human Path’s abilities, from a scroll. He controlled Enel to enter the arena, register for the tournament, and become a gladiator.

Twenty days later, the Human Path had made it to the finals!

All this was part of the plan, all for the so-called perfect timing.

This timing was the annual tournament finals, the only occasion when the entire Donquixote Family gathered.

Nagato didn’t aim to capture the entire Donquixote Family in one swoop, but he needed both Doflamingo and Sugar present. Doflamingo, as the primary villain and the core of the Donquixote Family, had to be killed. Sugar, on the other hand, was crucial for Nagato to legitimately seize control of Dressrosa and avoid retaliation from the World Government.

Moreover, besides gathering the Donquixote Family from all over, the tournament finals offered another benefit: the accumulated strong gladiators throughout the year were prime candidates for labor. Thus, Sugar was likely waiting underground to transform the fallen gladiators into toys, following the usual practice.

This was why Nagato embedded the Human Path within the arena.

In the arena, one after another, Diamante introduced strong and fierce gladiators. Meanwhile, Nagato saw the Human Path’s shared vision, transmitted through the Rinnegan.

Bruno emerged from an air door before the Human Path in a secluded corner of the gladiator’s resting area.

“Is this her, Mr. Nagato?” Bruno asked, looking at the woman the Human Path held.

The Human Path flung the woman towards Bruno and stood up, saying, “Let Fukurou watch over her—Rebecca. This is our insurance.”

Outside, Diamante’s introductions were nearing the Human Path’s turn, and the Human Path walked towards the entrance tunnel. “Her limbs are broken. Fix them later and bind her before she wakes up. Fukurou can’t handle her otherwise.”

“Understood,” Bruno replied, then carried Rebecca and opened several air doors in the walls, appearing on the street outside.

“Everything seems smooth, chapapa.” Bruno soon arrived at the designated location and met Fukurou.

Repeating the Human Path’s instructions to Fukurou, Bruno handed over Rebecca, saying, “She’s your responsibility now. I’ll proceed with the next step.”

Fukurou nodded, taking Rebecca. “No problem, chapapa~”

With that, Bruno turned and retraced his steps…

“And next, our ‘beloved’ undefeated female warrior, the desperate swordswoman—Rebecca!”

In the center of the Bullfighting Arena, Diamante, holding a microphone, maliciously shouted, introducing the next gladiator.

However, after a flurry of noise and boos from the audience, no one appeared in the entrance tunnel.

“Heartless Riku scum!”

“Why isn’t she out yet?”

“Lost the courage to show up, have you?”

After a while, with Rebecca still not appearing, the audience’s insults turned to disdain.

“Riku’s little girl, I’m looking forward to your performance.”

“Why hasn’t she come out? Maybe she’s scared of the finalists, which is understandable… the offspring of the weak…”

After some thought, Diamante decided to move on. He casually set up Rebecca as a gimmick, and her absence wouldn’t be a major issue.

Diamante introduced the last gladiator for the first match to keep the event running smoothly.

He shouted into the microphone, “And who is the last to enter the arena for the first match? Yes, that’s right! It’s the mysterious ‘Immortal’ of the past twenty days—Enel!”

With Diamante’s introduction and the crowd’s cheers, the Human Path walked out from the tunnel!

In the New World, monsters with bounties of billions were not common. Enel’s physique naturally made him stand out in the arena. Moreover, being a reanimated corpse, as long as Nagato’s chakra flowed, he could fight indefinitely. Thus, the Human Path quickly became one of the arena’s “aces,” earning the nickname “Immortal.”

“Let the battle begin! Cheer and rejoice, audience!!!”

All fifty gladiators, except Rebecca, were present with the Human Path in the arena. At Diamante’s signal, the carnage began!

…

In the stands of the Bullfighting Arena.

“I’m back, Mr. Nagato.” After handing Rebecca over to Fukurou, Bruno quickly returned and sat next to Nagato.

“Good work,” Nagato replied, then glanced at the Donquixote Family on the platform above. “Now, we wait… for the starting gun of the toys.”

In the arena, forty-nine gladiators fought fiercely. Several were already injured and down, and a few had fallen into the water, fate unknown.

After about ten minutes of fighting, with nearly half the gladiators eliminated, Nagato, who had been observing the Donquixote officials on the platform, saw Sugar leave!

Sugar was followed by one of the top executives, Trebol.

“The starting gun is loaded.”

Nagato thought to himself and immediately infused more chakra into the Human Path. Suddenly, in the arena, the “Immortal” appeared to make a mistake. As he jumped back to dodge, he landed right in the attack range of a giant gladiator. The giant swung a heavy spiked club, hitting the Human Path on the back of the head!

With a loud thud, the Human Path was sent flying like a rag doll.

“Oh my!”

“Hit by the giant’s spiked club, can he still be alive?”

“He should be fine, right? After all, he’s the ‘Immortal’…”

“Get up, you damned ‘Immortal’! I’ve got a hundred thousand Berries on you!”

“Great job, ‘Giant Warrior’! Kill all the weaklings and the five million Berries are yours!”

The audience reacted with exclamations and varied opinions. However, the Human Path, lying on the ground, wobbled back to his feet.

Before the bettors on the Human Path could cheer for long, the seemingly dazed Human Path requested a ruling from Diamante.

In Dressrosa’s arena, gladiators could admit defeat and leave the arena if approved by the judge. They didn’t have to fight to the death, leaving only one standing. Otherwise, the arena wouldn’t have so many dismembered fighters and those deceived into treatment only to be turned into toys by Sugar.

“Oh~ Look at our ‘Immortal’,” Diamante sneered into the microphone, “Seems like the mighty ‘Giant Warrior’ almost took his life…”

“Request approved. Exit, ‘Immortal’!” After a mocking taunt, Diamante pointed to the exit tunnel.

In his mind, Diamante laughed maliciously, “Fool, a life of being a toy awaits you.”

Of course, the seemingly struggling Human Path was eagerly anticipating meeting Sugar!

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