章節 240: Corrida Colosseum

Several of Doflamingo's men were tied into a ball and left dangling from a tree. Cherry clapped the dust off her hands from a job well done. Couldn't have spies giving their presence away after all.

There were also a few unusually strong vital energy signatures for the relative small stature of the creatures that she sensed. They would quickly put a distance between them when she approached and ultimately she shrugged it off as some manner of beast.

If they were carnivorous, then Doflamingo's men would only have themselves to blame if they got eaten.

Cherry met back up with the others after running that little errand. She got one look at the disguises they were wearing and was stunned speechless by how ineffective they would be against anyone with half a brain. Black jackets, bowler hats, and white beards? Really?

Then again, in Cherry's experience most goon types would actually fall for it. Anyhow, it's not like there was much they could do to hide Franky's enormous robotic frame, or the fact that Zoro was the only well known three sword style fighter in the world. Luffy would probably just end up giving himself away in an act of carelessness no matter how good his disguise was.

"I'll just go my own way so they don't associate my disguise with us." Cherry said reasonably.

"That's probably for the best." Law concurred. He then rolled out a map of Dressrosa and began to explain their roles in his plan one last time.

"Okay, but why aren't we bringing Robin along to find the factory? She's the best secret agent type we've got." Cherry asked.

"Because she's a decent fighter, but also not liable to give us away while we drop off Caesar. Straw Hat-ya and his group are too conspicuous, but have plenty of firepower to destroy the factory when they find-- Where did they go?!" Law scowled when he realized that Luffy and his group were already gone.

"You didn't really expect them to sit still and listen to you with an adventure out there waiting for them in a strange new land did you?" Cherry asked with an expression of genuine concern on her face. "It was already a miracle that we got them to put on their disguises first."

"Fine, I guess I'll just have to trust that you'll fix whatever they screw up if it comes down to it." Law said whilst rubbing the headache from his brow. He looked up to find that Cherry was no longer there either, then he sighed.

…

Cherry already had an idea of where to go from here. Before she had knocked out the peeping toms that were spying on their ship, she had asked where she might find the higher level executives. They didn't want to talk at first, but that was nothing that some very imaginative threats couldn't solve.

As a result, she knew there would be a gathering of individuals with the information she wanted at the Corrida Colosseum. Probably there for some event, she'd find out soon enough.

When she arrived at the city of Acacia where the Corrida Colosseum was located, she was gobsmacked by the sights before her eyes. Thousands of automatons that seemed to independently operate under the power of a single devil fruit.

Cherry grabbed one of the "toys" that was a tiny tin horse dressed in a marching band outfit, only for it to let out a little squeal of fright, then say "M-miss, you surprised me! I have something to do right now, so would you mind putting me back on the ground?"

"You can speak as well? Are you intelligent, or do you merely produce predetermined phrases?" Cherry asked curiously, not putting the band-horse back down as it asked her to.

"Yes, of course I am intelligent! We are the living toys of Dressrosa!" The band-horse said cheerfully, but Cherry could detect some annoyance and fear underneath the surface.

Seeing that people were looking at her rather scornfully, Cherry put the band-horse back down on the ground and left the area.

'These toys are awfully functional, it's almost unbelievable that a single devil fruit could create such things. Maybe 2 in conjunction, but that clearly isn't the case from what I can see. It doesn't feel like what's in them is enough to create such a complex effect either, but I'll have to see the actual devil fruit user to get any solid data.' Cherry pondered to herself.

Cherry scanned the city with life sense and found two groups of devil fruit users, one of which was Luffy's group with another fruit user near them and the other were in the direction of the Colosseum in the distance.

"They're going to be okay, right? I'm sure whoever that is can't beat them all even if they seem strong." Cherry reasoned, before deciding to head straight to the colosseum.

*Acchoo* "Excuse me." Admiral Issho sneezed, oblivious to the group of world infamous pirates sitting only a couple of tables over from him.

More importantly was that Cherry recognised some of the individuals at the colosseum. Namely her friends from the Happo Navy, Chinjao, Sai, and Boo. Oh, and Bartolomeo too, she supposed. Their presence here, she hoped, was merely coincidence.

"Are you here for the tournament, miss? Shall I show you where to sign up?" A voice asked Cherry as she briefly stopped to admire the architecture.

Looking to the source of the voice, she found a one-legged toy soldier made of tin standing about half her height, most of that height being made up by his hat. "Do I need to pay you?"

"Heavens no, miss! I'm only happy to help in whatever way I can!" He responded in a delightful tone.

"Lead the way then." Cherry said. "How did you lose your leg? Or were you made that way?"

"Oh… The Doflamingo family made me this way…" The tin soldier said in an even tone. Cherry felt there was a hidden meaning to his words, but this wasn't the place to ask questions about such things.

"Tell me more about this tournament. Is there something special about it?" Cherry asked.

"Oh yes! The king has offered an incredible prize to the winner, a devil fruit! And not just any devil fruit if the rumors are to be believed!" The tin soldier said.

"What rumors would those be?" Cherry asked.

"That this devil fruit has been lost for centuries, and its previous user was none other than the founder of the Happo Navy over 300 years ago!" The tin soldier explained.

'Ah, Doflamingo is good. There's no way Chinjao would leave that alone, and there's no way I'd leave Chinjao alone. A bold strategy, let's see if it pays off for him.' Cherry thought.

"I guess there must be a lot of big names here, then?" Cherry asked.

"Naturally! Not as many as there would have been had it not been such short notice, though." The tin soldier answered. "Here you are! You can register right over there. It ends in about an hour, so you'd better hurry!"

"Hey you! Stop right there!" A man who appeared to be a local constable of some sort shouted and pointed at the tin soldier.

"I've got to go now! Perhaps we'll meet again!" The tin soldier saluted and raced away faster than one leg had any right to.

Cherry watched him leap up into one of the windows of the colosseum and jeer at the guard that the colosseum was out of his jurisdiction or something. She turned away and to the scantily dressed gladiator woman. "I'd like to register for the tournament."

"Sign your name here." She directed Cherry to a stack of waivers that basically said they took no responsibility for any physical harm, death, or fate worse than death that may befall you inside.

Cherry signed the waiver as "Nightmare" and the gladiator woman wrote the same name on a large sticker with the number 0530 at the top of it.

"You're in the first group. Go inside and don't cause any trouble." The woman said, before proceeding to ignore her.

Cherry chuckled at the casual dismissal, undoubtedly because her current guise had no reputation whatsoever. She walked inside the colosseum and made her way to the waiting room, but before she made it there she saw a familiar green hairdo reminiscent of a rooster.

Incidentally, Bartolomeo took notice of her as well, and after only a moment he began to stammer like a fool. "Ch-ch-ch-ch-!"

Cherry rushed him, putting an iron grip over his fanged mouth and pushing him into one of the side rooms. "Shut it you fool! Can you not tell I'm incognito?"

Though she was annoyed that he almost blurted her real name, she was secretly impressed that his fanboy instincts were so strong that he recognised her almost instantly despite her heavy modifications.

Bartolomeo nodded his head with a goofy smile on his face. "I'm never going to wash my face again…"

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章節 241: Old Gladiator

"So, Hamsterball, do you know what kind of devil fruit the final prize is?" Cherry asked once Bartolomeo quieted down.

"She gave me a nickname-! Ah, of course I know! Doflamingo advertised it heavily among Underworld information dealers. A lot of idiots were annoyed about the short notice for such an infamous devil fruit." Bartolomeo said.

"Don't keep me in suspense, just tell me already." Cherry said impatiently.

"It's the Drill Drill Fruit!" Bartolomeo chimed, then waited in expectation for her reaction.

Cherry was wholly unimpressed. "Drills? Really? That's it?"

"Ah, I see that you're unfamiliar with it. To keep it brief, where Whitebeard's Quake Quake Fruit is said to possess the power to destroy the world, the Drill Drill Fruit is said to possess the power to pierce any defense and even the heavens themselves! The founder of the Happo Navy apparently killed a fleet admiral back in his day using that fruit." Bartolomeo helpfully explained. "I wanted to get it because it might be a hard counter to my barriers, but I can help you get it if you want it?"

'Ah, so this isn't just to lure in Chinjao, but myself as well. Anyone who has access to a lot of information and has been paying attention to me would be able to infer that I might want a devil fruit for my spear. A drill that can pierce the heavens, if it lives up to that fame, would be the perfect choice.' Cherry thought to herself, then started to chuckle. 'How angry would Franky be if I can get my hands on it? A robot with a drill to pierce the heavens is every boys' dream.'

"I don't need your help, just fight with all you've got. If you come up against me, then I'll give a practical lesson in fighting dirty. How about that?" Cherry gave him a toothy smile.

Bartolomeo let out a girlish little squeal before directly fainting. Cherry caught him as he fell and gave a small shock to his mental sea to wake him up.

"Alright, Hamsterball, show me to the waiting area. I want to have a look at the competition." Cherry said.

Bartolomeo gladly led the way to the waiting area where most of the fighters were hanging around and hyping themselves up for the coming battle.

Cherry had to wonder why so many weaker individuals had even bothered to participate. Even if they got a lucky break in the qualifier rounds and proceeded into the real tournament, surely they weren't delusional enough to think they could win the whole thing.

"Hey you! What's a skinny woman like you doing here, this is a serious life or death fight! You're insulting all the warriors who fight and die here everyday with your presence!" An idiot approached her with a look of disdain on his face.

Before Bartolomeo had a chance to play white knight and get himself disqualified for starting a fight outside of the arena, Cherry stepped forward to confront the idiot gladiator directly.

"What, do you want to fight-?" The gladiator was interrupted by Cherry as her hands flashed, tracing fingers along his skin and jabbing at pressure points.

"What's going on over here?! You better not be fighting outside of the arena or you'll be disqualified!" One of the organizers raced over with a couple of armed guards.

They were dumbfounded when instead of a potentially violent confrontation, they found one of the gladiators looking like he was in heaven. "My old injuries don't hurt so much, and I feel as flexible as I did in my younger days!"

"That's my massage arts at work, friend. You looked stressed, so I gave you a special service, one warrior to another." Cherry spoke with a passive expression, bowing slightly to show respect but without being submissive.

This was an act to go along with her disguise. Nightmare was to be a serious, respectful, and kind woman. Basically the exact opposite of Cherry.

"I see! I apologize for my rudeness before. Because of you, I feel that I can fight at my best in the coming battle!" The idiot proclaimed loudly.

When he saw that people around him were murmuring to themselves, he realized he might have just given away the advantage he just received. Sure enough, some curious gladiators approached Nightmare to see if they could get some of that special service for themselves. Only those who were less sure of their victory came forward however, while the more confident and cunning among them were unwilling to subject themselves to a possible trap. After all, there were many kinds of devil fruit in the world, Nightmare might be sabotaging them for all they knew.

Nightmare made a lot of friends helping gladiators with old injuries or who were just getting on in years to get back to proper fighting shape. Bartolomeo grit his teeth in jealousy, but ultimately he didn't want to accidentally reveal Nightmare's true identity. He just had to take solace in being the only one in the know about it.

The foreign contestants stayed far away from Nightmare and some talked among themselves about what they thought of her. Most of them knew that Nightmare was someone to watch out for just by watching the way she moved.

A large brute of a man wearing a paper bag over his head and the name tag "Mr. Store" was getting excited knowing that Nightmare would be in the same block as himself. He had been worried that the qualifiers wouldn't be any fun.

A woman by the name "Cherry Cherry P. Sakuruda" had the funny feeling that she was being watched. Unbeknownst to her that wasn't just a feeling but the reality. She could only blame her bad luck for having a name so close to the name of the woman the Doflamingo family was on the lookout for.

A gladiator wearing a full helmet and the name tag "Ricky" watched Nightmare curiously. He had enough sense not to trust the woman's "special service", but was seriously considering taking the risk anyways. This wasn't a fight he could afford to lose and any edge he could gain was necessary. Ultimately he made his way over to her.

"Are you still offering your massages?" Ricky asked, simultaneously hoping she would say both no and yes.

Nightmare met his gaze through the slits in his helmet. "Anything for an esteemed elder such as yourself."

Ricky almost flinched. He questioned himself about whether the young woman knew his true identity. He saw no recognition in her eyes, but he did see pity in them.

Nightmare got to work and seemed to know his old aches and pains even better than he did. After a moment she spoke up "This tournament is important for you, hm? Enough to gamble your life?"

Ricky considered her for a moment. "I've lived long enough. Better to risk what's left over for a good reason."

"Is that so? Well, don't be so hasty to die. You could still win this thing." Nightmare said, putting the finishing touches on Ricky's lower back muscles.

Suddenly Ricky felt a ball of warmth enter his body from Nightmare's hand and envelop his heart. Before he could jerk up in alarm, Nightmare's hand went to his shoulders and held him down with a strength that he wouldn't expect from her thin arms.

"Whoa there, haven't finished your shoulders yet. After this you'll feel like a billion Beri, I promise." Nightmare said in a soothing voice.

While Ricky was wracking his brain about how to get out of this without making himself look like the aggressor, Nightmare's words seemed to come true. That warmth in his chest expanded and filled his body with a strength he'd never known before.

Nightmare's hands left his shoulders and she gave him a wink. "I gave you an extra special service that I didn't give the others. Good luck in Block B, maybe I'll see you in the finals?"

As Nightmare walked away, Ricky's mind was blank, unsure what was going on and if he should do anything about it. Then his mind produced a memory from a couple of years ago. He had been watching a broadcast of the execution of someone, he couldn't remember who, then Whitebeard had shown up and wrecked Marineford. Before the old pirate joined the fight in earnest, a young woman had done something to him that made him fight like a young man again.

Ricky's eyes widened in disbelief. If his thoughts were the truth, then perhaps there was someone in Dressrosa who could defeat Doflamingo and return it to its previous peace.

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