dmims 24: Gladiator Champion!
24: Gladiator Champion!
In the arena, Lingling's punches missed several times. Her huge fists slammed into empty air, creating shockwaves that lifted up the sand.
The berserker narrowly avoided her attacks by relying on his increased speed. His warhammer occasionally grazed Lingling's arm, but was easily blocked by her solid Armament Haki, producing a metallic clang.
"So annoying! Like a fly!"
Lingling grumbled impatiently, feeling very uncomfortable with this inability to exert her strength.
A hint of smugness flashed in the berserker's eyes. He increased his speed again, swinging his warhammer like a whirlwind, trying to wear down Lingling's stamina and find an opportunity to kill her with a single blow.
After dodging Lingling's attack once again, the berserker flashed to Lingling's side and behind, raising his warhammer high and aiming at the back of her neck, a cruel light shining in his eyes.
This was a calculated and invincible blow that he believed he could deliver!
At this critical moment, Lingling's big eyes, which had been slightly narrowed due to agitation, suddenly cleared!
She didn't turn around, but took a deep breath. At that moment, all the muscles in her body were coordinated to the extreme. The Armament Haki that was originally covering her arms flowed like water and quickly gathered in her right hand holding the axe!
Lingling didn't use any complicated moves; she simply channeled all her strength and domineering aura into the giant axe through her arm!
"Hegemony—!!!"
With a powerful shout, Lingling suddenly did a big spin on the spot!
The giant axe did not strike a specific target, but instead drew an extremely condensed black arc centered on her!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only an extremely sharp whistling sound that tore through the air!
The crescent-shaped black aura expanded instantly, almost engulfing the entire arena!
The sandy land was completely plowed by the air currents, leaving behind layers of wavy gullies.
The berserker had no time to react before he was completely engulfed by the black full moon!
His metal armor shattered like glass, his warhammer was silently severed, and he was instantly torn to pieces by the violent aura and absolute power, without even a scream!
The black shockwave continued its relentless march, slamming violently into the thick wall at the edge of the arena. A deep, resounding boom followed, and the wall trembled violently, leaving an axe mark several meters deep on it!
After the deafening roar, the arena was deathly silent.
People were shocked by this earth-shattering blow.
This axe strike is not only incredibly powerful, but also contains an indomitable and domineering will to destroy everything!
A moment later, cheers erupted like a volcanic eruption, filling the entire arena and nearly shattering everyone's eardrums!
"BigGirl! BigGirl! BigGirl!"
"BigGirl!!! Champion!!!"
"Invincible!!"
Lingling stood in the center of the field, slightly out of breath, listening to the cheers from all directions, and scratched her head a little embarrassedly:
"Oh dear, am I taking this too seriously...?"
Inside the VIP box, Oro laughed from the bottom of his heart. Lingling's attack marked a new level of mastery over domineering aura and power.
Gails patted her chest gently, letting out a sigh of relief, and felt incredibly proud of Lingling.
In the shadows of the audience seats and in some VIP boxes, gazes grew even more intense and fervent.
"Investigate! Find out exactly where this 'BigGirl' comes from!"
A high-ranking member of the Metal Cult gritted his teeth, deeply pained by the loss of a berserker who had taken the secret drug.
"Amazing talent and power... If they could be used by the World Government..."
In a corner, a man dressed in casual clothes spoke softly to a Den Den Mushi.
King Riku sat in the main stands, watching Lingling receive cheers from the crowd in the stadium. His eyes held a complex mix of admiration and deep worry.
Is the appearance of such power in Dressrosa a blessing or a curse?
Lingling won the championship as she wished, met King Riku again, and received 5000 million Berries.
And a symbolic document of privilege—enjoying certain business benefits and limited official assistance in Dressrosa.
......
"Oro, what does it mean that the King told me in secret, 'The champion is different, and the documents are different'?"
"What do you mean by 'champions are different'? There can only be one champion, right?"
On the deck of the Golden Dawn, Lingling was enjoying the "Champion Seven-Layer Blueberry Mousse Ice Cream Cake Tart" that Gails had specially made for her, while looking at Oro with a puzzled expression.
"Well, King Riku is the king of this country, but he is not powerful enough to truly control his country."
There can only be one champion, but there are multiple rewards.
Oro stretched out his hands, making a "one" with his left hand and a "three" with his right, and then continued:
"If I had to put it in a way, he meant it in many ways. You could say that he fought for this reward for you."
"It can also be interpreted as him subtly telling us that we have offended someone."
"It can also be interpreted as him warning us to run away."
"This gladiatorial match is just a prelude to the auction. If the prelude is this exciting, the main event will be even more spectacular."
Seeing Lingling's bewildered expression, Auro smiled indulgently, put down the cake plate and fork in his hand, and got up to wipe the corner of Lingling's mouth.
Gails, meanwhile, was biting into her cake fork and seemed to be deep in thought: "Oro, can just one Devil Fruit really cause such a huge uproar?"
"Didn't the newspaper say that there are Devil Fruit auctions every day in the Sabaody Archipelago? How come an auction with Devil Fruits has caused such a... such a... big country to..."
"Anxious?"
"Yes! I'm anxious! So what is it?"
"have no idea."
"Eh?"
Oro shrugged, very honestly, that the three of them had no secrets from each other and no need to pretend.
"Even if a Devil Fruit has top-tier abilities, it is still just a Devil Fruit."
"It's not like I'm a powerful Devil Fruit user. If all else fails, I can just find a reliable person and throw them into the sea, and most of the trouble will be gone."
Oro sat down again, picked up a cake fork, pierced a small piece of ice cream cake, and savored it.
The ice cream that Gails made with the help of her Eating Fruit ability doesn't melt easily, and the taste and experience are fantastic.
After finishing his meal, Oro continued:
"Perhaps... as the grand finale of this auction, the Magnetic Fruit is actually less significant than the other items?"
Gails' eyes widened: "Aurorgo means that the Magnet-Magnet Fruit... might just be a decoy?"
Oro shook his head: "It's just a guess, there's no need to think about it so much."
"What the auction organizers do and what they auction is none of our business."
"Our only goal is the Magnet-Magnet Fruit; everything else is irrelevant to us."
Lingling, increasingly confused, looked left and right, then at Oro and then at Gails:
"Hey... Oro... Isn't our goal the permanent pointer on the island over there in 'Paradise'?"
"You said before that as long as we get the permanent pointer we need, we can sail freely over there without wasting time taking fixed routes."
"If it's at the auction, then we won't need to look for that zebra, right?"
Oro was suddenly stunned. "That's right!"
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Thank you to readers 20211218104037385, Wang Zhongchen, and myself (before I died) for the monthly tickets! Thank you to all three of you!