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Chapter Head Serialization・"Longing" Serialization Suspended Part II – Set Sail! (Continued Further)
"You're planning something, aren't you?" Robin asked softly.
Liam blinked.
Robin smiled knowingly and let go of his sleeve.
Liam then stepped forward, ascending the stage step by step with the rest of the contestants.
The packed crowd of contestants, from No. 1 to No. 200, two hundred full-fledged swordfighters, climbed onto the stage one after another under the gazes of countless excited eyes.
Each swordsman rested a hand on the hilt of their weapon, maintaining a cautious distance from one another.
But even with how large the stage was, with two hundred people present, there wasn't much space between fighters, barely five meters at most between each of them.
In this world, there was no such thing as a "restricted broadcast."
The World Economic News Agency's Den Den Mushi signal couldn't even be intercepted by the World Government… Such was the strange nature of the technological tree in this world. And besides, the World Government wasn't exactly a centralized superpower; it didn't have the kind of real-time control over the far-flung islands of the sea.
So even if the broadcast turned brutal or bloody… they couldn't stop it. And most likely, they didn't even want to.
Of course, while the tournament format was brutal, the rules did allow for voluntary withdrawal.
If a contestant couldn't hold their ground or feared injury, or death, they could jump off the stage at any time, forfeiting their eligibility to continue.
Sure, it was embarrassing, but it was better than dying.
Liam stood calmly amidst the crowd, his gaze sweeping across the others.
And many of the contestants around him, his soon-to-be opponents, were also eyeing him warily…
Even people off-stage couldn't help but focus their attention on him.
Charlotte Amande lifted the brim of her hat in surprise: "Unarmed?"
"…" Charlotte Amande took another drag of her cigarette, silently watching.
Robin, Mihawk, Shiryu, and the hundreds of other elite Swordsman at the edge of the stage, all their gazes fell upon the only person on stage without a weapon, that tall young man.
Even the live broadcast cameras began to take notice.
The large screen, after panning slowly across all 200 Swordsman on stage, finally settled on Chopper Giorno, standing calmly with empty hands.
"No weapon? He actually went up there unarmed?" The host muttered a few words to a nearby staff member, then raised his voice into the Den Den Mushi:
"It's been confirmed! Contestant Chopper Giorno has not forgotten to bring a weapon; he intentionally stepped onto the stage unarmed! Which means... he plans to fight barehanded against 199 other Swordsman from all over the world!
Will he emerge victorious?
Or be chopped to pieces in seconds?
Perhaps… the other contestants on stage will provide us the answer very soon.
Let us all watch closely!
Now, I officially announce,
THE FIRST PRELIMINARY MATCH OF THE SWORD HERO TOURNAMENT BEGINS!!"
The host was truly a professional. In just a few sentences, he had whipped the atmosphere into a fever pitch once again. The contestants on stage became visibly more focused, more tense, and, naturally, more dangerous.
Their eyes locked onto the lone unarmed man in their midst.
"What arrogance…"
"Since he dared to step up barehanded, he should be ready to accept his fate."
"Is he crazy or just looking for attention?"
"He's dead meat!"
As the host's declaration echoed through the arena, the 200 Swordsman sprang into action.
More than half of them instantly charged toward Liam!
Over a hundred gleaming blades, radiating chilling killing intent, sliced through the air from all directions, all aimed at the unmoving Liam in the center.
And yet, Liam's expression remained unchanged.
Calm.
Unbothered.
As if he couldn't even see the weapons aiming for his life.
"Die!!"
The wave of swordfighters roared as they brought their blades down on Liam.
Meanwhile…
At a park in the Sabaody Archipelago, Rayleigh took a sip of his drink, Mid-swig, he burst into laughter and choked on it, coughing loudly, tears in his eyes,
"Heh heh… that kid's got some real skills after all!"
The once deafening and chaotic arena… Suddenly dropped into several notches of unnatural silence.
On the central arena stage, the more than one hundred swordfighters who had charged at Chopper Giorno suddenly froze in place!
"W-What… what's going on?!"
"My sword…!"
"My blade…!"
"Why can't I move it?!"
Liam stood confidently at the center of the stage, one hand on his hip, the other raised calmly into the air, not moving, not flinching.
And the swordfighters surrounding him, all of them were flushed red, struggling desperately with their weapons…
And it wasn't just the ones who had rushed him.
All one hundred ninety-nine contestants on the platform, without exception, were now in a state of shocked panic, each discovering, to their horror, that they could no longer control the blades in their own hands.
Across the entire stage, it looked as if someone had pressed pause on two hundred powerful warriors. Every one of them stood stiffly in place, locked in a bizarre tug-of-war with their own swords.
"Incredible! Truly… unbelievable!!" The host's booming voice echoed through the arena: "What did Chopper Giorno do?! Why are all the other contestants… suddenly unable to control their weapons?! It's unbelievable! Could this be some kind of Devil Fruit power? Is it possible that Chopper Giorno can control swords?! Or… could he actually be able to control metal?!"
The crowd exploded!
Even the audiences huddled around broadcast screens all over the world erupted into uproar.
A contestant in the Sword Hero Tournament… with the power to manipulate metal?! How is anyone else even supposed to compete with that?!
On the massive screen, the camera zoomed in:
Chopper Giorno raised his hand gently upward.
Shua!
One of the nearby Swordsman, gritting his teeth and exerting all his strength, tried to hold onto his blade, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop it from slipping out of his grip.
"That's wicked!"
But even being wicked wouldn't help now.
Powerless, the blade slid free, as if pulled by some invisible force, and shot up into the sky.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua! …
In that instant, gasps echoed across the massive arena. Swords began flying everywhere. More than a hundred swordfighters, every single one of them had their weapon wrenched from their hands, shooting skyward.
The spectators were in an uproar.
Everyone watched in awe as more than two hundred blades, swords, and sabers blasted into the air in a dense, glimmering storm, rising high above the battlefield.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
Absolutely unforgettable.
Utterly spectacular.
"What… the hell…?"
On the stage, many swordfighters dropped to the ground in disbelief, gazing blankly up at the sky.
There, dozens of meters above, floated the mass of swords, twisting, rotating, and spiraling like a living organism, forming an enormous sword formation in midair.
Their voices trembled:
"How is this even possible…?"
"This is insane…"
"You've gotta be kidding…"
Everyone saw it clearly, as Chopper Giorno gently waved his hand, the swirling sword formation above the arena began to shift, as if it were a sentient creature responding to his command.
(End Of This Chapter)
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