Chapter 707

The colosseum's second knockout round begins with 138 contestants packed onto the central platform, a moat of carnivorous fighting fish circling the edge. Dagama, the strategist of the Prodence Kingdom, has paid off rivals to form a living wall around his monarch, Elizabello II, so that the kingdom can claim the Mera Mera no Mi. As gladiators thin each other out, Bartolomeo merely lounges in the open, infuriating spectators by refusing to lift a finger.

From the participants' balcony, Luffy and Cavendish observe the chaos. Cavendish puzzles over why none of the Worst Generation have surfaced for so rich a prize, deciding they must be masked like Burgess and biding their time. The conversation sours when Chinjao looms up behind them, greets Luffy by name, and asks how Garp has been, leaving a stunned Cavendish to absorb the disguised rookie's true identity.

Dagama recalls the catch behind Elizabello's signature blow: a strike strong enough to fell an Emperor, yet it demands a full hour of charging and can only fire once, so its timing decides everything. Bellamy needles Tank Lepanto for selling out to Dagama, and Lepanto answers that easy money beats empty dreams before the two clash and tumble three rivals into the water. Abdullah and Jeet harry opponents from opposite sides, Hack flattens a mocker with a four-thousand-tile punch while championing fish-men who fight with their fists, Blue Gilly's kicks scatter Dagama's hirelings, and a one-sword newcomer dubbed Ricky cuts through the field while onlookers mistake his style for Wano swordsmanship.

Fighting fish surface for the first time, shown ringing the arena. Three combatants are eliminated by falling into the moat. Bellamy debuts a move called Spring Death Knock, and Hack is established as a practitioner of Fish-Man Karate and Jujutsu and a friend of Jinbe; a printing error in the Jump release obscured his instructor and martial-artist labels, later corrected in the volume. Blue Gilly belongs to the Longleg Tribe. Chinjao reveals he recognizes both Luffy and Garp, claiming the elder Monkey once nearly killed him, which prompts Luffy to blurt his name and blow his cover before Cavendish.