Chapter 709

With Hack out and only twenty-four fighters remaining, the round nears its finish. Bellamy struggles against Bartolomeo while Blue Gilly cripples Ricky and then turns on the bribed gladiators alongside Dagama. When Dagama tries to backstab his supposed partner, Blue Gilly, who never trusted the schemer, kicks him out of the ring and straight into a fighting fish. Cornered by attackers, Elizabello II finally completes his hour of focus, and the crowd flees as he prepares to fire.

The king's punch breaks the sound barrier, blasting a shockwave that hurls every nearby combatant out of the fight in a flash of blinding light. When the smoke lifts, only Elizabello and Bartolomeo remain upright; Bartolomeo's transparent barrier shielded both himself and the audience. He counterattacks, downing the king and claiming the B Block crown. In a corridor, Thunder Soldier reveals to Franky that he too means to destroy the factory and free its prisoners, then offers to recount Dressrosa's history.

Bartolomeo kicks Hack out cold, dropping the count to twenty-four. Ricky is exposed as an old man who loathes Doflamingo and the crowd's cheers. Blue Gilly and Dagama betray their hired allies before Blue Gilly settles his own score with the strategist. Bellamy, badly outmatched, deduces Bartolomeo ate a Devil Fruit as Luffy shouts encouragement from his window. Elizabello's charged blow flattens the entire ring except the barrier-protected Bartolomeo, who then knocks the king out to win and hints he intends to hand the Mera Mera no Mi to a particular person.

The announcer is named as Gatz. Blue Gilly defeats Ricky and later Dagama, having never trusted his ally. Elizabello's single punch eliminates all remaining fighters but Bartolomeo, whose power is revealed as the Bari Bari no Mi that forms a barrier when he crosses his fingers. Bartolomeo wins the block and plans to gift the prize fruit. Thunder Soldier moves to partner with Franky to wreck the SMILE factory and rescue its workers, promising to explain Dressrosa's past. Just after his defeat, Bellamy appears to float on the water despite being a Devil Fruit user, echoing an oddity seen earlier with Galdino in Chapter 175.