The seemingly calm water surface was anything but calm beneath; a tremendous force was surging through it.
Instantly, the ten red bulls in the water seemed to be grabbed by this force, and they began to rise rapidly, then flew out of the water one after another.
"Found it, the Flame-Flame Fruit is mine." Lin Qing saw a box tied to the back of the number one fighting fish.
"No way, he actually knocked all the fighting fish out of the water with one punch." Rebecca immediately stopped in her tracks.
"My God, I never expected Lin Qing to knock all the Douyu bosses out of the water with one punch. How did he do that? It seems the Flame-Flame Fruit is already in Lin Qing's hands."
The host got excited too; he had never seen such a powerful person before.
Lin Qing appeared on the back of the No. 1 fighting fish, reached out and opened the treasure chest, where a fruit with fiery red patterns was placed.
Lin Qing took out the fruit, held it up, and shouted, "The Flame-Flame Fruit is mine! Shanks, bring Ace's body to me. I will revive Ace."
"Bang, bang bang bang~~~!" The group of fighting fish fell back into the water.
Lin Qing's words immediately silenced the scene; apart from the sound of flowing water and breathing, no other sounds could be heard.
"Click, click, click—" A series of camera shutter sounds rang out, and a large group of reporters began taking pictures.
It took everyone present a short while to realize what he had just said: "What did he just say?"
"I think his name is Shanks."
"No, there's more. They said Shanks should bring Ace's body here."
"Ace? Is that Fire Fist Ace? Hasn't he been dead for two years?" The audience discussed among themselves.
"What? What did Lin Qing say? Resurrect Ace? Ace can be resurrected?" A big question mark appeared above the host's head.
Lin Qing landed lightly on the arena with the Flame-Flame Fruit in his hand, and then casually removed the water ropes binding Luffy and Bartolomeo.
Luffy, now free, immediately ran to Lin Qing's side: "Haha, Lin Qing, you're amazing! You've got the Flame-Flame Fruit too, now we're just waiting for Shanks to bring Ace's body over."
Bartolomeo followed Luffy around like a puppy, acting like a fervent little fanboy.
"Yes, we're just waiting for Shanks to arrive," Lin Qing replied.
"Oh, the champion has been crowned! The ultimate winner of the Corridor is Lin Qing of the Straw Hat Pirates, and he has also obtained the Flame-Flame Fruit." The host announced the result.
The cheers from the audience erupted once again, much louder than ever before, with Nami, Brook, and the others shouting along.
"Clang!" Just as everyone was celebrating, Rebecca's longsword and helmet fell to the ground. Rebecca bit her lip, feeling very unwilling.
"It's gone. The Flame-Flame Fruit is gone, and so is our hope of getting revenge on Doflamingo." Tears welled up in Rebecca's eyes.
"Rebecca, don't cry. I came here for another reason: to defeat Doflamingo. I'll avenge you."
Lin Qing came to Rebecca's side, gently wiped away the tears on Rebecca's cheeks, and said softly.
Lin Qing couldn't stand seeing others cry, especially pretty and cute girls like Rebecca.
Chapter 166 Gathering of Big Shots
"Really?" Rebecca, her face streaked with tears, looked up at Lin Qing.
Lin Qing: "More real than real gold, hehe, just wait patiently, you'll see it soon."
Rebecca tried to stop her tears from falling, but it was no use. Although she believed Lin Qing in her heart, she still couldn't stop crying.
Just as Lin Qing was comforting Rebecca, someone came up to the host, whispered a few words in the host's ear, and then left.
After the person left, the host immediately picked up the Den Den Mushi: "Ladies and gentlemen, the results of the competition are in. Please leave the venue in an orderly manner."
After saying that, the host hurriedly left with two staff members wearing bikinis.
The audience in the stands erupted in noise after the host's words; they actually wanted to continue watching the duel in the arena.
Lin Qing released the restraints on Luffy and Bartolomeo, and the latter, having regained his strength, immediately jumped onto Lin Qing.
Luffy: "Haha, Lin Qing, Lin Qing got the Flame-Flame Fruit, got it!"
Lin Qing frowned slightly: "I'm really defeated by you." Lin Qing pulled Luffy off and made him stand on the ground.
Bartolomeo blushed and thought to himself, "Wow, Lin Qing is so lucky to be hugged by Luffy-senpai. I wish I could be like that too."
Upon seeing that Lin Qing had obtained the Flame-Flame Fruit, Nami, Robin, and the others all stood up from their seats.
"Flower Bridge." Robin used her Devil Fruit powers to build a bridge made of her arms, connecting the stands to the arena.
Before long, the Straw Hat crew arrived at the arena and surrounded Lin Qing and Luffy.
"The Flame-Flame Fruit... I really miss the time when I first obtained this fruit!" Ace, in his ghost form, floated to Lin Qing's side and sighed.
Lin Qing: "Don't worry, it looks like the news has spread all over the world. We'll be able to see your body in the next few days."
"But I still hope Shanks didn't bury or cremate your body," Lin Qing said thoughtfully.
Lin Qing isn't afraid of anything else, but this is what he's afraid of right now. Otherwise, he would have tried every means to get Ace a physical body.
Ace: "I hope so!" Ace had already died once, so he was already content to see Ace and Sabo again.
"Ace, if you lose your body, can you take this fruit?" Nami rubbed her hands together, staring at the Flame-Flame Fruit with a greedy look on her face.
"No, the Flame-Flame Fruit belongs to Ace, you can't sell it." Luffy blocked Nami's path.
"Tch, I was just saying." Nami looked disappointed.
Robin: "Now that we have the Flame-Flame Fruit, shall we go find Doflamingo?"
"If you're going to find Doflamingo, could you take me with you?" Rebecca asked, stepping forward after making up her mind.
Bartolomeo excitedly raised his hands and jumped up and down, saying, "Me, me, me too!"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Rebecca and Bartolomeo. Robin asked, "Who are these two?"
Lin Qing introduced, "This beautiful lady is named Rebecca. She was the previous princess of the Dressrosa Kingdom. The previous king was forced to abdicate by Doflamingo."
"As for this green-haired guy named Bartolomeo, he's the captain of a pirate crew, and he idolizes Luffy a lot."
"Haha, no problem, let's go together then. It'll be a good opportunity to help you get back what's rightfully yours," Luffy said, patting his chest.
"Thank you, thank you all." Biting her lip, Rebecca managed to hold back her tears.
At this moment, a group of naval personnel walked from the iron mesh bridge onto the arena.
Usopp exclaimed in a panic, "Ah, it's the Navy!" Usopp was easily frightened by the slightest disturbance.
The Navy leader: "You must be Mr. Trafalgar Law!"
Luo frowned as he recognized the newcomer: "The new general, Fujitora?"
Suddenly, a shadow flew across the sky and then slowly landed on the arena.
“Doflamingo.” Law’s brows furrowed even deeper.
“Doflamingo,” Rebecca said resentfully.
"Doflamingo, I didn't expect you to deliver yourself to my doorstep," Lin Qing said slowly.
"Hehehehehe, hey Law, you've got some clever planning, I didn't expect you to even get a Marine Admiral to come out of retirement," Doflamingo said provocatively.
"Now that I've resigned from the Seven Warlords of the Sea, I'm trembling with fear. But where's Caesar, the man we agreed on?" Doflamingo said, his tone slightly angry.
"Hehe, Caesar is here, come and try to take it if you dare!" Lin Qing stretched out his palm, and the next second Caesar appeared on the arena.
Caesar, who was sleeping, was woken up by Lin Qing's actions, but he was still groggy and squinted as he looked around.
Upon seeing Doflamingo, he immediately snapped back to reality. "Joker!" Caesar exclaimed excitedly.
Lin Qing: "Doflamingo, I know you're a Celestial Dragon. You're just trying to fool us with all those news articles, aren't you?"
"Hehehehe, the bigger the magic show, the simpler the tricks are often. Lin Qing, you know quite a lot." Doflamingo looked Lin Qing up and down seriously.
Doflamingo was only slightly surprised by Caesar's sudden appearance, after all, there are countless amazing Devil Fruit abilities in the world.
Doflamingo revealed this news because he really wanted to see the shocked and panicked expressions on Law's and the Straw Hat crew's faces.
However, instead of looking shocked, they simply stared indifferently at Doflamingo.
Doflamingo thought to himself, "They're not surprised at all. Do they have some other tricks up their sleeve?"
Doflamingo immediately suppressed this thought; since they were on his turf, the Straw Hat crew couldn't cause any trouble.
Law and the Straw Hat crew were all calm and collected because Lin Qing was there; his strength made them feel at ease.
The fact that Doflamingo was a Celestial Dragon was a huge surprise to Law, but that's about it.
Caesar: "Joker, take care of these guys quickly."
"Huh? Do you even have the right to speak?" Lin Qing frowned and glared at Caesar, who immediately shut his mouth like a lamb.
Doflamingo said sternly, "Release him immediately, Lin Qing. Caesar is my beloved subordinate."
"Joker." Caesar was extremely excited upon hearing the former's words, as he regarded Doflamingo as a savior.
"Commander Issho, the people currently with Law are Caesar Clown and the Straw Hat Pirates," a soldier subordinate told Fujitora.
"Really? The scientist who caused the poison gas accident? And the Straw Hat crew too?"
“That’s what we say, but if they’re subordinates of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, we have no reason to arrest them and can only pardon them,” Fujitora said thoughtfully.
Chapter 167 One Against Two
Doflamingo said sarcastically, "It's you, Fujitora, who was promoted to admiral during the New World recruitment drive."
"I've heard so much about you. I've heard that you and that Green Bull are both incredibly powerful monsters."
"Thank you for the compliment, but I am unworthy of it," Fujitora said, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Hmph, stop playing dumb with me," Doflamingo said, displeased.
"It may be inappropriate for me, a new recruit, to speak out, but your previous behavior has indeed been puzzling."
"Although we haven't obtained any specific evidence yet, we have heard quite a bit about your violation of the Seven Warlords' regulations, as well as the way that person addressed you just now."
"Is 'Joker' your nickname?" Fujitora asked casually.
"Hehehehehe, you can investigate me if you want, as long as you're prepared. Let's talk about this after we have solid evidence."