"Ah, Lin Qing, Lin Qing, you're here! Guess who I just saw?" Luffy jumped directly onto Lin Qing.
"Who is it that makes you so happy? And stop clinging to me." Lin Qing pulled Luffy off.
"Sorry, sorry, I forgot. Haha, I saw Sabo, but Sabo is gone again." Luffy stood up with a grin, not angry at all.
Inside the venue,
"This is the final battle of the bullfighting arena tournament." The host's words once again ignited the entire audience.
"Under the watchful eyes of the nation, the special arena is ready."
The arena split off in one direction, leaving behind a circular arena that was twice the size of its original size. The split-off portion became eight quarter-circular arenas.
"Where will the strongest Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Flame-Flame Fruit, which was regenerated after Fire Fist Ace's death, fall into Sleepy's hands?"
"Next, please welcome our five contestants!" the host shouted, holding a Den Den Mushi (a type of Den Den Mushi).
The five are Lin Qing, Luffy, Bartolomeo, Rebecca, and Diamante, one of Doflamingo's subordinates.
"Contestants, take your positions! The final battle of the bullfighting arena begins. Ding!" The bell rings, and the battle commences.
Chapter 164 The Barrier Burns
"Haha, I'm so glad to be able to fight you, Lin Qing." Luffy looked at Lin Qing, eager to try.
Just as Lin Qing was about to answer, suddenly, three pirates carrying weapons ran towards the arena from the passage leading to it.
"The match is paused. Rebecca is kicked out of the ring. The D-section will be rematched."
"Huh? It seems like something's gone wrong?" the host exclaimed in surprise.
"I absolutely refuse to accept that inexplicable match result, Rebecca."
"How could we possibly lose to a little brat like you? I'll settle this with you right now."
"Oh, right, kill her." The audience said mercilessly to Rebecca, who had an extreme aversion to the former royal bloodline.
Diamanti glanced at it, then walked over to Rebecca and stood in front of her.
"Hey, get out of the way!" the three pirates shouted as they saw Diamante blocking Rebecca's path.
"Stop your nonsense. The result of the competition will not change. Don't ruin my grand event."
"What are you going to do?" one of the pirates asked.
“Come on, look here,” Diamanti said, waving his crimson robe.
"You think you're in a bullfight? Don't underestimate us!" the pirate in the middle roared angrily.
"Lock on." As soon as Diamanti finished speaking, his originally light and airy cloak instantly became stiff.
"Bang!"
The three men's weapons struck the red cloak, and instantly all three weapons shattered.
"Don't let my light and airy cloak fool you, it's made of the real deal, steel."
"I am the Flagman who ate the Fluttering Fruit. Needless to say, I can also make everything I touch light and airy—Lock on, Bullhorn Staff."
Diamante drew his longsword, activated his Devil Fruit power to become light and airy, and then instantly transformed into the shape of a bull's head to attack the three.
Diamanti's blow sent all three flying onto the iron mesh bridge connecting the ring, and a drop of blood fell into the water through the bridge.
"I advise you to get lost. We've already put fighting fish in the water to match the final battle. They are extremely sensitive to the smell of blood."
At the same time, a red fighting fish that was ten times larger than a normal fighting fish appeared and then charged towards the three people on the iron net bridge.
The impact instantly broke the iron mesh bridge, and the three people on it fell into the water, where they are likely in grave danger.
"Did everyone see that? Douyu's attack just now, even actively targeting the players who were still in the arena, means the rules are meaningless to them."
"They are extremely vicious and violent, completely different from the betta fish in the qualifiers. These are the leaders who command the various schools of fish."
"The prize for this competition, the Flaming Fruit, is tied to the back of one of them. The rules for the final are very simple: grab it."
As soon as Diamanti finished speaking, cheers erupted from the crowd. Lin Qing stared at Diamanti with rare impatience.
"Why don't you just say you stole the fruit from the fighting fish? Why keep babbling on and on?" This Diamanti is really annoying.
"Alright, alright, the final battle has officially begun this time. Who will win the Flame-Flame Fruit? Let's start the battle now! Ding!" The bell rang again.
"Oh? Lin Qing of the Straw Hat Pirates, do you really want to die?" Diamante was very unhappy that Lin Qing interrupted him.
"Hehe, Luffy, I'm pretty strong. Why don't you all come at me together?" Lin Qing looked at Diamante with disdain, then turned to Luffy with a smile.
"Hmph, what arrogance! This is my territory." Diamanti said, but did not make a move, standing at the edge of the ring.
"Haha, my Barrier-Barrier Fruit is the strongest defense in the world. No one can break my barrier. The Flame-Flame Fruit can only belong to Luffy-senpai." Bartolomeo looked at Luffy with a flushed face.
"Lin, Lin Qing, I know you're very strong, but if we attack together, we can definitely defeat you." Rebecca held up her sword, ready for battle.
"Hehe, Lin Qing, I know you're strong, but I'm not weak either. So here I am—Gear Second." A lot of steam billowed from Luffy's body.
His figure vanished instantly, but Lin Qing, on the other side, remained unmoved by Luffy's disappearance.
"Luffy, your speed is still a bit slow." Lin Qing suddenly reached out her left hand to grab to the side.
Lin Qing grabbed one of Luffy's legs and slammed him to the ground.
"Bang, crack crack crack~~" A huge crater appeared.
Then, cracks began to appear from the center of the pit, and instantly the entire arena was covered with cracks.
Then, Lin Qing pulled Luffy out and said with a smile, "Luffy, are you alright? I was holding back, you know."
"Ouch, that hurts! Lin Qing, you didn't use Haki, so why does my rubber body still hurt?" Luffy wasn't seriously injured, just a little sore from being hit by Lin Qing.
"As expected, pure power cannot harm a Devil Fruit user," Lin Qing thought to himself.
"What terrifying power! Is this really the kind of power a human could unleash?" Rebecca's expression changed drastically, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
"How is this possible? How could Lin Qing have such powerful strength?" Diamanti's smiling face instantly turned gloomy.
"Damn it, Lin Qing! How dare you attack Luffy so hard! Barrier Impact!" Bartolomeo roared and activated his Devil Fruit power.
Seeing Luffy's fist, which he was biting on and blowing on as it slowly grew larger, Lin Qing knew that Luffy had activated Gear Third.
A light blue rope appeared in Lin Qing's hand. Lin Qing immediately used the rope to tie Luffy up tightly and then threw him to the ground.
"Ah, Lin Qing, I'm out of strength. It's that move again." Luffy said weakly and listlessly.
"Hehe, this trick never fails," Lin Qing said with a smile, then looked to the other side.
"The strongest defense? Then I'll see if I can break through your barrier." Lin Qing looked at the incoming attack with eager anticipation.
Lin Qing used all his strength to punch the barrier, and a violent gust of wind blew outwards.
"Ha ha, I told you, no one in the world can break through my barrier." Bartolomeo laughed heartily.
"Not bad, you are indeed very strong. My full-force attack only caused a slight crack in your barrier. But unfortunately, that's all," Lin Qing said.
"Hmph, although you can crack my barrier, I have as many barriers as I want," Bartolomeo said disdainfully.
"Hehe, then you just watch." After saying that, Lin Qing opened his mouth and spat out a stream of golden flames, which instantly enveloped the barrier in front of him.
Bartolomeo's barrier lasted less than three seconds before being burned to nothing by Lin Qing's flames.
Chapter 165 The Flame-Flame Fruit is in Hand
"How...how is this possible? My barrier is the strongest defense, how could you possibly break it? And why can you breathe fire?" Bartolomeo panicked.
"My God, Lin Qing's powerful punch was blocked by the Barrier Fruit, but Lin Qing actually spat out a mouthful of flame and burned away the barrier."
"This is incredible! I never imagined that Lin Qing could control flames. Could Lin Qing also be a Logia-type Devil Fruit user?" the host exclaimed in surprise.
Then, the audience cheered again. Nami and her group looked at Luffy sadly, having witnessed Lin Qing's power in the Land of the Dead.
The next second, Lin Qing appeared behind Bartolomeo, his hand already on his shoulder: "Got you."
A light blue rope appeared on Bartolomeo's shoulder, instantly binding him tightly before he was tossed to Luffy's side.
However, Bartolomeo was not angry at all; instead, he looked delighted and lay down on the ground next to Luffy. He was so excited that he almost fainted.
"Damn it, I didn't even see his movements. Where did this expert come from?" Diamanti's forehead began to sweat.
"So fast, even my Observation Haki can't see Lin Qing's movements clearly." Rebecca felt a chill run down her spine.
"Your turn, Diamanti. This is your territory, so don't let me take you down in one move." Lin Qing smiled at him.
Although Diamanti couldn't see Lin Qing's expression, he could guess that he was definitely mocking him.
"Hmph, I am a high-ranking member of the Don Quixote family, and I am not afraid."
"Death Stardust, Half-Moon Funeral." Diamanti unleashed his most powerful move.
First, he took out a large number of paper scraps from his pocket and threw them into the air. Then, he deactivated his Devil Fruit power, and the paper scraps instantly reverted to sharp thorny iron balls.
He then raised his longsword and swung it out, unleashing a powerful wave of sword energy that swept towards Lin Qing, splitting the arena in two wherever the sword energy passed.
"A mere trick." Lin Qing gently blew a breath forward, and instantly a strong gust of wind emerged from Lin Qing's mouth and blew towards Diamanti.
The gust of wind immediately dispersed the iron ball and sword energy, then continued forward, blowing Diamanti into the sky and disappearing into the horizon.
"This...this...how is this possible? Diamanti, the highest-ranking executive of the incredibly powerful Don Quixote family, was defeated by Lin Qing in one breath."
"Lin Qing is truly the strongest contestant in the history of the Bullfighting Arena!" the host exclaimed enthusiastically.
A deafening cheer erupted, one after another. They must have worked so hard today; their throats probably hadn't stopped moving the whole time. Lin Qing felt sorry for the audience.
"Rebecca, you're the only one left. You're so cute, I won't let you suffer too much," Lin Qing said to Rebecca.
"You, Lin Qing, although you are very strong, I can't beat you, but I will not give up. I need the Flame-Flame Fruit, I want to defeat Doflamingo."
Rebecca gritted her teeth and charged at Lin Qing with her knife. Lin Qing hesitated to attack Rebecca.
"Forget it, I'm going to get the Flame-Flame Fruit. You're too weak, I don't want to fight." Lin Qing ignored Rebecca and flew directly to the water's surface.
"Come out now!" Lin Qing slammed his fist into the water.
However, Lin Qing's punch actually only hit the surface of the water; his fist did not penetrate the water, and not a single drop of water was splashed.