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## Chapter 708: Ruling Power
"Zak, arrogance and conceit are your weaknesses."
Hades of Paros Island murmured to himself, looking at the intelligence before him.
Although the war had not yet begun, Hades already knew the outcome of the war.
Because Zak would not cooperate with others, much less seek help from others.
From this point alone, the Tyrant Dragon Pirates had already fallen into a disadvantage.
The departure of Linlin's two children naturally couldn't escape his perception.
This indicated that Silver Axe had already received help from the Big Mom Pirates, although the interests promised were unknown.
In front of the Big Mom Pirates, the natural geographical advantage of Wano Country that the Tyrant Dragon Pirates relied on was countered.
At the same time, the actions of the Five Peaks Pirates also revealed a weakness.
In Hades's view, the actions of the Five Peaks Pirates were too obvious.
If they truly intended to target the Silver Axe Pirates, they wouldn't have exposed themselves so early.
Wouldn't this just raise the vigilance of the Silver Axe Pirates?
It would be best to wait until the Silver Axe Pirates and the Tyrant Dragon Pirates officially started fighting before taking action.
And the Silver Axe Pirates, knowing this, did nothing.
It was as if they had an agreement.
Of course, it was also possible that Silver Axe's resolve to occupy Wano Country was so strong that he had decided to give up his own territory.
However, with the Big Mom Pirates already making a move, Hades believed that Silver Axe had also made contact with Wang Zhi.
As for the actions of the Demon King Pirates, Hades couldn't say for sure, because their actions were reasonable.
Regardless of whether they had contacted the Silver Axe Pirates or not, they wouldn't miss the opportunity to seize the territory of the Tyrant Dragon Pirates.
From the moment Silver Axe shed his inner arrogance and sought help from others, the scale of victory had already tilted towards the Silver Axe Pirates.
"Is Tyrant Dragon going to be defeated?"
A voice came from the side.
Standing beside him was his son, Saga, the Guardian of Paros Island.
He glanced at the intelligence his father had left on the table and, combining it with Hades's words, asked with some curiosity.
"Who can say for sure?"
Hades didn't answer directly, shaking his head with a smile.
Although his heart leaned towards the Silver Axe Pirates, it wasn't absolute.
Perhaps the Tyrant Dragon Pirates would give him a surprise.
Of course, it couldn't really be called a surprise; regardless of the outcome, the impact on the Kronos Kingdom wasn't significant.
During the time the Silver Axe Pirates were assembling their forces to attack the Tyrant Dragon Pirates.
Two rounds of matches among the Top 64 of the Swordsmanship Tournament had already been completed.
Sixteen top swordsmen had emerged.
And Styx, the Son of Hades, was among them.
At this time, he was only twenty-four years old.
Considering the achievements Hades had made at the age of twenty-four, Styx's performance was completely within the acceptable range.
Among the many top swordsmen, Styx was also the only one under the age of thirty.
Unohana Yachiru, the direct disciple of Genryusai Shigekuni, unfortunately fell in the Top 64.
Her body and Haki were her weaknesses; despite having powerful swordsmanship, it couldn't support her in advancing further.
She still needed more time for training.
Furthermore, her age was only twenty-one.
It was believed that in twelve years, she would definitely have a place among the Top 16.
There were quite a few acquaintances among the Top 16.
Besides Styx, the Blind Swordsman, "Godspeed" Xia Er, and a few other rookies, half were elders from the previous Swordsmanship Tournament.
Of course, swordsmen who were older didn't participate.
Such as Zoffy, the former marshal of the Kronos Kingdom, and Bylear, the teacher of "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk.
There were also some who didn't come for unknown reasons.
Besides Styx, Zoro was also a contestant from the Kronos Kingdom.
He sought breakthrough by engaging in battle with powerful swordsmen.
After all, Zoro's current combat strength could be said to have reached its peak, making it difficult to achieve significant improvement.
Naturally, there were many contestants from the Kronos Kingdom, but most were eliminated in the elimination round.
This also included Esdeath, Hades's more favored daughter.
This Swordsmanship Tournament was indeed much better overall than the first Swordsmanship Tournament.
The spectacle of the final Top 16 matches was equally impressive.
Although the first Swordsmanship Tournament featured many Top-tier Great Pirates.
Except for John and Wang Zhi, most had not grown to their peak.
Now, the combat strength of many elders was approaching their peak, and the rookies also showed excellent combat performance.
Even "Golden Lion" Shiki, who was watching the matches, felt a little itching to get involved.
As for the second Swordsmanship Tournament's "Great Demon King," "Red the Aloof" Redfield, who swept through with almost invincible combat strength, the biggest threat in everyone's eyes was only "Demon Slayer" Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
To fight against a world's strongest monster like Redfield, having only swordsmanship is not enough.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the most likely that person.
Four years ago, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, whose strength had progressed rapidly, first arrived at Pure Spirit Island to have an exchange with Genryusai Shigekuni.
Afterward, he issued a challenge to "Golden Lion" Shiki, who had already dominated the New World.
Although the final result was still Yoriichi Tsugikuni's defeat, it also proved that Yoriichi Tsugikuni had the ability to fight against one of the strongest monsters in the New World.
This was merely the view of outsiders.
It was just that Redfield was too low-key and had too few appearances, causing people to lower their psychological expectation of him.
But in the eyes of these strongmen, the final result was already destined.
The reason "Golden Lion" Shiki didn't participate was also because he knew he was not Redfield's opponent.
The arena environment of the Sky Arena clearly limited the display of Shiki's strength.
If it were on an uninhabited island, he would be very willing to have a great battle with Redfield; he didn't believe he was weaker than Redfield.
Moreover, "Golden Lion" Shiki's participation would not bring him any revenue; on the contrary, his prestige might be lowered due to defeat.
This was an overall picture he didn't want to see.
With Redfield's nearly invincible combat strength, victory was only a matter of sooner or later.
The unlucky guy who faced Redfield in the first match was "Godspeed" Xia Er.
Now, Xia Er had used his Devil Fruit ability, granting him extraordinary movement speed and reaction speed.
Xia Er, who entered a state similar to overclock mode, found his always effective speed and reflexes completely ineffective in front of Redfield.
No matter how fast he was, he still couldn't escape the fear of being dominated by Redfield.
In front of this man with a smile on his face, the speed he was so proud of had no effect whatsoever.
Only one hour passed before he was completely defeated.
Even in the Top 16, Redfield continued his terrifying ruling power.
(end of chapter)
"Zak, arrogance and conceit are your weaknesses."
Hades of Paros Island murmured to himself, looking at the intelligence before him.
Although the war had not yet begun, Hades already knew the outcome of the war.
Because Zak would not cooperate with others, much less seek help from others.
From this point alone, the Tyrant Dragon Pirates had already fallen into a disadvantage.
The departure of Linlin's two children naturally couldn't escape his perception.
This indicated that Silver Axe had already received help from the Big Mom Pirates, although the interests promised were unknown.
In front of the Big Mom Pirates, the natural geographical advantage of Wano Country that the Tyrant Dragon Pirates relied on was countered.
At the same time, the actions of the Five Peaks Pirates also revealed a weakness.
In Hades's view, the actions of the Five Peaks Pirates were too obvious.
If they truly intended to target the Silver Axe Pirates, they wouldn't have exposed themselves so early.
Wouldn't this just raise the vigilance of the Silver Axe Pirates?
It would be best to wait until the Silver Axe Pirates and the Tyrant Dragon Pirates officially started fighting before taking action.
And the Silver Axe Pirates, knowing this, did nothing.
It was as if they had an agreement.
Of course, it was also possible that Silver Axe's resolve to occupy Wano Country was so strong that he had decided to give up his own territory.
However, with the Big Mom Pirates already making a move, Hades believed that Silver Axe had also made contact with Wang Zhi.
As for the actions of the Demon King Pirates, Hades couldn't say for sure, because their actions were reasonable.
Regardless of whether they had contacted the Silver Axe Pirates or not, they wouldn't miss the opportunity to seize the territory of the Tyrant Dragon Pirates.
From the moment Silver Axe shed his inner arrogance and sought help from others, the scale of victory had already tilted towards the Silver Axe Pirates.
"Is Tyrant Dragon going to be defeated?"
A voice came from the side.
Standing beside him was his son, Saga, the Guardian of Paros Island.
He glanced at the intelligence his father had left on the table and, combining it with Hades's words, asked with some curiosity.
"Who can say for sure?"
Hades didn't answer directly, shaking his head with a smile.
Although his heart leaned towards the Silver Axe Pirates, it wasn't absolute.
Perhaps the Tyrant Dragon Pirates would give him a surprise.
Of course, it couldn't really be called a surprise; regardless of the outcome, the impact on the Kronos Kingdom wasn't significant.
During the time the Silver Axe Pirates were assembling their forces to attack the Tyrant Dragon Pirates.
Two rounds of matches among the Top 64 of the Swordsmanship Tournament had already been completed.
Sixteen top swordsmen had emerged.
And Styx, the Son of Hades, was among them.
At this time, he was only twenty-four years old.
Considering the achievements Hades had made at the age of twenty-four, Styx's performance was completely within the acceptable range.
Among the many top swordsmen, Styx was also the only one under the age of thirty.
Unohana Yachiru, the direct disciple of Genryusai Shigekuni, unfortunately fell in the Top 64.
Her body and Haki were her weaknesses; despite having powerful swordsmanship, it couldn't support her in advancing further.
She still needed more time for training.
Furthermore, her age was only twenty-one.
It was believed that in twelve years, she would definitely have a place among the Top 16.
There were quite a few acquaintances among the Top 16.
Besides Styx, the Blind Swordsman, "Godspeed" Xia Er, and a few other rookies, half were elders from the previous Swordsmanship Tournament.
Of course, swordsmen who were older didn't participate.
Such as Zoffy, the former marshal of the Kronos Kingdom, and Bylear, the teacher of "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk.
There were also some who didn't come for unknown reasons.
Besides Styx, Zoro was also a contestant from the Kronos Kingdom.
He sought breakthrough by engaging in battle with powerful swordsmen.
After all, Zoro's current combat strength could be said to have reached its peak, making it difficult to achieve significant improvement.
Naturally, there were many contestants from the Kronos Kingdom, but most were eliminated in the elimination round.
This also included Esdeath, Hades's more favored daughter.
This Swordsmanship Tournament was indeed much better overall than the first Swordsmanship Tournament.
The spectacle of the final Top 16 matches was equally impressive.
Although the first Swordsmanship Tournament featured many Top-tier Great Pirates.
Except for John and Wang Zhi, most had not grown to their peak.
Now, the combat strength of many elders was approaching their peak, and the rookies also showed excellent combat performance.
Even "Golden Lion" Shiki, who was watching the matches, felt a little itching to get involved.
As for the second Swordsmanship Tournament's "Great Demon King," "Red the Aloof" Redfield, who swept through with almost invincible combat strength, the biggest threat in everyone's eyes was only "Demon Slayer" Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
To fight against a world's strongest monster like Redfield, having only swordsmanship is not enough.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the most likely that person.
Four years ago, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, whose strength had progressed rapidly, first arrived at Pure Spirit Island to have an exchange with Genryusai Shigekuni.
Afterward, he issued a challenge to "Golden Lion" Shiki, who had already dominated the New World.
Although the final result was still Yoriichi Tsugikuni's defeat, it also proved that Yoriichi Tsugikuni had the ability to fight against one of the strongest monsters in the New World.
This was merely the view of outsiders.
It was just that Redfield was too low-key and had too few appearances, causing people to lower their psychological expectation of him.
But in the eyes of these strongmen, the final result was already destined.
The reason "Golden Lion" Shiki didn't participate was also because he knew he was not Redfield's opponent.
The arena environment of the Sky Arena clearly limited the display of Shiki's strength.
If it were on an uninhabited island, he would be very willing to have a great battle with Redfield; he didn't believe he was weaker than Redfield.
Moreover, "Golden Lion" Shiki's participation would not bring him any revenue; on the contrary, his prestige might be lowered due to defeat.
This was an overall picture he didn't want to see.
With Redfield's nearly invincible combat strength, victory was only a matter of sooner or later.
The unlucky guy who faced Redfield in the first match was "Godspeed" Xia Er.
Now, Xia Er had used his Devil Fruit ability, granting him extraordinary movement speed and reaction speed.
Xia Er, who entered a state similar to overclock mode, found his always effective speed and reflexes completely ineffective in front of Redfield.
No matter how fast he was, he still couldn't escape the fear of being dominated by Redfield.
In front of this man with a smile on his face, the speed he was so proud of had no effect whatsoever.
Only one hour passed before he was completely defeated.
Even in the Top 16, Redfield continued his terrifying ruling power.
(end of chapter)
