One Piece: A Warlord's Path

Chapter 869: Chapter 869: The Terrifying Evil Hypnotist

Faced with his true identity being revealed, Carlo didn’t bother to deny it.

Instead, he adjusted the half-mask on his face and remarked with a touch of narcissism, "Wearing a mask is simply to avoid unnecessary trouble. After all, for someone as famous as I am, being targeted on purpose would be quite a nuisance."

Pubert’s mouth twitched. He had long heard that this fellow’s narcissism rivaled that of Cavendish from the Chris Pirates, and clearly, the rumors were true.

"However, knowing my identity makes me quite troubled," Carlo’s gaze turned cold, his tone growing heavy. "Perhaps butchering you will make me feel a bit better!"

Clang—shing!

He drew the longsword from his waist, its snow-white blade flashing with a brilliant, chilling light.

"Damn it!"

Pubert jumped in fright, instinctively retreating several steps.

Regaining his composure, his eyes darkened. He quickly took the ruby necklace in his left hand and swung it toward several contestants ten meters away.

"Oh no!"

"Don’t look at that necklace!"

The surrounding contestants were filled with dread, as if they were looking at something utterly horrifying. They hurriedly jerked their heads away, averting their eyes.

However, two gladiators were a fraction too slow. They caught sight of the swaying ruby necklace, its rhythmic motion following an indescribable cadence that instantly snared their focus.

Gradually, their eyes became hollow and dull, and they stood rooted to the spot like life-sized dolls.

"That man is the being you hate most in this world. He is the one who took away everything you love. You must have your revenge, go, kill him!" Pubert’s voice slowed down, laced with a seductive, bewitching quality.

"Revenge..."

"Kill him..."

The two whispered, their hollow eyes instantly igniting with murderous intent and madness. Gripping their weapons tightly, they lunged at Carlo.

"Truly an artistic method of hypnosis; I wouldn’t dare look at it myself," Carlo said, keeping his gaze lowered. His tone held a hint of genuine praise.

As he spoke, he tapped his foot and shot forward like a bolt. He blurred past the two gladiators, and in that fleeting moment, his longsword swept out, effortlessly severing their throats.

Squelch! Squelch!

Blood sprayed into the air, raining down onto the ring as the razor-sharp blade carved deep into their necks.

"It’s useless. Fodder like this can’t stop my advance!"

Carlo casually flicked the blood from his blade. Behind him, the two gladiators, who had suddenly snapped awake, clutched their throats, making gurgling "urgh-urgh" sounds before collapsing to the floor, dead.

"Hmph, I never had any intention of letting those two stop you!"

Pubert curled his lip and glanced behind him, retreating several more meters. "I was simply checking where my trump card was located!"

"Trump card?" Carlo’s brow furrowed.

Pubert seemed delighted to see the other man frown. He smiled savagely. "For a hypnotist without direct combat power to participate in a grand melee like this, of course I need a trump card!"

In the next moment, Pubert shouted at the top of his lungs: "Ironhammer! Winter! Wednesday! The Pirate! Stone...!"

Word after word erupted from his mouth, loud and clear enough to be heard across half the noisy arena.

CLANG—!

Nearby, the Dwarf Bara reacted as if he’d been struck by lightning. A splitting headache seized him, and his metal warhammer clattered to the floor. He clutched his head, screaming in agony, "Aaagh... Aaaagh! What is happening to me?! Aaaaagh—!"

"Why... No... NO—!"

The pain was unbearable. Bara felt his consciousness slipping away, his sense of self drowning in a rising tide of fog.

"...Crime! Swordsman!"

Two more words left Pubert’s lips. He stopped speaking, and Bara’s screams ceased instantly. The Dwarf sat on the ground like a wooden mannequin, his eyes hollow and his expression blank.

"My warrior, take up your weapon and stand," Pubert commanded softly, testing his control.

"Yes!"

Bara answered mechanically. He retrieved the fallen metal warhammer and stood up.

"You... you hypnotized him?" Shock colored Carlo’s eyes. "When did you do it? Just now?"

Honestly, the fact that the opponent had even managed to hypnotize the Dwarf Bara was staggering. That man was not a fighter that ordinary gladiatorial kings could even be compared to.

Seeing Bara hypnotized sent a wave of terror through the other contestants. They scrambled to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Pubert, terrified of becoming the next "weapon" in his arsenal.

"So cool! Hypnosis!" Lucy’s eyes sparkled as he observed Pubert and Bara. He looked as if he were contemplating whether he wanted to hypnotize someone or be hypnotized himself.

Seeing that he successfully commanded Bara, Pubert let out a sigh of relief. He gave a confident, playful smile.

"Why don’t you take a guess?"

In truth, from the moment Pubert had entered the preparation room, he had been hovering near Bara, seemingly aimlessly but intentionally repeating those trigger words to plant hypnotic suggestions.

Having heard those words repeatedly over a long period, they were etched deep into Bara’s subconscious. Once Pubert spoke the sequence, the "hypnotic trigger" was activated, turning the man into his ultimate weapon.

Carlo felt a deep sense of wariness. How did he successfully hypnotize Bara? Was it just those words? It seems this man’s hypnosis is far beyond what I anticipated. If I’m not careful, I might fall into his trap too!

Pubert pointed a finger and shouted a command: "My warrior, Bara! Go! Kill that man!"

"Yes!"

Bara’s hollow eyes flooded with murderous intent. Raising his metal warhammer, he exploded toward Carlo.

"Damn it!"

Carlo cursed under his breath as he watched the hammer whistling toward him. Not daring to take the hit head-on, he blurred out of the way.

BOOM—!

The hammer slammed down with a deafening roar. A shockwave rippled through the ring, and a plume of dust shot into the sky, causing the entire arena to vibrate.

The immense power of the strike shattered the stone floor, caving it in to form a crater several meters wide. Countless cracks radiated outward from the impact site like a giant spiderweb.

Hiss—

Standing several meters away, Carlo sucked in a breath of cold air. "This guy... what monstrous strength!"

"Hehehehe! What a powerful warrior!" Pubert cackled, directing his weapon with excitement. "Go! Crush him into a pulp!"

Under Pubert’s command, the hypnotized Bara wrenched the warhammer from the shattered floor and charged Carlo once more.

"Don’t look down on me! I’m no pushover myself!" A cold light flashed in Carlo’s eyes as he met the charge with his sword drawn.

CLANG—!

In an instant, warhammer and longsword collided. The massive force of the impact radiated through the air, sending out a visible shockwave that whipped up a gale-force gust of wind across the ring.