Once Cain saw that the situation had settled down again, he quietly stepped back and disappeared into the shadows. The next order of business was assigning contestants to the various islands where the preliminary battles would take place.
Originally, the organizers had planned to keep things simple by dividing everyone according to registration number, sending several hundred contestants to each island in sequence. Unfortunately, because they needed to make sure Uta remained on Whole Cake Island for her own round, a little adjustment had become necessary.
In other words, they rigged the draw.
Still, it wasn't as if they were outright deciding who won or lost. They were only changing the location of one contestant's match, so surely that barely counted.
Among all the restless people filling the venue, however, one person was far more anxious than everyone else.
"Keep looking! Find the guy who might be Fire Fist Ace and get him matched against this idiot as soon as possible! Once they fight, my job is done!"
Stussy barked orders at the nearby Homies and chess soldiers while frantically searching through the registration records. Weevil stood right beside her, staring at her with his usual vacant expression and repeatedly muttering, "Mama, Mama," under his breath.
The combination was so bizarre that nearly everyone who passed by gave them a speechless look.
"I'm very sorry, Lady Stussy, but finding someone who registered under a fake name among this many contestants is extremely difficult."
Charlotte Mont-d'Or, who was managing the records, raised one hand. The enormous registration book floated free from his grasp, and countless pages began flipping rapidly through the air around him. Since the entire record had been created using his Book-Book Fruit, he naturally had complete control over it.
Stussy still looked dissatisfied and opened her mouth to protest, but Mont-d'Or patiently continued.
"Besides, registration hasn't even closed yet. Maybe he simply hasn't arrived. There's no reason to panic. If you wait a little longer, there's still a chance he'll show up."
As he spoke, his eyes swept through the fluttering pages. After a moment, he turned toward Cain.
"Of course, if I know the exact registered name, finding someone becomes much easier. En-chan, what name did Brother-in-Law Uta register under again?"
Cain's temple immediately throbbed.
"If you call me that one more time, I swear I'll beat you so badly even your own mother won't recognize you."
His fist cracked ominously, but when Cain remembered that these people genuinely treated "him" as a younger sister and meant the title affectionately, he somehow forced the irritation back down.
After taking a breath and calming himself, he finally answered.
"Ado."
Uta had originally planned to use some random name like "Uda," but then realized the sound was far too close to "Uta" and might invite suspicion. So she changed the first sound, flipped the rhythm around a little, and eventually settled on Ado.
"Ado, huh? All right, let me see…"
Mont-d'Or wasn't offended in the slightest. He immediately searched through the register while the pages flew past him at high speed, muttering the island assignments under his breath.
Then one name caught his attention.
"Doffy? Wait, that has to be Doflamingo's fake name."
He frowned.
"That guy couldn't even take one punch from En-chan. In that case…"
With a casual flick of one finger, Doflamingo's registration page flew straight into a trash bin.
Poor Doflamingo hadn't even managed to properly enter the tournament before being eliminated.
Nearby, Stussy forced herself to remain calm, holding a teacup with elegant composure as though she had all the time in the world. Unfortunately, the corner of her eye never stopped tracking Weevil, who was still standing nearby and endlessly muttering "Mama" to himself.
Her temple twitched.
'I need to dump this walking disaster on Fire Fist Ace as soon as possible.'
…
Time passed, and before long afternoon arrived.
Most of the contestants had already been transported to their assigned islands, while the battle on Whole Cake Island itself was about to begin.
That was when another group finally arrived in a hurry.
"Captain Kid, do we really have to force our way in like this?! Is your arm seriously okay?!"
The anxious question from one of his subordinates only made Eustass Kid's expression darker.
A few months earlier, Kid had led his crew straight into Red Hair territory with every intention of challenging Shanks.
The result had been humiliating from the very beginning.
The moment they entered the territory, the Red Hair Pirates had simply told them, "We're in a hurry. We don't have time for you."
That alone had infuriated Kid.
What made it even worse was that even after he directly attacked one of their ships, Shanks himself never bothered to appear. They merely sent out the vice captain to deal with him.
What followed was a one-sided beating.
Kid had been completely overwhelmed, and his left arm had been broken so badly during the defeat that the injury still ached even now.
Yet the physical pain was nothing compared with the humiliation.
The fact that Shanks hadn't even considered him worth personally fighting gnawed at him day and night.
(Shanks: Of course I didn't come out! I was trying to get back to the East Blue to see my kid! I already told you I was busy and didn't have time for this. You were the one who insisted on fighting—how is that my fault?!)
Even though Kid's wounds had barely healed, even though the stump of his missing arm still throbbed from time to time, and even though he had yet to fully adjust his fighting style to having only one arm, his attention had already turned toward Big Mom's territory and the legendary Poneglyph hidden within it.
Unfortunately, Totto Land was currently packed with outsiders and operating under heavier security than ever before.
It was absolutely the worst possible time to sneak in and steal a Poneglyph.
Kid clenched his teeth so hard the muscles in his neck stood out, then roared,
"Four Emperors? Who gives a damn?! One day I'll make every single one of them kneel under my boot!"
"B-But if we charge in like this, everyone here is going to attack us at once! We should at least—"
One of his men grabbed Kid's cloak and started physically dragging him toward the registration desk.
"Good, good! Registration's still open! Let's enter the tournament first, blend in, and figure out the rest afterward!"
Even Killer joined in.
"He's right. If we simply storm in, we could end up repeating what happened last time. Captain, just follow the rules this once."
…
Meanwhile, the battle on Whole Cake Island had already begun.
Because the preliminary stage was a mass free-for-all, more than a hundred people were fighting on this island alone. When the contestants scattered across the other islands were included, the total number of participants reached well into the thousands.
To maintain order across every battlefield, Katakuri had no choice but to use Brûlée's ability to constantly monitor the different locations and travel wherever additional support was needed.
He wasn't handling the job alone. The other Sweet Commanders were stationed on separate islands as well.
Whole Cake Island itself, however, required far less concern.
As for Doflamingo, now that he had lost his right to compete, he could do nothing except sit among the ordinary spectators. He had arrived without an invitation in the first place, so all he could do now was watch coldly as the fighting below reflected across his sunglasses.
On the battlefield, Uta stood out immediately.
Her slender build and clean, almost refined face looked completely out of place among the rough, vicious pirates surrounding her. Unsurprisingly, several contestants decided almost at once that she looked like the easiest target and rushed her together.
That assumption lasted only seconds.
Uta moved through the chaos with astonishing composure. Anyone who made contact with her blade collapsed almost instantly, unable to put up the slightest resistance.
Some fared even worse.
Rather than simply falling unconscious, their bodies suddenly turned against their own allies, attacking other contestants under Uta's control.
The bizarre sight sent shockwaves through the audience.
The young man whom almost nobody had taken seriously at the beginning had, in the blink of an eye, become the center of attention.
"Fuffuffuffuffu… that kid's interesting."
Doflamingo leaned back in his seat, studying Uta with growing curiosity.
"Though…"
"That hair color looks strangely familiar."
His gaze drifted toward the surrounding audience, where countless fans were shouting at the top of their lungs while wearing red, white, and pink merchandise.
Ah.
That explained it.
No wonder the color scheme looked familiar.
Doflamingo dismissed the thought and returned his attention to the battlefield.