Capone: Fortress of Ambition

Jack swaggered off the ship with his crew, the Bisacchi family's guards not daring to obstruct them in the slightest.

Time flew by, and the day the martial arts tournament began arrived. The entire city's population swarmed towards the largest fighting arena in the city.

This arena resembled an ancient Roman coliseum, only larger, capable of seating several thousand spectators.

As the audience poured into the arena, the contestants participating in the tournament gathered backstage. Here, they would draw lots for their fighting rings.

There were over four to five hundred participants, most of them considerably strong experts, showcasing the sheer scale of this martial arts tournament.

Bege and his group stood out distinctly in the crowd. Their powerful aura kept others from approaching. The rest of the contestants looked at Bege and his men with unsettled expressions – some with fear, some with fighting spirit, and some with resentment.

A group of people had gathered around Taku, who would occasionally turn to cast a sinister, gloomy look at Bege, his eyes glinting with malice.

Jack, even more brazenly, stared fixedly at Bege with furious eyes, looking as if he wanted to eat him alive.

"Jack, you want another beating?" Moria, annoyed, shouted at Jack.

Jack's massive frame abruptly shot up, seething with anger, his body rapidly beginning to bestialize.

"Captain, calm down! You must calm down! Now is not the time to fight! Private fighting will lead to disqualification!" his crewmen immediately lunged forward, grabbing Jack's arms to prevent him from acting impulsively.

The surrounding contestants, hearing Moria's words, finally realized that Jack's injuries had been inflicted by Bege and his crew. They all started to gloat, wishing the two would fight and get disqualified, thus reducing their competition by one opponent.

"Jack, you're truly useless, getting beaten into such a state by them," Taku taunted Jack with a sinister sneer. He wasn't afraid of Jack.

Jack glared directly at Taku and grinned ferociously. "Taku, without your old man, you're just trash. I could crush you with one hand."

"You can try," Taku's face turned extremely grim and ugly. Black smoke emitted from his body. People nearby who inhaled the smoke became dizzy, and some even collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"They're going to fight! They're really going to fight! A match before even getting into the ring! This is too interesting!" Marco clapped his hands gleefully, eagerly anticipating a brawl between the two.

"All of you, stop!" A powerful voice suddenly echoed through the backstage hall. A formidable aura swept across the area, and a stern-faced, robust middle-aged man walked out, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"Demon Bull King—Bisacchi Louis!"

This man was none other than the Demon Bull King, one of the Bisacchi family's Four Great Kings, and the next in line to lead the family.

"What kind of skill is it to duel backstage? The ring matches are about to begin. If you want to duel, do it in the ring, under the watchful eyes of thousands!"

"Taku, I'll be waiting for you in the ring! We'll see if I don't torture you to death!" Jack glared at Taku, who returned the glare defiantly.

"We will now begin assigning the rings. The allocation of contestants to rings will be done randomly by this number selection machine to ensure fairness and impartiality," Bisacchi Louis said, pointing to a round machine beside him.

Bisacchi Louis then pointed to four large gates nearby, marked with the numbers one through four. "These four gates represent the waiting areas for the four fighting rings. Contestants who have been assigned should proceed to their respective waiting areas."

"Let the ring assignments begin! First up is Ring One. The defending champion is Undefeated Boxing King Lisen!"

"What? The defending champion for the first ring match is the Undefeated Boxing King? That's a legend in the boxing world! This is terrible!"

"I pray I don't get assigned to Ring One!"

"May the god of luck protect me!"

The contestants burst into discussion, clearly familiar with Undefeated Boxing King Lisen. Some were fervently praying not to be assigned to Ring One.

"It's said this Undefeated Boxing King has fought in five thousand boxing matches and martial arts tournaments without a single defeat. I really want to fight him," Moria said, also extremely interested in the Undefeated Boxing King.

"Maybe I'll be assigned to Ring One," Riki added, full of anticipation.

All eyes turned to the selection machine. With a thump, the machine spat out a number, and an employee announced it.

One of the contestants clutched his head in distress, an expression of utter dejection on his face as he walked towards the Ring One waiting area.

The selection machine continued to spit out numbers, and one contestant after another left with dejected expressions.

"Next, number 158!" the employee announced another number.

"That's me!" Riki leaped up, holding his number card and laughing heartily. He even glanced excitedly at Moria, who playfully punched him.

"Captain, I'm off! I'm taking the spot for Ring One!" Riki declared, full of confidence, and swaggered into the Ring One waiting area.

Jack and his group looked considerably displeased. A cold smirk touched Bisacchi Louis's lips as he instructed the employee to continue selecting numbers.

Before long, Weevil and Hank were also assigned to Ring One.

The hundred contestants for Ring One were selected.

In this ring, apart from Riki and his companions, there were only one or two other pirates with bounties around 200 million. It seemed Ring One would likely be a showdown between Riki and the Undefeated Boxing King.

Next came the selection for Ring Two. Marco the Phoenix was assigned to Ring Two, along with Bege's subordinate, Modi, and several other of Bege's officers.

Ring Three was quickly allocated, also with little of note.

"All remaining individuals are assigned to Ring Four!" Bisacchi Louis announced abruptly.

The remaining people included Jack, Taku, Jozu, Moria, and Bege himself.

The Whitebeard Pirates, the Terror Pirates, the Beast Pirates, and the Fire Tank Pirates – the most renowned contestants participating in this martial arts tournament were all in Ring Four. Everyone knew Ring Four would be a highly anticipated battle of titans.

"Capone Bege!" Jack clenched his fists, his gaze fixed menacingly on Bege.

Jozu's usually calm face showed a rare hint of fighting spirit.

Taku lowered his head, a sinister, low chuckle escaping him. He had been assigned to Ring Four, and similarly, his men had also been assigned to Ring Four.

This was the result of his prior "communication" with the Bisacchi family; he intended to kill Capone Bege in the ring, in front of countless people.

"Interesting," Bege glanced at the smiling Bisacchi Louis, a smirk playing on his own lips.

From the contestant assignments, he had deduced the Bisacchi family's plan. They wanted the strongest few contestants to fight for a single ring spot. This way, the other three ring spots were highly likely to fall into the Bisacchi family's hands. In the final championship battle, their Bisacchi family would have a high chance of claiming the ultimate victory.

The Bisacchi family clearly didn't want an outsider to win the championship.

Bege stood up, blew a smoke ring, said nothing more, and led Moria towards the Ring Four waiting area.

"I'd like to see if you, the Bisacchi family, can actually take the final championship from my hands."