Chapters · Dressrosa › Dressrosa

Chapter 708: Coliseum of Scoundrels

Arc: Dressrosa · Saga: Dressrosa · Released: 2013-04-01

Summary

In the Block C staging area, the ancient gladiator Don Chin Jao — confirmed by name on-page — turns his fury on Luffy (“Lucy”) as the grandson of Garp, “the Devil himself to pirates,” whose blows decades ago left wounds that “still haven’t healed.” His grudge now reaches three generations: he names Luffy’s father Dragon and snarls that, had he known of Dragon sooner, “I could have prevented you from ever being born!!!” The “White Knight” Cavendish draws his prized sword Durandal to claim Lucy for himself — but Chin Jao’s drill-skull withstands the thrust unpierced, and the old man swats both rookies aside with a single head-blow, lending weight to the legend that he once “split a continent of ice in half with a head-butt”; in his prime he carried a bounty “over half a billion.” His grandsons Sai and Boo, “from the Kingdom of Kano,” restrain him before the coliseum guards eject them all, warning that they’ll lose their “real reason for fighting in the arena” — Lucy slips away into Block C, where the score will be settled in the match. Meanwhile the Block B battle royale rages: Tank Lepanto, leader of Dressrosa’s self-defense troops, is knocked out by the treacherous Abdullah & Jeet, who are in turn pulped by Bellamy’s one-hit-KO ferocity. The Fish-Man Karate master Hack moves to punish the indecent Bartolomeo (who has exposed himself to the crowd) — but Bartolomeo, having promised Franky to keep his identity secret, drops Hack with an unseen power that repels the Fish-Man’s “Fist,” leaving the crowd baffled. The chapter closes on a grinning, fake-bearded Lucy.

New reveals

• The unnamed gladiator who greeted Luffy with the Garp grudge in Ch. 707 is named on-page as Don Chin Jao (“Don Chin Jao’s startin’ a brawl?!!”, p. 3).
• Chin Jao’s grudge, expanded: Garp was “the Devil himself to pirates,” nearly killed Chin Jao decades ago, and the hatred extends to Dragon and Luffy — “If I’d only been aware of the existence of his son Dragon sooner… I could have prevented you from ever being born!!!” (pp. 2–3).
• In his prime, Chin Jao had a bounty of over half a billion (narration, p. 4).
• A legend: Chin Jao supposedly “split a continent of ice in half with a head-butt” — and his skull withstands Cavendish’s thrust without being pierced (pp. 5–7).
• Cavendish wields a named sword, Durandal — “one of the world’s finest blades” — and strikes with the named sword technique “Blade of Beauty: Blue-Bird”; cry “Doisa!! Head-Arms!!” (pp. 4–5).
• Sai and Boo are Chin Jao’s grandsons, “from the Kingdom of Kano,” and have an undisclosed “real reason for fighting in the arena” beyond the Garp grudge (pp. 8–9).
• Luffy (“Lucy”), Chin Jao, Sai, Boo and Cavendish are in Block C (“He’s in Block C with us!!”, p. 9) — the Garp score is to be settled inside the Block C match.
• Block B melee: Tank Lepanto (“leader of Dressrosa’s self-defense troops”) is eliminated by Abdullah & Jeet (p. 10); over a hundred gladiators have fallen, barely thirty remain (p. 11).
• Bellamy brutally one-hit-KOs Abdullah & Jeet — “Such cruelty!! Such ferocity!!” (pp. 12–13).
• Hack, the Fish-Man Karate warrior, fights on (pp. 13–14); Bartolomeo defeats him with an unexplained, unseen power that repels Hack’s “Fist” and leaves him writhing — the crowd cannot explain it (pp. 14–15).
• Bartolomeo promised Franky “I wouldn’t let anyone find out who I was” — confirming Bartolomeo is coordinating with the Straw Hats’ Dressrosa operation (p. 10).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy (as “Lucy”), Chin Jao, Cavendish, Sai, Boo, Bartolomeo, Bellamy, Hack, Abdullah, Jeet, Tank Lepanto, Garp (mentioned), Dragon (mentioned), Franky (referenced — Bartolomeo’s promise), Caribou (cover story)
• Groups / crews: Chin Jao Family, Beautiful Pirates (Cavendish), Bellamy Pirates (Bellamy), Barto Club Pirates (Bartolomeo), Fish-Men (Hack)
• Locations: Corrida Colosseum, Dressrosa, Kano Kingdom (mentioned — Sai & Boo’s homeland)
• Weapons: Durandal — Cavendish’s named sword (first named on-page)
• Techniques: King Punch — Chin Jao’s signature technique, first named on-page (p.

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page, “Chapter 708: COLISEUM OF SCOUNDRELS.” Cover-story installment “Caribou’s New World Keeheehee, Vol. 27 — ‘The hag’s dead grandson was meat-pie-loving Commander Gaburu’”: Caribou holds up a framed photo (“I ♡ GRANDSON GABURU”) of an old woman and her late grandson.
• Page 4 — Cavendish draws Durandal, captioned “one of the world’s finest blades.”
• Page 5 — Cavendish’s thrust strikes Chin Jao’s skull but does not pierce — “Blue-Bird!!!”
• Page 6 — Chin Jao’s single head-blow swats Cavendish and Lucy aside: “I said KNOCK IT OFF!!!”
• Page 7 — The “continent of ice” legend recalled by the crowd.
• Page 12 — Bellamy crushes Abdullah & Jeet (CRUNCH CRUNCH).
• Pages 14–15 — Bartolomeo drops Hack with an unseen, unexplained power (“Psyche”).
• Page 16 — Closing panel: grinning, fake-bearded Lucy (“Hiya. Hee hee!”).

Open questions raised

• What is the Chin Jao Family’s “real reason” for entering the Corrida Colosseum, beyond Chin Jao’s Garp grudge?
• Whom did Garp nearly kill, and how — what is the origin of Chin Jao’s still-unhealed wounds and the “continent of ice” legend?
• What power does Bartolomeo wield that repelled Hack without a visible touch?
• Why is Bartolomeo hiding his identity, and what is his arrangement with Franky in Dressrosa?
• Who is Commander Gaburu, and how did he meet his end (cover story)?