After eating, Kong Tai and the others went to the Bullfighting Arena, also known as the Colosseum, which was very famous in Dressrosa.
Under the sun, the Bullfighting Arena seemed to be bathed in a golden light. From afar, one could almost hear the battles and slaughters of warriors in this historic open-air venue.
Unfortunately, as they got closer, they discovered there were no events today.
The gates were shut tight, and no one was inside.
However, Kong Tai's visit here was not to watch the battles of the weak, but to...
Walking past the worn, time-etched corner of the arena, polished by countless passersby, they saw a tall statue standing before them.
The statue depicted a robust man wearing a helmet in the style of a Roman soldier.
The man held his sword at his side, his face stern as he stared forward.
In front of that statue.
There were two "people."
Well... one was a one-legged toy soldier, missing a leg, like the Little Tin Soldier from Andersen's fairy tales.
The other was a girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, much like the statue. She also wore a helmet in the style of a Roman soldier, golden armor, and golden footwear.
The little girl had long pink hair, likely tied in a braid for ease of combat. She wore a dark green cape and a greatsword at her waist.
Just then, both sensed the arrival of Kong Tai and his group. They turned, looked up at Kong Tai, and their eyes met his deep, azure pupils, as vast as a starry sky.
Both were momentarily stunned.
Those azure pupils, at that moment, seemed to expand infinitely in their eyes, becoming a true starry sky that filled their entire vision.
Their sight blurred, leaving only these deep, captivating pupils.
At that moment, the owner of the pupils blinked, plunging them into darkness before quickly recovering, freeing them from the strange sensation.
As his body matured, his eyes were no longer solely for observing spatial nodes.
Now, even if he didn't consciously control them, ordinary people who stared into his eyes for too long would feel their souls being pulled into another dimension.
He knew of this ability, but he couldn't control it.
Last time on Punk Hazard, when he stared at Vergo, he intentionally glared, but it only made Vergo briefly dazed, with no significant effect.
He wondered if, in the future, his pupils could evolve into a divine ability.
If they transformed into a divine ability...
The thought of him being able to drag a person's soul into the strange space within his eyes with just a glance was, in itself, terrifying.
But that was for the future. What needed to be done now was with these two before him.
Kong Tai stepped forward and, seeing the girl who had regained her senses and was now looking at him vigilantly, offered a gentle smile.
Though the girl was only thirteen or fourteen now, not yet possessing the figure that would make hearts race three years later, she was already quite developed in her armor.
Therefore, Kong Tai didn't stare at the girl for too long. After a warm smile and expressing goodwill, he lowered his gaze to the toy soldier blocking the girl's path, who held a white cylindrical weapon in both hands.
This was a great warrior, a great father.
Even transformed into a toy, he could, through the power of his will, break free from Sugar's commands as the Devil Fruit user.
Although his strength was insignificant in Kong Tai's eyes, so weak he could crush him with a single finger, the fervor within him, the resilience in his mind and soul, commanded Kong Tai's deep admiration.
"Human, I can sense your immense power. What do you want?"
Holding his weapon with both hands, the toy soldier looked up, his eyes fixed on Kong Tai.
Despite being turned into a toy, his perception of the strong remained.
Not to mention the strange sensation of his soul being pulled into a special space earlier, just standing before Kong Tai, he felt that the being before him was not human, but the heavens themselves.
Omnipresent, supreme, and oppressive.
This wasn't Kong Tai's intentional display; he usually restrained his aura when traveling. Strong individuals would naturally sense his uniqueness, but this toy...
Kong Tai gazed into the toy soldier's eyes, and ripples stirred within his azure pupils.
"Interesting."
Indeed, with such a strong will, it was understandable that he could break free from Sugar's control.
Kong Tai surmised that this person had awakened Observation Haki.
Kong Tai wasted no words. Staring at the toy soldier, he spoke directly.
"Mr. Toy."
"Well... no, Mr. Kyros."
With that, he extended his hand. "Hello!"
The toy soldier was stunned. Since being turned into a toy, the name Kyros seemed to have vanished from the world.
His wife, his daughter, the entire Dressrosa seemed to have never known such a person.
If not for the statue outside the arena, the deep memories in his mind, his daughter beside him, and the soul-piercing pain of his wife's death, he might have believed it all was just a dream of him, the toy.
A distant, unattainable dream.
And now, what was he hearing?
He heard a stranger utter his true name once again, not Soldier-san, not Toy-san, nor the "Angry Soldier" on the wanted poster, but Kyros.
After a long moment of stupefaction, Kyros finally came back to his senses.
Behind him, the little girl also visibly faltered upon hearing the name Kyros.
This name had never appeared in her memories, yet it carried a profoundly familiar feeling.
It brought a hint of sadness to her gaze, fixed on the toy soldier's back, a sadness she herself didn't notice.
"Who is he?"
"Why does hearing this name stir my soul so deeply?"
At this moment, tears welled up and streamed from her eyes. She reached up numbly to wipe them, but they wouldn't stop.
"Why?"
"Why am I crying?"
The little girl didn't know why, but her blank expression, accompanied by flowing tears, brought expressions of pity to Guina and the others behind Kong Tai.
Truth be told, they didn't know who these two were, nor their relationship, but they knew the ability of the Hobby Hobby Fruit.
Judging by the toy soldier's appearance, he was likely someone very important to the little girl, possibly her family.
And this family member was right beside her, yet she didn't know him, not even having any memory of everything that happened with this toy soldier who accompanied her then.
It was no wonder the little girl reacted this way upon hearing the name.
Although the ability had severed time and erased history, the emotion itself existed truthfully deep within the girl's soul.
When the name she vaguely recognized reappeared, even though she didn't know who it belonged to, her body's instincts did!