"Hey! Little Sand!"
"Go easy. You're going to crush the accelerator..."
"And you too, Little Hawk. You don't have to stare that hard..."
So this was what they called "not interested" and "boring"?
Even if they acted indifferent and dismissive on the surface, the moment winning or losing was involved, they became this serious.
Was this a man's competitive spirit?
Even someone like Little Sand, whose gender was only male psychologically, could not avoid it.
"As our audience can see, the mysterious racing team that performed so strongly earlier has finally met its match!"
"The racecar driven by the great pirate Straw Hat crew is showing no signs of falling behind!"
The racecars sped across the long and winding track. Sanji gripped the steering wheel.
With his Observation Haki, he could always make the smoothest and most seamless driving maneuvers.
"Sanji!"
"Go!"
Nami and the others watched from outside the track. On the large screen, the Straw Hats' racecar passed one opponent after another, chasing straight after the mysterious car at the very front.
"You have to win! The entry fee was one million berries!"
Nami shouted from the sidelines.
Perhaps hearing the call of a beautiful woman, Sanji's eyes swelled into hearts. He immediately drove even harder.
But in Crocodile's eyes, this scene was as laughable as children playing house.
She glanced sideways at the rearview mirror and saw the Straw Hats closing in. She instantly jerked the steering wheel and performed an incredibly stylish drift, kicking up a huge cloud of sand.
That instantly enraged Sanji.
"Hey! First it was a sandstorm, now it's sand that can't be blown away. Isn't this cheating?!"
"Are you trying to make me embarrass myself in front of beautiful ladies?!"
Compared to Sanji, whose temper was rising, Zoro calmly took a drink of wine.
The extreme speed did not affect him at all.
"Well... it is a no-rules race, so using tools and abilities should be normal, right?"
A dangerous smile spread across Zoro's face. He actually stood up straight in the open-top car.
Using immense strength to hook his feet onto the racecar, Zoro freed both hands and drew his blades.
"Perfect. I could use some drinking money too."
Power surged through his hands. Zoro spun like a whirlwind, his blades releasing spiral slashes.
"Three-Sword Style: Hundred and Eighty Pound Phoenix!"
Countless great-swordsman-level flying slashes burst out, cutting through the sand and shooting straight toward the obscured area ahead.
With such a wide area of attack, one of them was bound to hit.
But the answer he received was a gigantic emerald-green slash.
"What?!"
Cold sweat appeared on Zoro's face. His hands were swiftly coated in Haki, and he began reciting his chant.
Fortunately, he spoke quickly enough. Before the massive emerald slash arrived, he finished his chant and answered with a major move, just barely canceling out that casual strike.
"You've got to be kidding me. That slash..."
Although he blocked the attack, the road ahead had already been cut apart.
"Not bad, Little Hawk."
Ozz looked at the road behind them, now sliced open, and praised him with a smile.
"It was only a warm-up."
Without even looking back, Mihawk closed the car window, put away the small cross-shaped knife, and hung it around his neck again.
He stared forward coldly, as though he had only done something utterly insignificant.
Just like that, under Little Sand's lightning-fast driving and Little Hawk's calm control of the overall situation, the mysterious racecar charged toward the finish line far ahead of everyone else.
But then...
"Charge!"
A loud shout came from behind them. Two stretched arms suddenly reached out and grabbed the pillars on both sides of the track.
Then, like a slingshot, the Straw Hats' entire racecar was launched rapidly into the sky.
"Th-this is..."
Even the commentator seemed stunned by this move, his mouth wide open.
"The Straw Hats' racecar is flying over!"
"Are they about to take the championship?!"
The crowd watched the race with blazing excitement. The Straw Hats' racecar was overtaking the mysterious car and rushing toward the finish line at high speed.
"Let's rush straight to the finish line in one go!"
Luffy raised both fists and roared with burning enthusiasm.
Even Nami and the others outside the track, along with some of the spectators, stood up excitedly.
"Cross the line!"
The commentator's voice rang out loudly at that moment.
"Let us congratulate..."
"The final champion is the mysterious racecar!"
The Straw Hats: ???
Little Hawk, Little Sand: ...
Ozz: (￣y▽￣)~
"Wh-what?!"
Luffy stood up in disbelief and looked beyond the finish line. In front of their own car, past the finish, the mysterious racecar was already parked there.
It looked as if it had appeared beyond the finish line out of thin air.
And the people inside the car had already vanished.
At that moment, Ozz and the other two had already appeared inside a bustling shopping mall.
For some reason, Little Hawk and Little Sand both looked rather unhappy.
They had won, but somehow, they did not feel happy at all.
"Why did you teleport us over? I could have blown them back with a sandstorm!"
Although Crocodile was also using an ability, launching an attack and winning that way would still have brought some sense of accomplishment.
But Ozz had simply teleported directly to the finish line. Didn't that destroy the whole meaning of the race?
"You two... did you seriously get competitive with a few kids?"
Ozz did not mind at all. He brought the two of them along toward the VIP room.
As for the Straw Hats?
Although they somehow lost the race, their luck was good in the other games, and they quickly earned tens of millions of berries.
The kids were beyond excited.
What they did not know was that the rule of a casino was to bait the hook first, then pull in the net.
Seeing that the time was about right, Baccarat encouraged them to play a few bigger games.
They arrived in front of the VIP room. Baccarat knocked on the wall, and soon, a big-headed little man emerged from within it.
He looked at everyone with a smile.
"This is Mr. Tanaka, the casino's head of security. He is a user of the Through-Through Fruit, which allows him to pass through any inorganic matter."
When Robin heard that, she was somewhat surprised by the fruit.
"Passing through obstacles without restriction? It sounds like a lower-level version of the Teleport-Teleport Fruit."
The big-headed man looked at the Straw Hats, his eyes full of amusement.
"I will take you to the VIP room. By the way, a very special honored guest is currently playing inside."
He led the Straw Hats into the VIP room.
Everyone inside was focused on the same place.
A long-haired man was sitting at the table, smiling as he watched the gambling table. He casually tossed out several special chips.
"I bet on odd. Ten billion berries."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"