Arashi didn't waste any more words and became serious.
Although he wasn't particularly fond of this kind of game, for the sake of 7,000 Travel Points, he had no choice but to return to his old profession.
However, as he glanced around the table, his attention was quickly drawn to a man sitting on his right.
The man wore purple sunglasses, a pink shirt, and had slicked-back gray-green hair. With gold necklaces and earrings, he exuded a strong "nouveau riche" vibe—flashy to the extreme.
Of course, what caught Arashi's attention wasn't just his gaudy style, but his face—it felt strangely familiar.
The man clearly noticed Arashi staring. He turned his head slightly and said flatly, "What are you looking at? You'll lose everything soon enough."
Before Arashi could respond, Perona exploded.
She grabbed a chip and hurled it straight at the man's face. "Learn how to talk! If anyone's losing everything, it's you!"
"Oh ho ho…"
Completely unfazed, the man picked up the chip that hit him and chuckled. "Are all kids these days this overbearing?"
Perona snorted arrogantly. "Anyone who's rude to Arashi gets hit!"
"Hahaha, so fierce!"
The man laughed heartily, then unexpectedly handed the chip back to Arashi. "Mr. Arashi, right? My apologies—that was rude of me."
Arashi didn't reply, only nodded with a faint smile.
He was certain this man had appeared in the original story, but he just couldn't recall who he was at the moment.
As for Perona's impulsive behavior, Arashi didn't mind at all. If the man had gotten angry, Arashi wouldn't have hesitated to send him flying.
"Looks like Gild Tesoro is in a good mood today,"
At this moment, a red-haired woman sitting nearby suddenly spoke, laughing softly. "Getting hit in the face with money by a little girl and still smiling—how rare."
"Gild Tesoro?"
Hearing the name, Arashi finally remembered.
So it was him—the Gold Emperor, Gild Tesoro, a character from the movie!
Although he only appeared in the film, there was no denying he was a formidable figure.
Back then, he led his crew to burn down the Donquixote Family's auction house and seized the Gold-Gold Fruit amid the chaos, leaving Doflamingo at a loss.
By the time Doflamingo found out the truth, Tesoro had already risen to prominence and consumed the fruit, making it too late to take revenge.
When Doflamingo eventually confronted him, Tesoro had already developed his Devil Fruit powers to a terrifying level. In the end, Doflamingo had no choice but to set aside their grudge and cooperate with him.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Tesoro was one of the very few people who managed to make Doflamingo suffer repeatedly.
What surprised Arashi, however, was that Tesoro had come to the West Blue.
Was he hiding from the Donquixote Family and planning to build his power base here before returning to the New World?
Even more surprising—after being hit in the face by Perona, he didn't get angry at all. That didn't quite fit his usual personality.
After all, in the movie, he was domineering and flamboyant. By this point in the timeline, he should have already possessed the Gold-Gold Fruit for a year or two—his strength should be considerable. Most pirates, once gaining power, became arrogant beyond measure.
Tesoro was no exception.
The only reason he didn't lash out at Perona was because, in her, he saw a reflection of the girl he once loved during his impoverished youth.
At sixteen, after losing everything in a casino, he was captured by traffickers and nearly sold as a slave. After a desperate escape, he met a girl in a human trafficking market. They grew close, and he fell in love with her.
Determined to buy her freedom, he abandoned wrongdoing and worked tirelessly day and night.
After three years of hardship, just as he was about to gather enough money, the girl was bought by a Celestial Dragon.
Enraged, he attacked—but was captured and enslaved himself.
Two years later, the girl died.
That moment became his deepest sorrow—and the beginning of his descent into madness.
After five years of slavery, he escaped during Fisher Tiger's assault on Mary Geoise.
Three years later, he learned of a Devil Fruit auction hosted by the Donquixote Family. He burned down the venue, stole the fruit, and fled to the West Blue to avoid pursuit.
With the power of the Gold-Gold Fruit, he began pursuing his ambition—to control the world through wealth, manipulating even the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
And clearly, the chaotic West Blue—especially a lawless place like the Kingdom of Nasia—was the perfect starting point.
The game had already begun.
Arashi glanced at his two hole cards, his brows twitching slightly.
It wasn't that his cards were bad.
It was that the people at this table… all seemed far from ordinary.
Especially that red-haired woman.
The more he looked at her, the more she resembled Baccarat—the receptionist from Tesoro's casino in the movie.
If she really was Baccarat, then winning five hundred million Beli today would be nearly impossible.
After all—
She was the user of the Luck-Luck Fruit.
Gambling against someone who could manipulate luck?
No amount of money would be enough to lose.
More to come.
Extra chapters are already prepared… waiting to be unleashed.
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