Huh?
The strongest woman in the world?
Hearing that familiar name, Orin was a bit surprised, but then found it perfectly reasonable.
Back when he was a kid reading newspapers, he often saw this famous beauty from the Rocks Pirates' ship.
Though he'd heard that in recent years, she had started putting on some weight.
If it had been the young version of Linlin before she joined the Rocks Pirates, Orin might have been interested. But now, he felt nothing at all.
Seemed like in his past life's anime, Big Mom was already fond of dealing with figures from the underworld...
Didn't expect signs of that this early.
"Then, write down the ones you can't handle. I'll deal with them."
"Understood, Orin-sama. I'll send over the intel on those guys right away."
Morgans grinned with mischief. The list was definitely full of his personal agendas—some of them had rejected Orin's recruitment, others were simply thorns in Morgans' business.
Orin of course knew this bird wasn't fully honest.
But he couldn't be bothered to care, as long as Morgans stayed generally loyal. Solving his problems was really just solving Orin's own.
"As for the second matter, we've found the intel on Crocodile. He's currently in Alabasta."
Alabasta, huh?
Got defeated by Whitebeard and started going down the wrong path, huh, little Sandboy?
"Alright, I got it. Good work."
"Serving Orin-sama is my greatest honor."
Click.
Orin put the Den Den Mushi back in his pocket, loosened the collar of his suit, and turned to look at Mihawk.
"Looks like things are about to get busy."
Mihawk nodded. To be honest, he was curious about their next new companion too. The Oro Jackson was feeling a bit too empty.
It was better when little Robin was on board. Now it was just him and Orin on the ship every day—it was kind of boring.
"The Eternal Pose for Alabasta... we should have it on board, right?"
Orin looked at Mihawk. His Observation Haki was extremely convenient—he could grab anything on the ship at will—but all those Log Poses looked the same.
He couldn't tell them apart.
Mihawk gave a calm nod.
"From now on, carve the name of each island onto the pointer."
Though Orin was also born with Observation Haki like Otohime and Redfield, his was different.
While theirs focused on the mind and spirit...
Orin's leaned toward the physical.
Innately detailed.
No—innately meticulous.
Even if there was just a letter carved onto a Log Pose's handle in the cabin, Orin could instantly pick it out from the pile.
Because of that minute perception, even wind direction from ten thousand meters away was enough for Orin to become a top-tier sniper without relying on any Devil Fruit.
The world's No.1 sniper god!!!
"Alright then... let's set sail—Alabasta, here we come!!!"
...
Paradise—Alabasta
Inside the bustling and noisy casino, countless gamblers were gathered—some cheering, others groaning.
Some had lost so badly their eyes were bloodshot and looked ready to lash out.
Amidst the chaos, a graceful figure sat smoking a cigar, her enchanting eyes half-hidden behind swirls of smoke as she looked down on the crowd with disdain.
"This body is still too weak..."
Raising her slender hand, a small rotating sandstorm slowly formed, then swept outward.
In the next moment, a dried-up corpse lay sprawled on the floor—silencing all the would-be schemers instantly.
"That woman... she's a Logia user, right?"
"Yeah, I heard her bounty is insanely high."
"Seems like the intel was true."
"Got defeated by that legendary Whitebeard, and now she's hiding in this little place?"
Crocodile naturally sensed all the eyes on her—some overt, some covert—but she didn't care. With a cold snort, she returned to her office.
She'd recently obtained a piece of intel:
Among the emerging figures on the seas in recent years, there was someone with a Devil Fruit power that could change one's gender.
If she could become a man... then surely she'd be even stronger than she was now!
Just as she was preparing for her next voyage to find this so-called "Army"...
Two uninvited guests entered her newly opened casino.
"Hello there, sir. What would you like to play?"
"Well... what do you have? It's my first time at a place like this."
Wearing sunglasses, dressed in a dark red suit and draped in a large black overcoat, the man smiled.
Behind him stood another man in a white shirt, sunglasses, and carrying a cross on his back, lips twitching.
What kind of ridiculous outfit was this...
Still, truth be told, despite all the people they passed on their way here—nobody had recognized him.
Thanks to the modifications by Vegapunk, he no longer carried his signature Black Gun.
A sharp and handsome young man in a fine dark red suit, blade at his waist, draped in a wide black coat, sunglasses hiding his eyes—
He didn't look like a pirate at all. More like the son of some mafia boss, neatly dressed in his expensive outfit.
As for Mihawk beside him, although the giant cross on his back seemed out of place, his innate noble air and graceful demeanor...
Also didn't scream pirate or criminal in the slightest.
Seeing the two so fashionably dressed, the casino manager greeted them with exaggerated politeness—like treating royalty.
But inside, he was already bursting with joy.
Their clothes and demeanor screamed money, and they clearly had no idea how casinos worked.
When was the last time they got such juicy fat sheep?
Looking at Orin's calm and warm smile, it might as well have had glowing words on it:
Clueless rich guy—easy target!
Following the casino manager inside, the first thing was to exchange some chips. After the manager's explanation, Orin slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out...
A 100,000 Belly note.
"???"
The casino manager's face twitched with black lines raining down from his head.
Seriously!? A broke guy!?
Dressed all classy for nothing.
Orin didn't think there was anything wrong, though. He casually sat down at a commoner's gambling table.
"So then... what are the rules?"
With the nearby staff explaining, Orin quickly grasped the rules of a particular game here.
Ten cards were randomly drawn from the deck and split between two players—five cards each.
Each picked one card to compare values.
If it was a tie, they'd pick one more from the remaining four to decide the winner.
High beats low, winner takes all.
Seated at the table, Orin rested his hands, fingers interlaced, on the tabletop. Mihawk stood behind him, intrigued, eyes sharp and focused on the game.
"Well then, let's begin... I happen to be pretty good at cards."
Orin said with a relaxed smile.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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