"Who is it? Oh, turns out it's that Black Gun Orin."
"Yeah, so it's that Black—"
"…"
"???"
The chatter instantly fell silent. The once noisy casino suddenly became as quiet as a library.
A second later, the noise finally returned.
"Hey hey hey, this has gotta be a joke!!!"
"That guy Crocodile just now... did he... did he really say..."
"Orin!?!?!"
"What!?!?"
Even here in the Paradise half of the Grand Line, there was no way for those in the know not to recognize that legendary name.
Anyone who heard it—openly or in secret—wore an expression of utter shock. A few timid ones were already crying, snot and tears running down their faces, collapsing to the ground.
The intelligence agents and undercover operatives hidden in the crowd were all trembling as they quickly activated their Den Den Mushi.
"Beru beru beru beru..."
"Reporting to HQ—this is huge!!!"
"It's about that legendary pirate with the 4 billion Belly bounty..."
People fled en masse toward the exit, while a small number of bold maniacs chose to stay, trembling with nervous excitement—or even tried to approach and beg to be taken in as underlings.
But they were all blocked by Mihawk's sword, Yoru, which he had drawn and placed crosswise in their path.
Even after his identity was exposed, Orin didn't show much of a reaction. He just slowly turned to look at Crocodile.
"Smart, as expected."
Crocodile's face was grim. With a cigar clamped in his mouth, he simply sat across from Orin at the gambling table.
"Since you're in the mood, let me keep you company for a round."
The gamblers around them watched the two sit on either side of the table, both casually crossing one leg over the other. The tension in the air was electric.
"Black Gun, I didn't think a man like you would be interested in something like this."
Crocodile's long, white legs nearly drew Orin's gaze and cost him his composure.
Luckily, his willpower held firm…
"I'm interested in anything that's fun—including, but not limited to, games."
A mischievous glint flashed in Orin's eyes. His lips curved upward slowly as he looked at the powerful woman before him.
"If we're going to gamble... why not make it a big one?"
Tsss...
Ding—
Huff...
Instinctively, Crocodile felt she probably couldn't win against him, but "fear" wasn't part of her vocabulary.
She didn't respond right away. Instead, she lit another cigar with her lighter and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
Her aura was rock solid.
A breeze carried the smoke toward Mihawk, who raised an eyebrow and gently swept it away with a hand shaped like a blade.
Through the drifting haze, Orin saw Crocodile's face filled with a stubborn fearlessness:
"Then... what's the stake?"
She didn't like trouble—but that didn't mean she feared it.
She hadn't even feared Whitebeard, so why would she fear Orin?
What she didn't know, however, was that it was exactly this kind of pride and boss-like presence that made Orin even more intrigued.
If it were just blind obedience, Orin could've spent his whole life partying in the red-light district.
Sammi, Lina, Mei—those girls would treat him like a king and obey his every word.
But encountering someone like Crocodile now and then...
That's what made life fun, right?
Maybe that's just the male desire to conquer.
"Since I doubled my winnings at your place up to 1.6 billion Belly, let's keep doubling."
"...3.2 billion?"
Crocodile's face darkened slightly.
With his current assets, scraping together that much wasn't impossible—but it would be a painful hit...
"No, no, no..."
Seeing Crocodile's stunned expression, Orin gently shook his head, the amusement in his eyes now completely unveiled.
"It's rare for me to find someone who actually interests me. Doubling just isn't enough. At the very least, it should be this amount."
He raised his right hand and held up one finger.
"Ten times?!"
Crocodile's face grew serious. Sixteen billion Belly—if she lost, how many years would she have to operate in Alabasta to recoup that?
Five?
Ten?
She was a genius at business, a top-tier moneymaker even among pirates.
Otherwise, how else could she have lent Buggy such a large sum to start his company?
How else could she have had her bounty raised by the Marines just for her leadership skills?
So, in her view, this bet was very risky. Even if she had a chance to win—
What if she lost?
And even if she did win, with such an outrageous sum, who's to say Orin wouldn't get angry and refuse to pay?
She'd been holed up in Alabasta for so long that her intel was out of date.
She couldn't believe Orin would put 160 billion on the line for just a card game.
She was just about to refuse when Orin suddenly looked at her with clear disdain and mockery in his eyes:
"Ten times? What, are you playing beggar stakes?"
"I said... one hundred times~"
"One hundred and sixty billion Belly!!!"
Before anyone else could react, Orin's insane words made Crocodile practically jump out of her seat.
Just hearing that number made her blood rush to her head, her eyes bloodshot—she nearly bit through her cigar!
...
"Impossible!!!"
"That number is way too outrageous—no way!!!"
"Even someone like you couldn't possibly throw around a sum like that!!!"
One hundred and sixty billion Belly—enough to bankrupt a mid-sized nation. Enough to pay their Heavenly Tribute for decades...
"How do you know I don't have it?"
Suddenly—
A cold voice interrupted Crocodile's emotional outburst.
Orin reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out a sheet of paper:
[World Government Affiliated Kingdom Certification]
[Certification: The Dotor Royal Family is the sole ruling house of the Kingdom of Duramos]
"This is…"
"That's right."
Orin flashed his old man's legacy in front of Crocodile's face, waving it as if it were just another ordinary Belly bill.
"I'm betting an entire country—surely that's enough, right? Even just collecting taxes from it for a hundred years would do the trick."
Just in case Crocodile still didn't believe him, Orin pulled out document after document from his coat—
Bank deposit slips, ownership certificates for his companies...
"Forget 160 billion. I could pull out 1.6 trillion if I had to..."
He didn't have that kind of money right now, but give it a little time—he definitely would. With the scale of the underground world, even a trillion wasn't impossible.
"So now... the question is—do you dare to play?"
Orin stared at Crocodile like a predator locking eyes on prey, his gaze glowing blood red.
"Crocodile~"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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