Gild Tesoro stared at the piece of chip Jerry had tossed at his feet. It was a gesture of such profound disrespect, such utter dismissal of his authority, that a thick vein began to pulse on his forehead. The air, already tense, grew heavy with unspoken menace.
"So," Tesoro said, his voice dangerously low, "this is your 'explanation'?"
"What else?" Jerry replied with an indifferent shrug. "It's money. Are you going to take it or not?"
He completely ignored the murderous aura rolling off the "Golden Emperor." From Jerry's perspective, the situation was simple. Weevil and his mother had started the fight. He had merely finished it. This local tyrant, obsessed with his own rules and image, should have been confronting the sore loser still groaning on the floor below. Why was he getting all the heat?
Tesoro, for his part, was in a difficult position. He knew Jerry hadn't thrown the first punch, but as one of the combatants who had turned his pristine casino into a warzone, action had to be taken. If he let Jerry walk away after such a public display, he'd look weak, as if he were afraid to challenge the infamous "Leviathan."
But confronting him was a gamble. This was the man who had picked a fight with the Yonko, Big Mom, and walked away unscathed. A battle would be troublesome and costly.
As soon as he had entered, Tesoro had discreetly tried to activate his Devil Fruit's power. He spread his will through the invisible gold dust that coated every surface—and every person—in his city. Yet, when he tried to manipulate Jerry, he found nothing to grab onto.
Jerry tilted his head, looking at Tesoro's increasingly ugly expression. He gestured to the chip on the floor again. "What's the holdup? You want it or not? Here."
He kicked the single piece of chip, sending it sliding across the golden floor until it bumped against Tesoro's expensive shoes.
That was the final straw. All of Tesoro's internal debate evaporated, replaced by pure, unadulterated rage. To be treated like a common street thug in his own kingdom was an insult he could not tolerate.
"You are begging to die!" Tesoro roared.
His eyes widened. He thrust his arms forward, fingers spread wide towards Jerry, before clenching them into a tight fist.
BOOM!
The entire golden floor beneath Jerry's feet erupted in a violent explosion of jagged spikes.
"Going for the finisher right off the bat, are we?" Jerry quipped, his voice echoing in the hall. "That's not how you play the long game."
He had been watching Tesoro's every move. The moment the king's Haki flared, Jerry was already in motion. Using Moonwalk, he shot into the air, easily avoiding the golden eruption. He angled his body downwards and lashed out with a Haki-infused kick aimed straight for Tesoro's face.
"I play my cards much better than you do!" Tesoro snarled, instinctively retorting before realizing Jerry had drawn him into a childish exchange. Annoyed at himself, he coated his fist in a thick layer of gold, reinforced it with Armament Haki, and swung a powerful punch at the descending Jerry.
Their fists met mid-air, unleashing a shockwave that rattled the entire building. The battlefield was now a surreal landscape of glittering destruction, with fine gold dust from the shattered floor raining down around them. Jerry found the experience novel—fighting a man so rich that even the collateral damage was precious metal.
Having fully integrated the Six Styles into his combat rhythm, Jerry treated the three-dimensional space of the hall as his personal playground. He flew around Tesoro, launching fierce, unpredictable attacks from every conceivable angle.
Tesoro, with his feet planted firmly on his domain, was a master of his element. He shifted from partially covering himself in gold to being fully encased in a suit of gilded armor. It wasn't a bulky, clumsy shell; it moved with him, flexible and fluid, allowing him to defend and counterattack with blinding speed. Golden tentacles erupted from the pillars, the ground, and the ceiling, trying to ensnare the flying pest, but Jerry twisted and weaved through them with casual grace, minimizing their impact.
The two were locked in a fierce battle, but after a few minutes, Tesoro began to notice a disturbing trend. His golden armor, which he believed to be nearly indestructible, was beginning to fail. Jerry's punches, each one laced with a potent form of Haki, were starting to make his bones ache through the protective layer.
Gradually, Tesoro was forced to draw more and more gold to himself, thickening his defenses. His stature grew, his armor becoming bulkier. Soon, to enhance both his defense and offense, he transformed into a small, gilded golem several meters tall.
Jerry saw the transformation and simply increased the intensity of his assault. His fists hammered against the golden giant, producing a series of deafening CLANGS that sent the golem stumbling back, the vibrations making Tesoro's head spin within his new shell.
The relentless barrage forced Tesoro to escalate further. The golem continued to grow, absorbing more gold from the city itself, swelling from a few meters to dozens of meters high. The fight shattered the casino walls and spilled out into the open air of Gran Tesoro's main boulevard.
Jerry was now facing an enemy that resembled a giant mecha. He wasn't foolish enough to waste energy attacking its limbs. He flew straight for the head, hammering away at Tesoro's cockpit. Even with a thick layer of gold separating them, which dampened the internal destruction effect of his Haki, the repeated blows left Tesoro's head buzzing.
The Golden Golem was the pinnacle of Tesoro's awakened Devil Fruit powers. He swung his massive fists, trying to swat Jerry out of the sky like a common fly, but he couldn't connect. Jerry was too fast, too agile, circling him relentlessly and landing painful blows that made the giant dizzy.
Tesoro, who prided himself on the beauty and order of his city, could no longer tolerate the destruction. He was being played with, and his frustration was boiling over.
The giant's eyes began to glow with intense light. He fixed his gaze on Jerry and fired a concentrated beam of heat and energy.
"Golden Divine Fire!"
The laser sliced through the air, reaching Jerry in an instant. But with his Observation Haki fully active, Jerry was never in danger. He dodged with ease.
The building behind him, however, was not so lucky. The laser struck it dead-on, resulting in a massive explosion. Debris rained down on the streets below as flames licked at the sky. Tesoro twisted the golem's head, sweeping the laser across the sky in a destructive arc, chasing Jerry's silhouette.
But then, Jerry's figure vanished. A moment later, Tesoro felt a colossal impact on the back of the golem's neck. The blow was so powerful it forced the giant's head to snap upwards, sending the laser beam shooting harmlessly into the clouds.
The more Tesoro fought, the more frustrated he became. Before awakening, in his human form, he was agile but vulnerable. Now, as a giant, his offense and defense were immense, but he was too slow. He couldn't touch this damned gnat, who was exploiting the golem's clumsy movements to land blow after punishing blow.
The absolute confidence he'd felt before the battle had completely evaporated.
What is this sin I've committed? Tesoro thought, his mind reeling.
Why did this monster have to come to my ship? And why did he have to wear a mask? I would have spotted him on arrival, served him, treated him like royalty… anything to avoid this!
He watched as another one of Jerry's punches left a significant dent in his golden armor, forcing him to expend more stamina to repair it. Meanwhile, his opponent still looked completely relaxed.
Knowing he would be exhausted into defeat if this continued, Tesoro gritted his teeth. He had one last, desperate gambit.
The giant raised its massive arm, its fist glowing as it gathered an immense amount of golden energy, preparing for a final, earth-shattering punch.
"Oh? Charging up a big one?" Jerry noted aloud, his relaxed demeanor vanishing. "I don't think I'll let you."
A warning screamed from his Observation Haki. The enemy was preparing a devastating attack, but Jerry had no intention of waiting for it to be unleashed.
He accelerated again, a surge of raw power exploding from his body. Before Tesoro could finish charging his attack, Jerry's body became a phantom streaking through the air. His hands became claws, and brilliant streaks of black-and-red lightning—the unmistakable sign of Conqueror's Haki infusion—crackled around his arms.
He shot through the golden giant's chest like a falling meteor.
But the giant wasn't his target.
Inside the golem, Tesoro felt a presence phase through the gold as if it weren't there. A hand, wreathed in black lightning, clamped around his neck.
Jerry, having used his most draining technique, dragged Tesoro's real body out of the golem. He crashed through the outer wall of the casino they had just exited, slamming the Golden Emperor hard onto the wreckage-strewn floor inside.
Under the violent impact, with Jerry's claws still crushing his throat, Tesoro's face went pale and he vomited a mouthful of blood.
Jerry gasped for a few breaths, his own body feeling the strain. Tearing away the tattered remains of his shirt, which had been singed by the golem's laser, he looked down at the defeated king. His advanced Conqueror's Haki application was powerful, but it had its limits. Each use required a significant recovery period, a toll on his body and spirit.
He understood Tesoro's earlier actions. A king had to maintain control. But understanding didn't mean acceptance. Tesoro had come for him, and so he had been beaten. This was a lesson.
Next time, it wouldn't be a fight. It would be a flood. Jerry was confident that, if he truly wanted to, he could command the ocean itself to rise up and wash this entire golden city away.
He released his grip. Tesoro collapsed, gasping for air. Jerry stood up and took a few steps back. Behind him, the massive golden giant, now without a consciousness to control it, began to melt and dissolve back into the city.
Looking down at the broken man, Jerry asked with perfect calm:
"Is this explanation acceptable?"