A tidal surge swept in, instantly engulfing the two molten dice.
Sss—!
Masses of scorching steam burst forth as the two dice, barely holding a recognizable shape, fell to the ground.
On their surfaces, the numbers became clear.
"Six. Eight. Even!"
Dice's voice rang out. He hadn't left the dice platform that moments ago had been ravaged by thunder and molten gold.
Despite being covered in wounds from head to toe, his face wore an expression of pure satisfaction.
"I win."
Ren rubbed his chin and looked toward Tesoro, whose expression had darkened."What do you think?"
"Hahahaha—my interest in you just keeps growing."
Tesoro instantly put on a genial smile, raising a hand toward the elevator behind him."You won this time. Let's go upstairs. There are more ways to play up there—tonight, we can really enjoy ourselves."
"If you put it that way," Ren replied coolly, "then you're the only one who'd be enjoying it."
"Ah, my apologies. My objective has already been achieved. Now it's your turn to fulfill your promise."
"Of course. If one doesn't honor their word, gambling loses all meaning.
Still, I'd really like to invite you upstairs to keep playing.
How about this—no matter how much you bet, if I lose, I'll pay ten times the amount.
I've got more money than I can spend anyway. That's how gambling stays exciting.
Who knows—by the end of tonight, you might be a billionaire."
Tesoro waved his hand grandly, radiating generosity.
It fit his image perfectly—if one didn't see through his true nature.
"I refuse."
Ren raised an eyebrow, a cold smile curling his lips."Scheming like that is a hassle.
You lost the round where we decided things by force. Anything that follows will only get messier.
My goal's already been achieved—there's no need to keep gambling.
Money means nothing to me.
If being deceived makes one a loser, and losers have no value—
that's the rule of Gran Tesoro, isn't it?
But I think instead of pitting wits against each other, it's better not to play at all."
"I see."
Tesoro slowly let his smile fade, his expression turning icy.
The contrast was stark—this, more than anything before, felt like his true face.
"Do you know who decides who gets to smile in this city?"
"I don't," Ren shrugged, spreading his hands lazily.
"It's Lord Tesoro!"
At that moment, Baccarat—draped in a golden veil—stepped forward, staring coldly at the man who had nearly made her pay dearly.
"The so-called rules are made by Lord Tesoro, which is why they are the rules of Gran Tesoro.
That means the rules can be changed—and only Lord Tesoro can change them.
You may have tricked me just now, but don't think that gives you the right to refuse Lord Tesoro."
"Don't be so impulsive," Tesoro said, smiling again as he raised a hand to stop Baccarat."But she's not wrong. Now then—are you still refusing me?"
"How many times do I have to repeat myself for you to understand?" Ren sighed, sounding almost helpless.
"Honestly, you've already taken me for an enemy, haven't you?
On this ship, losers are failures, and failures have no value.
Since they have no value, turning them into golden statues—like Mr. Zans earlier—is only natural.
And as the owner of this city, you have endless chips to gamble with.
Even becoming a billionaire means nothing to you.
Right now, all I have amounts to a hundred million Beli in chips.
Isn't your malice obvious?"
"So you still refuse?"
Tesoro narrowed his eyes, his expression freezing once more.
The entire Golden King Hotel trembled faintly.
"Or do you simply not understand?
In this city, as the one who possesses the most money—
no one can defy me! Everything must fall under my dominion!"
No wonder—
Ren understood instantly why, in the original story, Tesoro had proactively set a trap for the Straw Hats.
It wasn't because Luffy had defeated Doflamingo.
It was because anyone who set foot on Gran Tesoro had to submit to Tesoro's control.
People like Zans were, without question, meant to be dominated.
Once you lost under the rules, no matter what power or wealth you held outside,
Tesoro could kill you on the spot.
This was a man who could not be reasoned with—someone utterly self-centered.
"I originally thought we could talk this through," Ren said, spreading his hands helplessly.
Then his expression turned cold."But now it seems unnecessary."
He had no intention of bringing up the Celestial Dragons with Tesoro.
That would be foolish.
Not everyone could be persuaded with words alone.
Even with someone as relatively mild as Kuzan,
Ren had paid three or four heavy prices back in Mock Town before Kuzan finally grew wary enough to listen.
Someone as self-centered as Tesoro would be far more troublesome.
Though Tesoro remained unable to let go of the past,
his cooperation with the World Government—paying Heavenly Tribute—proved that he had already compromised.
The price was being forever trapped in his old nightmare.
Which meant—
Unless Ren could put enough chips on the table, using that past as leverage would only backfire.
If Ren came here with Kuzan in tow, or with Doflamingo's head in hand,
perhaps Tesoro would truly listen.
But at this level—
A pirate with a four-hundred-million bounty who had defeated a Marine vice admiral
was nothing more than a minor character in Tesoro's eyes.
Especially since Tesoro believed he held absolute sovereignty.
"How foolish. It seems I must let you experience the power of money firsthand."
Tesoro's eyes turned cold as he snapped his fingers without hesitation.
Almost instantly, large patches of golden mottling spread across Ren and the silent Vivi.
No—
They weren't shadows of gold.
They were being turned into gold from the inside out!
"Lord Tesoro is an awakened user of the Gold-Gold Fruit," Baccarat said coldly, pointing at Zans's statue behind them.
"He can control any gold he's activated and sensed.
That golden spray was beautiful, wasn't it? And the drifting gold dust looked so lovely, right?
That's the source of what you're experiencing now.
Obey—or be assimilated into gold and turned into statues!"
She sneered at Ren, whose body was already more than half gold.
But—
Golden sand suddenly surged forth.
Countless grains gathered into a storm, and within the sand, gold—far heavier than sand—fell clattering to the ground.
Vivi, now transformed into sand, raised her hand.
Her arm disintegrated into a massive blade of sand, slashing diagonally toward the ceiling.
Desert Spada!
The sand vibrated at extreme frequency, releasing blue, lightning-like arcs.
The strike was terrifyingly sharp.
In an instant, a massive hole was torn through the outer wall of the Golden King Hotel.
At the same time, Ren—nearly a golden statue—transformed into a burst of light.
Light Body—!
With a single movement, the six-winged angel reappeared in a blaze of radiance.
Behind him, a rapidly forming golden shell was left behind—
empty within.
"You think tricks like this are enough to take me down?" Ren scoffed."That's far too naïve."
The moment he reappeared, Ren opened his mouth again.
Seawater poured forth from his throat, flooding the floor in an instant—
extinguishing flames and swallowing the surging gold.
Tesoro's expression changed violently.
"Seawater?!"
Even awakened gold, once it encountered seawater, immediately lost all controllability.
That was its greatest weakness!
Whoosh—!
The third pair of wings beat, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek.
At a speed of three hundred meters per second, Ren surged forward in a blink.
Lightning gathered in his grasp, purple-black Haki flooding into it.
With a single motion, countless bolts branched out like the roots of a tree.
Behind him, roaring seawater consumed everything.
The golden materials that formed the Golden King Hotel instantly lost their connection to Tesoro.
Elsewhere—
Baccarat panicked and tried to dodge, but her luck was abysmal.
She stumbled repeatedly and was swept into the seawater, choking unconscious.
Humiliation.
Utter humiliation.
In the final moment before her consciousness faded, Baccarat still couldn't understand why she had become so unlucky.
She had clearly used her ability—drained that man's luck.
So why had things turned out this way?
Then a flash of insight—
That coin…
But why…
There was no answer.
Her consciousness fell into endless darkness.
Boom—!
Violent thunder exploded at the front of the tidal surge.
The released heat boiled the seawater.
Amid the scalding steam, figures clashed.
The sudden appearance of seawater left Tesoro horrified—he couldn't fathom how a Devil Fruit user could manipulate the sea.
But he reacted instantly.
Within this tower built entirely of gold, the Golden Emperor would never fall easily.
Tesoro raised his hand.
Behind him, the golden floor collapsed inward, while golden walls surged up ahead to block the seawater.
Boom—!
A beam of lightning shot forth.
Ren thrust with his blade, and the rising golden wall shattered instantly.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Endless lightning dissolved the layers of rising gold.
Like a god of thunder, Ren was unstoppable.
In a blink, a punch wrapped in lightning and Haki slammed into Tesoro's face.
With a teeth-grinding crack, the golden floor exploded into a massive crater.
Tesoro was sent crashing down into the lower casino, triggering waves of shrill screams.
"Th-that was… Tesoro?"
"Lord Tesoro?!"
"What's happening?! Wasn't Gran Tesoro supposed to be completely secure?!"
Countless gamblers fled the explosion site in panic.
Ren arrived at just the right moment.
With six wings spread wide, lightning poured into his sheath-wings.
Dozens upon dozens of lightning swords appeared like stars beneath the ceiling.
In the ruins hundreds of meters below, Tesoro—face dark—pushed aside debris and stood up, seething with rage.
"You bastard!"
Gone was his earlier arrogance.
Now, Tesoro was consumed by fury—and deep, gnawing fear.
If not for his long-standing habit of turning the Golden King Hotel into his personal battlefield,
he might have died just now.
Died without even understanding how.
As if he had been calculated to death—
or ensnared in a vast spider's web.
That suffocating sense of dread filled Tesoro's chest.
The Golden Emperor, who dreamed of domination, felt his fury about to burst forth.
(End of Chapter)