Inside the entertainment district of Gran Tesoro—
chaos had fully erupted.
Noise, shouting, and screams echoed endlessly through the magnificent gambling hall, reverberating beneath its golden ceiling.
Clink— clink—
Chips of every color, each worth a fortune, scattered across the floor amid the panicked crowd, ringing out with crisp metallic sounds.
Some people were desperately rushing for the exits.
But even more were frantically scrambling across the floor, grabbing every fallen chip and bundle of cash they could find.
Once one person started looting—
others quickly followed.
The entire hall descended into a frenzy of grabbing and fighting.
Large sections of the casino were being destroyed so rapidly that the staff had no way to suppress it.
In fact—
quite a few of them had simply joined in the looting themselves.
Crack!
The sound of a giant golden pillar breaking rang out through the chaos.
The massive column tilted and crashed directly into the crowd below.
Screams exploded everywhere.
Blood splattered.
Bodies were crushed.
Yet such a gruesome scene did not instill fear.
Instead—
the chunks of gold scattered by the collapse immediately drew even more people into a crazed scramble.
Every face was twisted with greed and madness.
The casino had always been built from a massive amount of gold.
Before his death, Golden Emperor Gild Tesoro had activated the awakened power of the Gold-Gold Fruit, mobilizing nearly all the gold across Gran Tesoro.
Now that the gold had been violently pulled away from countless structures—
their internal frameworks had become unstable.
Walls collapsed.
Floors cracked.
Entire sections of the city began crumbling.
And now—
Tesoro was dead.
Though the moving gold had stopped—
the damage it had already caused remained.
Some of the softer masses of gold, now no longer controlled, solidified in midair and dropped like meteorites.
No one would ever have imagined that one day—
they might literally be crushed to death by gold.
Crash! Crack!
Buildings collapsed one after another across the city.
The treasure everyone desired had become a murder weapon.
Whenever a heavy chunk of gold fell into a crowd—
it instantly smashed those beneath into pulp.
"What's going on?!"
"Run!"
"Damn it, that gold is mine—don't touch it!!"
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots and furious shouting erupted one after another.
Behind an overturned gaming table in one corner of the casino—
a figure sat calmly on the floor, observing the chaos.
He took a swig from an expensive bottle of red wine, then pulled out a small Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
Messy green hair.
A wrinkled white suit worn half-open.
A short, somewhat shabby frame.
The entire man gave off a drunken, decadent air.
Yet his eyes remained perfectly clear.
This man was none other than the super gambler Dice.
"Hello? Tesoro is dead."
The moment the call connected, Dice spoke directly.
Silence.
For several long moments—
nothing came from the other side.
Clearly, the sudden news had left the listener stunned.
"Are you certain?"
A low, shocked voice finally replied.
It had already regained its composure.
A flying apple suddenly shot across the ruined casino.
Whoosh!
Dice casually snatched it from the air and bit into it.
"How could I joke about something like this?"
he said, words slightly muffled by the bite.
The person on the other end quickly recovered.
"Can you determine who made the move?"
"Not for certain."
"But not long ago, the Magic Eye Pirates clashed with Tesoro."
"They captured Mr. Tanaka, one of his top three executives."
Dice swallowed the apple and answered calmly.
"I see…"
"The balance of power in the New World may be about to shift."
The voice paused—
then suddenly sharpened.
"With Tesoro dead, the Magic Eye Pirates don't have nearly enough manpower to control Gran Tesoro in the short term."
"That kind of wealth…"
"If we can seize even part of it, it will be a huge boost to the Revolutionary Army."
Dice let out a low chuckle.
"That's exactly why I called."
"But don't get excited too early, Dragon."
"We're not the only ones with agents on this ship."
"I'll dispatch personnel immediately."
"Keep watching the situation."
"Don't engage the Magic Eye Pirates directly…"
"Though causing some trouble is acceptable."
"Delay their takeover for as long as possible."
Dragon's voice was serious.
At that same moment—
many others aboard Gran Tesoro had also realized what had happened.
Especially those familiar with Tesoro's powers.
The moment the moving gold stopped—
and the golden dust on their bodies lost its effect—
they instantly understood.
Agents from every faction—
the Revolutionary Army, the Marines, the World Government, underground organizations—
all began urgently sending reports.
The chaos aboard Gran Tesoro intensified further.
Especially the pirates.
Many of them had been forced into Tesoro's service after gambling away everything.
Now that the gold dust's restraints had vanished—
there was no way they would simply let things go.
Some wanted revenge.
Others wanted gold.
Most wanted both.
At the top floor of the Golden Hotel—
Yuuki's Observation Haki easily covered the entirety of Gran Tesoro.
Every hidden force aboard—
Revolutionaries, Marines, Government agents—
was completely exposed before him.
Seeing them intentionally fan the flames and worsen the disorder—
his eyes turned cold.
Originally—
he had no intention of dealing with them.
Anyone who wanted to leave by ship would simply be allowed through a route Conrad opened.
But clearly—
none of them intended to leave.
Trying to profit from the chaos?
Or do they think I can't control Gran Tesoro in the short term?
A deep, majestic voice suddenly thundered across the sky.
"I am the Magician Yuuki."
"From this moment onward, I am the new master of Gran Tesoro."
"And your new king."
The entire city froze.
The chaos abruptly stopped.
"All residents of this city—"
"Every debt you owed up until this moment…"
"Is hereby erased."
Those lifeless figures who had once wandered like walking corpses—
their eyes suddenly trembled.
Hope returned.
"And now—"
"All outsiders, gather immediately at the central plaza."
"Anyone who disobeys…"
"Dies."
The moment the final word echoed through the sky—
blinding white light burst upward from the Golden Hotel.
In an instant—
it spread across the entirety of Gran Tesoro.
Light Magic: Judgment Light Swords!
Countless swords of light extended from the heavens.
They hung above every person on the ship.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Everyone stared upward in terror.
The dense sea of light swords floating above them looked ready to fall at any second.
The suffocating sense of death wrapped around every heart.
Dice swallowed hard beneath a streetlamp.
His throat moved visibly.
Perhaps…
he had been far too optimistic.
If those swords came down—
everyone here would die.
Elsewhere, on the main street—
Buggy and the others were leading guards gathered by Mr. Tanaka, attempting to restore order.
But now—
with the sky full of light swords—
every troublemaking pirate had gone completely still.
"So, this is Lord Yuuki's power…"
Tanaka's voice trembled.
"Every time I see Captain fight seriously…"
"It makes me feel completely powerless."
Cabaji murmured with reverence.
Mohji nodded heavily.
Marianne glanced up at the sky and let out a quiet sigh.
"That makes it sound like we've ever seen the captain use his full strength."
Cabaji and Mohji both froze.
She was right.
They had never seen Yuuki go all out.
Buggy, however, grinned while playing with a fist-sized chunk of gold.
"What are you sighing for?"
"The problems already solved."
"As expected, the moment Captain steps in, everyone behaves."
Marianne's expression remained cold.
"I'm sighing because we haven't contributed much at all."
"He suppressed the entire city in moments."
"Doesn't that just prove how useless we are?"
"If this continues…"
"One day the captain might abandon us."
The expressions of Buggy, Cabaji, and Mohji changed instantly.
Even Buggy suddenly felt the gold in his hand lose its appeal.
"Did any of you notice what the captain said earlier?"
Marianne asked quietly.
Buggy and Mohji looked blank.
Cabaji, however, frowned.
"You mean… the part about being the new king?"
"Exactly."
Marianne gave him an approving glance.
"Whether the captain wants to become Pirate King…"
"Or an actual king…"
"I want to witness it."
"And paint it."
Her eyes turned cold.
"So, anyone who stands in his way…"
"Dies."
She turned to Tanaka.
"You'll take part of the guards and come with me."
"There are definitely some people who won't obediently head to the plaza."
"Buggy, Cabaji, Mohji—"
"Take the rest to the plaza."
"The captain gathered everyone for a reason."
This time—
Buggy did not argue.
"Leave the plaza to us!"
With the entire city subdued by the floating swords—
Yuuki withdrew his attention.
Since these people had no intention of leaving—
then they would stay.
As laborers.
Perfect for repairing the damage across Gran Tesoro.
At the same time—
Yuuki had already begun researching a large-scale Runic Array formation that could use the Luck Fruit's power to harvest "luck" on a massive scale.
Fortunately—
he still had the Dictionary of Word Soul Magic Runes from the Black Clover world.
Without it, constructing a super-large magic script array from scratch would have been nearly impossible.
Meanwhile—
the shocking news of Tesoro's death and Gran Tesoro's change of ownership spread rapidly across the world.
Marine Headquarters
"Yes."
"Yes, I understand."
"Would it be possible to prepare two plans at once?"
"My meaning is… ever since Crocodile's disappearance and presumed death…"
"The Shichibukai seat has remained vacant…"
Sengoku slowly lowered the Den Den Mushi.
A headache was written all over his face.
The call had naturally come from the World Government.
The fallout from the Sabaody Incident had not even fully settled—
and now the reappearing Magic Eye Pirates had caused another disaster.
Compared to Sabaody—
the loss of Gran Tesoro was even more enraging to the World Government.
Especially the Celestial Dragons.
After all—
a significant portion of their income came from the tribute Tesoro paid.
But there was an even more important matter at hand.
If handled properly—
it could completely reshape the balance of power in the New World.
It might even erase the negative impact caused by the Magic Eye Pirates.
Still—
they could not ignore Yuuki.
The Magic Eye Pirates had already demonstrated terrifying ambition and strength.
Sengoku could clearly feel the threat they posed.
Fortunately—
their manpower remained limited.
The true threat was still only one person.
The Mage Yuuki.
But now—
with Gran Tesoro's enormous wealth in his hands—
if he put that money to use…
he could rapidly expand into a force on the level of the Four Emperors.
Crunch.
Crunch.
A loud, irritating chewing sound came from the sofa nearby.
A vein popped on Sengoku's forehead.
"Could you keep it down, Garp?!"
He slammed the desk.
Garp laughed heartily from the couch, casually tossing senbei into his mouth.
"Did I bother you?"
Sengoku pressed a hand to his forehead.
"You…"
Garp looked over lazily.
"Running into trouble again?"
"Want me to handle it?"
"No."
Sengoku's eyes instantly sharpened.
"For the time being, your leave is over."
"You are staying at Marine Headquarters."
He paused.
His expression softened.
There was clearly more he wanted to say—
but in the end, he swallowed the words.
Only a quiet sigh escaped him.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Garp continued eating in silence.
For once—
his face showed no expression at all.
(End of Chapter)
Next Bonus Chapter at 5600 powerstones.