Under their captain's gaze, the atmosphere turned slightly awkward.
Cabaji and Mohji stammered, clearly having made little progress with their Haki training.
Shame was written plainly across their faces.
Any pirate capable of reaching the New World generally possessed Haki.
And among the troublemakers aboard Gran Tesoro, there had been no shortage of skilled Haki users.
Yuuki had already emphasized the importance of Haki to them long before this.
If they wished to gain a foothold in the New World, mastering Haki was absolutely essential.
For Cabaji and the others, those troublesome pirates had naturally been the best sparring partners for honing it.
One glance at their expressions was enough for Yuuki to understand the result.
His gaze then shifted to Marianne.
Whoosh!
Marianne raised her left arm.
An invisible force gathered around her hand, and in the blink of an eye, black Armament Haki covered her entire palm.
"Captain, this is the most I can do at the moment."
Her breathing had become slightly hurried.
At present, her use of Armament Haki was still far too immature.
Even activating it at full power was clearly something she had yet to fully master.
Seeing her display, Yuuki nodded in satisfaction.
Of the three, it was no surprise that Marianne had been the first to grasp Haki.
After all, she had been born with the peculiar ability to hypnotize others.
That naturally stronger-than-average mental strength made her far faster than ordinary people at cultivating both Armament and Observation Haki.
Even so—
being able to grasp Haki in such a short time still exceeded Yuuki's expectations.
From this alone, it was clear that Marianne's natural talent far surpassed that of Cabaji and Mohji.
"Very good."
Yuuki smiled as he looked at her.
"I had originally planned to make the trip myself."
"But since you've already gained a basic command of Haki, I'll leave it to you instead."
As he spoke, Yuuki waved a hand toward Cabaji and Mohji, signaling that they could leave.
The two immediately bowed respectfully.
But in the corners of their eyes lingered unmistakable emotions of envy and unwillingness as they glanced at Marianne.
This was a task personally assigned by the captain.
That alone spoke volumes—
not only of the task's difficulty,
but also, of the captain's regard for Marianne.
At that thought, both Cabaji and Mohji couldn't help but regret not dedicating more of their time to Haki training over the past few days.
After all, the dazzling and intoxicating entertainment city aboard Gran Tesoro was far too easy to get lost in.
Once the two had left the top floor, Yuuki asked Marianne for her Magic Eye Cross.
Into it, he stored a portion of spatial magic.
"Sense it again."
"You should now be able to detect two coordinates inside the cross."
"One is Gran Tesoro."
"The other is the destination you'll be heading to."
Yuuki tossed the Magic Eye Cross back to her and spoke calmly.
Marianne hurriedly caught it and infused it with magic power.
Sure enough, she immediately sensed a coordinate.
"This target is a Logia Devil Fruit user."
"His ability is the manipulation of lightning."
"If you haven't mastered Haki, dealing with him can be troublesome."
"Bring him back alive."
Yuuki paused briefly before continuing.
"In addition, you'll encounter a pirate crew known as the Straw Hat Pirates."
"Bring back the long-nosed pirate named Usopp as well."
Then he said simply:
"Go."
"Yes, Captain!"
Marianne's expression sharpened as she immediately bowed.
The next moment—
Bzzzt!
A silver-white glow burst from the Magic Eye Cross in her hand.
Marianne vanished from the hall.
Yuuki watched the spot where she had disappeared for a moment before withdrawing his gaze.
With the Straw Hats' current strength, they were still no match for Marianne.
The only mildly troublesome opponent would be Enel, the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
But—
if even rubber did not conduct electricity,
then surely wax wouldn't either.
Snap.
At the sound of a finger snap, silver light flickered beside him.
The corpse of the "Golden Emperor" Gild Tesoro emerged from a spatial corridor under Yuuki's control.
"Let's begin."
Yuuki murmured softly.
Over the past few days, his research into a Runic Array formation capable of extracting the force known as "luck" had begun to take shape.
Now came the next step—
engraving that formation into gold itself.
Under the control of Corpse Spirit Magic, Tesoro's corpse crouched down and pressed both hands against the floor.
RUMBLE!
In an instant, all the gold within the hall began to flow like waves.
Then, at a stable speed, it started circulating throughout the room.
Yuuki took a slow breath.
His eyes turned serious.
He mobilized the magic power within his body and channeled it into his arm.
At his fingertip, a small silver flame-like mass of magic condensed.
Ssshhh!
Yuuki extended his finger and began carving an enormous number of intricate Runic Array characters into the flowing gold at astonishing speed.
His plan was to first enchant all the gold in this hall.
Then gradually extend it throughout the Golden Hotel.
Finally—
using the hotel as the core,
connect the entirety of Gran Tesoro.
Once complete,
everyone who set foot upon Gran Tesoro would have their luck silently siphoned away, eventually gathering at the very top of the Golden Hotel—
the place where he stood.
Because of the nature of magic, combined with the unique intangible force known as luck, even masters of Observation Haki would be unable to perceive what was happening.
The only flaw was the sheer scale of Gran Tesoro.
For Yuuki alone to complete all of this would require a considerable amount of time.
Cabaji and the others, who also possessed magic power, could assist with some of the simpler enchantment work—
but since this concerned the evolution of his grimoire, Yuuki had no intention of entrusting any part of it to anyone else.
Fortunately—
time was the one thing he currently lacked no shortage of.
While most of Yuuki's focus was immersed in the process of enchanting the gold—
outside Gran Tesoro, the sea was another matter entirely.
Upon the storm-tossed ocean, four colossal whirlpools surrounded Gran Tesoro from all four directions.
The terrifying rotational force swallowed anything that came near.
Upon closer inspection, one could even make out streaks of blood-red within the vortex centers.
This situation meant that no ship could leave Gran Tesoro—
and likewise, no one could approach it.
From before dawn, one powerful pirate crew after another had begun appearing in these waters.
As time passed, the number of pirate ships only continued to grow.
If one were to look outward from Gran Tesoro, the fleet might not yet be "dense"—
but it was already more than enough to inspire dread.
Because every single pirate flag fluttering in the sea breeze belonged to a renowned crew—
all of them first-rate pirates famous throughout the New World.
Not long ago, some of the earlier arrivals had already clashed violently over old grudges.
But as more and more ships gathered, those chaotic battles had gradually died down.
Everyone knew exactly why they were here.
For the immense fortune aboard Gran Tesoro.
The more opponents there were, the less treasure each would receive.
Conflict was inevitable.
But now, what truly troubled them was not the number of rivals—
it was the fact that they could not approach Gran Tesoro at all.
The gigantic whirlpools ahead were enough to tear any ship to pieces.
Every pirate here felt as though they held a treasure map in their hands—
but lacked the single most crucial clue.
"Damn it!!"
"No wonder they've stayed in these waters instead of leaving—they had this prepared!"
"Bastards! Just charge through the whirlpool!"
"You idiot! If you want to die, fine, but I'm not dying with you!"
"A Devil Fruit that manipulates sea currents… this is the first time I've seen something like this."
"...!"
Shouts, curses, and furious yelling erupted from every direction across the surrounding pirate ships.
Though everyone had confidence in their own strength, none dared challenge the power of the sea so recklessly.
With whirlpools of that size, even if they themselves managed to break free—
their ships, and likely part of their crews, would be torn apart and swallowed.
Especially for Devil Fruit users, the danger was even greater.
In this tense deadlock, pirates continued to shout and provoke—
yet not a single crew dared take the first step.
Of course—
not one of them chose to leave either.
The wealth aboard Gran Tesoro was simply too enormous.
It was a succulent slab of meat laid bare before starving beasts.
And while the captain of the Magic Eye Pirates possessed strength comparable to an Admiral—
his crew numbers were far too few.
Faced with the united hunt of so many pirate crews gathered here,
everyone believed the Magic Eye Pirates could not possibly hold out.
The only real problem—
was how to break through the colossal whirlpools first.
(End of Chapter)
Next Bonus Chapter at 5600 powerstones.