"Win the entire Gran Tesoro? What an absolutely insane idea!"
Upon hearing the mission assigned by Vegapunk, Baccarat licked her lips, a look of extreme excitement appearing on her face.
In the past, without anyone to back her up, even with her heaven-defying Devil Fruit ability, Baccarat wouldn't have dared to play for such high stakes, but now...
Gran Tesoro was already hers for the taking!
"But before that, let's first strengthen your Luck-Luck Fruit ability!"
Vegapunk looked at the excited Baccarat, his face showing the interest one feels upon seeing an excellent specimen, which made Baccarat shudder slightly, giving her an inexplicably strange feeling.
...
For Vegapunk, who now had experience, awakening Baccarat's Luck-Luck Fruit really wasn't that difficult a task.
Especially since this type of Paramecia-type Devil Fruit basically had no backlash; while awakening was difficult, once it began, it could almost always be completed successfully.
Of course, creating an artificial version of a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, especially one with such heaven-defying effects, was not easy, but fortunately, simply extracting the power from it and then strengthening the Devil Fruit itself was much simpler.
The awakening of the Luck-Luck Fruit did not require any specific physical strength or mental willpower, so Baccarat didn't need to do what Luffy did—training her body and mind before undergoing the awakening experiment.
On the contrary, during the month or so that Vegapunk spent extracting some blood from Baccarat, separating the Devil Fruit power, and cultivating the Artificial Devil Fruit, Baccarat instead became a tour guide, leading a group of people directly to Gran Tesoro for fun.
As Nami put it, although they were about to make a move on Gran Tesoro soon, that didn't stop them from enjoying a couple of trips there beforehand.
Even Vegapunk, after separating the Devil Fruit energy, was dragged out by Hancock and Stella to head to Gran Tesoro for some leisure.
Anyway, everything regarding the Artificial Devil Fruit had long since become an assembly line; during the stabilization process of the Devil Fruit energy, everything basically relied on machines, so it didn't matter if Vegapunk himself wasn't there.
Besides, even though Vegapunk was not who he used to be, it was easy for Hancock to drag him along by force...
On the beach, Vegapunk lay on a lounge chair, looking lazy as he watched a group of women playing volleyball.
Of course, the main players were Carina, Nami, Baccarat, and Kozuki Toki.
As for the others, their combat power was a bit too high; never mind monsters like Hancock, even Stella and Nico Robin could turn a volleyball game into "killer volleyball."
"How is it, Boss? Does it look good!? Can you tell whose figure is the best?"
Stella, wearing a white swimsuit, sat down beside Vegapunk and asked with a grin. While laughing, Stella squeezed in next to Vegapunk, unscrupulously pointing out the figures of the women playing ball:
"That Lady Toki has the most voluptuous figure, probably because she is already a mother, but fortunately, Boss, you had her put into suspended animation for nearly 20 years, so she is still in her prime..."
"Hmm, the newly joined Carina and Baccarat are also quite good, but Nami is the youngest, and her figure is developing rapidly. In another two or three years, Nami should have the best figure!"
As the women were active on the beach, sweat flowing and curves swaying, Stella stared with wide, unblinking eyes.
Vegapunk looked helplessly at Stella beside him; he had now completely realized that this Queen of the Pleasure District was absolutely a lesbian, except when it came to him.
It was no wonder Stella had secretly become the Queen of the Pleasure District; logically, the position of boss of the Umbrella Corporation was much stronger than that of the Queen of the Pleasure District.
In the past, Vegapunk had thought Stella did it for intelligence, but now it seemed she only did it for her own hobbies.
"Then what do you think of my figure?"
A cold, arrogant voice rang in Stella's ear. Stella's expression stiffened slightly, and when she looked up, she saw Hancock in her swimsuit.
"Uh... Queen Hancock's figure is, of course, the best among all women! How could anyone else compare to you?!"
Stella didn't hesitate, unscrupulously flattering her. Even this somewhat strong-willed lesbian knew that as the Queen of the Pleasure District, she was nothing in front of Hancock, the true queen.
Hancock let out a soft, cold snort and lifted her head: "You don't need to tell me that; everyone should already know! How could you mere mortals compare to my beauty?"
Hearing Hancock's words, Stella didn't get angry; instead, she looked at the haughty Hancock with a hint of infatuation. However, Hancock didn't react much; after all, too many people looked at her with such gazes, both men and women, and Stella was no different.
However, Stella was clearly different from those other admirers of Hancock. Her soft, boneless body wrapped around Vegapunk, and she leaned close to Vegapunk's ear, exhaling a faint, sweet fragrance, and whispered: "Boss, when you play with Hancock, will you include me?"
Vegapunk almost rolled his eyes and patted Stella: "You really have a death wish... If Hancock wanted to kill you, I wouldn't be able to stop her!"
"But if you, Boss, are willing, Hancock would definitely be willing..."
With an alluring smile on her face, Stella said seductively near Vegapunk's earlobe: "By the way, Boss, do you have no interest in the newly joined ones? If you are willing to include me, I can be responsible for helping you send them to your room!"
Vegapunk's breathing quickened instantly; what executive could resist this temptation? The hand he had originally placed on Stella's back stroked downward, making the smile on Stella's face even sweeter.
In short, after more than half a month of enjoyment, debauchery, and the comfort of beautiful women, Vegapunk finally managed to tear himself away through sheer willpower and returned to the laboratory.
By this time, the Luck-Luck Fruit energy separated from Baccarat's blood and body tissues had stabilized. All that was left was to extract the Luck-Luck Fruit from within Baccarat and inject this energy into the Luck-Luck Fruit, which would create a Luck-Luck Fruit that could directly cause awakening.
Having already conducted several experiments, there were no surprises this time either. After a few hours, Baccarat completely awakened her Luck-Luck Fruit ability.
The fully awakened Luck-Luck Fruit ability had the effect of extracting others' luck over a wide range, though the speed was far less rapid than direct physical contact.
With direct physical contact, no matter how much luck the opponent had, it could be drained instantly, whereas remote extraction required a process. Under Baccarat's full operation, it took about a minute for ordinary people. The stronger the strength, the higher the resistance; if it were an Admiral, it would probably take a whole day to drain all their luck.
But this was already a terrifying ability. Just after awakening, Baccarat's extraction range was already over a thousand meters. In other words, Baccarat could randomly extract anyone's luck within a thousand-meter radius centered on herself, or even extract everyone's luck directly, almost like a small domain.
This was just after awakening, so there should still be plenty of room for development. According to Vegapunk's estimation, there shouldn't be any bottleneck issues until this domain developed to cover the entire Gran Tesoro.
By then, even if Baccarat did nothing and sat in Gran Tesoro every day, she could directly extract the luck of everyone in Gran Tesoro.
Of course, for the sake of sustainability, it would certainly not be possible to drain the opponent's luck completely like now; draining half the luck of people like those gamblers in a day would be more than enough.
With the help of a large amount of luck, Vegapunk already had a premonition that many of his studies would see breakthrough progress.
...
All along, although Baccarat had been living like a fish in water in Gran Tesoro thanks to her Luck-Luck Fruit ability, she had always been very low-key, with at most rumors in Gran Tesoro about the "Red-Haired Goddess of Luck."
Although the Golden Emperor Tesoro had perfect control over Gran Tesoro, with Baccarat's ability, if she really wanted to cover it up, just like how it was hard for Vegapunk to find Baccarat before, Tesoro naturally could not discover the essence of Baccarat's ability.
Of course, the Luck-Luck Fruit was not omnipotent. When Baccarat began to truly exert herself, preparing to gamble and win Gran Tesoro, she naturally no longer hid her edge. At this point, if Tesoro still couldn't discover it, then the Luck-Luck Fruit should be called the Intelligence-Lowering Fruit.
The largest casino in Gran Tesoro, with crystal chandeliers on the ceiling, resplendent golden sculptures, fountains sprinkling gold dust, pretty dealers in revealing outfits, and a large number of coming-and-going, well-dressed gamblers, formed a luxurious and lively scene.
Baccarat swayed gracefully as she slowly walked in, a proud, queen-like smile on her face. After seeing Baccarat, the gamblers in the casino all cleared a path, looking at this red-haired beauty with reverent eyes.
There were many beauties in Gran Tesoro; unless they reached the level of Hancock, ordinary beauties here, even if they received a little attention, would absolutely not have this effect of clearing the area.
Vegapunk had been wandering around Gran Tesoro for so many days with a large group of his own beauties without attracting attention; while this was certainly due to the influence of Baccarat's Luck-Luck Fruit, it also showed that the customers of Gran Tesoro were used to seeing beauties.
The reason these customers now looked at Baccarat with such reverence was naturally because Baccarat, no longer hiding herself, had easily won tens of billions of Berries in Gran Tesoro relying on her own incredible and terrifying luck!
"Miss Baccarat, please, this way!"
Several waiters with stiff faces and sweaty foreheads walked directly to Baccarat, guiding her toward the central VIP table.
"It seems there are some new tricks today! Who is gambling against me? By the way, the one who gambled against me last time was already the number one gambling expert in Gran Tesoro, right?"
Baccarat asked casually with a smile on her face, but it made the waiters walk stiffly. After finally finishing the last stretch of the way, the group arrived at the largest gambling table.
Baccarat sat down easily and scanned her surroundings. When she saw a tall, domineering man covered in gold jewelry, a smile immediately appeared on her face: "To think it's actually the Golden Emperor himself; I am truly terrified and honored!"
Indeed, that trendy, golden-shining man was none other than the user of the Gold-Gold Fruit, the owner of Gran Tesoro, the Golden Emperor Tesoro!
"Miss Baccarat is no mere young woman; no young woman could earn tens of billions of Berries from Gran Tesoro! Just yesterday, Miss Baccarat even forced the gambling master I hired at a high price to have a heart attack, vomit blood, and die!"
Baccarat had already won tens of billions from the entire Gran Tesoro, and Tesoro was no fool; naturally, he had already realized that the other party was coming for him. It would be strange if he didn't show up.
Hearing Tesoro's words, Baccarat covered her mouth and chuckled: "So, that gambling master is dead? What a pity! His heart is too small; didn't he just lose a dozen times in a row, losing over 7 billion Berries?"
"Then today, is Mr. Tesoro prepared to step out personally and have a gamble with me?"
Tesoro waved his hand and said indifferently: "Forget it, I won't ask for trouble. My gambling skills are not refined, and I cannot compare to Miss Baccarat. I came here this time because I have other matters to discuss with Miss Baccarat!"
"I wonder if Miss Baccarat is interested in joining Gran Tesoro?"
"Join Gran Tesoro? That sounds quite good. How are the benefits?"
Baccarat looked at the Golden Emperor Tesoro with a smile that was not quite a smile: "Besides, I have won tens of billions of Berries from Gran Tesoro, but I don't know how these Berries will be calculated after I join Gran Tesoro?"
"Miss Baccarat, you are joking!"
A sinister smile appeared on Tesoro's originally serious face, and his voice carried a touch of coldness: "You don't really think that after taking tens of billions of Berries, you can leave Gran Tesoro without any worries, do you?"
"There are many pirates on the sea, and Gran Tesoro is a place where all kinds of people mingle. Perhaps Miss Baccarat has already been targeted; if you are robbed by pirates after leaving, the loss would be more than just Berries!"
"Is that so? I thought it was Gran Tesoro that didn't want me to leave!"
"However, if it's only pirates, then please rest assured, Mr. Tesoro! I still have a little bit of self-preservation ability."
"If that really doesn't work, once I win the entire Gran Tesoro, then I won't have to leave, will I?"
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