So much gold,
Crocodile was practically drooling over it.
"To think it's all made of gold. If all of this were converted into funds, it would be enough to arm a mid-sized country to world-class standards!!!"
She touched the gold walls, the corner of her mouth lifting as she held a cigar between her lips.
"Even if the Marines sent warships for a large-scale siege, it could definitely hold out for more than ten days!!!"
Ever since Crocodile advanced into the New World two years ago, she had been moving for her ambitions, but the New World was, after all, different from Paradise.
There were no soft persimmons like Alabasta here for her to squeeze.
Most of the territories here had long since been carved up by those guys known as the Yonko.
Without Orin stepping in to help, trying to make a name for herself alone was truly quite difficult.
Mihawk, on the other hand, showed little interest, coldly observing the surrounding luxury.
Then, with a sharp gaze, he stared toward the ground in the distance.
In the next instant, a big-headed, doll-like fellow emerged from underground together with a tall figure.
"Of course there's no problem, Crocodile..."
A hearty laugh rang out at this moment as Tesoro strode over with a smile.
"I'll personally invest ten billion Belly to support your dream. How about it?"
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Orin."
Hearing this voice, Crocodile turned around and looked at Tesoro, who was radiating an aura of wealth from head to toe.
She didn't hesitate because of his words; instead, her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Tch..."
"This money probably isn't that easy to take, is it, Tesoro?"
Tesoro heard this and smiled as the corner of his mouth lifted. Though he didn't deny it, he still explained,
"Since you're Orin's companion, even if you gave me a hundred times the guts, I wouldn't dare really do anything, right?"
"Not to mention a powerhouse like you, Crocodile~"
Mihawk crossed his arms, his hawk-like sharp eyes sweeping the surroundings, and spoke at this moment as well,
"If you were to fight here, you probably wouldn't gain the upper hand either, Crocodile. This isn't the desert..."
He evaluated it quite objectively.
"Hey!!! Mihawk, you bastard..."
Crocodile was quite displeased hearing that.
And Orin, at this moment, was looking at a few timid children by his feet, who were holding flowers and looking up at him.
"Buy a flower."
"Buy a flower, sir!"
But soon, a group of uniformed subordinates ran over and chased all the children away.
"Sorry for disturbing your pleasure, Orin-sama!!!"
The lackey bowed nervously.
Tesoro, who was talking with Crocodile and Mihawk, also noticed what happened here.
"To have something so annoying happen the moment Orin-sama enters the city — this is your incompetence..."
With a cold smile on his face, Tesoro walked over, gold surging in his hand.
He was about to kill the subordinate and the children on the spot.
And just in the instant before he made his move,
"Wait."
"Hm???"
Tesoro's pupils shrank as his body froze in place. He turned back to look at Orin, who had spoken.
"I came here to vacation and have fun, not to watch you kill people, Tesoro..."
"...I see. If that is your wish, then of course everything can be discussed."
The previously desperate lackey and the children, seeing this scene, couldn't quite believe it.
That Tesoro-sama, capricious and mercurial, who would kill people just because someone laughed before him...
Had his actions actually been stopped???
Soon, a pure-gold open-top luxury car powered by a turtle — the "Turtle Rolls-Royce" — stopped in front of Orin.
"Allow me to personally provide service for you, Orin-sama~"
The group sat in the soft and extravagantly luxurious, extremely lavish stretched limousine, leisurely taking in the street scenery on both sides.
Crocodile looked at everything on the road, with no particular expression on her face,
because she knew many things about the Gran Tesoro.
Tesoro's vast wealth did not come merely from the Gold-Gold Fruit he had eaten — after all, that was only a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, a power of control without creation.
The birth of Gran Tesoro, and Tesoro's terrifying fortune, ultimately came through other means, such as using his Devil Fruit ability to drain guests of their luck, then saddling them with debts so horrifying they could never repay them, finally reducing them to slaves who would need to work their entire lives to pay it off, or infiltrating with gold dust to control powerful pirates, thus allowing himself to manipulate them at will.
Orin, of course, also knew this.
Tesoro had used this set of methods to ruin quite a few people. That youth who once hated the Celestial Dragons for buying away his beloved with money had now become someone not much different from the Celestial Dragons themselves.
But thinking about it, it was only natural.
Even among the original Twenty Kings, were there not those who once had the world in their hearts and compassion for the people?
In the end, didn't their descendants also become Celestial Dragons?
Just as he couldn't be bothered to change the historical cycle between Celestial Dragons and the Revolutionary Army,
Orin naturally wouldn't stand from his own position to obstruct Tesoro in anything.
At least most of the people Tesoro swindled were greedy gamblers...
Thinking of this,
Orin couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Are there even any good people left under my command?
Crocodile and Doflamingo, those two usurpers of nations, had both been sent in to squat in prison one after the other, and then there was Tesoro, this black-hearted capitalist, not to mention that bunch of freaks and monsters in the underworld...
"Forget it, too lazy to care."
Mihawk beside him heard the movement and turned his head to look at Orin's profile.
"What did you say?"
"I said... how about going to play that, Hawk Eyes?"
"Hm???"
Hearing Orin's words, the other three in the car all looked over, only to see a long racetrack spanning half of the Gran Tesoro.
"No-rules racing?"
Seeing that name, the other three all wore strange expressions.
Orin going to participate in a racing competition?
"Hey!!! You bastard!!!"
Crocodile clenched her fist and complained.
Scene change...
Orin, Mihawk, and Crocodile were already inside a race car, though the fully enclosed cabin made it impossible to see the people inside.
"Starting!!!"
Crocodile sat in the driver's seat, veins popping on her face.
Why did she have to take part in something like this?!!!
And Tesoro, at this moment, stood at the highest point of the golden grandstand, watching the race on the track where cars constantly blinked forward with Warp-Warp Fruit-like movements to overtake, occasionally releasing two slashes. He could only break into a cold sweat.
It was only when news came from his subordinates that his attention was diverted.
"Tesoro-sama, the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates is approaching."
"Oh~ the Straw Hat Pirates who defeated Doflamingo?"
Tesoro interlaced his fingers, pulling a few degrees of a smile onto his face.
"Just in time... Orin-sama won't have to worry about being bored anymore."