"This guy… is it because of the luck ability? Ren seems to need luck quite a lot."
Off to the side, Vivi kept glancing at Baccarat, a trace of curiosity and scrutiny in her eyes.
The woman really was beautiful—almost fairy-like.
But Vivi didn't believe Ren had taken Baccarat from Tesoro just because of her looks.
That kind of jealousy only came from women whose minds were filled with romance.
Vivi thought she was confident enough in herself. And even if Baccarat joined the "competition," given her background and origins, Ren probably wouldn't treat her as one of his own anytime soon.
Unless Baccarat proved herself through action.
Still, Vivi couldn't suppress her curiosity. While manipulating sand to harvest pirates, she quietly moved closer to Ren, who was idly flipping a coin between his fingers.
"Will she… really be useful?" Vivi asked.
"If her luck only benefits herself, then for me it's just another tool—assuming she can awaken," Ren replied calmly."But if she does awaken, then based on Paramecia awakening traits, she should be able to bestow luck onto others.
You know what my Devil Fruit ability is. I have a need for luck."
He gave a brief explanation, his gaze settling on the coin in his hand.
The reason Baccarat was alive—or rather, the reason he had demanded her from Tesoro—boiled down to only two things.
Or really, just one.
Luck.
The most valuable aspect was, of course, the Luck-Luck Fruit as a Paramecia awakening—one that could affect the outside world, possibly even permanently.
Beyond that, there was also the principle behind how he had won the gamble.
In the earlier gambling match,[Gambler's Misfortune] had demonstrated extremely strong effects.
But there was something crucial to note: Baccarat had used her ability and had touched Ren.
The reason her Luck-Luck Fruit failed wasn't complicated.
The primary reason was that Ren was in his Six-Winged Angel state.
Yes—
That form that looked like nothing more than a flashy, purely aesthetic transformation.
The key point lay in one effect:
"While equipped, the wearer is in a state of non-interference and non-influence."
That was Ren's confidence in daring to make contact—because the angelic armor blocked interference entirely.
As for why, in terms of touch and sight, it still looked like they were interlocking fingers—
That was because of a function Ren had discovered through experimentation… or perhaps one that had always existed.
Appearance Concealment.
Simply put, the Six-Winged Angel equipment could be visually hidden while still remaining equipped.
In other words, from the very beginning, Baccarat never actually touched him.
As for why she later became so unlucky—
That was because what she truly touched was this coin: [Gambler's Misfortune].
The coin had only two traits:
Misfortune: Sacrifice part of the user's luck to impose misfortune on a designated target at five times the efficiency.
Dulled Mind: Causes the target to be entangled in misfortune, inducing a gambler's mentality and state.
In theory, it should not have affected the Luck-Luck Fruit at all.
But—
Ren had discovered a bizarre way to exploit it.
He realized he could issue commands to the coin. Or rather, the coin's default owner was himself.
However, anyone who touched it would also be considered a "user"—just without command authority.
So he exploited a loophole.
Baccarat "dispelled" Gambler's Misfortune and was judged as a user.
Ren then issued the command to activate Misfortune, sacrificing Baccarat's luck and applying it… to Baccarat herself.
As a result, not only did she fail to steal any luck—she became catastrophically unlucky instead.
And from this, an even more terrifying application could be derived.
Let Baccarat siphon luck from "materials," then use Gambler's Misfortune to sacrifice her luck.
Then Ren could activate Misfortune—
Imposing it on enemies without consuming his own luck at all.
Of course,
All of this hinged on one prerequisite.
Baccarat's performance.
What awaited her next was the same method Ren had refined earlier… on Monet.
No matter how arrogant he was, Ren would never trust a former enemy without safeguards.
Before long,
The temporal fog completed its harvest and condensed back into a black-gold card, flying into Ren's hand.
A staggering amount of time-unit reserves appeared on the interface.
Honestly speaking,
This outcome had exceeded Ren's original plan.
At first, he'd only intended to complete a transaction with Tesoro—at most, using seawater to hold him at bay.
It was only due to how events unfolded, and a rare, perfectly timed opportunity, that things escalated into such a near-total victory.
At that moment,
Tesoro, cigar clenched between his teeth, interrupted Ren's thoughts.
"The rest is Beli, right?""You should know—at the top of the Golden King Hotel, there are hundreds of billions of Beli stored.
For thieves and burglars, that's an absolute treasure.
Of course, it's also one of my amusements. You don't need to perform like some monkey.
But that money is prepared as Heavenly Tribute. Before you complete that gamble, it won't all be touched.
So—name your price."
"Fifty billion," Ren said flatly.
"…The legendary Ope-Ope Fruit, said to grant immortality, was only priced at five billion by the World Government.
If you could bring me two or three of those, maybe I'd agree."
"The Ope-Ope Fruit has already been eaten. And Devil Fruits are unique."
"Then how dare you name that price?My next Heavenly Tribute is Five Hundred Billion. You're asking for one-tenth of it?!
That's enough to buy a small country—do you even understand that?!"
Tesoro's face darkened.If not for the Seastone cuffs, he'd have already lunged at Ren.
"I just think… there's no second Tesoro in this world," Ren replied calmly.
"…Hmph. Thirty billion."
"Deal."
Ren had started high on purpose. Thirty billion was already an excellent price in his book.
Naturally,
He had no intention of taking all of it in cash—some was left behind, the rest converted.
Throughout the process,
Tesoro, still wearing Seastone cuffs, watched in silence as the money vanished.
There was nothing left to say.
He wanted to know why Ren wasn't affected by seawater, how he could even summon it.
He wanted to know why Seastone didn't work.
But until the final wager concluded, Ren would never tell him.
Time passed quickly.
The weather ship returned to Gran Tesoro, and under Vivi's coordination, everything wrapped up in an orderly manner.
Ren handed off responsibility entirely, preparing to focus on the lottery system.
Below—
Tesoro stood where he was, watching the weather ship rise into the sky.
The Seastone cuffs were gone now, yet he made no move to attack.
Beside him, Tanaka hesitated for a long moment before speaking.
"Lord Tesoro… we—"
"Shut up."
"…Yes."
"Ren, huh?"Tesoro murmured softly, his expression unreadable."Maybe… he'll bring a different kind of color to this world."
Just then, the Den-Den Mushi in his coat rang.
Buru~ Buru~ Click.
The moment it connected, it transformed into the face of a flamboyant pink-clad man.
"Fufufufu… Tesoro, it's been a while—"
The voice crackled with rushing air, then suddenly stabilized.
"Doflamingo?" Tesoro narrowed his eyes.
The Donquixote Family's reach spanned the world—it was only natural they had dealings.
In fact, they'd once been enemies.
After all, Tesoro's Gold-Gold Fruit had been stolen from one of Doflamingo's auctions.
"Cut the crap," Doflamingo snapped."I heard some bastard named Ren caused a huge mess at your place?"
High above the clouds, Doflamingo halted mid-air.
Looking closely, one would see invisible threads anchoring his body to the sky.
Tesoro thought for a moment, then replied coldly,"Yeah. He took my money."
"?" Doflamingo frowned. "Compared to how aggressive you used to be, you've really gone soft."
"If he were that easy to deal with, how did your subordinate fall on Jaya?
That Pica guy—his techniques were way too flashy. We've clashed before—"
"Shut up!" Doflamingo roared."Do you want me to bring up that incident from before you made your name?!"
"I've moved past it, Doflamingo," Tesoro said quietly, gazing in the direction the weather ship had vanished.
"I don't care about your rambling. I need to find that bastard Ren."
"You'd better learn how to precisely track a flying ship across endless skies from ten thousand meters up."
"??"
—
At the same time,
In the New World, on Punk Hazard—
Kuma arrived at an abandoned research facility.
He opened a dust-covered room.
And there it was.
The fruit Ren had spoken of.
It sat inside a transparent glass container, as if it were something completely worthless.
"…Is this it?"
Kuma stared at the fruit with a complicated expression.
Before opening the door, part of him had hoped there would be no fruit—because that would mean Ren's prophecy was wrong.
Another part of him hoped it would be there—after all, he himself had awakened Conqueror's Haki because of it.
Reality chose the latter.
The fruit truly existed.
"Is this… fate?"
Kuma sighed inwardly, took the fruit, and stepped outside.
Poisonous gases of every color filled the island—but after partial modification, he ignored them completely.
Even the most violent toxins were brushed aside by his ability, clearing empty space.
He delivered the fruit to its designated coordinates.
Then he turned toward another research facility.
Having set foot here, Kuma had carefully observed the situation.
After confirming the fruit was exactly as Ren described—
He resolved to execute every one of Ren's orders.
Now—
Kill without mercy.
BOOM—!
With a thunderous crash, a pirate-guarded facility was violently breached.
The massive figure charged in like a ghost.
Alarms screamed—but no pirate could stop him for even a moment.
Every pop sound, every ensuing crunch—
Marked the end of a life.
A pirate reduced to pulp, fragments, or a mist of blood.
(End of Chapter)