Key Magic!
With a light tap of Yuuki's finger, a golden key materialized out of thin air.
It sank into Tesoro's corpse, forcibly locking the Gold-Gold Fruit inside the dead body before it could escape.
The moment Tesoro died—
all the gold surging throughout Gran Tesoro instantly fell still.
At that moment, because of the strange movements of the countless golden structures across the grand entertainment city, the once dazzling and indulgent atmosphere had descended into chaos.
Especially those who understood the Golden Emperor's ability—
their expressions changed drastically.
Thud!
Baccarat collapsed to the floor in terror, staring at Tesoro lying in a pool of blood in utter disbelief.
The man who controlled twenty percent of the world's Beli—
the one known as the "Golden Emperor" and one of the "monsters of the New World"—
had died just like that?
Buggy, Cabaji, and the others were equally stunned.
They had thought a fierce battle was inevitable.
Even if they believed their captain would ultimately win—
none of them had expected it to end this quickly.
But after the initial shock—
the three of them were immediately overcome by delight.
Their gazes instinctively drifted toward Marianne, who still wore her usual blank, expressionless face.
She had actually been right.
For most pirates on the sea—
aside from the rare few chasing dreams—
what they truly sought was fame and wealth.
And right now—
Buggy and the others felt as though every one of their dreams had been fulfilled.
With the wealth aboard Gran Tesoro—
they could spend money for the rest of their lives and never run out.
Yuuki's body flickered, returning to the side of the gaming table.
Sitting casually on its edge, he looked at the equally horrified Mr. Tanaka and raised two fingers.
"You now have two choices…"
Yuuki said with a smile.
"Lord Yuuki, I'll do anything you ask!"
Tanaka trembled violently and hurriedly blurted out his answer before Yuuki could even finish.
"Good."
Yuuki nodded.
His gaze swept toward Buggy and the others.
"You four will accompany him and take over Gran Tesoro."
"Anyone who resists—eliminate them."
"Marianne will be in charge."
"The three of you follow her orders."
Marianne froze for a brief moment.
Then her expression turned serious.
"Yes, Captain."
Buggy, Cabaji, and Mohji looked at Marianne in surprise.
Though all three were somewhat unwilling—
none of them dared disobey Yuuki's orders.
They quickly agreed as well.
Yuuki waved a hand, dismissing them.
The reason he had chosen Marianne as the lead was simple—
Buggy and the others were far too unreliable.
Gran Tesoro might appear to be Tesoro's domain on the surface—
but due to the nature of this giant entertainment city, countless factions had infiltrated it.
And more importantly—
the true force behind Gran Tesoro was the World Government.
This colossal ship housed an entire small kingdom's worth of people.
On top of that, nobles, pirates, revolutionaries, Marines, and agents from all over the world gathered here constantly.
Taking over such a place in a short time was far from easy.
I still have too few people I can actually use.
That thought crossed Yuuki's mind.
"Conrad."
"Seal off the surrounding sea and turn it into a whirlpool zone."
"No ships are allowed to approach."
"They may leave, but none may enter."
Conrad nodded and vanished instantly.
Soon—
only Yuuki, Baccarat, and Tesoro's corpse remained in the vast golden hall.
Well—
along with Baccarat herself.
Feeling Yuuki's gaze fall upon her—
Baccarat shuddered violently.
Her face was filled with terror, and she didn't dare make the slightest movement.
"How far have you developed the Luck-Luck Fruit?"
Yuuki asked calmly.
For a moment, Baccarat seemed too terrified to respond.
The hall fell silent.
But soon—
she understood.
The fact that Yuuki had not killed her yet meant she still had value.
She hurriedly adjusted her posture, kneeling respectfully before him and explaining everything she knew about her fruit's abilities without holding anything back.
Because of the kneeling position and the slit in her black dress—
one long, snow-white leg was fully exposed.
Yuuki ignored it completely.
His expression turned thoughtful.
According to Baccarat—
she had already developed the Luck-Luck Fruit to a fairly advanced degree.
However—
she was still far from awakening.
The fruit's ability allowed her to absorb the luck of anyone she touched.
This caused the target to become unlucky while increasing her own fortune.
But—
she could not absorb all of a person's luck completely.
Nor could she precisely measure how much luck had been absorbed.
The same was true when consuming luck.
In short—
it functioned more like a passive state.
Yuuki already understood this to some extent.
In the movie, Usopp had cleverly exhausted all of Baccarat's luck through a slot machine, leading to her defeat.
If she had been able to control exactly how much luck she spent—
that would never have happened.
And judging from that scene—
Usopp's own luck was practically monstrous.
If someone's luck could truly be drained completely—
the result might resemble something like Final Destination.
A chain of unavoidable accidents leading directly to death.
Such a bizarre effect would likely require the fruit to reach awakening.
"Pour all the luck you've absorbed into this book."
Yuuki took out his grimoire and placed it before her.
Baccarat quickly stood.
Though she had no idea why he wanted this—
she didn't dare hesitate.
Walking over in tiny cautious steps, she carefully placed her slender fingers on the cover.
A moment later—
she lifted her hand.
The grimoire showed no visible reaction.
No light.
No phenomenon.
Even the three-leaf clover emblem remained exactly the same.
It looked as if absolutely nothing had happened.
Yuuki, however, was completely focused.
He could clearly feel a unique force flowing into the grimoire.
And although there was no visible change—
there had indeed been a faint alteration.
An almost imperceptible one.
Back in the Black Clover world—
because of the deification ritual, his grimoire had already begun evolving toward a four-leaf clover.
It was no longer a normal three-leaf emblem—
but rather a four-leaf clover missing one leaf.
And just now—
for the first time—
he had clearly felt that symbol change.
But—
the change was far too insignificant.
After a brief silence, Yuuki asked,
"How much luck did you just transfer?"
"R-roughly the amount from about twenty people…"
Baccarat answered nervously.
"I see."
Yuuki nodded lightly.
Then—
he raised a finger and pointed it at her heart.
Pssh!
Blood sprayed.
A fist-sized hole opened through Baccarat's chest.
"Why…?"
Her green eyes widened in despair before quickly losing their light.
The next moment—
she died.
Key Magic!
A golden key sank into her corpse as well, sealing the Luck-Luck Fruit inside before it could disperse.
The now-empty golden hall felt even more oppressive.
The smell of blood from Tesoro and Baccarat's corpses lingered faintly in the air.
Anything involving the evolution of his grimoire—
especially something as dangerous and intangible as luck—
allowed no room for risk.
Yuuki would never permit even the slightest possibility of anyone learning his secrets.
Even if they could never guess the truth.
Once Baccarat had provided all the information he needed—
she no longer had any value.
Dead or alive made no difference.
With Corpse Spirit Magic, she could still be used.
Yuuki tapped the table lightly.
His thoughts had become much clearer.
His earlier hypothesis had been correct.
The grimoire truly did require luck to evolve into a four-leaf clover.
What he had underestimated—
was the sheer amount required.
Luck equivalent to twenty people had only caused the slightest reaction.
That was far beyond his expectations.
After a brief moment of thought—
Yuuki arrived at an answer.
Level difference.
After completing the deification ritual—
both he and his grimoire had become beings of a higher order.
Just like how devils in the Black Clover world required a five-leaf grimoire to descend—
his evolved grimoire likely required far more luck than an ordinary one.
If a normal three-leaf grimoire only required 1 unit of luck—
then his current grimoire might require 100…
or even 1000 units.
Which meant—
his next objective was clear.
Collect luck.
Baccarat's method of absorbing luck through touch was far too slow.
Even awakening the fruit would be uncertain.
Then—
a thought flashed through Yuuki's mind.
His eyes lit up.
"Perhaps…"
"With the power of the Luck-Luck Fruit…"
"I can inscribe a super-large runic array over the entirety of Gran Tesoro."
"As a medium…"
"It could continuously absorb the luck of everyone aboard this ship."
"And everyone who comes here in the future."
The moment that idea surfaced—
Yuuki knew it was highly feasible.
The only issue—
was the material.
A runic array required a medium capable of conducting mana.
In the Black Clover world, that wouldn't be a problem.
But in this world—
such materials were rare.
Seastone was one possibility.
But Gran Tesoro was nearly ten kilometers long.
No one—not even the World Government—could gather enough Seastone for that.
Then Yuuki's gaze fell upon the golden surroundings.
Gold.
It was not an ideal conductor.
But it had one special property—
it could conduct a little of almost any type of energy.
The loss rate didn't matter.
He could simply compensate with more mana.
And most importantly—
Gran Tesoro was already filled with gold everywhere.
It was the perfect medium.
Yuuki let mana flow into the gold-laced gaming table.
Within moments—
his mana spread throughout the room.
"How convenient."
He let out a soft chuckle.
The biggest issue had already been solved.
Now—
all that remained—
was to carve the magic script into the gold.
"Corpse Spirit Magic."
Yuuki snapped his fingers.
Mana flowed into Tesoro and Baccarat's corpses.
The two dead bodies slowly stood back up—
swaying as they approached him.
(End of Chapter)
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