Chapter 493: Chapter 493: One Piece: Gold City (10)

"How could this be..."

With her small face grabbed by Orin, Nami heard these words and felt as if she had suffered an enormous shock—her pupils even began to tremble.

What kind of shameless method is this!!!

When the situation turns unfavorable, you use force to create an even worse outcome, and then make fate compromise?!!!

"You’re completely bullying the weak with power!!!"

"Hahahahahaha!!!"

Hearing this kind of protagonist-questioning-the-villain rhetoric, Orin found it very amusing.

"If you insist on thinking that way, then sure~"

Orin pinched Nami’s cheek, leaning in with a grin that looked every bit like a villain’s.

"There was never anything fair in this world."

Everyone’s out here struggling to survive, so don’t pretend to be all righteous—it’s just that the Straw Hat crew is a bunch of second-gens with monstrous talent. Ordinary people don’t even know what Haki is.

Orin released Nami and snapped his fingers. Rings of black spatial restraints appeared around Nami’s wrists, suspending her in midair.

Along with the snap, Robin—who had already signed the contract selling herself—also vanished.

The two beauties were now, like in certain niche anime scenes, hanging in the void with their arms raised, while Orin sat on a chair between them.

"Robin!!!"

Seeing Robin disappear, Luffy turned pale and shouted, immediately about to dash forward.

But before he could get far, a streak of flowing sand flew over.

A kick slammed into Luffy’s stomach, sending him flying back.

"Nani..."

Luffy clutched his stomach and looked toward the flowing sand ahead, which spun and slowly transformed into a figure.

That gloomy face stared at Luffy as she slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Don’t think of making any rash moves, Straw Hat. I’ve been watching you this whole time."

Crocodile still couldn’t forget Luffy—after all, this was the guy who had personally sent her in back then.

Brook and the others tried to move, but just before they could step forward, a large hand stopped them.

"Zoro???"

For some reason, Zoro had stretched out his arm to block them. His face was tense, beads of cold sweat visible.

"Don’t move..."

He stared fixedly at that man, whose sharp eye was revealed beneath the brim of his hat.

"Tch..." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"If you go any further, you’ll be cut in half by that man!!!"

Mihawk, who had been sitting off to the side resting and savoring red wine, had somehow already fixed his gaze on them. A black longsword was propped against the chair beside him, ready to be gripped at any moment and unleash a sky-splitting slash.

Whatever games Orin played with them, they didn’t care—watching calmly from the sidelines.

But if it came to fighting...

No matter how you looked at it, Orin was their boss in a certain sense. They couldn’t allow a bunch of brats to casually offend him.

In fact, it wasn’t just the Straw Hat Pirates.

Even Tesoro and his subordinates were under the scrutiny of Hawk Eyes and Crocodile. After all, what Orin was doing might not break the rules, but it was indeed dirty.

The temptation he offered was enormous—and naturally, the price they had to pay was just as enormous.

The most precious thing, after all...

Mihawk thought for a moment. If, because of a bet, he could never hold a sword again for the rest of his life, he’d probably lose a part of the meaning of his existence.

It was something no one could possibly accept.

So to prevent the losers from going berserk, he became serious from the very start.

As for Tesoro’s side—aside from Tesoro himself, they were basically...

A bunch of useless trash.

At most, there was Baccarat, who had eaten a concept-bug-level Devil Fruit and might be slightly troublesome when her luck was maxed out.

As for muscle-bound brutes or big-headed dolls that could walk through walls...

They were just there to make up the numbers.

Of course,

Tesoro and his subordinates didn’t have the guts to go back on their word either.

Just like the people who lost their bets—no one ever dared to default on Tesoro’s debts.

After all, Orin had already come once before. Even after being drenched in gold powder and facing the siege of several pirates with bounties close to a billion, not even the corner of his clothes got dirty.

It was as if he were the true user of the Gold-Gold Fruit.

"Well... since we lost, there’s really nothing we can do about it, right~"

Tesoro fell silent for a moment. After a long inner struggle, he finally bowed his head to reality.

If the empire he had built was gone, so be it. He still had time and energy—Pure Gold granted him an unimaginably long life.

As long as Stella was by his side, sooner or later he could rise again...

Tesoro rubbed the golden ring on his left ring finger. It was his wedding ring with Stella, a gold ring mixed with Pure Gold.

At this moment, perhaps due to years of indulgent living that had formed a kind of mental inertia, he completely failed to realize what his most precious thing truly was.

"Alright, alright~"

Orin lowered his crossed leg, stood up from the chair, and walked to the front between the two sides.

"No need to be so pessimistic~"

"Did you misunderstand something? From the very beginning, the wager I proposed was only a single wish~"

Orin’s crimson eyes looked at Luffy, then shifted to Tesoro as he spoke with a smile.

"And correspondingly, only one of you needs to pay that price~"

"In other words..."

"One of you can preserve your most precious thing."

"Really?!"

Hearing this, Luffy instantly became excited, and the Straw Hat crew cried out in surprise as well.

Tesoro’s eyes also lit up.

Did that mean the game wasn’t over yet? Even if he couldn’t obtain that longed-for all-purpose wish, he might still avoid losing anything!

"Of course it’s true~"

Orin smiled, spreading his arms wide.

Boundless, overwhelming power began to manifest.

...

Starting from the VIP lounge, the entire Gran Tesoro ship began to tremble.

Everyone watched this unfold in panic.

Gold seemed to come alive—vast stretches of streets and buildings began to flow, slowly transforming into a completely different landscape.

The void restraints on Nami’s and Robin’s wrists vanished, and the two returned to their companions.

Orin, along with Hawk Eyes, Crocodile, and Tesoro’s group, now stood atop a golden tower, overlooking the island-sized Gran Tesoro below.

Luffy and the others stared wide-eyed at the changes across the island. When they looked up toward the tower, a Den Den Mushi appeared in Luffy’s hand the very next second.

"Come on~"

"Fight with everything you’ve got—fight for the chance to protect what’s most precious to you~"

"I’ll place a box at the top of the tower. Tesoro’s side will defend it, and the Straw Hat side will try to seize it. Only the final victor will be exempt from the punishment of the wager."

Orin snapped his fingers with one hand, and a small black box appeared in his grasp.

He then handed it to Tesoro.

"Come on~"

"Let me see your resolve to stake everything."