Chapter 302: Big Gamble

Chapter 302: Big Gamble



'Ah, there she is~!' Gild Tesoro thought, his eyes pausing on Cherry. 'My beautiful golden goose~'

Harpin D. Cherry was a woman who represented unprecedented value for him. Although he hadn't watched the battle of Marineford himself, he had heard about what Cherry had apparently done for Whitebeard; making him fight like a young man again and even visibly recover from the wound he gained during the battle.

Who knows what other miracles she could accomplish? No matter what they were, they would bring him immense influence and wealth when he monopolized her. It didn't hurt that she was apparently the daughter of Dracule Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the world, either! That was quite the connection in its own right.

Romance? Of course, not. His heart is long frozen solid. The only thing it can love now is cold hard cash, and Cherry was worth a million times her weight in gold!

First things come first, though. He could tell already from the way she was frowning at him that she was a difficult woman, so he would need to corner her with both the carrot and the stick.

"You're the Casino King guy?!" Luffy asked belligerently. "I'M gonna be King of the Pirates!" "The future king of the pirates, hm? What an honor..." Gild Tesoro moved his gaze to Luffy. "In that case, why don't we make a little wager?"

"Hm?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion. Wasn't he already doing that?

Gild Tesoro walked down the stairs and plopped himself down onto one of the sitting mats. "If you win the next dice throw, I'll give you ten times the amount that you bet."

"T-ten times?!" Nami started to drool.

"What's the catch?" Jinbe piped up reasonably, as one of the only responsible adults on the

crew.

"Nothing much. You'd lose your own wager of course, and..." Tesoro looked thoughtful for a moment. "How's about Miss Harpin joining me for dinner as well?"

"I refuse!" Luffy declared instantly, causing Tesoro to almost fall flat from surprise.

"Why not?" Tesoro asked, the smile on his face noticeably less pronounced.

"Yeah, why not?!" Nami demanded an explanation. That was 6 BILLION Beri he was throwing away!

"I won't gamble away one of my friends! Not even for just one meal!" Luffy explained seriously.

Cherry was genuinely touched. It was just a meal after all, and it wasn't like she'd be at any more risk than she was already being in the same room as the guy who could manipulate all the gold in the room at a whim. Yet he stubbornly refused to do so anyways.

Cherry patted Luffy's shoulder. "I appreciate that Luffy, but you should ask me first."

She looked at Tesoro. "Since I'm involved, you won't mind me adding my own wager on top of his, will you?"

"Oh my! That's a wild accusation to make out of nowhere, don't you think?" Baccarat remained calm.

Cherry didn't even need her Life Sense to make that conclusion. She had felt Luffy's luck flood out of him and into the woman, luck being a part of one's fate and all. There was something that Baccarat didn't understand though, and that was that a child of destiny's luck shouldn't be tampered with. Not unless you wanted to guarantee your own downfall.

Cherry could already feel the threads of fate shifting around, undoubtedly to make Baccarat life a miserable existence until the day she died. If she was lucky, that day would come sooner rather than later. Living a long life with destiny conspiring against you was a sure way to find out just how much suffering one person can experience.

A cultivator could defend themselves from a backlash like this and move on with their lives after some moderate consequences, but a Mortal woman? Cherry almost pitied her.

Almost.

"You cheated!" Luffy pointed a finger at Baccarat.

"Hey now, do you have any proof?" Tesoro asked with an infuriating smile that was practically a confession in its own right.

"Cherry said so!" Luffy declared, as if that settled the matter. Such was his absolute faith in

his crew.

"Hearsay from a pirate wouldn't get a conviction in a court of law, and it means even less on MY ship." Tesoro spoke smoothly. "Now then, how much do they owe, Baccarat?" "1.32 billion Beri, Tesoro-sama-!" Baccarat chimed right on cue. "And one dinner date~!"

The monetary debt was a huge blow to the Straw Hats on its own, but the "dinner date" felt much heavier. Could they leave one of their own to the mercy of these unscrupulous schemers, all by herself? No, they couldn't. It wasn't a lack of faith in Cherry's capability, but rather the

principle of the matter.

Weapons were drawn immediately, much to Gild Tesoro and his people's seeming amusement. Luffy stood up quickly and-

"Ack?! My back?!" Luffy clenched his lower back with both hands in much the same way you'd

expect an old man with chronic back pain to do so.

Instinctively, he tried to shuffle over to Chopper and... slipped on a banana peel in the most

cliche manner possible, sending himself bouncing across the room and smashing into a wall.

"""Luffy?!"'"'" they were shocked at this apparent clumsiness.

"That's another 5 million Beri for wall repairs." Tanaka rose out of the floor and spoke.

"I don't recommend violence. You won't win; not on my ship." Tesoro spoke. "It's best to just pay up... if you can, that is. If not, we'll have to put you to work."