"How could this be..."
Tesoro stared blankly ahead, the coldness in his eyes almost turning solid.
After hearing that news, he could no longer shed tears.
Extreme grief had turned his tears into blood from the heart.
"Stella..."
At the top of the dim Golden Tower, Ozz watched Tesoro, whose body crackled with black-red lightning as if he were about to fall completely into darkness. Ozz rubbed his chin.
This...
Had he pushed a little too hard?
That nearly collapsed, insane killing intent was practically demonic. Even Ozz found the sight of Tesoro's face covered in bloody tears a little hard to watch.
A lovesick fool...
Ozz shook his head and sighed.
Crocodile, on the other hand, looked completely different. She could hardly believe her own eyes.
Crack.
The expensive cigar she had taken from the Golden City was bitten in half without her noticing. Veins bulged on her forehead.
"How is that possible!"
"That greedy bastard is also a Conqueror's Haki user?!"
Had this thing become common now?
Fine, Ozz and Mihawk had it. Even Doflamingo, that gangster she looked down on, had it. But now even that money-obsessed bastard who only ever thought about profit had it too?
Among Ozz's direct subordinates, was she the only one left without it?
No, wait. Sammy from the red-light district did not have it either.
"Damn it! Am I only fit to stand among women now?!"
Her fury stirred waves of sandstorms around her, making Mihawk's hat brim tremble.
He raised his head, glanced helplessly away, then looked toward Ozz.
"What do you need us to do?"
Unexpectedly, Ozz waved his hand.
"No. For the next part of the show, we don't need to enter the stage ourselves."
"Just watch."
...
"You people..."
Tesoro's face was dark. Bloody tears streamed down his cheeks, and the cold despair and killing intent in his heart seemed ready to overflow.
Yet the Straw Hats believed he was merely furious because they had tricked him in return.
Nami shouldered her Clima-Tact and smiled.
"Huh? Are you angry?"
"This is the Gran Tesoro, the world's greatest casino. The one who gets tricked is the loser. Isn't that what you always say?"
Even Luffy stood up, shook off the remaining seawater from his body, and slammed his fists together.
"All right!"
"Next, I'm definitely gonna send you flying!"
The Straw Hats had gathered again. They exchanged smiles, ready to fight side by side.
In that warm atmosphere filled with bonds, only Carina sensed something was wrong.
She stared at Tesoro's cold, almost despairing face and could not help taking a few steps back.
"No... something's wrong..."
"I've never seen him like this before..."
Tesoro slowly raised his head.
His eyes, weeping blood, locked onto the Straw Hat crew, who had murdered Stella and were now standing together so cheerfully.
"What is hope?"
Memories surged through his mind.
"And what is despair?"
Stella's radiant face seemed to slowly dissolve into smoke.
"Tesoro, your singing voice is beautiful."
"No, it's fine. You should use the gold for more important things right now."
"All right, then just this one gold necklace. It's so pretty..."
"I'm pregnant. It's our baby."
"Tesoro, with Pure Gold, we can be together forever."
All those scenes shattered at once.
"Stella!"
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
A pain no less than Luffy losing his brother surged through Tesoro's heart.
The ring on his finger shone with a dazzling golden light.
"Is that... the power of Pure Gold?"
Ozz frowned slightly. He had not expected the Gold-Gold Fruit and Pure Gold to interact like this.
The Gran Tesoro, which had turned dull after being soaked by seawater, suddenly burst with brilliant golden light.
A vast sea of gold surged out, spreading in every direction. Tesoro stood in that ocean of gold, driven to the very peak of agony.
Even with the raging golden sea surrounding him, Tesoro had nothing left.
He finally understood.
He finally understood what mattered to him most.
"You think you've already won?!"
"Straw Hat!"
"Try it for yourself. Try losing the thing you treasure most!"
The dark-gold sea gathered together, forming a colossal golden giant. Black-red lightning coiled around it, and the mountain-like pressure made everyone's expression change.
"Nothing matters anymore."
"I don't care if the world is destroyed!"
Tesoro raised the golden giant's fist. Threads of black-red lightning gathered around it, even showing the faint beginnings of coating.
Luffy leapt into the air, inflating his fist until it was as large as the giant's. The power of Ryuo wrapped around it.
"You always think you can control everything with money, but freedom is the greatest thing there is!"
"You bastard, can't you see the beauty in this world?!"
He threw his fist toward the golden giant, roaring fiercely.
"Beauty?"
Crack, crack, crack!
A dazzling light flared. Tesoro's fist, wrapped in black-red lightning, smashed straight toward Luffy's Elephant Gun.
"What right do you have to say that?!"
Their fists collided.
In just one exchange, terrifying power crashed into Luffy's fist. His expression changed drastically.
Bang! Bang! Bang, bang, bang!
He smashed through countless buildings, coughing up a mouthful of blood. For a moment, even his eyes went blank.
How was this possible?
This kind of power...
Standing atop the Golden Tower, Ozz watched the golden giant wreathed in black-red lightning pin Luffy down and beat him across the ground. He analyzed the scene with great interest.
"Well, Luffy isn't doing too well. Looks like he's just getting beaten, but the effect is still there."
"Tesoro seems to have awakened quite thoroughly."
Crocodile did not care about romance or sentiment. Standing beside Ozz, she was more concerned with the power Tesoro was now using.
"That golden light. Is that also the power of the Gold-Gold Fruit?"
"No... it seems to be the power of Pure Gold. That thing has a strange effect on cells and the body. Maybe it has something to do with his ability awakening?"
Was a timeline also a line? Was Pure Gold also gold?
"You've never experienced my pain, so don't preach to me about freedom and beauty!"
Black-gold light burst from the golden giant's eyes, aiming at Luffy, who had been sent flying into the air.
"Golden Divine Fire!"
At that moment, Luffy happened to be blasted toward the Golden Tower.
And right then, beside the window, a pregnant woman holding the black box and clutching her belly appeared.
She turned her head.
She stared blankly out the window.
Dark golden light came blazing toward her.
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The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
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