Alabasta Kingdom, Rainbase. Casino Rain Dinners, first floor lobby. Mr. Sephiroth waited by the gambling table for a moment, and the white-haired, full-bearded lobby manager quickly walked up to him, bowing slightly before speaking:
"Mr. Sephiroth, our Boss wants to see you. Please come with me!" "Heh! Who is your Boss? He actually wants me to personally go see him?"
Sephiroth feigned confusion. "Our Boss is none other than one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile!" The lobby manager's tone was full of pride, as if working under Crocodile was a great honor. "Since he wants to see me, he can just roll out and see me himself!" Mr. Sephiroth sneered, his tone unfriendly. "This..." The lobby manager looked hesitant, appearing somewhat troubled.
Seeing this, Mr. Sephiroth did not let up. He questioned:
"Do you, the casino, think that because I won three hundred million Berries here and made a fortune, you're preparing to drive me away and not let me continue playing? Alright! So your casino only allows guests to lose money until they're bankrupt, but doesn't allow others to get rich overnight and earn a huge profit, is that it?"
The lobby manager's face turned slightly pale. He quickly shook his head and waved his hands, saying:
"No! For people who enter our casino, winning or losing is all about luck. We do not restrict guests from winning money." If the big accusation of only allowing losses but not wins were to be spread with exaggeration, their casino's reputation would be completely ruined.
Who would still come here to gamble...? "Then why aren't you quickly arranging for a dealer to come and continue the game?" Mr. Sephiroth retorted. As soon as he said this, the gamblers who were watching the spectacle and weren't afraid of making things worse also started to join in the commotion. "Quickly start the game!" "Yeah! I've lost several million Berries here. I must win it back today."
"Could it be that your casino really only wants us to lose money and not win?"
... Listening to the various chaotic and noisy sounds around him, the lobby manager's head felt like it was about to explode, caught in a difficult situation. If Mr.
Sephiroth continued to play, the casino would likely lose hundreds of millions of Berries in minutes, but if they didn't continue the game, it would cause dissatisfaction among the other gamblers.
Just then, a woman with a white half-face mask, fair skin, long black hair down to her shoulders, a purple cowboy hat on her head, a purple leather miniskirt, and a purple short top that perfectly outlined her curves, walked through the crowd and came to the silver-haired young man's side, speaking softly:
"Mr. Sephiroth, please don't make things difficult for our lobby manager, okay?
After all, he is just following Boss's orders!" Hearing this, Mr. Sephiroth first glanced up at the black-haired woman beside him before speaking:
"Well! Forget it. Since this beautiful lady is pleading, I'll reluctantly make the trip!" "Thank you for your understanding!" Nico Robin smiled and turned to the lobby manager beside her, giving an instruction.
"You continue to handle the work you're supposed to do!" "Yes, Manager!" The old man nodded slightly and turned to leave the gambling table. "Then... Mr. Sephiroth, could I trouble you to go see our Boss? Of course, if you are unwilling, I won't force you. You can leave anytime..." "Since you, this beautiful lady, are inviting me, of course I can go see that guy!" "Heh!
You really know how to make girls happy!" Nico Robin first pursed her lips and smiled, then extended her right hand and made an inviting gesture to the young man. So, Mr. Sephiroth immediately stood up from the chair and followed behind her, heading towards the VIP passage upstairs in the casino.
In the long corridor laid with a red carpet, Nico Robin turned back to look at the silver-haired young man behind her, and said in a half-joking, half-serious tone:
"Mr. Sephiroth, our Boss Crocodile is not a good-tempered person! You should be careful after seeing him!" "Thanks for the reminder! But don't worry, I know how to keep things in perspective..." Mr.
Sephiroth replied with a smile, his expression completely unconcerned. Soon, the two arrived at a white door. Nico Robin reached out and pushed the door open, revealing a luxuriously decorated room to Mr. Sephiroth.
At the end of the room, behind an office desk, Crocodile, wearing a black fur coat, held a wine glass filled with red wine in his hand and sat in a Boss chair, looking at the silver-haired young man who appeared outside the door with unfriendly eyes. Waiting for
After Mr. Sephiroth entered the room, Nico Robin closed the door behind her and followed him in.
Crocodile drank the red wine in the glass in one gulp, casually placing the glass next to the wine bottle on the desk, and then said coldly:
"Mr. Sephiroth, are you, a high-ranking member of the Umbrella Corporation, so bored that you've come to my casino to pass the time?" "Heh! I think you know better than anyone why I'm here." Mr.
Sephiroth looked at the sand Crocodile in front of him, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his tone was full of unfriendliness. Just now, Crocodile had received a report from Mr. 5 saying that he had used the Bomb-Bomb Fruit ability to consecutively blow up two of the Umbrella Corporation's rain machines. Therefore, although he was surprised that Mr.
Sephiroth could find him so quickly, he was not completely unprepared. However, Crocodile sneered and still pretended to be ignorant:
"I don't understand what you're talking about at all..." The next moment. Swish-! Crocodile only felt a blur before his eyes. Mr. Sephiroth's figure suddenly disappeared, and a sense of palpitations came over him.
He instinctively prepared to use the elementalization ability of the Logia sand-sand fruit to shift his body. However... Boom-! Mr. Sephiroth casually picked up the wine bottle on the office desk, and after wrapping it with Haoshoku, he directly smashed it onto Crocodile's forehead, instantly making his eyes go white and sending him flying backward.
He crashed through two walls and was buried in the rubble. After a few seconds, Crocodile, who was pressed under the rubble, his somewhat scattered consciousness, gradually recovered. He raised his right hand and pressed it onto the rubble, activating the sand-sand fruit ability, turning all the stones pressing on him into fine sand.
Then, he covered his bleeding forehead with his right hand and stood up from the sand pile in a disheveled state. "Now... do you understand what I'm saying?" Mr. Sephiroth casually threw away the wine bottle in his hand and looked at Crocodile in the distance with a playful gaze. Just one blow had almost knocked him unconscious.
This couldn't help but make Crocodile recall the feeling of despair when he was once crushed by Whitebeard. So, he could only say fiercely but inwardly:**
"What do you want...?" "Just a defeated dog! You should correct your mindset and position, and don't provoke those you cannot provoke! Five days from now, gather one hundred billion Berries and send them to Atla Mountains.
I can let the matter of your Baroque Works provoking the Umbrella Corporation go this time. Otherwise... Hmph! This time is just a warning. If there's a next time... you're dead!" Mr. Sephiroth showed disdain, looked at Crocodile coldly, drew the butcher knife from his waist, opened a spatial door, stepped in, and disappeared into the casino.
However, before leaving, he seemed to intentionally, or perhaps unintentionally, glanced at Nico Robin beside him... The main reason Mr. Sephiroth didn't directly kill Crocodile on the spot was that this guy's reputation as a hero in the Alabasta Kingdom was too loud, and he was also one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, so it wasn't good to publicly kill him.
The Umbrella Corporation's reputation in Alabasta would be ruined if this got out. Worse, the World Government would come knocking at his door. If Sephiroth intended to kill Crocodile, he'd need to do it quietly—no witnesses, no traces.
Nico Robin finally wrestled down the laughter bubbling inside her.
She schooled her features into something grave and turned to Crocodile. "Mr. 0, what's our move? He's uncovered Baroque Works' operations. Should we mobilize and eliminate this... liability?"
Crocodile stayed silent so long she wondered if he'd heard. When he finally spoke, his voice was ice. "Tell Mr. 1 to kill Mr. 5."
A muscle twitched in his jaw. "That incompetent fool couldn't handle a simple job. His carelessness cost us dearly."
"Understood." Robin dipped her chin, but her gaze lingered on the blood trickling down Crocodile's temple. Contempt flickered behind her lashes. Pathetic—venting his rage on an underling instead of owning his mistakes.
If the other party had taken her warning to heart earlier, why would he be standing here, bleeding and humiliated...?