Baccarat gestured toward a luxury red sports car she had prepared earlier, leading Monkey D. Hera and the others inside. She then took the driver's seat and began introducing them to everything the city had to offer.
After reporting the reception status, Baccarat seemed to receive new instructions: "The boss's performance still requires some time to prepare. In the meantime, allow me to take you all on a tour to enjoy yourselves to the fullest."
Seeing that Hera's expression remained unchanged and she still looked expectant, Baccarat breathed a sigh of relief.
Baccarat had never seen her boss value a guest so highly. Even when the Celestial Dragons and two Admiral candidates arrived together, she hadn't seen him this nervous.
Yet upon hearing of Hera's sudden visit, her boss had bolted upright from his seat, hurriedly arranging a performance and ordering her to go out and welcome them.
Baccarat never imagined anything could make a man who controlled one-tenth of the world's Berries so anxious; he had even used so much force standing up that he nearly collapsed.
All of this filled Baccarat with curiosity toward Hera, and she didn't forget to carefully observe the girl sitting beside her while driving.
Baccarat's observant gaze didn't deliberately avoid Hera's perception. She understood that before a powerful Admiral like Hera, trying to hide her gaze was nothing but a pipe dream.
Hera didn't stop her observation either; she was always lenient toward beautiful characters, let alone a subordinate of her subordinate.
Along the way, Baccarat took Hera and the others on a tour, giving each of them a case of Berries. Combined with their luck, they began to dominate the casino floor.
Baccarat watched Hera, who kept winning at the card table, filled with doubt. For the sake of authenticity, she hadn't tampered with Hera's games; it was all based on Hera's own luck.
Seeing Hera land a straight flush purely by luck again, she finally couldn't help herself. She handed a bottle of juice to Hera, her hand seemingly brushing against Hera's wrist by accident as her Luck-Luck Fruit ability quietly activated.
At the same moment she activated her ability, she suddenly misstepped, her whole body tumbling toward the floor.
Hera seemed to have noticed something. She placed her straight flush on the gambling table, caught the juice before it could spill with one hand, and supported the falling Baccarat with the other.
Baccarat looked at Hera in disbelief; her stored luck had unexpectedly been completely exhausted in that single instant, as if it were preventing her from using her devil fruit ability on Hera.
Hera pulled Baccarat up and said with a smile, "My luck has always been good, but my luck is for me alone to have."
Hearing this, Baccarat realized Hera already knew about her ability and quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I was just curious."
Hera didn't blame Baccarat; after all, she was only acting out of curiosity and had no ill intent. "It's fine. I've always had plenty of patience for beauties like you."
Baccarat felt relieved. It seemed Admiral Hera wasn't as terrifying as the pirates said. "To show my apology, let me treat you all to lunch."
Hera nodded. "Then I'll gladly accept. If the food is delicious, I'll forgive your rude behavior."
Watching Hera sip her juice while sinking comfortably into her chair, Baccarat suddenly remarked:
"It seems rumors really can't be trusted. I've heard pirates who come here discuss you, and you're basically nothing like what they say."
Hearing Baccarat mention her, Hera became curious as well. "Oh? What do they say about me?"
Baccarat said, "They say you're a Pirate Slaughtering Machine. Not a single pirate who encounters you on these seas survives; you never take prisoners."
"Some say you're addicted to the joy of slaughter. Others claim they saw you wearing a blissful smile while massacring pirates, like a laughing demon from hell."
"Most pirates tremble at the mention of your name, but the Marines who come here to play have a very high opinion of you, saying you are extremely gentle."
Baccarat was indeed a professional receptionist of the Gold City. Hearing this made Hera happy; she casually picked up another golden straight flush, her small feet dangling and swinging from the chair.
"But after meeting you, I realized the new Marine Admiral is actually so cute, completely different from how those pirates described you."
After playing her golden straight flush, Hera looked at the surprised gazes of the others, tilted her head up proudly, and then hopped down from the chair.
"No fun at all. As expected, even a slight effort from me is already the limit for these gamblers. Let's go eat; I'm curious about what delicacies are here."
Baccarat packed the money Hera had won into the trunk of the sports car and drove her away to pick up the other members who were enjoying different attractions.
Baccarat's gaze swept over the members of the Argo. With a single glance, she noticed their cases were all bulging; everyone had won at least a little.
Among them, Kuina and Ain had the best luck, winning second only to Hera. Next was Theseus, followed by Perona, Nami, Vinsmoke Reiju, and Boa Hancock, who were all roughly equal.
Baccarat activated her devil fruit ability again, but this time, she didn't try to absorb their luck; she only observed.
Enhancing her Observation Haki with the Luck-Luck Fruit allowed her to perceive the luck of others, and she looked toward Hera and her group.
She was immediately shocked by their luck. In her vision, the pillars of light representing the luck of the seven were staggeringly large—larger than anything she could achieve even by absorbing the luck of others with her fruit.
Then she looked at Hera, and the image before her made her rub her eyes in disbelief. If the luck pillars of the other seven were shocking but still within the realm of acceptance...
Then the luck on Hera was simply ridiculous. At first glance, it seemed as if there was no pillar representing her at all, only a faint layer of radiance surrounding her.
Only when she pulled her vision back did she realize it wasn't absent, but rather far beyond her range of observation. From up close, she could only see a layer of pale gold radiance without being able to see its boundaries.
Looking toward the sky, the pillars of the seven Argo members were connected at the top to Hera's pillar. From Hera's pillar, seven lines of light extended to the individuals present.
There were also other lines of varying thickness stretching into the distance, seemingly connecting to those closely related to her. One line of light even stretched directly toward the center of the Gold City, where the Gold Emperor was located.
Hera waved her hand in front of Baccarat's eyes twice, calling the shocked Baccarat back to attention. "Alright, alright, a couple of looks is enough. You still need to take us to eat."
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