Tesoro was genuinely curious about Arashi, this mysterious traveler.
Because after last night's conflict, he and Bege had unexpectedly hit it off and established a partnership due to their similar temperaments.
And during their discussion, Bege had told him that the reason he was willing to sit down and negotiate at all… was because of one sentence from Arashi.
"You can't swallow this casino by yourself."
The sentence sounded simple, but to Tesoro, it carried tremendous meaning.
Although Arashi had technically been warning Bege, at the same time, he had acknowledged Tesoro's strength.
Even if Arashi never directly explained it, Tesoro understood the moment Bege sat down to negotiate—
The reason was him.
To be recognized by a man powerful enough to make a West Blue underworld godfather like Bege act respectfully…
That acknowledgment meant a great deal to Tesoro, who was still in the early stages of building his empire.
Of course, what truly intrigued him was that this was clearly his first meeting with Arashi.
Tesoro knew nothing about him.
Yet Arashi seemed to know quite a lot about him.
Arashi remained silent, not even sparing Tesoro a glance. His eyes stayed fixed entirely on Bege.
He genuinely hadn't expected Bege's social skills to be this outrageous.
What should have been a tense confrontation had somehow become the catalyst for cooperation.
Of course, that wasn't important.
Arashi never intended to interfere in the struggles between factions anyway. Whether Bege and Tesoro fought or cooperated meant nothing to him.
But—
Bege had taken it upon himself to bring Tesoro here without permission.
That required correction.
Seeing Arashi completely ignore him, Tesoro's eyes narrowed slightly.
Being ignored felt terrible.
Baccarat beside him frowned as well. Although they had heard from Bege that Arashi was powerful, it was still only Bege's word.
Now that Arashi openly ignored them, they naturally felt dissatisfied.
"Bege. Come here."
Before Tesoro and Baccarat could fully process the situation, Arashi suddenly beckoned.
"Yes, Mr. Arashi!"
Bege hurried forward and stopped beneath the deck of the Traveler.
"Before bringing your friends to meet me…"
Arashi crouched slightly, looking down at Bege calmly.
"Shouldn't you inform me beforehand?"
"Tell me. Besides Tesoro, who else have you spoken to about me?"
Although Arashi's tone remained calm, the invisible pressure behind his words instantly suffocated Bege.
Cold sweat immediately broke out across his forehead.
"Mr. Arashi… this is the only time! I swear!"
"Only this once."
Arashi nodded.
Then he suddenly smiled.
"And it will only happen once."
"Yes! I understand completely! It won't happen again!"
How could Bege dare say anything more? He immediately bowed again in acknowledgment.
Seeing Bege's reaction, Arashi let the matter drop.
Then he jumped lightly down from the deck, landed beside Bege, and smiled.
"Bege, agreeing to meet Tesoro today…"
"…is me giving you face. Understand?"
As he spoke, Arashi patted Bege's shoulder before walking calmly toward Tesoro.
Watching Arashi approach, the smile on Tesoro's face slowly stiffened.
This wasn't his first time meeting Arashi.
But the Arashi standing before him now felt completely different from the one sitting at the poker table last night.
Especially the aura Arashi displayed moments ago—
Only now did Tesoro truly understand why Bege treated this traveler with such respect.
With just a few calm words, Arashi had made Bege tremble in fear.
Then, with another casual smile, he elevated Bege's status by saying he was "giving him face."
The effortless control between pressure and ease…
It was the natural bearing of a king.
Even though Arashi still hadn't demonstrated any truly shocking strength, Tesoro could already tell:
This traveler was absolutely not ordinary.
"Mr. Tesoro."
Before Tesoro could fully gather his thoughts, Arashi had already arrived in front of him.
"There's no need for hospitality."
"I'm just an ordinary traveler. I have no interest in joining any faction, nor do I harbor any ambitions."
"So I can only decline your goodwill."
"Of course… if fate allows us to meet again in the future, and you can still maintain your current spirit…"
"…then I'll gladly share a drink with you."
"Hm?!"
Tesoro's pupils contracted sharply.
He never expected Arashi to see straight through his intentions.
After hearing about Arashi from Bege, Tesoro truly had considered inviting him into his grand ambitions.
At first, however, it was merely a thought. He still wanted to test Arashi's strength through further interaction.
But before he even opened his mouth—
Arashi had already seen through everything.
How could he not be shocked?
Then suddenly, Arashi smiled again.
"Tesoro…"
"Your future has already arrived."
"The world's greatest entertainment empire will belong to you."
"My future… has arrived?"
Tesoro's eyes lit up instantly.
"The world's greatest entertainment empire…"
"You… how do you know all this so clearly?!"
After a brief pause, he suddenly stepped forward, fists clenched tightly, his expression burning with excitement.
"Mr. Arashi!"
"I have an unreasonable request! Please grant it!"
"An unreasonable request?"
"Yes!"
Tesoro stared at Arashi passionately.
"I challenge you!"
"If my future has truly arrived…"
"…then I believe I can win!"
Looking at the excited Tesoro, Arashi blinked blankly for a moment.
Then—
SMACK!
He casually slapped Tesoro to the ground.
"What does your future arriving have to do with challenging me?!"
Baccarat's eyes nearly popped out watching Tesoro get flattened by a single slap.
Meanwhile, Bege and the Firetank members remained perfectly calm, clearly long accustomed to this kind of thing.
"Mr. Arashi truly is strong!"
Tesoro quickly flipped himself back up, his fighting spirit surging wildly.
"Fight me!"
The moment he spoke, the power of the Gold-Gold Fruit he had stolen from the Donquixote Family auction erupted outward.
BOOM!
Before Tesoro could even make a move—
Arashi's fist smashed down like a hammer.
A deafening impact exploded through the harbor.
Tesoro, who had just stood up, was slammed straight back into the ground, half his body buried beneath the earth.
Watching this scene, Baccarat's jaw nearly hit the floor.
Wasn't this traveler supposed to dislike fighting?!
What exactly was going on here?!
"Tesoro."
After knocking him down again, Arashi casually dusted off his hands.
"You're still far too weak right now."
"Come challenge me again after awakening your Devil Fruit."
"As for now…"
"…you're not qualified."
Then Arashi added calmly:
"And before challenging me in the future…"
"…learn rock-paper-scissors first."
"That's the rule here."
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