"Excuse me, gentlemen, make way."
A young, handsome, blond man with a slicked-back hairstyle and a cigar in his mouth walked out from among his men.
His features were outstanding, but his face was pale and weak. His eye sockets were slightly sunken, which was a clear sign of a long-term indulgence in wine and women.
The gamblers who had retreated to the edge of the VIP section were all stunned when they saw his face. Their expressions became a little strange, and they began to whisper to each other.
"Hey, isn't that young master Angie of the Jarre Family?"
"I heard that this good-for-nothing rarely comes back to the Spring Queen's City Why is he suddenly here today?"
"He brought so many people with him. He looks so aggressive. Tsk, tsk, he's going to ruin his old man's reputation…"
…
The handsome young man named Angie turned a deaf ear to the whispers around him.
Surrounded by his subordinates, he walked to the gambling table. The trembling middle-aged dealer was about to get up and bow when Angie impatiently kicked him aside. The dealer fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain and curling up into a shrimp.
Fujitora did not look up, but his brows were slightly furrowed.
"Hey, blind man."
Angie waved his right hand left and right in front of Fujitora. He grinned with the cigar in his mouth. "Even if you can't see, you can hear what I'm saying, right? I heard that you won 85 million Berries here?"
Fujitora remained unmoving, silent.
"Don't play dumb, it was obviously you!"
Angie flicked the ash from his cigar and laughed loudly. "You turned a million Berries into more than eighty times that amount in half an hour! If this were a normal day, I'd really have to ask you to teach me a thing or two about gambling. But today..."
He clicked his tongue and slowly blew a puff of smoke into Fujitora's face. "I'm sorry, but you're not going to be taking a single Berry with you."
"The Jarre Family has many businesses and a great fortune."
Fujitora's expression stayed calm, letting the smoke drift away.
"I thought that a mere 85 million Berries wouldn't be enough for you to..."
"Eighty-something million Berries is indeed nothing to my family and my old-fashioned father."
Angie smiled and said:
"But there's nothing I can do. I'm a little short on cash right now. I finally came back to the Spring Queen's City, but the old man just won't give me any money. I had no choice but to come to the casino to get some..."
As he said this, he glanced at the corner. A middle-aged man in a suit, who seemed to be the casino manager, was standing there with a bitter face, looking like he wanted to come up and say something but was too afraid to.
"Speaking of which, this casino under my old man's name is quite big, but the total cash flow they can come up with is less than 100 million."
Angie sneered and looked at Fujitora again. He shrugged. "One hundred million is already not enough for me to spend, and you want to take away more than eighty million at once. No one would be happy about this…"
As he spoke, he suddenly pulled out a revolver from who and pressed it to Fujitora's forehead.
"You see? I'm a civilized person, too. I've explained everything to you clearly."
Anjie casually stubbed out his cigar.
"Now, you have two choices, blind man."
"Either you take your one million Berries of capital and get out of here."
"Or you hold on to all your chips and say goodbye to tomorrow's sun..."
Click. A bullet was loaded into the chamber. Angie's index finger was on the trigger. He grinned and said, "Which one will you choose?"
"..."
Fujitora was silent.
After a long moment, he turned his "gaze" toward the trembling old blind man beside him, who was clutching the cash box in terror. Fujitora gave a faint shake of his head and sighed softly.
"My apologies. But this money—I must walk away with it today. There is absolutely no possibility of handing it over."
Truly ignorant of life and death…
The blond, handsome youth's eyes turned cold. He sneered, unwilling to waste another word. His right index finger curled slightly—he was ready to end the lives of the two blind men right then and there.
But, just then.
Buzz!
In that instant, an invisible and strange force suddenly spread out from around Fujitora.
Angie felt as if tens of thousands of tons of stone had been dropped upon him. His bones cracked and groaned, and before he could react, he was smashed down into the floor with a thunderous crash.
The luxurious chandelier was on the ceiling above him, and the carpet was sunken around him.
The handsome blond young man used all his strength to struggle, but he was horrified to find that he couldn't even move his fingers, let alone get up.
"Y–Young master!"
"Young Master Angie!"
The scene had unfolded too suddenly. The black-suited bodyguards around him hadn't even reacted before their young master was embedded in the ground. Their faces all changed drastically.
"You damned blind man! What did you do?!"
The two bodyguards who were closer to the human-shaped hole immediately knelt down to help him.
The remaining dozen or so men in suits all pointed their guns at Fujitora and pulled the triggers without saying a word.
Bang, bang, bang!
The sounds of gunfire erupted. Bullets shot out from different angles, heading straight for Fujitora's head.
Seeing this, Bellemere's eyes grew sharp. She instinctively moved to intervene—only to be held back by Nao, who smiled and motioned for her to keep watching.
Almost at the same instant—
The bullets, the moment they entered the half-meter zone around Fujitora's body, began to shudder violently in midair. Then, as if their power had been completely stripped away, they fell uselessly like raindrops, clinking onto the ground.
The sight was overwhelming.
The gamblers who were watching the show all widened their eyes, showing looks of disbelief.
"Eh?! What the hell was that?!"
"That blind guy didn't even move—how did he do that?"
The crowd was chattering, but the black-suited bodyguards who had fired their guns were completely dumbfounded.
They stared at the unmoving Fujitora. Cold sweat dripped from their foreheads. They knew they had messed with the wrong person. For a moment, they were frozen in place, not knowing whether to shoot or retreat.
Fortunately, the decision was not theirs to make.
Fujitora finally slowly got up from his chair. At the same time, he released the gravity pressing down on Angie. Looking at the disheveled young master of the crime family, he smiled warmly and asked:
"Now then, may I take my winnings and leave?"
Ptooey! The handsome blond young man spat out the dirt in his mouth. His eyes were filled with anger and resentment as he looked at Fujitora, but he was still sober enough to know that he couldn't act on it. He could only grit his teeth and say:
"I'll admit defeat this time… Hey! You! Give him the money!"
The casino manager with the bitter face was suddenly relieved. He quickly gave a look to his subordinate, and a bulging money bag was soon brought to the gambling table.
"Eighty-five million Berries, plus your one million in starting capital. All of it is here."
The middle-aged manager wiped his cold sweat, speaking carefully:
"Sir, please, you may count it yourself…"
"No need."
Fujitora casually lifted the money bag, ready to leave with the still-shaken old blind man. But suddenly, he seemed to sense something. He looked toward the entrance and frowned slightly.
What's wrong?
The gamblers who were watching the show keenly noticed his expression. For a moment, they were all confused.
Meanwhile, in the lounge area in the corner, Nao and Gion looked at each other with a silent understanding. Their eyebrows raised, revealing a meaningful look.
Bang!
The next moment, the casino's great doors were violently flung open from outside.
"Move! Get out of the way, all of you!"
"Idlers, get out of the way!"
"I'm talking to you! What are you standing there for?!"
A large group of Marines in white uniforms barged in. They roughly pushed away the guests who were in the way, forcefully creating a several-meter-wide path in the middle. They then stood straight on both sides, as if they were waiting for someone.
Step. Step. Step.
Before long, a calm, deliberate set of footsteps echoed.
All eyes turned toward the entrance. A tall figure draped in a white cloak of justice slowly stepped inside. He looked to be just over thirty, his face covered with scars, his eyes narrow and sharp, giving his features a sinister, ruthless cast.
Combined with his body that was over four meters tall and the dazzling Commodore rank on his shoulders, his presence was full of intimidation and an imposing aura.
The entire casino was suddenly plunged into an eerie silence.
"That's the base commander of Branch 172… Commodore Black Wolf…"
Nao didn't recognize him, but he happened to hear a nervous guest beside him swallow hard and murmur, "What's going on today? Why is even that guy here, in the Spring Queen's City…?"
He turned his head and looked at the tense, bald old man. He laughed lightly. "What, old man? Is this guy very famous?"
"Of course he is."
The bald old man glared at him. "Where did you come from, you ignorant kid? You don't even know Black Wolf Sullivan? This guy is the most famous monster among the nearby Marines!"
"These past years, countless notorious pirates have been brutally slaughtered by him on the spot… he walks freely between the underworld and the lawful side alike. Around here, the crime families—if they want to survive—they all have to take this man's mood into account."
Unlike a regular Marine, he's a ruthless person who works with both the good and the bad?
Nao smiled and thanked the old man. He looked at the back of Commodore Black Wolf and felt that this guy, along with his soldiers, had a very familiar sense of déjà vu.
They seem to have the same kind of character as the guys in the G-5 Branch in the New World...
Meanwhile.
When Fujitora saw the Commodore walk in, his face showed little reaction. But Angie—just having scrambled up from the floor in disgrace—lit up with joy. He rushed forward with delight.
"Uncle Black Wolf!"
The handsome blond young man enthusiastically hugged him and laughed heartily:
"The last time we met was at the family banquet at the end of last year, right? It's been a long time! I missed you so much! Are you free to come to my family's casino today?"
"I happened to be here on official business. I just finished dealing with some pirate corpses at the port. I heard from your father that you were here at the casino messing around and asking for money, so I came to check on you."
The tall, scar-faced Commodore calmly pushed away the muddy Angie and said flatly:
"You know, your father and I once trusted each other with our lives. I can't just stand by while you squander money behind his back."
He secretly snitched on me to my old man?
Angie turned his head and glared viciously at the middle-aged casino manager. The manager's face immediately turned pale.
"I was just planning to buy some gifts for my friends. It's not like I'm squandering money or anything..."
Angie scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly. "Besides, I'm the old man's only son. All his money will be mine eventually..."
Black Wolf gave him a cold look. He almost raised a hand to knock the boy on the head, and Angie immediately shrank back like a frightened rabbit.
"Where's the money?" Black Wolf asked.
"I haven't gotten it yet..."
Ange stammered. He suddenly saw Fujitora out of the corner of his eye. His eyes darted around, and a plan came to his mind. He pointed at Fujitora and began to complain.
"It doesn't matter if I get the money or not. The point is that all the money in the casino was taken by this cheater. I told him to give it back, but he refused. Instead, he attacked us and tried to force his way out!"
"Uncle Black Wolf, just look!"
He pointed at his bruised lip, looking pitiful and crying with snot and tears:
"I just wanted to ask him to stay so we could check if he had any cheating devices on him, but I was also beaten up and thrown on the ground. I almost got my face ruined today…"
Wow, what an act.
Nao's eyes flickered. He crossed his legs with interest.
Bellemere, on the other hand, had an expression of an old man looking at his phone on the subway.
"Blind man."
Black Wolf looked at Fujitora and said flatly, "Did you hear what Angie said? Now, shouldn't you explain yourself to me?"
Explain what?
The fabricated cheating, or that they were being framed and were the ones who had attacked them first?
The old blind man holding the money box was indignant. He was about to argue, but Fujitora reached out and stopped him.
He turned his head and looked at the expressionless Black Wolf. Fujitora shook his head slightly and sighed:
"If you, Commodore, are willing to believe such a illogical story, then it seems pointless for me to explain anything."
"…You're a smart man."
Black Wolf looked at him in surprise. He took the cigar that Ange was fawningly holding out to him and lit it. He said flatly.
"In that case, I won't beat around the bush. You can take your capital, but the remaining 30 million Berries must be returned to this kid, Angie."
Huh?
"30 million Berries?"
Anjie blinked, stunned. He thought maybe he hadn't spoken clearly, so he stammered:
"U-Uncle Black Wolf, it should be fifty-five million Berries, shouldn't it…?"
"The fortress building of Branch 172 is old and in disrepair, and Headquarters is still not giving us any military funds..."
Black Wolf took a puff from his cigar and glanced at Angie with a smile.
"…"
The handsome young blond man's eye twitched. He wisely swallowed the rest of his words.