At the card table, Queen panted heavily, his eyes locked onto Crocodile as if trying to see through his facade.
However, as the former leader of Baroque Works who once controlled an entire country, Crocodile's cunning was far from superficial.
He puffed on his cigar and sipped his wine with an air of calm, showing not a hint of hesitation.
"Keep going! Let's see how many good cards you've got left!"
Queen's face was flushed red with agitation.
No wonder he was nervous—this game had gotten way too intense.
Starting at one million berries, each bomb doubled the stakes.
They had already bombed once, raising it to two million.
Doflamingo wore an exaggerated grin, his eyes constantly flicking toward Crocodile, silently urging him to play well.
"A pair of Smoothie."
This time, Crocodile finally played a normal hand, easing the tension in Queen's heart.
"Hmph, I thought your cards were something special. Heh, a pair of Doflamingo!"
Queen had barely tossed his two cards onto the table when, before Crocodile could even speak, Doflamingo leaped up and slammed down four cards.
"Bomb! Four Yamatos!"
The smile that had just returned to Queen's face instantly froze.
He mechanically turned his head toward Doflamingo, his expression morphing into pure confusion.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
'I don't wanna play anymore—this is impossible!'
The three extra cards he drew were useless, and just when he thought he had a decent hand, the other two kept dropping bombs.
How was he supposed to play like this?!
"Two bombs—four million berries now! Four million!"
A pirate shouted excitedly, making Queen's eyes burn with fury.
"Keep going!"
Queen stood up and roared, patting his massive belly—inside was the money he had painstakingly extorted earlier that day.
"Bomb! Four Daifukus!" Doflamingo threw down another bomb, leaving Queen dizzy.
"Eight million! Eight million now!" Ain cheered, her little face flushed as she waved her fists.
"Bomb! Four Picas!" Doflamingo kept the bombs coming.
After this one, he coughed lightly and downed the glass of wine Daz handed him.
Meanwhile, Crocodile, understanding the cue, didn't even wait for Queen to respond before tossing out four Kings.
"Bomb!"
"H-how much now?" Queen stammered, feeling his heart couldn't take much more.
"Three hundred and twenty million berries, fufufufu." Doflamingo glanced at Crocodile, unable to hide his own nerves.
Over three hundred million berries—that was no small sum.
After all, the Demon of Heaven's own bounty was only three hundred and forty million.
Queen's face burned red as his blood pressure skyrocketed.
How much had he extorted today?
That bastard Beckman was a master negotiator, somehow talking him down from two million berries to just one million.
Meaning, Beckman and Crocodile each paid him a million.
Meanwhile, selling that sniper rifle had earned him over a hundred million.
If he lost this game, wouldn't he end up losing over a hundred million?
At that thought, Queen couldn't stay seated any longer.
He slammed the table and bellowed.
"Play! Just play! I've still got seventeen cards—no way you can wipe me out in one turn!"
"Seventeen cards! If you can take me out with seventeen cards, I'll eat this damn table right now!"
"Judge, Gin, Moria, Pudding, Doflamingo, Queen, King. 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K—no cards left."
Crocodile elegantly discarded his hand, taking a deep, satisfying drag from his cigar.
All the frustration from being extorted by Queen earlier that day had finally been vented.
Sour and refreshing!
"Fufufufu, pay up, pay up, Queen, stop spacing out."
Doflamingo laughed heartily as he carelessly tossed the remaining cards onto the table.
Queen immediately pounced forward, flipping over Doflamingo's remaining cards only to find they were all junk, which made him even angrier.
"Pay up now! Damn Queen, I haven't even settled accounts with you for selling that gun to Beckman yet. Hurry up with the money so I can get my share."
King stood behind Queen with arms crossed, blocking his escape route.
Queen looked utterly dejected, like he'd lost both parents, as he reluctantly opened the small pouch on his large belly and threw bags of Berries onto the table.
"Fufufufu, this ten million is for everyone to share!"
Doflamingo laughed loudly while casually picking up stacks of Berries and scattering them toward the pirates behind him.
"Wow, boss is generous! May the boss strike it rich!"
The pirates' eyes gleamed as they scrambled for the falling money.
Ain sneaked around, snatched a stack of Berries, stuffed it into her bosom, and tried to run away.
"Fufufufu, kid, stealing isn't a good habit." Doflamingo smirked mischievously as he grabbed Ain by the back of her collar, lifting her small frame up to eye level.
"Hmph! Cheapskate! What's wrong with taking a little of your money? You ate my lollipop!" Ain wriggled angrily, kicking her short legs.
"Was that lollipop really that expensive? I saw the stack you took had the highest denominations—several million Berries." Doflamingo reached out to retrieve the money from Ain's bosom.
"Pervert! Pervert! The flamingo is harassing me!" Ain screamed.
Instantly, numerous icy gazes locked onto Doflamingo, making his scalp tingle.
The female pirates of the Beast God Pirates were all glaring at him with unfriendly expressions.
"Ahem, it's just a few million Berries. Take it, spend it, hahaha." Doflamingo chuckled awkwardly and set Ain down.
"Smart move, flamingo. You're playing the long game." Ain strutted away triumphantly.
Crocodile chuckled as he placed stacks of Berries against his chest.
The area quickly turned into quicksand, sinking downward and swallowing the bundles of money.
This was a new ability Crocodile had developed with his Sand-Sand Fruit—using quicksand to absorb objects into his body.
The items that entered his body were actually stored in a special space.
Similar to how Katakuri concealed weapons in his body or how Caribou's Swamp-Swamp Fruit stored items.
"Another round! Doflamingo, Sand Crocodile, how about another game?" Queen shouted defiantly.
Doflamingo curled his lip and stood up.
"I won't keep you company. I need to make a few Den Den Mushi calls—got some business to arrange. Anyone who wants to play can take my seat. Don't damage the cards—they're the first-ever Beast God deck, priceless."
"Queen, do you even have any money left?" Crocodile asked nonchalantly, smirking at Queen.
Queen patted his empty pockets and immediately drooped his head, looking listless.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he pulled out a photo from his bosom and handed it to Crocodile.
Crocodile froze, took the photo, and upon seeing it, spat out a mouthful of red wine.
The photo clearly showed the two former Roger pirates, Isaac and Sunbell, lying side by side on the ground, not even wearing their underwear.
"Hehe, Sand Crocodile, how about 20 million Berries for this photo? You can use it to extort money from them. With this in hand, forget 1 billion, even 2 billion Berries—they'd have to pay up obediently. Otherwise, the reputation of the Roger Pirates would be ruined, wouldn't it?"
Queen wore a sleazy, lecherous grin.
"Get lost!"