As Tesoro's right-hand man, Tanaka might not recognize the blond Shiki, but he was quite familiar with Caesar.
During this period, various news about the Beast God Pirates had already turned the entire world upside down.
Even deep within the fog-covered Gran Tesoro was no exception, having received countless reports.
This man with black horns, standing 9.3 meters tall, with an immeasurably powerful physique, was now recognized throughout the New World and even the entire world as the strongest individual and commander of the most powerful pirate crew - a terrifying monster!
Facing such a monster, not even Tanaka, let alone Tesoro himself, would dare to defy his demands.
When Tanaka called over a dozen bruised and miserable-looking security guards, the atmosphere in the room reached its peak.
The many guests in the hall cheered excitedly, waving their hands high as if they were the ones placing bets.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Shiki showed no mercy, bowling the dozen trembling security guards straight at the Tiger Machine's levers with perfect accuracy.
Immediately, the patterns on the machines began spinning wildly!
Whether Shiki did it intentionally or not, Tanaka had called exactly twelve security guards.
In theory, this should correspond to the twelve levers.
But when Shiki threw the last guard, he accidentally used too much force, sending the unfortunate guard crashing into the gilded wall hundreds of meters away.
With a heavy thud, everyone saw a human-shaped dent form in the wall.
The cheers in the hall instantly died down as all the guests turned their attention to the flustered Tanaka.
"I... I'll go call a few more people..."
Tanaka swallowed hard and turned to leave.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, covering his already short stature and making his entire body turn cold with fear, freezing him in place.
Tanaka mechanically turned his neck to see Caesar's friendly face.
"No need, I think you'll do just fine. Looks like this round is a sure win."
As he spoke, Caesar reached out with his enormous fingers.
The five steel-like digits gently grasped Tanaka's head, picking him up and hurling him toward the twelfth lever.
To his horror, Tanaka discovered he couldn't use his Shed-Shed Fruit ability to escape.
Because an unimaginably powerful Armament Haki was pressing down on him from all directions, making him feel as if he were shackled with Seastone Cuffs.
Crash!
Amid Tanaka's screams, all the levers were pushed to the bottom, and the patterns on all twelve machines began spinning wildly!
Just as everyone was shouting madly, a man wearing nine gold rings on his hands approached from the side of the hall with an exaggerated smile on his face.
"Captain Caesar, welcome to Gran Tesoro. My apologies for arriving somewhat late and failing to greet you properly. I hope you can forgive my discourtesy."
Tesoro walked to Caesar's side, looking like a boy with a fake smile.
Caesar gave him a faint glance but didn't speak, still staring intently at the massive Tiger Machine.
In Tesoro's eyes, a barely noticeable flicker of shame and anger surfaced.
'This bastard, who does he think I am?'
'I'm the Golden Emperor who controls twenty percent of the world's Berries!'
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As the levers sprang up, patterns of 77 kept popping out one after another.
Just as Caesar expected, all twelve levers showed the same 77 pattern.
At this moment, all the enthusiastic guests in the hall fell into dead silence.
Everyone looked strangely at Caesar and Shiki.
If this kind of twelve-lever jackpot had appeared suddenly once, everyone present might still believe it.
But hitting it three times in a row? That was impossible.
Unless...
"Damn it, are you cheating?" A fat bald man in the crowd roared angrily, pointing at Caesar's nose.
"That's right! You must be cheating! How... how did you do it?"
"Hehehe, brother, can we talk in private?"
"One hundred million, one hundred million Berries for your cheating method!"
As the anger continued, the words coming from the crowd gradually began to change in tone.
Listening to the curses, interrogations, and flattery around him, Caesar remained indifferent.
But Shiki couldn't take it anymore.
"Shut the hell up, all of you!"
BOOM!
A torrential, overwhelming aura erupted from Shiki's body like a mountain flood.
The thousand-plus people making noise in the hall instantly felt as if they were facing a several-hundred-meter-high tsunami while standing on a tiny, broken raft.
In an instant, everyone fell silent, their eyes wide with terror as they stared at Shiki.
This wasn't Conqueror's Haki—just the domineering presence Shiki had cultivated over decades of ruling the seas.
If it were Conqueror's Haki, everyone in the hall would have had their heads exploded instantly, decorating this magnificent golden hall with colorful splatters.
Tesoro felt his heart being violently gripped.
'Who is this golden-haired man? How can he have such terrifying presence!'
"Tesoro, you're the master of this ship. Now tell them..."
Caesar leaned down, staring at Tesoro who was breaking out in fine cold sweat on his forehead, and said calmly.
"Did I cheat?"
Everyone in the hall immediately turned to look at Tesoro.
Tesoro felt his throat go dry.
The gazes from Caesar and Shiki locked onto him, making his scalp instantly tingle.
Tesoro's mind was racing wildly.
Caesar's presence was as profound as an abyss, bottomless, making him feel genuine fear from the depths of his heart.
This feeling was even deeper and more terrifying than Barrett's.
If Bullett could be compared to a volcano about to erupt,
Then the Caesar before him was like a vast ocean, tens of thousands of meters deep.
And Shiki beside Caesar was like a towering peak piercing the clouds, his aura heavy and fierce, as if it might come crashing down on him at any moment, crushing him into pulp.
And so, Tesoro chose to speak from his heart.
"Hahaha, of course, you two didn't cheat! Everyone! I, Gild Tesoro, guarantee with my own reputation that all entertainment activities on the Golden Ship are fair and just, without favoring anyone. For these two guests to win such a grand prize is truly an unprecedented miracle! It can only be said that their luck today is a bit too good."
Upon hearing Tesoro's words, everyone wore expressions that said, 'Do you really think I'd believe that?'
Although no one believed it, feeling the terrifying aura emanating from Shiki, not a single person dared to speak up.
Couldn't they see that even Tesoro, the master of the Golden Ship, was backing down?
If Tesoro was willing to fork over the astronomical sum of 150 billion Berries, what right did we, the onlookers, have to make a fuss?
"Gyahahaha, thats really exhilarating!"
Shiki laughed heartily and immediately stretched out a large hand toward Tesoro.
"150 billion Berries, hand it over will ya?"
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