(Look, getting impatient again)
"Oh what, I thought it was somebody important. Just that 'Black Gun' Aus guy."
"Yeah, just that Black—"
"..."
"???"
Dead silence. The noisy casino went library-quiet in an instant.
Then chaos exploded back to life.
"No fucking way!!!"
"Did Crocodile just say... did she just say..."
"Doctor Aus?!?!"
"Holy shit?!?!"
Even in Paradise, anyone with half a brain knew that legendary name.
Every person who heard it—whether they showed it or not—went white with terror. A few cowards were already crying snot and tears, legs giving out as they hit the floor.
Intelligence agents and undercover ops scattered through the crowd started shaking as they speed-dialed their Den Den Mushi.
"Buru buru buru..."
"Emergency report—massive situation!!!"
"It's about that legendary pirate with the 4 billion bounty..."
People stampeded for the exits. Only the ballsiest stayed to watch with hammering hearts, plus a few idiots trying to beg their way into his crew.
Mihawk's drawn Yoru shut them all down.
Having his cover blown, Aus barely reacted. Just calmly turned his attention to Crocodile.
"Smart as expected."
Crocodile's face went dark, cigar clenched between her teeth as she boldly dropped into the chair across from Aus.
"Since you're in the mood, I'll play a round with you."
The remaining gamblers watched these two powerhouses settle in on opposite sides of the table, both crossing their legs like they owned the world. Terrifying and thrilling at the same time.
"'Black Gun.' Didn't expect a man like you to be into this kind of game."
Crocodile's long, pale legs nearly dragged Aus's eyes south and made him lose his cool.
Good thing his willpower was rock-solid...
"Me? I'm into anything fun. Games, other things... whatever catches my interest."
Mischief flashed in Aus's eyes, corners of his mouth curving up as he studied the gorgeous woman radiating boss energy.
"Since we're gambling, how about we make it interesting?"
Hiss...
Clink—
Whoosh...
Her gut said she probably couldn't take this guy in a fight, but backing down wasn't in little Sand's vocabulary.
Instead of rushing to answer, she flicked her lighter and lit a fresh cigar, slowly exhaling smoke.
Perfect power move.
The wind carried the smoke toward Mihawk, who raised an eyebrow and casually waved his hand like a blade. The smoke scattered with the air currents.
(No-Sword Style: Scent Dispersal)
Through the curling smoke, Aus saw Crocodile's face showing that fearless, stubborn look:
"So... what's the bet?"
She didn't want trouble, but she sure as hell wasn't afraid of it.
She'd faced down Whitebeard. Some guy like Aus...
What she didn't know was that exactly this kind of stubborn, boss-level attitude made Aus even more interested.
If she just rolled over and played nice, Aus could waste his whole life in brothels. Sami, No. 6, No. 7—they'd all treat him like a god and hang on his every word.
But running into women like little Sand every now and then?
That's what made life worth living.
Call it the male conquest complex.
"Since I've doubled up to 1.6 billion at your place, let's keep the streak going."
"...3.2 billion?"
Crocodile's expression soured. With everything she had, scraping together that much was possible, but it'd hurt like hell...
"Nah, nah, nah..."
Seeing little Sand's stunned face, Aus shook his head with naked amusement in his eyes.
"Finally meet someone who interests me, and you think double's enough?
Should be at least this much."
He held up his right hand. One finger pointing skyward.
"Ten times?!"
Little Sand's face went serious. Sixteen billion Belly—if she lost, how long would she need to work Alabasta to earn it back?
Five years?
Ten years?
She was a business genius with world-class money-making skills, one of the sharpest minds among pirates. Otherwise she couldn't have bankrolled Buggy's company later or gotten extra bounty from the Marines for leadership ability.
This gamble looked terrible for her. Sure, she was confident she'd win, but what if she didn't?
And even if she won, with numbers this insane, Aus might just refuse to pay and go ballistic instead.
She'd been holed up in Alabasta too long—her intel was getting stale. She didn't believe Aus had the balls to casually throw around ten billion-plus for a card game.
Just as she opened her mouth to refuse, Aus caught her words and his eyes flashed with contempt:
"Ten times? What do I look like, a charity case?"
"What I meant was... one hundred times~"
"One hundred sixty billion Belly!!!"
Aus's seemingly insane words hadn't even sunk in with the crowd when little Sand lost her shit.
Just hearing that number made blood rush to her head, eyes going bloodshot, nearly chomping her cigar in half!
"Impossible!!!"
"That's completely insane! No way!!!"
"Even someone like you couldn't possibly throw around that kind of money!!!"
160 billion Belly could bankrupt medium-sized countries, cover decades of Heavenly Tribute...
"How do you know I don't have it?"
Suddenly, that casual voice cut through little Sand's freakout.
Aus reached into his jacket and slowly pulled out a piece of paper:
[World Government Member Nation Certification]
[Certification: The Doctor Royal Family is the sole royal family of Duramos Kingdom]
"This is..."
"Bingo."
Aus waved the old man's trump card in front of little Sand like it was pocket change.
"I'm betting an entire country. That work for you? Just tax collection for a hundred years would cover it."
Like he was worried she wouldn't believe him, Aus kept pulling papers from his jacket's "four-dimensional pocket."
Bank statements, corporate ownership documents...
"Forget 160 billion—I could cough up 1.6 trillion if I wanted..."
He didn't have that much right now, but he would soon enough. The whole underworld's worth made even a trillion possible.
"So... question is whether you've got the guts to play,"
Aus stared at her like a predator eyeing prey, making little Sand break into cold sweats, his eyes blazing crimson.
"Crocodile~"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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