"The most precious thing..."
Tezolo froze for a moment and began weighing it in his heart.
The first thing that came to mind was his wealth, coveted by the entire world, and the Gran Tesoro, this massive ship built mostly from gold.
If he had to give up money, or even his current fortune, could he bear it?
That was a good question.
Tezolo knew very well that the reason he had been able to expand his business to this scale, and even ignore the authority of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons to turn the Gran Tesoro into a fully independent nation, was inseparable from Ozz.
One could even say that if Ozz wished, he could simply take all of Tezolo's wealth by force. At most, he would lose a subordinate who could continue making money for him.
But the Gran Tesoro alone was enough to let Ozz live a life where he could never spend all his money.
In other words, Tezolo would not truly be losing too much, because his wealth had always been under Ozz's restraint to begin with.
Then what else did he have to lose?
At worst, he would start from nothing again. But gambling for a chance to have any wish fulfilled was simply too worthwhile.
As he thought about it, Tezolo's eyes shifted toward Baccarat beside him.
And even if the uncertainty was high, as long as Baccarat was here, even the smallest chance of victory could be magnified without limit, right?
As long as she absorbed enough...
"I refuse!"
Just as Tezolo was about to agree, Luffy shouted with an utterly serious face.
"Hm?"
Tezolo's eyes trembled slightly as he looked over in disbelief.
There was actually someone in this world who could refuse any wish granted by Mr. Ozz?
How was that possible?
"Oh? Why?" Ozz asked faintly, fingers interlaced as he looked at Luffy's serious face.
"Our dreams are things we have to make come true with our own hands!"
"And... the most precious things I have aren't just my dreams. They're my friends too!"
"I'll never gamble them away to you!"
The other Straw Hats, who had been shaken by the enormous wishes Ozz had promised, finally snapped back to themselves. The way they looked at Luffy was filled with trust.
"Yeah... he's right."
"We set out to sea so we could make our dreams come true ourselves!"
"Well said, Luffy!"
Ozz sighed, seemingly helpless.
So it was a hot-blooded answer filled with conviction. How old-fashioned.
"Naive little brats."
At this moment, Baccarat and the others had already returned to Tezolo's side. They heard him speak in a low, disdainful voice.
"What do you mean, Lord Tezolo?"
"I'm saying those brats are far too naive..."
Tezolo's ring-covered hand tightened slightly.
"When Mr. Ozz wants to play a game in Golden City, there has never been a game he couldn't play. This is no longer a question of whether they want to or not."
Sure enough, in the next moment, Ozz smiled and lightly clapped his hands.
"Well said. A person's dream should be fulfilled by their own efforts. But the gamble called life is full of variables, and it isn't something you can leave just because you want to."
The moment those slightly ambiguous words were spoken, the Straw Hats all became alert.
Zoro drew his swords. The others also took defensive stances.
Seeing this, Little Hawk's face, shaded beneath the brim of his hat, revealed one sharp, piercing eye as he coldly stared at all the Straw Hats.
Even without holding his black blade, he still gave off an overwhelming pressure.
Little Sand also turned her head with a cigar between her lips. The cigar showed faint signs of weathering into sand, and rings of yellow sand began swirling around her chair.
"Wait."
Just as both sides faced off and the atmosphere grew tense, Ozz raised a hand to stop them.
He gently pressed his hand downward.
Along with that motion came a terrifying pressure, a mixture of Conqueror's Haki and spatial power.
Even Little Hawk felt a shudder of alarm.
"Honestly, don't start fighting every time something happens. Am I really such a violent person?"
Ozz pressed his hand down again, calming the tense atmosphere between both sides.
Then he took a piece of paper from his coat.
"Well... I'm the kind of person who hates forcing others the most. Everything is voluntary."
Bang.
He slapped the paper onto the table.
Everyone could not help looking at it.
The contents read:
Dotor Ozz saved Nico Robin's life during the destruction of Ohara.
After she reaches adulthood, whenever Ozz wants it, Robin's life belongs to Ozz.
Signature: Nico Robin.
The moment she saw the note and the signature on it, all color drained from Robin's face. The other Straw Hats were also shocked.
"I'm surprised you kept it for this long..."
Mihawk clearly remembered this piece of paper. He looked at Ozz with a strange expression.
Had this man planned all of this decades ago?
"A contract of sale? What's that...?"
Little Sand did not know about it, because this happened before she followed Ozz.
Mihawk roughly explained it to her.
"Strictly speaking, you weren't the third to board the ship. Over twenty years ago, during the destruction of Ohara..."
Little Sand more or less understood. She held her cigar and exhaled a mouthful of smoke.
"So in other words, Ozz was laying the groundwork from the very beginning?"
"When it comes to schemes, he's probably already number one in the world."
Of course, she had no sympathy or pity.
Straw Hat Luffy had already sent two Warlords to Impel Down in a row. Ozz did not pursue it, but she had long been displeased.
If he kept going like this and exposed everything the Warlords had done, one day the title of the Seven Warlords might disappear altogether.
"Hey! Robin, is this real?!"
"...Yes."
Even Robin herself had never expected this old matter to be brought up now.
After she reached adulthood, Ozz had never mentioned it once. She had thought he had already forgotten...
Sanji, for some reason, also began sweating.
He seemed to have something like this too!
But right now, no one had the time to pay attention to him. Everyone was staring at the old piece of paper in Ozz's hand.
"I understand!"
As captain, Luffy stepped forward and accepted the gamble.
"If I win, you give Robin back to us!"
"Of course. Any wish is fine."
At this moment, Tezolo walked over with his hands in his pockets and asked a question he cared about deeply, one that could even decide victory or defeat.
"Mr. Ozz, you said any method can be used. Then... is Baccarat's ability allowed too?"
"Oh..."
Ozz smiled, as if he had seen through Tezolo's intention, and lightly nodded.
"Of course."
"Luck and such..."
"You can absorb as much as you want."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"