"So, Master Sherwin, where would you like to go next?"
After leaving that enclosed room, Sherwin and the others took the elevator back to the lobby of the Gran Tesoro Hotel. Baccarat continued to accompany them as their dedicated VIP hostess.
"Here are fifty million Berries worth of chips. Everyone, please feel free to use them as you wish. Do not worry about running out I will replenish them at any time."
As Baccarat spoke, she pushed two silver-white suitcases in front of Sherwin and his group. When the cases were opened, they revealed a massive pile of neatly stacked chips.
Sherwin picked up a chip, flipped it between his fingers a few times, and handed it to Klee Meow on his shoulder. Then he took another and tucked it into the paws of the nearby Kamijou Meow.
"Come on, let go test which of you two has the stronger luck."
With that, Sherwin headed toward a nearby table where players were betting on dice rolls.
Testing which of the two Felynes had better luck was actually quite simple he just had to have them bet on the same outcome and see whether they won or lost.
"Sherwin, how do we play this meow?"
Holding her chip, Klee Meow looked at the messy grid on the table with a bewildered expression, tilting her head in confusion.
"It actually very simple..."
Baccarat quickly stepped in to explain, and the dealer at the table proactively ceased all movement, quietly waiting for Klee Meow to understand the rules.
Even the surrounding guests showed no signs of impatience.
What a joke. No matter how much money or power they had, could they compare to a Celestial Dragon? The Hunter was someone who didn't even hesitate to kill Celestial Dragons they wouldn't dare complain even if they were given ten times their current courage.
"Oh! Klee understands! Then Klee wants to bet on even numbers meow!"
Having understood the rules, the little Ragdoll simply picked "even" or "odd," the bet with the lowest payout odds.
Then, without needing a reminder from Sherwin, Kamijou Meow followed suit and placed his chip on even numbers as well.
Once everyone had finished placing their bets, the dealer immediately grabbed the dice cup and began to shake it.
Despite being a world where individual physical power far exceeded that of Earth, the way the dice were shaken was remarkably ordinary.
Not to mention the circus-like displays in Hong Kong cinema, they could have at least shown off a few tricks...
Sherwin watched the dealer utterly mundane shaking technique with great disappointment.
Thump!
The dice cup landed heavily back on the table, and the dice jumping inside gradually fell silent.
As expected, Observation Haki could not "hear" the numbers on the dice.
Sherwin curled his lip and silently withdrew his Observation Haki.
To be precise, for someone like him who rarely dealt with such things, Observation Haki was truly useless here.
Although it could help him hear the different sounds the dice made every time they bounced, Sherwin had absolutely no idea what those subtle differences meant.
Furthermore, everyone here seemed accustomed to betting before the dice were shaken even if he could understand the sounds, it seemed it wouldn't be of much use.
The dealer slowly lifted the lid...
"3, 2, 4. Odd."
"Hehe~ Klee lost meow!"
The little puppet who lost didn't mind at all, tapping her head lightly. Sherwin could even hear a hint of novelty in her voice...
That made sense this little one didn't care about winning or losing at all. On the contrary, losing a game of chance was a very fresh experience for Klee Meow.
"Un... unlucky meow..."
orz╮
Touma Meow was in a state of utter dejection, slumped over in a discouraged posture. "Is my luck so bad that even little sister Klee can't save it meow?"
"Hmm... not necessarily. Let try one more time," Sherwin said, patting the little tuxedo cat head to comfort him.
Actually, he wasn't just offering comfort he truly felt that Touma Meow wasn't necessarily beyond saving.
After all, if they lost, Tesoro would pick up the tab anyway, and winning didn't seem to have much significance.
So, Sherwin turned his head toward the little puppet. "Klee, try one more time. If you win this time, I'll tell you the story of 'The Time-Bombed Skyscraper' tonight. But if you lose, I'll put you in confinement for two... well... one... uh... half an hour."
If he wasn't worried that the duration would be too short to have any effect, Sherwin would have considered a symbolic one-minute confinement he couldn't bear to let his precious Klee Meow suffer.
Then, he turned to Touma Meow. "Same for you. If you win, I'll have Sanji Meow make a special feast just for you. If you lose, you go to Haibara to test her medicine."
Actually, Sherwin had initially thought about doing the opposite—giving Touma Meow a reward for losing and a punishment for winning.
But on second thought, that would probably make the probability of winning even higher. After all, with Touma Meow rotten luck, naturally, whatever could go wrong, would go wrong.
"This is too much discrimination! Such unfair treatment meow!"
(=`Д=)
The little tuxedo cat immediately protested loudly: "Kamijou-san punishment compared to little sister Klee is just way too different meow!"
However, Sherwin slowly and deliberately pinched his cheek. "Are you sure you want me to increase Klee punishment? If she really ends up losing because of you, have you thought about what will happen to you?"
"MEOW!!!"
∑(=ΦДΦ=)
Touma Meow fur stood on end instantly. Even though he hadn't awakened that Observation Haki thing yet, he could feel the oppressive gazes being thrown his way by the other companions.
"Kamijou-san suddenly feels that Sherwin proposal is very fair, it should be exactly like this meow!"
(=ˇˇ=)
Quickly switching to a serious face, the little tuxedo cat spoke with absolute certainty.
"Klee is betting on even numbers again meow!"
(=`ー=)
Since it involved a new story and confinement, the little puppet got serious this time. After thinking for a good while, she placed a chip down once more.
"Little sister Klee, you definitely have to win this time meow!"
(=`△=)
Touma Meow bowed devoutly toward the little puppet before following suit and placing his chip in the even numbers area.
After another dull round of dice shaking...
"4, 1, 1, even. Congratulations to you both."
The dealer spoke with a smile to Klee Meow and Touma Meow, pushing the chips they had won toward them.
"I... I won?"
(=⊙ω⊙=)
Touma Meow looked at the chips in front of him, which had doubled to two, in utter disbelief.
After a moment of stunned silence, he began jumping and hopping with excitement, cheering loudly, "I won! For the first time since I was born, I won a game of luck meow! Klee, you are my god meow!"
And then...
His wildly flailing little paw struck the edge of the gambling table.
"Aow—!"
Mid-jump, the little cow-print cat clutched his paw and let out a wail, completely losing his balance in mid-air. He landed on the floor with a "splat," a perfect illustration of joy leading to sorrow.
"Un... unlucky meow..."
(TT」∠)
Prone on the ground, Touma Meow cried out his catchphrase with teary eyes.
Picking up the unlucky little kitten, Sherwin had Vermouth treat his paw, then adjusted the reward and punishment conditions to let the two lucky Felynes continue the test.
After all, with only two tests, the sample size was still far too small.
As for the rewards...
It is entirely possible to wipe out most of the promised rewards through a system of offsets between rewards and punishments.
Besides, it was just a matter of doting on his own cats a bit more it wouldn't matter even if they weren't wiped out.
Thus, Klee Meow and Touma Meow continued to place bets several more times. During this process, not only did the conditions promised by Sherwin change, but the order in which the two cats placed their bets kept switching as well.
After Klee Meow carried Touma Meow to victory once again, Sherwin finally grasped the priority relationship between the two cat luck.
It could be summarized in one sentence—the Gacha Goddess simply triumphs over the Unlucky One!
As long as Klee Meow truly wanted to win, she could carry Touma Meow to victory. Only in rounds where the little doll didn't particularly care about the outcome would Touma Meow luck take precedence.
Furthermore, every time he was carried by Klee Meow, Touma Meow would invariably encounter some sort of mishap, as if he had to "pay back" that hard-won good luck.
Sherwin managed to save him a few times, but eventually, Touma Meow performed the absurd feat of dislocating his own jaw just by sneezing, leaving Sherwin unable to intervene even if he wanted to...
In this regard, it seemed Touma Meow "unlucky power" was not inferior to Klee Meow "lucky power" in the slightest.
"Hunter, has this Mr. Kamijou... eaten some kind of luck-related Devil Fruit?"
Baccarat, who had watched the entire process from the side, asked while judging by her own experiences.
The fact that Klee Meow had eaten the Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit was no longer a secret, so the only thing she could think of was that Touma Meow had eaten something like a Jinx-Jinx Fruit.
"Touma has never eaten a Devil Fruit," Sherwin said, scratching Klee Meow chin with one hand and rubbing Touma Meow head with the other. "Their good and bad luck are both natural-born."
To prove this point, Sherwin had the two cats place bets separately once more.
This time, Klee Meow bet on the "Alls" with the highest multiplier—guessing that the dealer would roll three of the same number and correctly hitting the specific digit.
Without Touma Meow causing interference, Klee Meow naturally succeeded.
Next, Sherwin had Touma Meow place bets on every single option except for the specific "Alls" Klee Meow had just hit.
Then, sure enough, the dealer rolled the exact same result again...
"..."
Baccarat looked down at her gloved hands and fell into a state of self-doubt—
Could I have unintentionally used my ability on them?