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Beneath the moon, the Empress departed Cake Island under the cover of night.
Law and Ace were with them.
In war, speed is everything.
Seven or eight hours had already passed since Tesoro's death. The sharks were circling—the various powers vying for control of Gran Tesoro were undoubtedly already on their way.
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"Tell Tanaka and Dice to suppress any internal riots and hold the line against external threats," Jin ordered. "If they can do that, they'll have earned their keep."
Aboard the ship, Jin had forced the subdued Baccarat to contact the current managers of Gran Tesoro.
Tesoro's death had been a devastating blow. With her escape thwarted and her life on the line, she had no choice but to submit.
But Jin could feel it.
A deep, hidden hatred coiled within her.
Her surrender wasn't just about survival. It was fueled by a thirst for vengeance—a promise to herself that kept her going, forcing her to play the part.
Jin was surprised at first, but then it clicked.
Love?
This woman had loved Gild Tesoro.
In truth, Baccarat's appearance was a near-perfect match for Stella—the most important woman in Tesoro's life.
She was likely a replacement, a stand-in he had found to fill that void.
If so, their relationship must have been anything but simple.
Her hatred for him, then, was only natural.
It was the same reason Jin had signed Tesoro's death warrant the moment he'd threatened Uta and Reiju.
From a purely rational standpoint, keeping Tesoro alive to indirectly control Gran Tesoro would have been the optimal choice.
But Jin had killed him anyway.
He had to crush any notion that he could be threatened. He had to send a message to the world: anyone who dared to use his loved ones as leverage would die.
No exceptions.
If he had spared Tesoro, it would have been seen as a weakness, a sign that his bottom line was negotiable if the price was right.
It would have invited an endless stream of challengers.
Furthermore, killing Tesoro was a show of force directed at the Big Mom Pirates.
It was a clear signal that in his previous duels with Katakuri and Oven, he had been holding back.
He was making an example of Tesoro.
A warning.
If they pushed him any further, the gloves were coming off.
Big Mom, it seemed, had gotten the message. She had read the killing intent in his eyes when their gazes met. The balance between the Four Emperors was a delicate one, built on military might. Any attempt to eliminate one would only create an opportunity for the others.
Even if she could have defeated Jin, it would have come at a terrible price. It was better to play the gracious host, to laugh it off and de-escalate.
And that had led to their subsequent cooperation.
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Baccarat was a beautiful woman.
Her figure, in particular, was stunning—tall, slender, and impossibly curvaceous.
A true femme fatale.
A shame.
Love...
Jin beckoned for her to come closer.
Baccarat, after a moment's hesitation, put on a seductive smile. She swayed her hips and gracefully settled into his lap, pressing herself against his chest.
She knew her chances to kill him were slim. Her only real shot was in a moment of passion, to use her Luck-Luck Fruit to drain his fortune and create an opening.
"So, you and Tesoro were lovers," Jin said, his voice a low murmur.
Baccarat's reaction was instantaneous. She drew a dagger from a hidden sheath on her thigh. But Jin was faster. He wrapped an arm around her neck, cutting off her air.
"Deep breaths," he said, his voice cold. "It's normal to feel a little faint."
There was nothing more to say.
In the face of absolute power, her luck had run out.
He snapped her neck.
Her body went limp, her face a mask of bitter resentment, her beautiful features twisted with a final, burning hatred.
It was cruel, but reality often is. Jin had no intention of leaving a ticking time bomb at his back.
Her Luck-Luck Fruit was a cheat ability. In a moment of carelessness, it could have posed a real threat.
And more importantly, her love for Tesoro meant she would have stopped at nothing to get her revenge.
They were enemies.
And so, even for a beauty like her, Jin showed no mercy.
He glanced at the body, feeling no perverse urge. The floor split open and swallowed her, and the power of her fruit flowed into him.
The Paramecia Luck-Luck Fruit.
Its core ability was the manipulation of fortune, with three main applications:
—Draining the luck of others through physical contact, plunging them into a state of perpetual misfortune.
—Converting stolen luck into personal advantage, making impossibly improbable events occur.
—Transferring luck between individuals.
Gran Tesoro's success was largely due to Baccarat. As a concierge, she would casually touch the high rollers, draining their luck. No matter how much they won, once she had touched them, they would inevitably lose everything.
The only reason she had lost to Usopp was because she had run into someone with an even more broken cheat ability.
"Imagine what would happen if I touched Buggy and stole his luck," Jin mused. The thought was tantalizing.
As he absorbed the fruit, he could faintly sense the flow of "fortune" around others. His own luck had also been tangibly enhanced.
But within the fruit's will, a sliver of Baccarat's hatred for him remained.
Jin had discovered that a user's intense, extreme emotions could merge with their fruit, becoming a part of its "demon." Tot Musica was a prime example. On the other hand, some users' wills were so strong that they could completely rewrite the nature of their fruit.
Like Nika.
He had some experience with this now. The most direct method was to simply burn away the residual will with his soul-flames. And each time the demonic carrier evolved, it would also purify a portion of the fruit's negative "demonic" will.
He then took a moment to experience the Gold-Gold Fruit. Because Tesoro had already pushed it to the level of Awakening, it was already awakened when Jin absorbed it.
He touched a nearby object, and it turned to gold. Within the range of the gold, his will, his senses, expanded. This was how Tesoro had maintained complete control over Gran Tesoro.
In other words, Tesoro's and Baccarat's fruits were the core "technology" of the golden city.
Without them, would it still have a future?
Jin considered the problem.
He could assign the two fruits to new managers to maintain the city's operations.
Or... he could just swallow Gran Tesoro and make it a part of the demonic carrier.
An external module, of course.
Once it was a part of the carrier, he could easily apply the effects of both fruits to it. And he could use it to collect the "luck" of the gamblers, channeling it into the carrier.
Plus, there would be no shortage of troublemaking pirates in the city of gold. A steady supply of soul crystals.
It was a multi-faceted win.
The second option it was.
A smile spread across Jin's face. He then examined the three Devil Fruits he had won from Katakuri.
Two Zoans.
The Snake-Snake Fruit, Ancient Model: Titanoboa. The largest snake ever recorded, now extinct.
The Horse-Horse Fruit, Mythical Model: Pegasus. The fruit eaten by Stronger, Doc Q's horse?
And one Paramecia.
The Smelt-Smelt Fruit. It allowed the user to consume various ores, smelt them at high temperatures within their body, and extract molten metal from their abdomen.
The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia noted:
A high-risk, combat-oriented Paramecia.
Conversion efficiency for iron ores up to 89%.
Side effect: "Metal Overload." Continuous use for over two hours results in organ metallization.
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