Chapitre 299: New Outfits
Cherry doled out 5 million Beri to everyone on the crew to play with as they pleased.
This may seem like a small amount compared to the total sum she possessed, but 5 million Beri was about how much the average dual income household earned in a year.
Needless to say, blowing that much money gambling was a bit extravagant.
When Nami's turn came, she accentuated her bikini clad chest and fluttered her lashes at Cherry. "You can give me a little extra on top, can't you? You know that I'm good for it, right Cherry~?"
Cherry frowned and pinched both of Nami's cheeks. "Why do you have to be so adorably coquettish?"
Nami didn't understand why she was acting so disappointed, then Robin's chuckling reached her ears.
"I guess all the candy is mine~" Robin said, clearly amused.
"What? What's going on? Candy?" Nami was confused.
"We made a bet regarding what would happen after you found out about our savings," Robin enlightened her. "Cherry didn't think you'd be shameless enough to flirt with her in front of me."
Nami went very red in the face. She hadn't forgotten that the two of them were in a relationship, but the sight of money had apparently affected her decision making a bit too much.
"What about the candy, though?" Nami asked. This was the only point that didn't make much sense to her. Couldn't they just buy candy whenever they wanted? Why gamble with it then?
"Big Mom's people bought a box of super gourmet candy at auction for 100 million Beri after I deliberately drove up the bid to annoy them. Then we robbed them, heh." Cherry explained with a smirk.
"""...""" there was a stunned silence at the audacity of messing with an Emperor's crew over a box of candy.
"Bahahahaha~!" except for Luffy who thought it was hilarious.
Luffy then swooped in close to Robin and fluttered his eyelashes in a remarkable impression of Nami and said "You'll share, won't you Robin~?"
""Pfft!"" Usopp and Chopper could barely contain their laughter.
"Huhuhu, of course Captain. I'll let Chopper and Momonosuke have some too." Robin found his antics just too adorable.
"YOU WILL?! YIPPEE!" as a sweet lover, Chopper was ecstatic.
Momonoke was clearly very tempted as well, but forced a stern expression onto his face and said "A samurai doesn't indulge in sweet things."
Sanji shot his hand into the air like an eager student. "I'll take it if he doesn't want it, Robin-chwan~!"
Cabernet had taken out the box of candies from her compartment for Robin who promptly handed out a few. Even Sanji got one since he asked nicely, and also because he was the crew's cook so it was only fair.
Cherry and the three samurai watched the scene with deep-seated jealousy.
Cherry looked at the samurai and asked "So, did you guys want some money to play with?"
"A samurai doesn't accept charity." Kin'emon declared stubbornly.
"Who said it's charity? It's a loan, you gotta pay me back later with Wano-Bucks or whatever you guys use for currency." Cherry countered.
"Hm? Well, in that case…" Kinemon was tempted, but something occurred to him that was fairly important. "How much exactly are Beri worth? I've not spent enough time outside of Wano to have a good grasp of the value…"
"Well, the 5 million Beri I gave to each of them is enough to outright buy a small house in most places." Cherry mused.
Kin'emon and Kanjuro's eyes bulged.
"I thought your 'Beri' just used big numbers to sound like it was more than what it's really worth!" Kin'emon exclaimed.
"No no no, the Skypeian's are the ones who do that with their Extol. They're ten thousand to one Beri, apparently." Cherry said.
"Nevermind that! How can you waste so much money on gambling?!" Kin'emon complained.
"You don't want it?" Cherry waved a bundle of bills in his face.
Kin'emon snatched the Beri out of her hands and muttered "How much is the interest?"
"There's no interest between friends." Cherry said magnanimously. "I will break your kneecaps if you don't pay it back in a timely manner, though."
Cherry went to join the others and Kanjuro leaned over to Kin'emon. "She has quite the sense of humor, doesn't she?"
"I sure hope she does. I won't have to find out as long as I win!" Kin'emon's eyes shone with madness.
"Wow! Amazing! Might you be the Straw Hat Pirates?" a bombshell redhead in a revealing dress strutted over to them. "It's a pleasure to meet you~!"
Before anyone could say anything, Sanji was already in front of the woman introducing himself. "It must be destiny that we met here tonight, mademoiselle~! I am Sanji, world renowned cook of the Straw Hats, at your service~!"
"I'm honored~! My name is Baccarat, concierge for esteemed V.I.P. guests such as yourselves~!" Baccarat introduced herself in a tone dripping with sugary professionalism.
"You know who we are?" Luffy asked and Cherry shot him a look that said 'Really? You're not used to being world infamous yet?'
"Naturally~! Royals, high level government officials, the upper ranks of the marines, and infamous pirates are all on our V.I.P. list~!" Baccarat explained slowly. "Ah, here comes our ride~"
A fancy looking vehicle rolled up behind her and stopped. It was porcelain white with gold trim and red velvet carpeting. Inside were a number of small turtles that appeared to be the ones who powered the vehicle.
Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, and Franky rushed over to have a look at it as Baccarat explained "This is our patented 'Turtle-mobile'. A very handy vehicle to have on such a large ship. The muscle turtles may be small, but are quite strong~!"
"In other words, it's a gaudy carriage pulled by turtles." Cherry plucked the wind from her sails and Franky's interest diminished considerably, though he still found it to be novel.
"Yes, I suppose it is~" Baccarat was seemingly completely unfazed.
'She probably hears that a lot from stuck up, rich losers.' Cherry reckoned.
A second turtle-mobile pulled up and a couple of turtles opened the doors for them to climb inside.
"We can head straight inside if you like~?" Baccarat suggested with a smile.
They all clambered into the luxury vehicles, some commenting on the high quality of the seats and such. Luffy took his preferred position on the hood of the front car.
"Off we go~!" Baccarat turned the key in the ignition of the turtle-mobile as did the driver of the second in tandem.
A small current of electricity zapped the muscle turtles, who responded by quickly starting to row to power the cars. Cherry's lips turned downward slightly and her eyes sharpened.
'They torture animals for the convenience of their guests… That's strike one.' Cherry tallied in her mind.
Gran Tesoro had now proven to her that it can be needlessly cruel to animals. A damning sin in her opinion already and they haven't even reached the gambling floor yet. If they received two more strikes, then this would be the final night that the Gran Tesoro remained in business.
Baccarat rattled off the various services provided by the Gran Tesoro as well as some interesting trivia to stoke their excitement.
"All that gold is just lying around!" Usopp whispered conspiratorially. "I wonder how much we could get away with?"
"You're telling me!" Nami concurred. "I've been dying to steal something since we got here!"
"I don't recommend that~" Baccarat chimed in. "There are security den den mushi all over Gran Tesoro~! Our head of security deals with thieves quite harshly, so I recommend behaving yourselves during your stay~!"
Baccarat had spoken the warning so casually, clearly indicating how common such thoughts are, as well as how confident they were with dealing with thieves.
"Are we there yet?" Luffy complained more than inquired.
"We'll be there very soon, my valued customers~! Perhaps we should update your wardrobes to something more befitting your station first, no~?" Baccarat tempted. "On credit, of course~!"
Nobody was particularly against free clothes (it was wordlessly agreed upon that they would keep them and wouldn't pay), so they stopped by a luxury clothing store to be outfitted in style.
Cherry wasn't really fond of the white theme that Baccarat chose for their new outfits, something that Baccarat took notice of immediately. "My my, white doesn't seem to be your color, Ms. Harpin~! How about this instead~?"
Baccarat handed her a deep black, cashmere turtleneck and the most comfortable denim jeans she'd ever felt, along with vintage red tinted glasses to give her a mysterious intellectual look. "Ohhh~ Neat."
"Now then, are you ready to-" "HEY HEY! YOU PEOPLE!" Baccarat started, but was suddenly interrupted by four children who charged over to them, brandishing flowers.
"Buy our flowers!" "You're all V.I.P.s, yeah?!" "You can afford a few flowers, can't you?!" "Please…?" The children did a poor job with their sales pitches.
Usopp tried to assuage them. "Fine fine, we'll buy! How much are they?"
"5 thousand Beri!" a boy with green hair said with a scowl on his face.
"What?! That much?!" Usopp was shocked.
"Of course! We need it to buy our freedom!" The boy shouted in frustration. "You buyin' or not?!"
"Now, now~! Run along children~! Don't bother our esteemed guests~!" Baccarat shooed them with an undeniable threat in her tone.
The children hesitated for only a moment before turning tail whilst apologizing.
Baccarat turned around to give an empty apology to her 'esteemed guests' before it died in her throat. The group was looking at her in mild confusion with the exception of Cherry, whose smile dripped with menace and didn't reach the cold gaze of her piercing eyes as they burrowed into her very soul.
Cherry blinked and the expression vanished like a ghost, making Baccarat wonder if she imagined it. Baccarat shook off the chill running down her spine and stepped right back into her role as a concierge. "My apologies~! Shall we go straight to the casino~?"
'Strike five...' Cherry sang in her mind.
Chapitre 300: A Tempting Invitation
"The Straw Hats have made contact with Baccarat and have entered the city, Tesoro-sama," a shifty looking man with a big head reported after phasing up from the floor.
The man he reported to was the jackas- ahem, the man with a perfectly reasonable opinion of himself from the concert, Gild Tesoro.
A drunk man overheard the report and laughed obnoxiously, mocking the Straw Hats as fools.
"What's so funny?" Tesoro asked with a cold smile.
The drunk realized something was wrong and that he'd made a big mistake. He was then promptly covered in liquid gold as his pleas for his life fell on deaf ears.
"KukukuhahaHA!" Tesoro laughed and said, "The Straw Hats, eh? They have that Harpin D. Cherry with the ridiculous bounty; how absurd. As if a woman could be such a large threat. It's not like she's a ship-sized monster like Big Mom. Don't you agree, Carina?"
His gaze landed on the woman who sang in the concert, called Carina. Her face showed a forced smile as she said, "Of course."
"Haha! That's right! It's just like how Nico Robin got that 79 million Beri bounty as a little girl. There's no way those ridiculous rumors are true. Just look at this bounty poster, she's so dainty! There's no way she's strong!" Gild Tesoro ranted, pulling out a pristine bounty poster labeled 'Harpin D. Cherry'.
Carina's eye twitched outside of Tesoro's notice. 'Does he carry that everywhere he goes? I don't recall him carrying around anyone else's bounty poster…'
"She's pretty cute." Carina spoke testingly.
"Right?! You totally get it Carina! Such a sweet, adorable woman couldn't possibly be powerful! And with a bounty of 800 million Beri? Why, she'll need a powerful man to protect her from those marine dogs, won't she?" Tesoro said seriously.
'I think I'm going to puke…' Carino thought to herself and said, "There aren't many men in the world with the power and influence to keep the world government off her back."
"You raise a good point, Carina! I ought to give you a raise… a small one." Tesoro nodded in agreement, as if he hadn't been practically begging her to say that.
"Thank you, Tesoro-sama." Carina thanked, as she was expected to.
"I suppose that I could do it; there's certainly no one better suited to do so than me. However… I'm not one to freely give charity, Kukuku…" Tesoro chuckled.
'Haaah…' Carina sighed in her mind. 'At least I won't have to put up with this creep too much longer. It's my good fortune that Nami happened to come here. I should recruit her and her friends, I'm sure they can help me out.'
"Keep me informed about Harp- ahem, the Straw Hat crew's activities, Tanaka." Tesoro ordered the shifty little man.
"Yes, Tesoro-sama." Tanaka bowed and sank into the floor.
…
Meanwhile, Cherry was plotting the downfall of the Gran Tesoro.
'Just sinking the thing would be easy, but that would be a massive waste of gold… Oh, and I guess it would endanger the passengers too.' Cherry pondered.
Trying to evacuate the ship would obviously trigger some alarms, which would start a fight between them and the Gran Tesoro's forces plus whoever else didn't want it sunk.
When Cherry first decided to destroy the massive ship she hadn't been thinking of it like laying siege to a city full of innocent bystanders, but that's pretty much exactly what it was.
'As much as I would enjoy the spectacle of mass destruction, guerilla tactics seem to be the more realistic option here, huh?' Cherry thought with no small amount of annoyance.
"Huh? Is that the weirdo who dropped Usopp off at Sabaody Archipelago?" Cherry said, ehr thoughts coming to a grinding halt.
"What? OH! HERACLES-SAN! OVER HERE!" Usopp saw him as well and drew his attention by shouting and waving his arms about.
"Oh, Usoppun! You're here as well, I see!" The strange man wandered over.
"I didn't expect to see you in a place like this." Usopp said.
"Neither would I have imagined it, but as it turns out, being an experienced botanist in regards to the strange plants found in the Grand Line is quite fruitful!" Heracles claimed.
Though it hadn't been long since they parted, Usopp spent a few minutes catching up with the strange man before returning to the others.
"I've taken the liberty to prepare 20 million Beri in chips here for you." Baccarat said.
"Ohh, how convenient!" Luffy said, before holding his stack of cash out. "I'll take 5 million worth!"
"No no, there's no need~! As our precious V.I.P.s, we can settle everything afterwards~ Fun first, business later, yes~?" Baccarat said with a sweet smile.
'What an obvious ploy to make us overspend.' Cherry thought.
"Cool! Shishishi!" Luffy snatched the box of chips from her and ran off with them.
Cherry slapped a hand to her face expressionlessly. She only JUST told him not to take a loan, like, 5 minutes ago!
"Fufufu, don't worry about our silly Captain, Cherry. Luffy is a lucky boy." Robin reassured her.
"I suppose you're right. It won't really matter if he loses it all, anyways." Cherry let it go. She'd already resolved to burn the place down, after all.
Since Luffy, Usopp and Chopper entered themselves into a race (Cherry approved of that one given the heavy skill element involved), Cherry went off to do her own thing instead of watching, much the same as Law and the samurai trio. By doing her own thing though, she means scouting the ship for structural and security flaws and the like under the guise of gambling. If the ship had a hull breach that was difficult to repair but not very fast, then they'd evacuate right?
A woman dressed as a sexy rabbit was assigned to guide her around by Baccarat. She ultimately found herself at a "high" stakes poker table smoking an expensive cigar and drinking some exquisite whiskey, no doubt both of which cost more than was reasonable for either.
"Can't believe that Straw Hat ruined my game! That was on course to be my lowest 18-hole ever, ya know?!" a familiar man's voice said as it approached the table.
"Yes yes, I heard you the first time you complained. There's still nothing we can do about it here." a familiar woman's voice said in minor annoyance.
Gion and Tokikake sat themselves down at the table and produced some chips rather haphazardly, showing that these bets weren't really worth much to them. Probably just wasting some time to ease their frustrations about a certain pirate captain.
"Hey there. Long time no see." Cherry greeted them casually like an old friend.
The two looked at her and stiffened, but soon relaxed again. After all, if the world government couldn't make trouble here, then Cherry couldn't either.
"Oh my~ I've been thinking about you ever since the last time we met~!" Gion said suddenly.
"Eh? Huh? What? Gion?!" Tokikake started to panic, was the woman he had a crush on flirting with a notorious pirate right in front of him?!
"Really?" Cherry asked curiously, wondering where this was going.
"Mm~" Gion confirmed with a seductive smile. "Maybe you'd like to come to my ship to have some fun~?"
Tokikake's jaw hit the table in shock.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
112 Power
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