Chapter 625: The Fake Officers
Unfortunately, Tesoro still hadn’t grasped the key issue at hand.
He should never have gotten involved with the matter concerning Dragon. Although Dragon appeared in the Golden City, Tesoro could have pretended not to notice. The World Government wouldn’t have been able to do anything to him, and he could have stayed out of it. Perhaps then, he wouldn’t be facing the troubles he was now.
Tesoro didn’t realize this. Perhaps it was due to his long-standing mindset; he always assumed that anyone opposing him was after his money.
So, at this moment, he was convinced that Ian and his group were taking advantage of the chaos caused by Dragon’s appearance to fish in troubled waters. He never considered the connection between Dragon and Ian.
Compared to helping the World Government capture Dragon, Tesoro still felt that his stronghold and money were more important. So, he decided to turn back immediately.
Solomon also heard the contents from the Den Den Mushi and knew someone was targeting Tesoro’s treasury. However, since he worked for the World Government, his mission took priority over everything else. Seeing Tesoro wanting to leave, he tried to stop him, but Tesoro completely ignored him!
Tesoro had gained his current status through capital and financial power. Without his money, he would be nothing. Compared to the money in his treasury, the promises made by the Five Elders and the World Government were empty words. Tesoro understood clearly that if he became penniless, the World Government would likely send people to take over his Golden City entirely!
Despite being in a hurry to return, Tesoro still retained some rationality. He realized that this time his opponents were unimaginably strong, and he couldn’t stop them alone. So, on his way back, he took the risk of offending the World Government and found Edward Weevil and Miss Bakkin, who had been detained.
These two had been the witnesses who discovered Dragon’s whereabouts and had long been controlled by Tesoro using gold, under the watch of CP agents. Upon finding them, Tesoro directly knocked out the CP agents.
He approached Bakkin, who was wrapped tightly in gold, squatted down, and said, “Want to make a lot of money?”“Achoo!” Bakkin, who had previously been frozen by Aokiji, was still shivering despite being encased in gold. However, hearing Tesoro’s words, she immediately perked up, her eyes sparkling as she said, “Of course, if there’s money to be made, I’m in!”
“Good!” Tesoro snapped his fingers, and the gold on Bakkin immediately liquefied, retreating from her body and setting her free.
Squatting in front of Bakkin, Tesoro sneered and whispered, “Old woman, to be honest, I really dislike you! But your son is a treasure, so you still have some value. If you can bring him along and help me solve this problem, I can pay you a large sum as a hiring fee.”
“How much!?” Bakkin, completely enticed by Tesoro’s words, didn’t mind being called an old woman at all.
“Ten billion!” Tesoro was generous, saying, “Someone is targeting my treasury right now. If your son can help me drive them away, I’ll give you ten billion Berries!”
The figure stunned Bakkin, and without thinking, she nodded in agreement.
All her scheming was for money, and with this golden opportunity in front of her, she couldn’t care less about Dragon.
After reaching an agreement with Bakkin, Tesoro also released Edward Weevil. The dim-witted Edward Weevil initially wanted to attack Tesoro, roaring, “You dare to bind me and my mama! I’ll kill you!” ʀ
However, Miss Bakkin’s cane snapped and cracked against Edward Weevil’s feet as she scolded, “Stupid son, always thinking about fighting and killing! Don’t you know that making money is the most important thing? I’ve raised you with so much effort, and now there’s a chance to make money, and you still want to attack the boss!?”
“Ah! Mama, I’m sorry!” Edward Weevil apologized hastily.
Tesoro covered his forehead, looking at the peculiar mother and son pair, questioning if he had made a mistake by involving them. However, he couldn’t afford to dwell on it now. He signaled to Bakkin and led the way toward the Golden Tower.
Bakkin, sitting on Edward Weevil’s shoulder, quickly followed.
At that moment, Tesoro’s subordinates, Tanaka and Baccarat, had already arrived at the Golden Tower ahead of them.
What they saw were various sugar-coated statues in different poses. The guards of the Golden Tower had already been taken down by Perospero’s abilities, resulting in significant losses.
Tanaka and Baccarat hurried upstairs, finding a severely injured guard who hadn’t turned into a sugar statue. They quickly woke him up and asked about the situation.
They learned that the enemies were advancing toward the top of the tower, and all the thousand guards in the Golden Tower had been deployed to stop them, but with little success.
Tanaka, ever loyal, realized the enemies had not yet succeeded and immediately activated his Through-Through Fruit ability. He bypassed the stairs, slipping through floor after floor, heading directly to the top.
Baccarat, on the other hand, thought for a moment and then found the remaining barely alive guards. She activated her Devil Fruit ability, starting to absorb their luck.
The guards, who were already on the brink of death, faced even worse fates once their luck was drained by Baccarat. One unfortunate guard lying in the middle of the hall was crushed by a falling chandelier from the ceiling. Others, who were clinging to the stair railings, fell as the railings suddenly collapsed, screaming as they plummeted. Some guards’ wounds reopened, causing massive blood loss, while others choked on their own saliva in bizarre accidents. In short, these already dying men faced even worse misfortunes after losing their remaining luck.
With luck on her side, Baccarat confidently advanced toward the top floor.
On the floor just below the top, Tesoro’s remaining subordinates had set up a defensive position, attempting to block and delay Ian and his group’s advance.
They had destroyed the elevators, laid numerous bombs in the hallway, and positioned a large number of personnel at the exits, creating a dense crossfire to block the entire corridor.
“This is annoying. How many waves have there been?”
Katakuri, leading the way, barely stepped into the hallway when he was greeted by a barrage of bullets and shells, filling the corridor with thick smoke.
However, these weapons were completely ineffective against someone like Katakuri. The bullets and shells sunk into his body, only to be expelled by Katakuri, dropping harmlessly to the ground.
The Mochi-Mochi Fruit’s abilities were similar to Luffy’s Rubber-Rubber Fruit, though in terms of rebounding attacks, it was somewhat less effective. Therefore, Katakuri didn’t send the bullets and shells back unchanged.
Ian leaned against the wall, hands behind his head, yawning, “Why bother saying so much? Who cares how many waves there are? Just clear the path!”
Throughout this journey, Ian and the Dragon Hunter Pirates had an extraordinarily leisurely time. Most of the fighting was handled by Perospero and Katakuri. Ian had been using them like workhorses, leaving most of the combat tasks to them, which meant that even Aokiji rarely had to intervene.
Naturally, Perospero and Katakuri harbored some resentment, but Ian had his reasons. Initially, he hadn’t planned on including them; they insisted on joining. Now that they wanted him to lead them in this endeavor, how could they not put in the effort?
Seeing Ian adopting an attitude of expecting to win effortlessly, Perospero and Katakuri felt helpless. Although Ian had accepted Big Mom’s invitation, he hadn’t yet decided whether he would attend the tea party. Regardless, he was now a potential guest of Big Mom, placing them in a delicate cooperative relationship, and they had no choice but to accept being used.
Katakuri continued advancing under heavy gunfire. Although the exploding bombs shattered his body, it quickly reassembled.
Fortunately, the main structure of the Golden Tower was made of gold, which could withstand the explosions without significant damage. Katakuri moved through the corridor like Rambo, eventually reaching the guards.
Desperate, the guards drew their swords and attacked Katakuri, only to be punched into the ground one by one. The disparity between a fruit ability user and ordinary people was immense.
Ian and his crew leisurely followed behind, walking through the charred corridor until they reached Katakuri.
At the end of the corridor was a massive spiral staircase leading to the top floor. According to Carina’s intel, at the top of the tower were four round golden domes, resembling the four curved fingers of a hand in the Golden Tower’s design. In reality, these domes were enormous vaults, one of which contained all of Tesoro’s money.
Just as Ian and his crew started ascending the spiral staircase, Tanaka appeared. He emerged from the floor below, holding a handgun, and jumped into the air, firing at Ian’s group!
With a bang, a bullet was fired towards one of the Dragon Hunter Pirates’ ordinary sailors. Tanaka knew his bullets were ineffective against the likes of Ian and his strong crew members, so he aimed at the regular sailors instead.
However, he clearly underestimated the combat prowess of the Dragon Hunter Pirates’ ordinary sailors. The sailor reacted instantly, raising his shield to block the bullet.
When Tanaka missed his shot, he didn’t linger. Upon landing, he passed through the floor and disappeared, only to reappear from a side wall moments later, continuing his gunfire.
“I’m here! Now I’m gone! I’m back again! And now I’m gone again!”
Using this harassing tactic, Tanaka aimed to delay Ian and his crew. However, his annoying, fly-like behavior only infuriated Ian.
Ian punched the wall, breaking through the cement to reveal the golden structure inside. Placing his hand on the golden wall, a powerful electric current surged through the gold, spreading throughout the entire Golden Tower.
Tanaka, attempting to phase through the floor for another attack, faced disaster. As soon as he tried to pass through the floor, he was electrocuted by the high-voltage current, sending him flying out from the ground with a crackling burst.
Looking at Tanaka, who lay motionless on the floor, his body charred, Ian scoffed, “Permeation fruit? Are you kidding me? Is this the best Tesoro’s subordinates can offer?”
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