Chapter 437 – Protection of Dressrosa.
[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
Third Person POV
New Word.
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While the world continued reacting to the war between Yonkos, in Dressrosa, not even an hour had passed since the two old men had met at the betting house. As they yed calmly, someone entered the establishment.
At that moment, the betting house manager looked surprised at the new visitor and quickly approached the neer.
"Lord Luffy, it is an honor to have you here. If I had known of your presence, we would have organized a reception worthy of you!" He seemed eager as Luffy entered, but thetter merely shrugged it off. Many people treated him this way now, and it was often irritating.
"You don''t need to be so formal. I''m just passing through. I want to talk to one of my guests," Luffy said calmly as he walked forward, stopping in front of the two men betting, who seemed deeply focused on the game.
"Mr. Luffy, it''s good to see you here. I hope you bring me some luck," Fujitora murmured with a smile, not even ncing at Luffy, who kept his attention on the game.
However, beside him, his opponent threw an unsatisfied look at Luffy, seeming to think he might use Conqueror''s Haki to intimidate him.
Luffy merely smiled at this, unconcerned that before him sat a monster, even greater than Fujitora.
The man observed Luffy''s silence and said nothing as well, returning to the game while it continued. It was a card game—poker. Chips ttered onto the table continuously as they yed on. Both eventuallyid down their cards after trying to bluff each other in a particrly tense round. They each aimed to outwit the other until, in the end, Fujitora lost after revealing his hand.
"Tell me, Mr. Luffy, did I lose?" Fujitora asked, a glimmer of hope in his tone.
"You could have spoken directly to me, Fujitora. I don''t think I''m petty enough to cheat a blind old man out of some gold..." The man in front of Fujitora spoke in a stern tone, also casting a displeased look, seeming offended at the insinuation of dishonesty in gambling.
"Our guest is right, Fujitora. You lost," Luffy said, as the result was clear.
"That''s unfortunate... It seems I''ll have to work for the rest of the day to earn some money and y again tomorrow..." Fujitora remarked in conclusion.
Luffy raised an eyebrow. That man simply worked to rebuild Dressrosa, helping the other citizens, earning money just to gamble against that opponent and, invariably, lose. Although he sometimes won, the truth was that Fujitora always ended up at a loss, ying until he had nothing left.
''This guy... How can he be a Marine Admiral like this?'' Luffy couldn''t help but think as he watched Fujitora begin to stand and leave his chips behind with a sorrowful expression.
Luffy merely sighed as Fujitora departed and turned back to the man still seated, now gazing at him.
"Is it alright if I y with you?" Luffy asked, ignoring Fujitora, while the other man narrowed his eyes at him.
"Fine. It''ll just be more money for me, considering you''ve been ignoring me for a month," the man said with some irritation.
"Don''t take it the wrong way. I told you, I''ve been training my crew. And I''m a new father—I had to give some attention to my family and rx a bit. I need a vacation too, don''t you think? After all, you''ve lived a long life. We young folks need to enjoy ours as well," Luffy said calmly, while the man stared at him with emotionless eyes for a moment.
"May I sit?" Luffy spoke again after the silence, taking the seat Fujitora had vacated and facing his new opponent.
Meanwhile, he addressed the manager standing nearby, beginning to pull several sacks of gold from his pocket.
"Take this and exchange it all for chips," he said, as the man widened his eyes and scrambled to catch the sacks tumbling onto him, falling t to the floor under their weight.
"Lord Luffy!! I don''t think we can ept this from you!!" the manager murmured hesitantly. After all, Luffy stood above King Riku and was the hero of this country.
Luffy shook his head. "Don''t give me that talk. I might be a pirate, but I''m not a thief who steals from my own people in my territory. Take this and get me chips—noints," Luffy said in a serious tone.
The manager quickly nodded, standing up even more flustered, and rushed off with all the gold to exchange it for a sack full of chips.
"You actually know how to be fair," the man in front of Luffymented with a wry smile.
"I do. I''m not a thief either. Not the kind of Yonko who enves and robs," Luffy shrugged.
"No wonder Fujitora said what he saw in you was different," the man replied.
"Anyway, enough talk—let''s y," Luffy said as the manager returned at that moment with the sack full of chips, beginning to ce them on the table.
His opponent took the initiative, picking up the cards and starting to shuffle them before dealing them to himself and Luffy.
The game quickly began. Both yers analyzed their cards in silence. The nervous manager watched from behind. He didn''t recognize who this other man was but was worried about Luffy. He had never seen him here before, and now Luffy was ying against a customer who always seemed to win frequently.
What the manager didn''t know was the kind of battle taking ce at that moment as the two men stared at their cards. Despite appearing to be just a card game, it was a duel of Observation Haki. Both were using their abilities to predict each other''s future moves, making the game extremelyplex. Each thought generated a whirlwind of possibilities and consequences, causing hesitation before every y.
"Damn, this is so difficult. You''re worse than Fujitora," the man muttered with a frustrated tone.
"I''ve never yed against someone this fast with Observation Haki. It''s certainly irritating," Luffy admitted as every move he considered seemed to open up new sequences ofplex futures.
They continued the game, always looking for the least harmful way to advance, until the man decided to break the silence with a new topic.
"Tell me, why have you been stalling me for a month? I thought that when you came to challenge me in Impel Down after helping to free me, we''d fight as soon as you saw me. Instead, you''ve been dragging this out... Were you serious back then?" the man asked,ying his cards on the table while Luffy analyzed, thought again, and saw multiple futures before making his move and drawing new cards from the deck.
"You''re right. I still want to fight you, but things are a bitplicated. As much as I want to face a legendary pirate like you, I''d like to ask for more time," Luffy said calmly, preparing another move and cing his cards on the table.
"And you want to leave me here, waiting?" the man asked simply, his tone serious.
Luffy had to sh a more apologetic smile this time. "Sorry about that... But I''d appreciate it. After all, the Government will attack us as soon as we start the war... But I need someone strong enough to hold the line here," Luffy said calmly.
The man didn''t respond, continuing to make his moves.
"I bet my chips," Luffy said, beginning to ce chips on the table.
The man did the same, matching the amount and then adding more. "I''ll double it," he said before returning to their previous conversation.
"Why do you need my help? I thought you could protect your territory..." the man asked again.
"I have children. I have six kids in this ce. I can''t leave them without protection. I need to make sure they''re safe while their father faces a new challenge at sea. Their mothers will be with me, and I need all the strength I can gather to face two Yonko at once..." Luffy exined. He had a protection n, but with this guest''s help, he''d be even more certain of his family''s safety.
"You''re asking a lot of me. You know that, don''t you?" The man raised an eyebrow before returning his focus to the game.
"I know that very well. And I even apologize for asking something so inconvenient. But I promise, we''ll fight as soon as things are resolved," Luffy said as the man seemed lost in thought.
He pushed more chips onto the table, raising his bet, and Luffy matched it. This continued for a while until the table was overflowing with chips, both on and around it. All of their chips were now in y, turning it into an all-or-nothing round.
Despite Luffy having a lot of money, the man managed to match all of Luffy''s chips, umted from his victories against Fujitora.
"Alright, I''ll do it," the man finally said, though his voice carried a tone of dissatisfaction.
Luffy''s grin widened more than ever as he watched the many all his cards on the table.
"Looks like I lost," the man murmured atst. As predicted, Luffy advanced his cards, revealing a better hand than his opponent. With that, all the chips now belonged to Luffy.
"This must be worth around 500,000,000," Luffymented calmly before standing and looking at the seated man. "Thank you. Don''t worry, keep all this money. After all, I don''t want you to go unrewarded for the service you''ll do for me. Although it''s not much, I''ll reward you more next time we meet, Patrick Redfield," Luffy said, walking out, leaving the man deep in thought as he watched the Straw Hat''s back disappear into the streets of Dressrosa.
"Well, looks like I don''t have a choice," the man murmured, letting a smile escape his lips.
Luffy was satisfied he had managed to convince him. He had arrived over a month ago, and Luffy hadn''t wanted to face him then. The idea of using him for protection hade just a few days ago. In Dressrosa, Luffy had already ensured protection against any Government attack, but having Patrick Redfield would make things even better.
He didn''t know exactly what the Government would do, but he knew they wouldn''t use Uranus to destroy his kingdom. After all, Dressrosa and the other allied kingdoms were under the world''s watchful eye at the moment. An attack of that scale would damage the World Government''s reputation.
"It''s still morning... Now, let''s see how the others are organizing for tomorrow''s departure," Luffy said atst before disappearing into the skies over Dressrosa.
Meanwhile, his crew and fleet were scattered across various inds and kingdoms, preparing themselves to finally march to war.
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