Early in the morning, Lucas got up early.
The tenderness of the previous night had done nothing to change his nature.
In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had practically been the one on the receiving end last night.
Lucas had still underestimated just how open-minded the people of this world were.
It was far beyond anything he had experienced on Earth.
The way girls thought was completely different…
He drew his sword and gently swung it through the air.
When Nami walked out of the room, taking slightly awkward steps, Lucas gave her a mischievous grin.
Seeing his wicked smile, Nami’s face flushed red.
She clenched her little fists and hammered them against his chest.
“Bastard!
It’s all your fault!”
“Uh… Why are you blaming me again?
You’re the one who was so enthusiastic.”
Lucas helplessly spread his hands and allowed Nami’s little fists to rain down on his chest.
Just then, several villagers happened to walk past.
Seeing the state the two of them were in, they exchanged knowing looks.
Nami’s delicate body trembled from embarrassment, and she almost fell back into Lucas’s arms.
“Bastard!
Pay up!”
Her cheeks flushed crimson as Nami shook her little fist at Lucas.
“Huh?
Pay for what?”
Lucas stared at her blankly.
Nami snorted.
“I’ll give you a discount.
100,000 Berries each time.
Hurry up and pay.”
Pfft!
Those words instantly left Lucas utterly dumbfounded.
He stared at Nami with a face full of black lines and solemnly said,
“Nami, you absolutely, absolutely cannot do this kind of thing with anyone else.
Not even for 100 million Berries!”
Nami poked him lightly on the forehead with one finger and rolled her eyes.
“Do you think I’m stupid?
Since I gave it to you, obviously I won’t give it to anyone else.
But… you still have to pay!”
With that, Nami smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescent moons.
She raised her slender finger and gestured lightly.
“From now on, it’s 100,000 Berries each time!”
I… give up!
This time, Lucas was completely defeated.
At the seaside, a gentle breeze swept across the coast while waves repeatedly crashed against the rocky shore.
On a tiny sailing ship, Nami was pulling hard on the small sail.
Lucas sat beside her with the Nidai Kitetsu in his arms and smiled.
“If you hadn’t stolen my ship, we’d be living on a proper big ship by now.”
“Hmph!”
Nami stomped her foot and puffed out her cheeks.
“Those damn Marines took my money… That was 100 million Berries!
Bastards!
I’m so angry!”
Seeing her reaction, Lucas smiled and softened his voice.
“Yeah, forget about it for now.
We’ll just have to put up with it for the time being.
The most important thing now is that we’re short on money…”
Lucas rubbed his chin and grinned.
“Let’s go to the nearest casino first.”
“Uh… Fine!”
Nami covered her forehead with one hand.
Although she didn’t believe Lucas could actually win enough money at a casino to buy a ship, she was still determined to follow his instructions.
At the Subori Casino, a slender, handsome man with a cold and refined appearance walked inside with an orange-haired beauty in his arms.
Suddenly, as though he had remembered something, the man’s expression became awkward.
He leaned toward the girl beside him and whispered,
“Um… Nami, you should still have a little private stash, right?
How about giving me some starting capital?”
Nami’s eyes widened.
“What?!
No!
Don’t even mention money!”
“Uh…”
Lucas awkwardly scratched his head and forced a dry laugh.
“Just 100 Berries.
I only need one chip.”
“No!
Absolutely not!”
Nami pouted and turned her head away.
Smack!
Lucas slapped his forehead with an exasperated expression.
Trying to get money out of Nami was genuinely harder than getting her into bed…
Just then, a cheerful laugh rang out.
“It’s only 100 Berries.
I’ll give you ten chips—1,000 Berries.
Come on, have some fun.”
Hearing the voice, Lucas looked toward the speaker in surprise.
The moment he recognized the figure, his eyes narrowed slightly.
“It really is you… Ace!”
“Oh?
You know me?
Looks like I’m already pretty famous!
Ghost Sword Lucas!”
Ace laughed heartily.
His appearance was noticeably younger than in the original story.
Lucas was slightly surprised by Ace’s words.
Ghost Sword Lucas?
Is that my epithet?
He hadn’t expected to have already gained some fame.
If he remembered correctly, Ace shouldn’t have been particularly famous at this point in the timeline either.
After thinking about it, Lucas smiled.
“Thanks for the sponsorship.
I’ll pay you back tenfold later.”
“Hahaha!”
Ace laughed heartily.
He jumped down from his chair and walked over to Lucas.
“Your strength is pretty impressive.
How about joining my Spade Pirates?”
Lucas gave him an odd look.
Sure enough, the brothers really were alike.
Just like Luffy, Ace casually invited almost anyone he met to join his crew…
“Uh… I’ll pass.
I don’t have any plans to become a pirate for the time being.”
Ace scratched his head somewhat awkwardly and smiled.
“All right, then.
Let’s just be friends!”
“Sure!”
Lucas smiled and walked toward one of the gambling tables.
He had always liked Ace as a character.
Now that he had met him in person, he found Ace’s personality even more likable.
Although he knew there was no chance of making Ace his subordinate for the time being, becoming friends was certainly no problem.
The two passed each other.
Ace continued playing cards while Lucas walked over to a dice table.
The croupier calmly shook the dice cup and said,
“Place your bets!
Sir, what are you betting on?”
Lucas shook his head.
“I’ll take a look first.”
“Sure.”
The croupier didn’t mind.
He lifted the dice cup.
Two, three, three—eight points.
Small!
Some gamblers cheered while others groaned.
Lucas paid no attention.
He slowly closed his eyes.
In an instant, the world around him fell completely silent.
All that remained was the Breath of All Things.
Clack, clack!
“Place your bets!”
Lucas’s eyes suddenly opened.
With a faint smile, he placed all ten of his 100-Berry chips on Big.
Three, five, six—fourteen points.
Big!
Seeing Lucas win after going all-in on his very first bet, the croupier was slightly stunned.
But he didn’t think much of it.
He had seen plenty of situations like this in casinos.
The man would definitely lose everything on the next round!
After settling the winnings and losses, the croupier closed the dice cup again.
However, after three more rounds, sweat had begun to form on his forehead.
Lucas had won four rounds in a row!
His original 1,000 Berries had multiplied four times at 1.8 times the payout, turning into more than 12,000 Berries!
Nami’s eyes once again sparkled like little stars.
A fortune from almost nothing!
She hadn’t expected Lucas to be so good at gambling.
It seemed she would never have to worry about being short of money again!
Nami’s opinion of Lucas improved dramatically.
Seeing her expression, Lucas gave a mischievous grin and rubbed his chin.
Perhaps he could try a few more things with Nami later.
Surely this girl was already willing to listen to whatever he said…
The croupier wiped the sweat from his forehead and whispered something to a man beside him before continuing to shake the dice cup.
Although the amount of money involved still wasn’t particularly significant, Lucas’s four consecutive victories had caused most of the gamblers to start following his bets.
If this continued and Lucas kept winning, the casino would lose a fortune.
This time, almost everyone followed Lucas and bet on the same side.
Lucas remained expressionless.
He had complete control over the outcome.
When he saw the croupier leave, Lucas frowned slightly.
Before he could think too much about it, another slender man slowly walked over.
“Sorry.
The previous croupier is a little tired, so I’ll be taking over for him.
Is that all right?”
“Stop talking and shake the dice already!”
“Yeah!
Hurry up!”
The gamblers had won several rounds in a row and were extremely excited.
The thin man smiled faintly.
He picked up the dice cup, and his hands began moving up and down like spinning wheels.
Lucas once again closed his eyes, his expression completely unreadable.
So what if you move the dice faster?
This technique might not compare to Observation Haki, but listening to the dice was certainly no problem for him.
Sure enough, Lucas won again.
The gamblers around him also won a fortune.
The cheers grew louder and louder, gradually turning this table into the center of the casino.
Ace, who was still playing cards, glanced over and smiled helplessly.
“I didn’t expect this guy to be pretty good at gambling too.
Too bad he doesn’t want to become one of my crew.”
The slender croupier narrowed his eyes slightly and gave Lucas a meaningful look.
Lucas sat there with one arm around Nami, completely ignoring the gazes of everyone around him.
The next moment, a sharp glint flashed through the croupier’s eyes.
After shaking the dice cup vigorously for a while, he finally stopped and wore a confident expression.
“Place your bets!”
Seeing his expression, Lucas frowned slightly.
He could still clearly sense the numbers inside the dice cup.
But the man’s confident expression made him feel that something was wrong.
By now, Lucas had accumulated 50,000 Berries.
He took out 10,000 Berries and bet them on Big.
The gamblers around him immediately followed, one after another, placing their bets on Big.
Almost no one bet on Small anymore.
The slender man sneered coldly.
His arm suddenly jerked as he prepared to lift the dice cup.
But Lucas’s expression suddenly changed.
The remaining 40,000 Berries in his possession—four large 10,000-Berry chips—were instantly thrown onto the Triple Six bet!
The slender man’s hand, which had already lifted the dice cup halfway, suddenly froze.
He stared at Lucas in disbelief.
He had just secretly used a trick to alter the positions of the dice.
Yet he had never expected Lucas to react so quickly and place his bet on the exact Triple Six at the very moment the dice cup was opened.