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Chapter 261 - 262: Underworld Titans

Just as the three giants were about to leave the harbor, another massive ship arrived at Whole Cake Island.

Seeing this giant sailing ship, shaped like a coffin, the three all stopped in unison.

The so-called "underworld" doesn't literally exist underground — more accurately, it is a vast black market whose influence spans the entire world.

Gild Tesoro, Stussy, and Morgans were the three giants of the underworld, representing gambling, the red-light district, and intelligence respectively.

But aside from them, there were also others:

From the assassin trade, the leader, Drug Peclo.

From the loan-shark industry, the "King of Loans," Du Feld.

From the storage trade, the "Concealer," Giberson.

From the shipping business, the "Deep Current," Umit.

Together, the seven giants dictated the rules of the underworld. Beyond them were other powerful figures, not quite as strong but still commanding great influence.

For example, the broker "Joker" Donquixote Doflamingo, who specialized in arms and human trafficking, and Judge of Germa 66 — both renowned in the underworld.

Still, these powers were usually confined to certain regions, unlike the seven giants who spread their business across the globe.

The first to step off the "coffin ship" was a fat man in a lavender suit, wrapped in a heavy cloak.

"Stinks! It stinks! This damned ship reeks of corpses. If I'd known it was in such bad shape, I'd have lent you money for a new one!"

The fat man waddled down the gangway, pressing a handkerchief to his nose, muttering nonstop.

Recognizing him, Tesoro snorted coldly, clearly displeased.

Though the seven giants each monopolized their industries, there was no true harmony — illegal trades often overlapped. Some complemented each other, while others clashed sharply.

"Ahahaha, if it isn't the famous Golden Emperor! What a rare sight to see you at BIG MOM's tea party!"

The fat man laughed heartily as he waddled over. He was Du Feld, the King of Loans, controlling over 80% of the underworld's lending business — and also one of the most unwelcome names on Gild Tesoro's blacklist.

"The annoying fly shows up again…"

Tesoro exhaled smoke irritably. Gran Tesoro, his floating city, was the largest entertainment venue in the world — and the greatest casino ship.

Tens of thousands of gamblers went bankrupt there every day. For Du Feld, it was an endless gold mine.

But Tesoro repeatedly refused his requests to conduct business on the ship. Not just because Du Feld had once offended him, but because Tesoro had no intention of sharing his profits.

Both sought to squeeze the very last berry out of the gamblers — only their methods differed.

"Hehehe, you all arrived early, huh? See, I told you it wasn't too much trouble. If we'd taken Umit's ship from the start, we'd have been here even sooner…"

A drunk man with two curly mustaches stumbled over. This was Giberson, the Concealer — one of the seven giants.

He was the only one among them who inherited his position, and on the surface, both his strength and influence were the weakest.

Yet no one dared look down on him. Generations of warehousing left Giberson with treasures stockpiled beyond imagination. Even some of the giants stored goods with him. When push came to shove, someone would step in to protect him.

So long as he didn't court death, his position among the seven was paradoxically the most stable.

"Business is business. I won't repurpose a delivery ship just to ferry you lot."

Another man approached, stern-faced, with a flamboyant pirate-captain hat. He wasn't a pirate though — he was Umit, the Deep Current, a true shipping magnate.

Long before the Marines devised a way to move ships through the Calm Belt, Umit was already transporting "goods" safely across those perilous seas.

No one knew how he did it. But mastering such dangerous routes gave Umit one of the top positions among the giants.

"Click-click-click, now that's rich. Complaining about my ship while still using it. When people borrow your money, do they complain about it being dirty? And Giberson — if you think my ship is slow, why don't you swim here yourself?"

The last to arrive was a burly man with lion-like mane, carrying a scythe and wearing a clown-like mask.

He was Drag Piaclero, the titan of the assassination trade and head of the "Great Funeral Home."

He was dressed in a khaki work uniform, looking harmless and even a little comical.

However, to stand as one of the Seven Giants of the Underworld, and to base his reputation in the assassin trade, Drago Piaclero was far from as simple as he looked.

After all, the ones targeted for assassination were never weak. To make a living hunting strong people, Drago Piaclero and his subordinates might very well possess the greatest open combat strength among the Seven Giants.

The seven giants stood together, but they were clearly divided into two factions, faintly opposing one another.

This was almost unimaginable in the past. Though the underworld giants frequently changed hands, it was mostly due to internal struggles and "dynastic shifts."

The relations between giants had generally been cordial. After all, unless one was absolutely confident, it wasn't wise to show open hostility toward a rival of equal scale.

Unfortunately, this world line produced a Kizaru. Long before becoming a Marine Admiral, during that overly energetic period of his life, Kizaru had already extended his claws into the underworld.

Not only did he personally prop up three underworld giants, but he also drove them to join forces to swallow up the shares belonging to other giants.

Unfortunately, by the time Kizaru realized his efforts were all in vain and chose to lie low—or simply slack off—the alliance of the three giants still hadn't managed to truly crush any of the others.

Instead, the pressure only pushed the remaining giants to band together on the surface, forming a counter-alliance against the coalition of Tesoro, Stussy, and Morgans.

"Gah-gah-gah-gah, let's save the talk for after the Tea Party. We're all people of status here, there's no need to make a scene for the little ones to watch."

Sensing the tension building, Morgans, who maintained relatively good relations with the other giants, took the initiative to smooth things over.

Though he belonged to the three-giant faction, as the underworld's greatest information broker, Morgans still had plenty of cooperative ties with the other giants.

In truth, if not for Kizaru's meddling, Morgans had no desire whatsoever to participate in such a meaningless giant war.

So later, when Kizaru abandoned his plan to manipulate the underworld from the shadows, Morgans was the first to jump out and voice his agreement.

"Hic, Morgans makes a good point. We're all just trying to make a living in the underworld. No need to fight and kill all the time—it's such an ugly look."

The "Concealer" Giberson, of the four-giant faction, also chimed in with a cheerful laugh.

If given the choice, Giberson would be the last person to want to see a war among giants. Every time a giant war broke out, his storage business took a catastrophic hit.

But with the three-giant faction pressing so aggressively, he had no choice but to pick a side.

"Fighting and killing is my business, and the underworld has been getting colder and quieter. Stirring things up once in a while isn't such a bad thing!"

Drago Piaclero, scythe slung over his shoulder, scoffed with indifference. He couldn't care less about claims that giant wars would destabilize the underworld.

Without turmoil, there would be no assassination contracts. If everyone got along peacefully, how could his grand funeral company stay in business? What would his hand-reared killers eat—thin air?

Unfortunately, both he and Giberson were among the lower-ranked of the Seven Giants. No matter how strong their open combat strength, without Du Feld's financial backing and Umit's help in moving manpower, fighting a giant war on their own would see them crushed to dust in minutes by the three-giant faction.

"No, no, no—making money is what really matters! Don't you agree, Golden Emperor?"

Du Feld glared fiercely at Tesoro. As long as Tesoro was willing to let him extend his business into Gran Tesoro, the Loan Shark King was confident he could make tens, even hundreds of billions more Berries every year.

Tesoro's ability to run a casino was decent, but when it came to loan-sharking, Du Feld considered himself far superior.

Clearly, the two of them together could have earned several times more Berries, yet the Golden Emperor, stubborn to the core, absolutely refused to let him in.

Du Feld was so angry he nearly spat blood. Watching mountains of Berries pile up right in front of him, unable to touch them—it was even more unbearable than losing money outright.

Even later, when the Giant War turned so brutal, part of it was due to Kizaru pushing things from behind the scenes. But another reason was Du Feld wanting to teach Tesoro a lesson.

Unfortunately, the old giant was completely crushed in terms of financial power by Tesoro, the rising star. If Kizaru hadn't chosen to pull back, the underworld likely wouldn't be in its current state with seven giants sharing power.

"Hmph. Making money is meaningless anyway. Someone's always desperate enough to deliver Berries straight into my hands."

Tesoro cast Du Feld a disdainful glance. For the man who ran the world's largest casino ship, wasn't that the case? Every single day, countless people scrambled to stuff money into his pockets.

Even Du Feld, the so-called Loan Shark King, was left speechless. Back during the Giant War, Tesoro's terrifying financial power had already left him unable to breathe.

And that was when the Golden Emperor had only been active for a few short years. Even as a Gold-Gold Fruit user, the gold he created wasn't truly real.

Yet the gold in Tesoro's possession seemed endless, and he had crushed Du Feld's loan-sharking empire in the very domain Du Feld excelled at—money itself.

By now, the Berries under Tesoro's control had reached astronomical levels. Even the Celestial Dragons, those unreasonable beings, were forced to show at least a little courtesy when facing the wealthy Golden Emperor.

They might not acknowledge him as an equal, but at the very least, it was enough to make the Celestial Dragons behave themselves within Gran Tesoro.

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