At that moment, a female dealer placed one hand on the roulette wheel and announced loudly,"You can all start placing your bets now! Once bets are placed, there's no taking them back!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the gamblers around the table started placing their bets enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Renji Kai and Douglas Barrett remained still.
It was simple—they had no money!
Back when they robbed Shanks, they found out he was broke too.
They weren't the type to rob others often and spent their days drinking themselves into debt. So, Renji never managed to gain anything from them.
Worse yet, the two had recently escaped from Impel Down, meaning they had nothing on them—no cash at all.
Noticing their lack of action, the bunny girl who had escorted them over furrowed her brows.
"Gentlemen, is something wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. I just remembered—I forgot to bring money today. But it's fine. We've got money now, don't we?"
Renji smiled, and without hesitation, extended both arms and gathered up all the chips the other gamblers had placed on the table. He stacked them neatly and placed the entire pile on the number marked "ODD."
No one in the entire casino had expected Renji to pull such a stunt, and instantly, all eyes turned to him.
"Hey, my bet's down. Let's spin the wheel already!" Renji said with a smirk.
Still, just in case, he silently activated the Might Guy character card with a thought.
Ding! Character card 'Might Guy' activated. Usage count -1.
A surge of energy flooded Renji's body in an instant.
With Might Guy's physical strength and martial arts at his disposal, Renji finally felt a wave of relief.
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing? That's our money!"A fat, middle-aged man standing nearby erupted angrily, yelling at Renji.
Others around the table quickly joined in protest.
"This guy is clearly here to cause trouble! Aren't you going to do anything? You're just going to let him take our chips and act like he owns the place?"
"Yeah! Kick these two nobodies out of here!"
The bunny girl, realizing that Renji and Douglas were clearly there to stir up trouble, subtly signaled one of the security guards nearby.
Within seconds, several security guards began walking toward Renji and Douglas.
Renji gave a mocking snort. "Oh, so you're not going to spin the wheel? Then maybe no one should be playing today!"
With that, he suddenly raised his right hand and slammed it down hard on the roulette table.
BOOM!
The impact shattered the table in two, collapsing it entirely.
The sound immediately drew the attention of everyone in the casino.
The security guards, already approaching, sped up at the commotion.
"Hey! You idiots looking for a death wish?" one of the guards wearing sunglasses shouted and lunged at Renji.
But before he could even touch him, a blur of motion streaked past.
In the next second, the guard felt a powerful blow to his face and was instantly knocked out, crashing to the floor in a pool of blood.
"Ahh!"
Panic erupted. Guests screamed and scattered as chaos engulfed the casino. Crowds surged toward the exits.
Meanwhile, the entire casino staff shifted into crisis mode, and someone rushed upstairs to report what was happening.
"Kill them all," Renji said calmly, without even turning around.
Following Renji's order, Douglas Barrett sprang into action.
These low-level guards weren't even worth his effort. In mere seconds, he had already taken down every single one that had approached.
The sheer violence of his strength left everyone around frozen in place.
The bunny girl who had brought them in could barely speak, paralyzed with fear.
Renji casually placed a hand on her trembling shoulder and grabbed the roulette wheel with the other. He looked at the stunned dealer and asked quietly,"Now, can I place my bet?"
The dealer was so terrified her heart felt like it was in her throat. She nodded instinctively.
"Now that's more like it," Renji said, still smiling. "I was polite to you all earlier, and you came at me with aggression. Is that how you treat your guests?"
Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from the staircase leading to the second floor.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Everyone turned their heads toward the sound.
Descending the stairs was a man with slicked-back hair, a black fur coat draped over his shoulders, a long scar slashing across his face, a gold hook in place of his left hand, a dangling earring in his right ear, and a lit cigar between his lips. He moved slowly but with unmistakable authority.
When he first heard someone was causing trouble in his casino, he had been surprised. After all, who had the guts to stir up trouble in his territory?
So he came down personally.
But the moment he saw who it was, his face darkened, and his brows furrowed.
He had instantly recognized Renji Kai and his old rival, Douglas Barrett.
"Well, well, if it isn't you again... Sir Crocodile," Douglas Barrett said with a twisted grin.
As soon as Crocodile heard his name, he walked straight up to them.
Now, the distance between both parties was dangerously close. A single move could decide who had the upper hand.
Everyone around them held their breath.
"You two really have a death wish," Crocodile sneered. "Don't you know I've been granted the title of Warlord of the Sea by the World Government?"
"I have the authority—and the obligation—to capture any pirate with a bounty on their head!"
He exhaled a puff of smoke, eyes cold and piercing.
"Whoa, wait, did he say Warlord of the Sea?" Renji mocked, raising an eyebrow. "Damn, that's impressive! What do we do, Douglas Barrett? Should we get on our knees and beg your old rival for mercy?"