In a corner of the hall, Tanaka's face was extremely grim, as if he had returned home to find another man in his closet, another under his bed, and yet another perched on the air conditioner outside his window.
Right in the center of the hall, in front of the massive Tiger Machine—over twenty meters tall and thirty meters long—a dense crowd had gathered, packed so tightly that not a drop of water could trickle through.
The golden-haired burly man and the horned demon king each grabbed a security guard and hurled them like bowling balls toward the lever of the Tiger Machine.
As levers were knocked upward one after another, the patterns on the machine began spinning and jumping wildly.
Shiki raised his arms high and shouted, "Hit, hit, hit!"
The surrounding crowd erupted in excitement.
They had never seen anyone play the Tiger Machine by literally "throwing people" at it.
Recalling the previous scene of a perfect jackpot from an airdrop, everyone couldn't help but let their imaginations run wild.
Could it be...?
Did "throwing people" increase the odds of winning?
Following Shiki's chants, the hundreds of spectators joined in with excited shouts.
"Hit, hit, hit!!"
Clink!
A large, vibrant "77" appeared above the first lever.
"Hit, hit, hit!!" The crowd grew frenzied, and the atmosphere in the hall intensified!
Clink, clink, clink!
Three consecutive sounds rang out as the patterns above levers 2, 3, and 4 spun wildly, capturing everyone's attention.
Soon, identical "77" numbers appeared in a row.
"Whoa! Four in a row!" Everyone screamed in excitement.
The machine continued spinning.
Clatter, clatter.
As each lever jumped, the patterns above spun to a stop, revealing more "77" symbols.
"Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven—eleven hits! Just one more to go!"
The patterns on the massive machine drove everyone into a frenzy, and the hall erupted with roaring cheers.
Everyone was screaming hysterically, "Hit, hit, hit!!"
Caesar watched the frenzied crowd and the jumping patterns, feeling an unexpected thrill.
"Borororo! Who knew this boring stuff could get me excited?"
Shiki rolled his eyes. "You're already at the top of the world, of course this junk doesn't interest you. But these folks? They're counting on this to climb out of their social class and enjoy a better life."
"But they never consider that such high-stakes gambling will likely bankrupt them and cost them everything."
Caesar sneered, "Likely? Don't kid yourself. Elsewhere, maybe. But in this dump, Tesoro will use his subbordinate Luck-Luck Fruit power to devour them whole, flesh and bones."
Shiki nodded in agreement. "That's why I swore since childhood: I stand against gambling and drugs!"
As the final lever's pattern stopped spinning, unsurprisingly landing on "77," the entire hall exploded with excitement.
Gamblers hugged those around them, jumping with joy.
"A full hit! A complete jackpot—4096 times! Plus Tesoro's 1000x bonus, that's 5000 times the bet!"
"This is insane! Too bad he only bet 10,000 Berries. He'll only get 50 million Berries."
"Damn, if I had that luck, I'd bet everything I own, even if it meant bankruptcy!"
The sound of chips cascading from the machine's payout slot was like rain beating against banana leaves—clattering and splashing into the coin tray, some even scattering everywhere.
Carina stared in stunned silence.
She had never seen anyone use a ten-thousand-berry chip to hit the ultimate jackpot in a single try.
Not being one of Tesoro's subordinates, she naturally had no idea that such a bug-like ability as the Luck-Luck Fruit existed in this world.
Caesar scooped up a large handful of chips from the coin pool and casually tossed them behind him without a second thought.
That single action instantly ignited the entire hall.
The crowd erupted into screams, scrambling and pushing to snatch the chips off the floor.
Caesar grinned widely.
He could tell that these people grabbing for chips weren't actually in need of the petty cash.
It was mostly about the atmosphere and the desire to catch a bit of his luck.
He scooped up another handful of chips and, under Carina's stunned gaze, poured them directly over her with a clattering sound.
The sensation of tens of millions worth of chips striking her body was slightly painful.
But Carina's eyes remained fixed on the burly man before her.
She was a money fanatic.
Years ago, drawn by its reputation, Carina had come to the Golden Ship and worked as a singer for many years.
Yet at this moment, she was completely oblivious to the millions of chips showering over her, her eyes captivated only by Caesar's carefree and effortless composure.
Shiki curled his lip disdainfully.
"Hmph, a little girl who's still wet behind the ears—was way too naive. Caesar, you bastard, even resorting to such cheap tricks to pick up girls. I'm ashamed of you. If you've got the guts, throw out the two hundred billion Dragon gave you like that. If you dare, I'll swallow my pride and call you 'Big Brother Caesar~~'."
"Get lost! Damn it, aren't you disgustingly gross?"
Caesar raised his leg as if to kick, but Shiki dodged it.
Then, he turned back to Carina with a smile.
"Could you please load the remaining chips, by their value, directly into this machine? I'm going for another round."
Only then did Carina snap out of her daze, stammering.
"A...all of them?"
"Yes. Except the ones at your feet." Caesar raised an eyebrow at her.
"Girl, watch out—he's 65 years old, old enough to be your grandfather," Shiki's teasing voice came from behind Caesar.
Instantly, Carina's face flushed hot with embarrassment.
She hurriedly gathered the chips at her feet, then took out the instrument locked in the cabinet and loaded thirty million points into the Tiger Machine.
"Security! Where's security!" Shiki shouted loudly.
After the two previous rounds of [humiliating] incidents, the security in the hall had long since vanished without a trace.
Hearing Shiki's shouts, the still-frenzied guests also raised their arms and joined in the chorus.
"Security! Tesoro, you bastard, get those security guards over here now!"
"That's right! Don't let them stop!"
In a distant corner, Tanaka's mouth twitched.
'Are you all insane?'
Tanaka desperately wanted to flee this boiling pot of a place, just like the security guards had.
He had witnessed Carina loading another thirty million points for Caesar.
And it was clear that Caesar and Shiki were forcing Baccarat to use her Luck-Luck Fruit ability.
If they hit again, thirty million would turn into a hundred and fifty billion!
Tesoro certainly had money—a hundred and fifty billion wasn't beyond his means.
But what if Caesar took that hundred and fifty billion and went for another round?
Wouldn't that be an astronomical sum?
What would Tesoro use to pay it back then?
Although Baccarat's Luck-Luck Fruit ability had an upper limit on luck, it couldn't withstand the fact that there were two opponents.
While Tanaka was still pondering this, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Looking up, he saw Caesar and Shiki staring at him with sinister gazes.
"Kid, bring your security team over. I'm about to start making money."
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