"Two-six, even!"
With a grandiose, yet fake, smile, Baccarat revealed the dice, declaring, "Oh my, oh my, two and six, it's an even!" Her sweet voice cut through the air. "Except for this red-haired guy, everyone else lost."
Chaos erupted.
"How could it be!"
"Something must have gone wrong!"
"Cheating, right?"
"My money!!"
"Damn it, this is my daughter's life-saving money!" The losing gamblers erupted in a desperate chorus of denial and rage.
Baccarat maintained her serene smile, responding, "Our casino never cheats, and we never deceive our customers. It can only be said that your luck is not as good as mine."
"It must be you! We were winning before, but we lost after you came."
"That's right, I don't know what tricks you used."
One gambler, driven mad by loss, lunged at Baccarat. "Give me back my money!"
"Oh my, although our casino has never been one to cheat or deceive customers, it is not a place where people can cause trouble at will." Baccarat calmly stepped aside as a burly figure appeared beside her, striking the lunging gambler with a powerful fist.
Boom!! The gambler flew backward faster, smashing through the casino wall and leaving a massive, human-shaped hole.
"With the cost of repairing the wall, you are even more in debt to the casino," Baccarat stated, touching her hair, her gaze sweeping over the remaining gamblers. "I'm afraid you'll have to spend your whole life paying off your debt." She challenged, "Anyone else wanting to cause trouble?"
Seeing the formidable guard, the remaining gamblers quickly shook their heads. Their money was lost, but their lives were still their own.
The Appearance of Issho (Fujitora)
"What a great show," the middle-aged man, who had only bet 50,000 Baileys and still held a substantial pile of chips, calmly said. "However, I still have some chips left. Can we continue?"
"Certainly!" Baccarat's eyes flickered to the middle-aged man, then settled on Rhodes. "Hey young man, you just won, do you want to continue?"
Rhodes didn't immediately reply. His gaze was fixed on the middle-aged man in purple, whom he hadn't fully noticed before, obscured by the crowd. Now, he saw the man clearly: short black hair, a face etched with countless stories, and an X-shaped scar across his eyes. This was the man who would later become a Navy Headquarters Admiral and the user of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit, Issho (also known as Fujitora)! Rhodes was stunned to run into "acquaintances" one after another.
"Hey, little brother, do we know each other?" Issho suddenly turned his head, his pale, pupil-less eyes looking directly at Rhodes.
"I just heard your story," Rhodes replied.
"I see." Issho nodded slightly, though his inner doubts remained. Though he had destroyed his own eyes to avoid seeing the world's filth, his Observation Haki had become incredibly strong, allowing him to sense the emotions of those around him. He clearly felt a strong sense of familiarity emanating from the young man.
Gamblers' Accusations and Issho's Power
"You two are in the same group!" A gambler, bloodshot eyes blazing, lunged at Issho. "First, they put on a show to lure us into placing bets, and then let us all win a few times. Then they set up a game and won us all in one go after we bet everything we had!"
"Yes, that must be the case!" As if clutching a lifeline, all the gamblers turned their furious, red-rimmed eyes on Issho. "Use your chips to compensate us!" "That's right!"
"That's too much," Nia mumbled, watching the mob surround the middle-aged man. "You obviously bet everything you have on it because you want to make a fortune, but after losing, you blame others. How bad!"
Rhodes watched the scene calmly. This world is always like this: the weak wield the knife against the weaker, and the strong wield the knife against the stronger. These gamblers, having lost everything, were merely looking for an excuse to seize money from those they perceived as "weaker." They didn't possess the insight to see through the truth; in their eyes, the blind uncle was weaker than the casino's formidable guards.They had lost the bet again this time!
"No, I have to kill these bastards, they are so bad!" Nia rolled up her sleeves, ready to intervene.
"Unnecessary," Rhodes said, stopping her. "This uncle is very strong!"
"Really? It is precisely because there is too much filth in this world that I cannot bear to look at it that I choose to close my eyes forever." Issho spoke, his voice calm. "Although I can't see anything with my eyes, I know what is happening around me better than anyone else." His Observation Haki sensed the undisguised malice and greed emanating from the surrounding people. "Sure enough, being unable to see is a blessing!"
Issho slowly stood up, his towering height causing the two approaching gamblers to instinctively recoil. They were mere addicts, and despite knowing he was blind, they couldn't help but feel intimidated by his imposing presence.
"Just a little punishment." Issho drew the cane sword he held.
"What's going on!"
"Something's wrong with my body."
"It's so heavy!!"
A fleeting flash of the blade, and the gamblers surrounding Issho suddenly felt their bodies become uncontrollable. The next moment, they involuntarily collapsed to their knees, then flattened onto the ground, unable to move.
"Amazing!" Nia's pupils contracted as she stared at the subdued gamblers and the powerful man. If she had intervened, she realized, her fate might have been similar. Who on earth was this uncle?
|=======|
The casino erupts in chaos as Baccarat reveals the "even" outcome, wiping out the accumulated winnings of the gamblers who had followed the "lucky uncle." Their anger turns to accusation, leading to a violent outburst that Baccarat's formidable guard swiftly quells. Amidst the pandemonium, Rhodes recognizes the "lucky uncle" as Issho (Fujitora), a future Navy Admiral and user of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit. Issho, sensing Rhodes's familiarity through his advanced Observation Haki, is intrigued. When the disgruntled gamblers turn their fury on Issho, accusing him of collusion, he quietly unleashes his power, subduing them with an unseen force that traps them to the ground, leaving Nia stunned by his immense strength.