In the pitch-black, cold deep sea, a golden light rose once again, bringing a faint illumination to the seabed.
Atop Avant Heim, on a clean, smooth cloud table, sat a magnificent and cold revolver.
Louis, Yelena, and Daz Bonez sat opposite each other, their expressions serious as they watched the other two.
After a moment, a fair, slender arm with a clearly visible joint device at the elbow reached out from the side of the table, picked up a beer bottle, and spun it. With a clear ringing sound as it scraped against the cloud table, the dark green bottle spun rapidly, turning into a blur. Soon, its rotation slowed until it stopped. The mouth of the bottle was pointing directly at Louis's face.
The next moment, Yelena and Daz Bonez's gazes focused on Louis, waiting for his move.
Seeing this, Louis picked up the cold revolver, pointed it at his temple, and gently pulled the trigger.
Click.
The mechanical sound of the firing pin hitting an empty chamber reached everyone's ears. "Heh heh—" Louis said with a smile. "Looks like my luck isn't too bad. Didn't eat a bullet this time."
Just then, Road's somewhat uncertain and loud voice came from not far away. "Captain! The Natural Water is off course! If this continues, we won't be able to catch the ocean current that returns quickly to the surface!"
To this, Louis turned his head and gave the giant with the longsword on his back a reassuring look, indicating that everything was under his control. Then, he raised his hand and waved the revolver at the other two. "A six-shot cylinder with one bullet," he said meaningfully. "I've fired one shot. From now on, the probability of the next shot firing gets higher and higher."
"My luck has always been good. It's highly unlikely I'll be the one to pull the trigger on that shot," Yelena said with a smile.
"Again!" Daz Bonez crossed his arms, his face a mask of indifference, as if he wasn't the one who kept getting shot.
Louis heard him, smiled, and placed the revolver back on the table, giving a nod to the Flügel puppet standing to the side.
Not far away, Road looked at the Log Pose, which was sized for him, and then at their course, which had already deviated by a large margin, and fell into thought. "What is the captain planning?"
Soon, the bottle was spinning again with a clear ring. This time, its mouth pointed in Daz Bonez's direction. Daz Bonez casually picked up the revolver and, without hesitation, pointed it at his own forehead, which he had hardened with his Devil Fruit ability, and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
A deafening gunshot echoed across the entire cloud surface, making everyone instinctively look toward the trio. Nearby, Goldberg watched their game, a look of eagerness in his eyes. Kuina, who was practicing her swordsmanship, looked at the unharmed Daz Bonez, sighed in her heart, and continued her training.
Uta's eyes showed a hint of speechlessness. She muttered "childish" under her breath and then paid the matter no more attention, gently swinging her fair, slender legs and humming an unknown tune she had learned from Fish-Man Island.
On the cloud table, Daz Bonez looked at the lead bullet that had shattered from the high-speed impact with a hard object, and his mouth twitched slightly.
Seeing this, Yelena couldn't hide the smile on her face, her scarlet eyes full of teasing. "You won the prize again. Your luck is really good."
On the other side, Louis looked up at the ceiling, as if thinking of something sad.
"One more round!" Daz Bonez's expression became a little strange. He reloaded the revolver with three bullets, preparing to increase the probability of the other two getting shot.
However, Yelena smiled and politely declined. "It's not fun anymore. I'm out."
"???"
Louis said concisely, "Next time. We have other things to do today."
A subtle change came over Daz Bonez's expression. He held the revolver, which was now loaded with three bullets, and stared intently at the two of them without speaking. His eyes seemed to say, I've eaten a dozen bullets, and you two haven't eaten a single one. And now, you're telling me you're not playing anymore! Anyone could see that if Louis and Yelena weren't his captain and partner, he would have already flipped the table.
Facing Daz Bonez, who was holding a pistol and looking as if he wanted to empty the cylinder into him, Louis's expression did not change. He casually pointed in the direction of the sea's surface. "I'm not lying to you. There seems to be an entire fleet deployed on the sea at the entrance to the New World. The number is much higher than the last Buster Call."
"Is that so?"
"It's true." Louis had already noticed a particularly large ship carrying many people on the surface when their game of Russian Roulette had just begun.
At first, Louis hadn't paid them any mind. It wasn't until more and more ships had gathered, and the people on board became stronger and stronger, and they had arranged themselves in the standard Marine encirclement tactic, that Louis realized this was a premeditated ambush. The target was most likely his group.
The moment he discovered it, Louis had already made his countermove.
Yelena heard him and slowly narrowed her eyes. She took her gas mask from the Flügel behind her and put it on.
Nearby, the others who had heard this also immediately gathered, ready to listen to Louis's arrangements. Daz Bonez, who had eaten so many bullets that he was beginning to suspect he had been tricked by this despicable pair, gradually calmed down.
"Are they just passing by by chance, or are they lying in wait for someone?" he asked thoughtfully.
"It's an ambush. The target is us," Louis explained calmly.
At the beginning of the game, ships had started to appear above. Later, more and more had gathered. Louis, who had been playing Russian Roulette with the two of them, had been silently changing their point of ascent.
Kuina wiped the sweat from her face with a towel and asked with a frown, "Is it the Marines? Or a local pirate crew from the New World?"
To this, Daz Bonez, who had gathered detailed information before they entered, shed his somewhat hot-headed demeanor from just now and spoke in a deep voice, "It's the Marines."
"This place is very close to the Marine G-1 branch and the lift port to the Holy Land, Mary Geoise. The World Government would not allow a fleet-level pirate force to operate here. If it were pirates, they would have already started fighting with the Marines who came here during their assembly!"
Then, Hajrudin and Gerd knelt down, looking at Louis with expectant eyes. "Are we going to fight, Captain?!"
To this, Louis first restored Kuina's stamina, then replied with an unreadable smile, "Of course we're going to fight! It's just that how we fight won't be up to the Marines to decide."
"Who says we have to walk into an ambush just because the Marines set one up?"
"The rhythm of this war will be decided by me!"
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