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The coastal city of Elma had gradually become deserted due to drought and Sandstorm, and many people had moved out of the city.

However, it started raining here three months ago, and the kingdom began rebuilding the city, Elma was completed today.

On this day, every so often, a soldier stood guard on the streets of Elma, but a large crowd had gathered in the middle of the street.

"The casino is opening today."

"Yes, and it's a casino opened by the Alabasta Kingdom, even bigger than the previous Rain Dinners."

"But apart from that casino, all the other small casinos were shut down."

"The Alabasta Kingdom is too domineering. Does that mean they can only do it themselves, but others can't?"

"I think it's alright. You guys have no idea. The dozen or so small casinos that opened this year are incredibly chaotic, with fights happening all the time. Not only that, some of them are even cheating people out of their money."

"Now that the Alabasta Kingdom has joined forces, I feel a bit more at ease with gambling."

"It's just too far, still in the middle of the desert."

The surrounding civilians were talking amongst themselves, but they all moved forward and eventually arrived at the central lake.

On the edge of the lake stands a massive, opulent building with a sign that reads "Las Vegas."

At this moment, the casino's two gilded doors were wide open, and figures entered one after another, mostly ordinary people who wanted to experience the casino.

"Hello, please exchange your chips here."

"This is blackjack."

"This is Jack, sir, would you like to give it a try?"

"This is the slot machine area."

A waiter was introducing the entertainment options around the room. Two-thirds of the floor was occupied by gaming tables, and one-third by slot machines.

In addition, there are sexy dealers, inspectors in black suits with red trim, and guards in black suits with blue brooches.

The first floor is spacious and decorated in a magnificent style, with luxurious chandeliers hanging above it.

The second floor is accessed via a staircase at the back. It only has round tables, and the chips are relatively high, with the tables spaced far apart.

The third and fourth floors are private rooms, accessible only to VIP customers.

"With so many people, it seems like we should be able to break even."

On the second floor, several figures stood in front of the glass of the room above the door, from which they could see the area below.

The blue-haired girl looked down at the densely packed gamblers below and sighed, "With such a large investment, judging by today's customer flow, it seems we can break even before we're done."

"Princess Vivi, today is just the opening day. There may not be this many people in the future. We'll be lucky to have one-tenth of the usual number," said a tall, thin old man.

"One-tenth? That's far too little."

Vivi frowned slightly and said, "Wouldn't that leave a lot of space empty? I looked at the daily expenses; several hundred security guards and operators alone would incur terrifying daily costs. And the cost is close to one billion Belly. If fewer people come in the future, will we be able to recoup the costs? This casino is too big, several times larger than the casino Crocodile built. And the decorations are far too luxurious."

The old man smiled and said, "Don't worry, even if it's only one-twentieth, it's enough for us to cover the casino's expenses. As for the decorations and the size of the casino, it's to send a message that this place is luxurious and safe, so that big clients will come here. Our income depends on them."

"He's right, Princess Vivi. Once we make a name for ourselves, not only the residents of Alabasta, but also visitors from other places will come here."

Igaram, standing not far away, said, "This city was originally abandoned. After we built it, not many people planned to move back. But judging from the people who came here today, the city will surely be popular in the future. A new city will emerge around the casino."

"That's good."

Vivi nodded. Seeing the abandoned city come back to life, the lingering resentment in Vivi's heart vanished without a trace.

For the time being, this casino isn't a bad thing; it will revitalize the city and increase fiscal revenue.

Vivi looked at the burly man beside her and asked curiously, "Heckle, speaking of which, what does the name Las Vegas actually mean?"

Heckle used his real name directly without trying to hide it.

"I don't know either."

Heckle shook his head and said, "The president said we have to use the name Las Vegas."

Vivi nodded, then looked at Heckle and asked curiously, "You really don't know who your club president is?"

"I don't know. Apart from the Vice President, no one else knows the president's identity," Heckle replied.

"Your club president is really mysterious."

Vivi sighed, then asked with interest, "As your partner, don't I have the right to meet your president?"

Having infiltrated Baroque Works for so long without ever meeting the so-called president, Vivi became curious about his identity.

"If you'd like, I can ask the president for his opinion."

Behind her, a voice rang out; it was Vice President Zala. She sat there sipping her black tea, looking at Vivi and asking, "Princess Vivi, what do you think?"

"Never mind."

Vivi glanced at Zala behind her, shook her head, and said, "I'm afraid he'll kill me to silence me if I see him."

"Then there's nothing we can do."

Zala drank the tea in one gulp and placed the cup on the table.

But at that moment, a scream suddenly came from below.

"Ah, no."

A group of pirates appeared in the lobby on the first floor. The leader grabbed the beautiful female dealer by the collar, a lewd smile on his face, and said, "What a beautiful woman. Why don't you come with me to the sea for some fun?"

The pirates' actions alarmed the nearby security, and guards immediately stepped forward, saying, "Sir, please release her."

These guards, comprised of Million Elder, have a code of conduct: when faced with misbehavior, they should first offer advice and dissuade the offender, rather than resorting to force.

"Um?"

The pirate leader immediately glared at the other party and asked, "Who do you think you are, daring to stop me?"

"Then I'll have to ask you to stop."

The guard took a step forward and charged towards the pirate leader, throwing a punch.

Boom!

The next moment, the guard was sent flying backward and crashed to the ground some distance away.

Upon seeing this, the guards rushed forward, but were easily knocked to the ground by the pirates.

"Too weak, but you scared me. I need compensation. Call your casino boss out and prepare two hundred million in cash, or I'll kill everyone here."

The pirate captain shouted arrogantly.

"That's really terrible."

Vivi looked at Heckle and said coldly, "Your people were defeated so easily."

"It's not just our people, there are your soldiers too."

Heckle replied.

"But protecting the casino's security is your responsibility," Vivi said unhappily.

"Don't worry, I won't let them leave alive."

Heckle's face was grim as he turned and left the house.

"Wait for me."

Mr. Christmas followed closely behind, and together with Heckle, we headed down.

Heckle reached the corner of the stairs, but instead of continuing down, he leaped towards the distant location of the accident.

Swoosh.

His body traveled an extremely long distance before crashing down.

boom.

The pirate captain was pinned to the ground by Heckle and coughed up blood.

"Anyone who dares to cause trouble at our casino should be prepared to die."

Heckle snorted, stood up, and charged into the pirates.

Accompanied by screams, pirates were knocked to the ground one by one.

Bang, bang.

Gunshots rang out in the distance, and pirates were hit by bullets and collapsed to the ground.

In less than twenty seconds, more than a dozen pirates lay on the ground, barely alive.

"It's solved."

Heckle went back upstairs, stood beside Vivi, and spoke softly.

"Thanks a lot."

Vivi nodded slightly, somewhat surprised by his performance just now. He leaped dozens of meters in one step and then killed them in such a short time.

Not only that, Mr. Christmas's performance was also quite good, hitting the bullseye every time from such a distance.

Although I can turn into sand, their attacks are useless against me, and I am not afraid of them.

But apart from themselves, there was no one else in all of Alabasta who could stop them.

Even someone like that is only MR3 at Barak Works. Above him are many others, as well as the mysterious president.

Therefore, we still need to cooperate with extreme caution.

Vivi watched as the guards below dragged the corpses out one by one and asked curiously, "How do you deal with these pirates?"

"Find a place to bury him."

Heckle said softly.

"Okay, then you can handle it."

Vivi nodded and said that she didn't have much pity for these pirates.

She participated in killing many pirates at Whiskey Peak. In the original story, she would also go to Upside Down to lure pirates to Whiskey Peak and help kill them.

But in reality, these pirates were not taken to the desert to be buried.

On the coast of Aru-Ma City, the pirates were bound and put into a ship, which then sailed away into the distance.

The ship sailed for a while and came to a small island. Several bounty hunters disembarked and dragged down more than a dozen pirates.

Most of these pirates were already dead, with fatal wounds on their bodies. Some were still alive, but had suffered injuries of varying degrees. Two of them were even unharmed. Faced with an invincible enemy, they surrendered without resistance.

But those who were still alive had their mouths gagged and their hands and feet bound, rendering them unable to move.

"Thank you for your help."

On the shore, a dozen Hundred Million Elder, took the pirates and placed them on a cart. They then transported them deep into the forest, to the outside of a huge courtyard wall. Upon opening the gate, they saw a terrifying and ferocious Giant Beast lying inside.

"The Giant Beast is here. We don't need to kill it; we can just leave it here."

The Hundred Million Elder looked at the Giant Beast in the distance, carefully placed all the pirates on the open ground not far from the entrance, and then slowly left.

After they left, Xia Qiu slowly walked over and sniffed the pirates.

"Mmm mmm mmm."

One of the surviving pirates looked terrified and tried to struggle, but to no avail.

Xia Qiu opened his mouth and bit off all the pirates' bodies. A minute later, he ate the entire corpse.

"Not bad."

Xia Qiu felt the heat flowing through his body and nodded in satisfaction. This group of pirates contained a lot of energy, more than most of the pirates hunted by the Whiskey Peak bounty hunters.

As time goes by and the casino's reputation grows, there will be fewer and fewer troublemakers, but those who dare to cause trouble here in the future will all be quite powerful.

In addition, the pirates who appeared in the port city of Nanohana will also be transported here by another Senior Agent and Hundred Million Elder.

This would make this a relatively stable energy source.

It provides both Reinforcement Energy and a stable source of income—killing two birds with one stone.

So, when Xia Qiu arrive at Leaf Island near Whiskey Peak, they will come here and stay for a day.

After eating the corpses in Xia Qiu, they would lie there to rest, occasionally going into the sea to hunt for food. When the night was deep and quiet, they would enter the ocean and swim away into the distance.

The next morning, he went to the Little Garden, waited for a while, attacked a Triceratops, ate it in two pieces, and then returned to Leaf Island near Whiskey Peak to see if any pirates would bring it.

He left when night fell.

He eats one dinosaur a day, and then feeds on pirates in Alabasta and Leaf Island. Although he can't eat pirates every day and their strength varies, he can eat several people every two or three days. Little by little, it adds up to a considerable amount.

With both Evolution Energy and Reinforcement Energy sources available, Xia Qiu's body is slowly strengthening, at least he doesn't need to rush to attack the Great Pirate and the navy.

The rest is about the development of Baroque Works. With sufficient funding, Baroque Works can do more.

So first, Xia Qiu plans to establish an intelligence department to collect intelligence information and build its own information channels.

To investigate, monitor, and prevent others from infiltrating and investigating.

For a large power, an intelligence department is indispensable.

However, he found this to be somewhat difficult. One reason was that he was stretched thin, with less and less energy available for anything other than evolution and enhancement.

Secondly, there are too few people available. Zala is too stupid. She's okay with ordinary tasks, but she's basically incapable of independently managing a department, especially an intelligence department.

At the same time, he cannot be fully exposed to others and can only control others through Zala.

There was an extra layer in between, and the command had to be relayed twice, which was too cumbersome, and Zala herself could not handle everything.

Most importantly, he couldn't let Zala have too much power, to prevent her from usurping his authority, and he had to have the ability to check and balance her.

Therefore, he needs suitable subordinates to help him establish an intelligence department. They need to be capable, able to reveal their identities, and sufficiently loyal.

Such people are truly hard to find.

It took me more than 1 a. m. to finish writing this 4,000-word chapter. I feel like I can't adjust my time schedule.