Chance Encounter with Ace

Early in the morning, Lu Zhuo rose early; a night of tenderness had not made him forget his true nature.

In truth, what happened last night could even be described as him being seduced.

Lu Zhuo had underestimated the openness of this world; it was far beyond anything comparable on Earth, and the way the girls thought was entirely different...

He drew his sword and swung it gently, flashing a wicked smile as he watched Nami walk out of the room, her legs moving with a slight awkwardness.

Seeing Lu Zhuo's wicked grin, Nami's face flushed red, and she pounded her small fists against his chest with force.

"Bastard, it's all your fault!"

"Uh, why is it my fault again? It was clearly you who were so wild, wasn't it?" Lu Zhuo offered a helpless, wry smile, spreading his hands and letting Nami's little fists rain down on him.

Just then, several villagers walked by. Seeing the state of Lu Zhuo and Nami, their eyes betrayed that they "understood," causing Nami's delicate body to tremble with embarrassment, nearly collapsing back into Lu Zhuo's arms.

"Bastard, give me the money!" With flushed cheeks, Nami brandished her small fist and huffed at Lu Zhuo.

"Uh? What money?" Lu Zhuo paused, looking dazed.

Seeing this, Nami snorted and said, "I'm giving you a bargain: one hundred thousand Beli per time. Pay up, quickly."

Pfft!!!

This sentence instantly left Lu Zhuo feeling scorched, charred, and utterly dumbfounded.

Lu Zhuo looked at Nami with black lines on his forehead and said solemnly, "Nami, you must never, ever do this with anyone else—not even for a hundred million Beli!"

Hearing his words, Nami reached out and flicked him on the forehead, pouting as she said, "Do you think I'm stupid? Since I gave it to you, I certainly won't give it to anyone else. But... the money still has to be paid!"

At this, Nami smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescent moons. She held up a slender, onion-like finger and gestured as she laughed, "From now on, it's one hundred thousand Beli every time!"

I... collapse!

This time, Lu Zhuo was completely floored...

On the coast, a light breeze blew, and waves lapped against the reef one after another.

On a small sailboat, Nami pulled hard on the small sail.

Lu Zhuo held the Nidai Kitetsu, sitting to the side as he watched her and laughed, "If you hadn't hijacked my boat, we would have had a big ship to live on."

"Hmph!" Nami stomped her foot and pouted.

"Those damn Marines took my money... that was one hundred million Beli! Bastard! It makes me so mad!"

Seeing this, Lu Zhuo smiled, his voice softening as he said, "Yeah, let it go. Just endure it for now. The most important thing we lack right now is a bit of capital..."

Rubbing his chin, Lu Zhuo laughed, "Let's head to the nearest casino first."

"Uh, alright!"

Nami clutched her forehead. Although she didn't believe Lu Zhuo could win enough money for a ship at a casino, she still felt compelled to follow his request.

At the Subori Casino, a lean man with a cold, handsome face walked in, his arm around a beautiful girl with orange hair.

Suddenly remembering something, the man's expression turned slightly awkward. He whispered to the girl beside him, "Um... Nami-chan, you should still have some private savings, right? Could you lend them to me as starting capital?"

Hearing this, Nami's eyes widened, and she huffed, "What?! No! Don't even mention money!"

"Uh..." Lu Zhuo awkwardly rubbed his head and gave a dry laugh, "One hundred Beli is enough, just to exchange for a chip, okay..."

"No! No way!" Nami pouted and turned her head away.

Slap!

Lu Zhuo patted his own head, looking helpless. Getting money out of Nami was truly harder than getting her into bed...

Just then, a cheerful laugh rang out.

"It's just one hundred Beli, isn't it? I'll give you ten chips—one thousand Beli. Go have some fun."

Hearing this voice, Lu Zhuo looked toward the speaker with surprise. When he saw the figure clearly, his pupils constricted slightly.

"It's actually you... Ace!"

"Oh? You know me? Looks like I've already become quite famous! Ghost Sword Lu Zhuo!" Ace laughed heartily; his appearance was slightly more youthful than in the original story.

Hearing Ace's words, Lu Zhuo was slightly taken aback.

Ghost Sword Lu Zhuo—is that my title? I didn't expect to have gained some fame already. If I recall correctly, Ace shouldn't be famous yet at this point in time.

After a moment of thought, Lu Zhuo smiled slightly and said, "Thanks for the sponsorship. I'll pay you back tenfold in a bit!"

"Haha!" Ace laughed heartily, jumped off his chair, walked over to Lu Zhuo, and said, "You've got real strength. Any interest in joining my Spade Pirates?"

Lu Zhuo looked at him with a strange expression. As expected, these brothers shared the same personality; just like Luffy, he'd try to recruit anyone he met...

"Uh, forget it. I don't have any plans to be a pirate for the time being..."

Ace rubbed his head, looking a bit embarrassed, and laughed, "Alright then, let's just be friends!"

"Deal!" Lu Zhuo smiled and walked toward the gambling table. He quite liked the character of Ace, and after meeting him in person, he found his personality very likable as well. Although he knew it was impossible to make Ace his subordinate for now, being friends was no problem at all.

The two brushed past each other. Ace went back to playing cards, while Lu Zhuo walked to the edge of the dice table.

The dealer, who was shaking the dice, said calmly, "Place your bets! Sir, what would you like to bet on?"

Lu Zhuo shook his head slightly and said, "I'll watch for a bit."

"Good!" The dealer didn't mind, flipping open the dice cup under his hand.

Two, three, three, eight points, Small!

At once, some were joyful while others were sorrowful, but Lu Zhuo didn't care in the slightest, slowly closing his eyes.

In an instant, the surrounding world fell into absolute silence, with only the sound of all things breathing remaining.

Clatter, clatter!

"Place your bets!"

Lu Zhuo's eyes snapped open, and after a slight smile, he placed his ten 100-Beli chips on Big.

Three, five, six, fourteen points, Big!

Seeing Lu Zhuo win on his very first bet, the dealer was slightly stunned, but didn't think much of it. He had seen such situations in the casino many times; this guy would surely lose everything on the next round!

Smiling as he settled the wins and losses, the dealer closed the dice cup once again.

However, after three more rounds, sweat began to bead on the dealer's forehead.

Because Lu Zhuo had actually won four times in a row, and his 1,000 Beli had multiplied by 1.8 four times, turning into over 12,000 Beli!

Beside him, Nami's eyes had turned into little stars again!

Ten thousand percent profit! Who would have thought Lu Zhuo was so good at gambling! It seems there will be no more worries about lacking money in the future! Nami was incredibly excited inside, and she found Lu Zhuo more pleasing to the eye than ever.

Looking at her expression, Lu Zhuo gave a wicked smile, rubbed his chin, and thought, perhaps it's time to try a few more positions with Nami; I'm afraid this girl would listen to anything I say now...

The dealer wiped the sweat from his head, whispered something to a person beside him, and continued to shake the dice cup.

Although this amount of Beli still didn't count for much, the four-game winning streak had already caused most of the gamblers to start following Lu Zhuo's bets!

If this continued and Lu Zhuo kept winning, the house would definitely be bled dry!

This time, almost everyone followed Lu Zhuo's bet. Lu Zhuo remained expressionless; he had complete control over the outcome.

Seeing the dealer leave, Lu Zhuo frowned slightly. Before he could think it over, another man who looked thin and gaunt walked over slowly.

"Sorry, the dealer is a bit tired. I'll take over his work, no problem, right?"

"Stop the chatter, hurry up and shake the dice!"

"That's right! Hurry up!"

The gamblers below had won several rounds and were currently feeling quite excited.

The thin man smiled slightly, picked up the dice cup, and his hands danced up and down like wheels.

Lu Zhuo remained with his eyes closed, no expression visible on his face.

So what if you move even faster? Even if this technique of mine can't compare to Observation Haki, at least listening to your dice is no problem at all.

Sure enough, Lu Zhuo won money once again, and he also led all the gamblers present to win a sum. The cheers grew louder and louder, causing this spot to gradually become the center of the casino.

Ace, who was playing cards nearby, looked over and smiled helplessly, saying, "I didn't expect this guy to be so good at gambling, too bad he doesn't want to be my crewmate!"

The thin man shaking the dice cup narrowed his eyes slightly, casting a meaningful look at Lu Zhuo.

Lu Zhuo sat there with one arm around Nami, not caring about the surrounding gazes in the slightest.

The next moment, a sharp glint erupted in the thin man's eyes. After a series of clattering shakes, a confident look appeared on his face as he said, "Place your bets!"

Seeing his demeanor, Lu Zhuo frowned slightly.

He still knew the points inside the dice cup, but seeing the thin man's confident expression, he felt something was off.

At this moment, he already had 50,000 Beli in chips. He took out 10,000 and bet on Big.

The surrounding gamblers immediately placed their bets on "Big" one after another; almost no one went to bet on "Small."

The thin man gave a cold smile, flicked his wrist, and prepared to reveal the dice cup.

Lu Zhuo's expression changed slightly. He instantly threw his four large 10,000-Beli chips onto the "Sky Leopard" of three sixes!

Seeing this scene, the thin man, whose hand was halfway through lifting the cup, suddenly froze, looking at Lu Zhuo in disbelief.

He had just used a clever trick to change the points of the dice, but he hadn't expected Lu Zhuo to react so quickly, betting on the exact Sky Leopard the moment the cup was about to be revealed!