Rainbase, Casino

"Let's go."

Vivi and the others bid farewell to the old man named Toto.

The group got back into the SUV. Aside from the music playing through the car speakers, no one spoke again, silently watching the desert scenery flash past outside the windows.

Rody rather enjoyed the feeling of driving through an endless desert while listening to music. After two hours of travel, a bustling city appeared ahead.

"Is this Rainbase? It's so prosperous—it looks like it hasn't been affected by the civil unrest or drought at all!" Nami said in surprise.

"Of course not. This is Crocodile's stronghold. Naturally, he wouldn't allow this place to be affected by the unrest or drought," Vivi said darkly.

Led by Vivi, the group passed through the bustling market streets and arrived at the largest, tallest, and most luxurious casino in the city.

Windfire Wheel kicked the casino doors open, planted his hands on his hips, and declared arrogantly, "Listen up, everyone. This place has now been requisitioned by our captain. If you don't want to die, get out of here now."

"That's right, that's right. Why aren't you leaving already?" Leo and Jose echoed arrogantly as they stood beside Windfire Wheel.

Rody and the others entered afterward, surveying the vast, luxurious casino. At a rough glance, there were around three to four hundred gamblers inside. Including the casino staff, there were probably as many as five hundred people.

The casino managers and gamblers were stunned by Windfire Wheel's dramatic entrance and arrogant words. After a brief pause, they came to their senses and burst into laughter.

"HAHAHA... Are you weird tin can and those two brats here to get yourselves killed? Do you even know who owns this casino?!"

"This casino was opened by Lord Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai!"

"You actually dare to cause trouble here? Looks like you're tired of living!"

The gamblers in the casino laughed freely at Windfire Wheel and the others. When Crocodile had played the hero in Alabasta by clearing out pirates, most of those present had seen him in action. They had absolute confidence in Crocodile's strength and simply did not believe anyone could defeat him.

It was not as though no one more arrogant than Windfire Wheel had ever come to cause trouble at the Rainbase casino before. As Alabasta's largest casino, it handled at least a hundred million Beli in cash flow every day, naturally attracting the attention of some arrogant, greedy, and conceited people.

However, while those people had all talked big and acted even more arrogantly, their strength had never matched their boasts. Forget Crocodile—even the casino's thugs could easily take them down. Thus, no one present took Windfire Wheel's words seriously. They merely saw them as a few idiots blinded by money.

"More gutsy fools have come to court death."

The casino's manager had clearly dealt with this sort of thing before. He reacted quickly, waving his hand with practiced ease as he shouted at the thugs patrolling around the casino, "Some more fools who aren't afraid of death have shown up. Kill them all!"

"Hehe... You guys are with those three too, right?"

"Other than those three women, kill everyone else. We really got lucky today—we've actually found such top-quality chicks." More than a dozen muscular thugs surrounded Rody and the others. The biggest man among them gave the order to the rest.

"Hehe... Sure, boss. After you've had your fun, can us brothers have some fun too..." one thug asked with an excited grin.

"Haha, don't worry. When have I ever kept the good stuff to myself?"

"Boss, w-wait... That man with the markings on his face, I think I've seen him somewhe—" A shorter underling among the thugs stared at Rody in terror.

But Rody had no interest in listening to these insects prattle on. With a casual wave of his hand, dense slashes shot forth, reducing everyone in the casino except a single dealer to mangled corpses. The blood of nearly five hundred people flooded the entire casino hall.

"W-wait!" Vivi cried out nervously the moment she saw Rody raise his hand.

"Go call out your boss, Crocodile," Rody said to the dealer, who had been frozen with fear. Then he turned to Vivi and casually asked, "What is it?"

"M-Mr. Rody, aside from some casino staff who are Crocodile's subordinates, everyone else here was just ordinary Alabasta citizens!"

"You could clearly have killed only Crocodile's men. Why did you kill everyone else too?!" Vivi demanded emotionally as she looked at the bloody corpses scattered across the casino.

"Oh?"

Seeing Vivi's agitation, Rody suddenly revealed a teasing smile. "You're asking why? Actually, I don't know either. Maybe... because I just don't care."

"After all, they're only ants I can crush to death on a whim."

"H-how can you say that..."

"They were living people. They were absolutely not ants like you said," Vivi said, the fury in her eyes gradually turning into resolve.

"Heh."

Rody suddenly reached out, seized Vivi by the throat, and lifted her before him.

"Princess Vivi!" Igaram and Pell cried out together.

Seeing Rody seize Vivi by the throat, Igaram and Pell prepared to step forward and stop him. Even after witnessing Rody effortlessly kill hundreds in an instant, even knowing they were no match for him and that attacking him would be like smashing eggs against a rock, they were still willing to risk their lives.

However, Mike suddenly extended his cane and blocked their path, while Windfire Wheel aimed the energy cannon strapped to his back at them. Blue light began to glow from its barrel.

"Move aside!" Igaram and Pell shouted together.

"Gentlemen, Lord Rody has no intention of killing Princess Vivi at the moment. If you truly choose to act, not only might you throw away your own lives, you may also end up getting your princess killed," Mike advised.

At that moment, Vivi also waved at Igaram and Pell, signaling them not to make a move.

"Princess!" Igaram and Pell cried together.

Though unwilling, Igaram and Pell obeyed her order and stopped. Their eyes remained fixed on Rody's every movement, afraid that he might truly harm Princess Vivi.

"Rody, don't do this. Vivi still has to pay us 1.5 billion Beli," Nami said, tugging at Rody's sleeve in persuasion.

Ignoring Nami's plea, Rody slowly brought his lips to Vivi's ear and whispered, "I like that look in your eyes. Just now, I merely killed a few hundred insignificant ants. Tell me, if I killed everyone in this country except you, what kind of expression would you make?"

"Just thinking about it makes me look forward to it."

"HAHAHA...!"