A Big Shot on Pleasure Street!

Ian had no way of knowing about the undercurrents of the sea. At this moment, he was sailing across the ocean in a small boat.

Traveling without a destination took a great deal of time. Several more days passed before Ian found another island.

From afar, the island looked rather strange. An enormous mountain stood in its center, and a Beli symbol had even been carved onto it...

Anyway, it looked pretty weird...

"Tch, I finally ran into another island." Ian was still somewhat excited when he saw it.

After all, he had spent several days staring at nothing but the sea, blue skies, and white clouds. He was getting sick of it.

It would have been nice if a storm had come along to relieve his boredom, but unfortunately, there had been none. The sea had been utterly calm these past few days, without the slightest ripple.

If the wind had not been filling his sails, Ian would have thought he had entered the Calm Belt.

Now that he had come across an island, Ian naturally planned to go take a look. He had nothing better to do, so he might as well stroll around.

Ian pressed down with his foot. The sea beneath his small boat suddenly sank inward, absorbing the force, then violently rebounded. His boat shot forward like an arrow, racing across the sea.

Before long, he had drawn close to the island.

As he approached, the number of ships around him increased as well.

Most of them were pirate ships flying pirate flags, or vessels bearing gang insignias. Judging from that alone, this was likely a lawless island.

There were plenty of islands like this across the seas. The island where Ian had once sparred with Hawk-Eye had also been a lawless island, occupied and jointly controlled by all sorts of gang factions.

Ian docked his small boat at the harbor and leisurely stepped onto the island.

As he walked, Ian spread out his Observation Haki and listened for information about the island.

"So it really is called Gold Coin Island. Seriously..." Ian could not help muttering after overhearing the conversations around him.

Just like his "Ice Dragon" title, it was completely half-hearted...

As he made his way through the island, Ian noticed that there was no shortage of anything else, but casinos were especially countless. He could spot one almost every few steps.

Some were bustling with customers, while others were bleak and desolate...

"Does this place specialize in gambling?" Ian yawned. Gambling held no interest for him.

Because Ian's bounty poster showed him in his Bankai Hyorinmaru form, with his black hair turned silver-white and looking somewhat different from his usual appearance, no one recognized him as he walked through the island.

Ian was happy to keep it that way. After all, he was now a "big shot" with a bounty of 1.1 billion Beli. If people recognized him, the entire island might be thrown into chaos.

This was better. Peaceful.

Ian continued wandering around aimlessly, but as he walked, a street unlike the others suddenly appeared ahead of him.

Above the entrance to the street was a crossbar with three large words written on it—Pleasure Street!

"The territory of the Queen of Pleasure Street, one of the Underworld kings? Oh, no, she should be a member of CP0? No, that's not right either. She belongs to Vegapunk..." Seeing Pleasure Street reminded Ian of its owner.

A woman named Stussy.

On the surface, she was one of the Underworld kings. In secret, she was a CP0 member. And even more secretly, she was a clone of Buckingham Stussy, a spy Vegapunk had planted within the World Government...

Yeah, the connections were a complete mess.

Driven by curiosity, Ian wanted to go over and take a look.

After entering Pleasure Street, he found that the buildings were indeed different from those elsewhere on the island. Their decorations were more exquisite, and the people here were much more orderly.

The kings of the underground Underworld might not compare to the Four Emperors who controlled the situation in the New World, but they were still major figures in the world!

Not to mention that Donquixote Doflamingo, whom Ian had killed, had also been one of the Underworld kings.

Therefore, even the infamous pirates, gangsters, and other outlaws who entered this place behaved themselves somewhat.

Pleasure Street was one of the world's famous entertainment districts, second only to the entertainment district of the sleepless city Gran Tesoro, ruled by the "Golden Emperor" Tesoro.

Even though it was daytime, one could still see scenes of dazzling lights, singing and dancing, and extravagant indulgence...

There were plenty of bars and casinos as well, but the most famous places were the brothels. Graceful young women stood along the streets in all their finery, freely displaying their charm.

Ian entered a lavishly decorated bar and casually swept his gaze over everyone inside. When he spotted one person, his gaze narrowed slightly as he thought, That outfit... Fujitora Issho, the Marine admiral from the original story?

At a gambling table not far ahead sat a blind man in a kimono, with a sword at his waist. He was currently scratching his head as he placed his bets.

Looking at the table before him, he did not have much gambling money left...

And judging by the teasing smiles of the other gamblers at the table, this blind man had probably been set up...

The moment Ian saw him, he recognized his identity. Fujitora Issho, the man who had become an admiral through the Marines' worldwide draft in the original story!

Heh, I didn't expect to run into such a big shot here...

Ian found it amusing. He merely watched the man's back for a moment, but did not approach him. Instead, he went straight to a relatively quiet spot, sat down, and had a waiter bring him some wine.

Meanwhile, Issho seemed to sense something. He turned toward Ian's location, and though only the whites of his eyes remained visible, Ian still felt as though he were being watched.

Ian merely smiled, accepted the red wine handed over by the waiter, and raised his glass to him.

Issho only glanced at Ian before turning back. His eyes narrowed slightly as though he were contemplating something, and he did not place another bet.

Seeing that Issho had not placed his bet for so long, a dealer presiding over the game beside him could not help snorting. "Hey, blind man, have you finished placing your bet or not? You're the only one left! If you don't have any money, get the hell out of here! Don't hold up our game!"

The other gamblers at the table likewise looked at Issho with mocking expressions, like a pack of wolves staring at a little lamb.

They had already "swindled" quite a bit of Beli from this blind man...

This was the final round. As long as the blind man placed his bet, then... if he could not pay his gambling debts, he would become their slave!

Because everyone here was in on it. They had come specifically to scam people!

The blind man before them was merely their target...

"Oh, right, I nearly forgot. My apologies. I cannot see, so I kept you all waiting..." Issho merely smiled. "Then I'll bet on this one."

As he spoke, Issho pushed forward all the little gambling money he had left.

"Tch, betting on one-in-a-thousand odds? Blind man, are you relying on luck? But you've got it wrong. That number hasn't come up in years!"

"Hahaha, gambling is all about luck!"

"Fine, I hope you won't regret it. You know what this bet means. If you lose, you'll have to cover everyone's stakes at the table!"

"Ah, is that so? Then I won't bet!"

"That won't do. No taking back a bet once it's placed—that's the rule here. Blind man, are you trying to break our rules?" The dealer snorted, then opened the gambling apparatus before him without waiting for Issho to respond...