A Bet

Charlos casually tossed the little mermaid into the air. She cried out, "Eek!" and fell straight into the sea.

A moment later, a tiny head emerged from the water—it was the little mermaid.

"Go home. Don't come ashore again."

The little mermaid blinked at Charlos.

Just then, Charlos came rushing over with his guards, panting heavily. "Hey, hey, Brother Charlos! If you didn't want her, you could've given her to me! Why did you let her go?"

Shalria leaped up and kicked him hard. With a thud, Charlos went flying straight into the water.

A guard at the side hurriedly shouted, "Oh no! Saint Charlos has fallen into the water! Get down there and save him!"

A whole group of guards promptly jumped into the sea after him.

Charlos did not look in that direction. Instead, he said to the little mermaid on the surface, "Go back. The shore isn't a place you should stay, understand?"

The little mermaid quietly gazed at Charlos's face and softly answered, "Okay." Then she dove beneath the water and vanished.

Shalria looked at Charlos in confusion. "Brother Charlos, why did you let her go?"

"I'm planning to form a guard unit."

"But what does that have to do with letting her go?"

"Of course it does, Shalria. Tell me, if one day I were in danger and about to die, would they still risk their lives to protect me if they didn't have slave collars around their necks?"

"Of course they would! We're Celestial Dragons!"

Charlos lightly tapped Shalria on the head.

"Then if there were no slave collars, would you still protect me?"

Shalria thought for a moment before answering seriously, "I would, because you're Brother Charlos."

Charlos pointed toward the pirate ships on the distant sea.

"Then do you think the people on those ships would?"

"They would."

"Then, Shalria, how about we make a bet? Change out of those clothes, and have Akali protect you from the shadows. For the time being, you can't reveal that you're a Celestial Dragon. Let's see whether anyone would be willing to protect you, okay?"

"Sure, Brother. But if I win, those two can't follow you anymore." Shalria raised her hand and pointed at Amira and Amina.

Charlos turned to the sisters. "They're my companions. Do you agree to this?"

Amira nodded lightly. "I agree."

"Then I agree too."

Shalria raised her chin. "Fine, it's a deal! If I win, neither of you is allowed to come near Brother Charlos again."

"Then let's begin."

Shalria walked to the side, quickly changed into ordinary clothes, then turned and hurried toward the distance.

Charlos turned to Akali. "Akali, follow her."

"Yes."

At the same time, Charlos's gaze swept over the guards in the distance. Several black shadows suddenly darted out from the group.

He murmured indifferently, "As expected. There are quite a few CP0 agents hiding here."

Amira spoke up. "Saint Charlos, I still don't understand why you let the little mermaid go."

Amina echoed her, "Exactly. If mermen and fish-men belonged to us, it would be quite prestigious even among the Celestial Dragons. Why let her go?"

Charlos took a gold coin from his pocket and flicked it lightly with his fingertip. The coin spun once in the air.

"Because of this."

Amira and Amina tilted their heads at the same time, their gazes falling on the coin.

"Before entering the auction house, I flipped this coin. If it landed heads, I'd bid on any Devil Fruit I encountered. If it landed tails, then even if a Devil Fruit appeared, I'd let someone else buy it."

Amina stared at the coin and asked, "Then what does that have to do with the little mermaid?"

Charlos picked up the coin and placed it in Amina's palm.

"When Akali was holding the little mermaid earlier, I flipped another coin. I thought to myself that if it landed heads, I'd keep her; if it landed tails, I'd let her go. Guess what the outcome of her fate was?"

Amina looked at the coin in her palm, casually put it away, and slipped it into her pocket.

"So it landed tails in the end?"

Charlos smiled. "That's right."

"Alright, let's find somewhere to rest for a while."

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards behind him moved with astonishing speed, erecting a spacious giant tent in an instant.

Charlos leisurely took a seat, rolling another gold coin over and over in his palm.

Amira asked softly, "Saint Charlos, what are we waiting here for?"

"We're waiting for Shalria, to verify her answer."

Meanwhile, beside the Sabaody Mangrove District.

Shalria, all alone, stood beside a pirate ship. She deliberately softened her voice and timidly said, "Uncle, I'm hurt. Can you help me?"

Several pirates looked down and saw only a frail child. Greedy smiles immediately spread across their faces as they casually replied, "Of course, little one."

Shalria secretly felt pleased with herself. Hmph, Brother Charlos, you're definitely going to lose.

A pirate reached out and scooped her up.

Shalria continued pretending to be pitiful. "Uncle, my foot hurts so much."

"It's okay. It won't hurt when Uncle carries you."

Holding her, the pirate turned and hurried toward a group of merchants approaching from ahead. His tone abruptly turned cold and calculating. "Everyone, take a look at this child. How many gold coins do you think she's worth?"

The moment those words entered her ears, Shalria's entire body stiffened. In an instant, she understood everything.

She stopped pretending and suddenly exerted herself, smashing her little fist hard into the pirate's body. The instant he loosened his grip in pain, she broke free and ran.

The pirate's furious roar came from behind her. "You damned brat!"

The pirate covered his nose, wiped his face in a sorry state, and roared angrily, "Brothers, get her!"

Several pirates instantly drew their long blades. One raised a musket, aimed at the fleeing Shalria, and fired.

Shalria's pupils shrank. Not daring to look back, she plunged into the maze-like alleys of the district. The pirates chased close behind, refusing to let her trail escape them.

A passing merchant witnessed the whole scene and shook his head with a sigh. "Good grief, these pirates really are unreliable. They caught a child but didn't even put her in a cage, and just let her run away."

Deep in the alleyways, Shalria ran for her life as the pirates' shouts continued behind her. "Stop right there!"

In her panic, she ran while crying out to the pedestrians along the street, "Help me! Big brothers, big sisters, please help me!"

The streets were crowded with people, but everyone kept their heads down and hurried on. They turned away one after another. Not a single person was willing to look up at her, all pretending they had not seen her pleas for help.

Having never witnessed anything like this, Shalria was deeply shaken. In her panic, she fiercely swept her hand across a fruit stall by the roadside.

Baskets of apples rolled onto the ground, scattering across the road. Taking advantage of the chaos, she continued fleeing forward without looking back.

The fruit stall owner immediately flew into a rage, pointing at her retreating figure and cursing, "You damned brat!"

The pirates chasing after her had no time to care about the fruit all over the ground. They stepped over the rolling apples and continued their frantic pursuit.

Seeing this, the stall owner hurriedly shouted, "Stop! Don't run! Those are my apples!"

One pirate turned back at the sound, his gaze incomparably vicious.

The stall owner instantly lost his nerve and quickly changed his tune. "N-Nothing..."

"Damn it! Your nonsense let that brat get farther away!"

Burning with rage, the pirate raised his musket. A gunshot suddenly rang out with a bang.

The defenseless fruit stall owner fell at once, dying on the spot.