Bull bull bull.
"Yes, yes, that's right. Exactly."
"It was my fault. I'm sorry, boss."
The boss behind the scenes gave the manager a thorough tongue-lashing, but that actually made the old man breathe a sigh of relief.
What he feared was the boss saying nothing at all. If that happened, he certainly wouldn't meet a good end.
As things stood, at least his life was safe, though he might face a hefty punishment.
"My friend, please wait a little longer. Our boss is on his way."
The manager smiled ingratiatingly and hurriedly had the staff bring over pastries and fruit, along with two bottles of fine wine, all to keep Kazu placated for now.
Kazu refused nothing. It was all free anyway, so he might as well eat. And honestly, it tasted pretty damn good.
About half an hour later, the door to the manager's office opened.
Leading the way was a man in lavish clothing, apparently a high-ranking noble of Druid.
Dozens of bodyguards followed him, with his trusted subordinates flanking him.
Without so much as glancing at the manager, the man turned his head to look at Kazu and said flatly, "Brat, are you the one causing trouble in my casino?"
"Demanding over a billion right off the bat. You certainly have quite an appetite."
Kazu leisurely set down his wineglass and said mockingly, "When you open your doors for business, honesty is what matters. I won that money through my own ability. What's wrong with that?"
There was nothing wrong with what Kazu said, but the problem was that he alone had won so much that everyone was afraid to play. The house losing money was one thing, but with all the customers scared away, where were they supposed to make money?
Not to mention that his casino had lost so much money in the process. That was all his money.
Clap, clap, clap!
The man clapped his hands and gave a sinister smile.
"Heh heh heh."
"Young people certainly are capable. But without a beating from the real world, you're far too conceited."
"You should know that money only truly counts as earnings if you live to spend it."
"As it happens, I, Charisteas, am this country's foremost noble, second only to the king in power. Here, my word is heaven."
"Redel, Mesha, teach him a lesson."
"Hahaha, no problem, boss."
"Leave it to us."
The two men behind Charisteas stepped forward with vicious grins. From the looks of them, they wouldn't stop until they had crippled Kazu completely.
Charisteas simply watched Kazu coldly. He wanted to see whether this brat who didn't know his place would still talk so tough when he was on his knees begging for mercy.
"You're heaven?"
Kazu remained seated on the sofa without getting up, but his aura erupted abruptly. His Conqueror's Haki instantly knocked everyone in the room except Charisteas unconscious.
Kazu deliberately controlled his Conqueror's Haki. After all, this noble would be paying up shortly, so he couldn't be allowed to pass out.
A fear rising from deep within his heart spread throughout Charisteas's entire body. Even though Kazu had deliberately avoided him, it didn't mean he was completely unaffected.
Cold sweat drenched his head as though he had been caught in the rain. The terrified expression on his face fully reflected what he was feeling inside. His earlier composure was gone.
"This..."
"This is..."
Charisteas swallowed, unable to get even a complete sentence out properly.
Kazu wasted no words. He stood up, walked slowly over to Charles, tilted his head, and said softly, "Old man, the original sum was 1.2 billion Beli. Add compensation for the time and effort I just wasted, and I'll give you a discount. Just pay me three billion Beli in total."
"If you can't pay..."
"I can! I can pay! Just don't hurt me. I'll go raise the money right now."
As though clutching at a lifeline, Charles hurriedly declared that he would do everything he could to pay.
"Then I'll wait right here. You don't need to leave, either. Make your calls here."
Not daring to waste time, Charles hurriedly took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted his butler, insisting that the money be delivered as quickly as possible.
After so many years of throwing his weight around in this country, there was no telling how much wealth he had squeezed out of the common people.
The casino was only one of his many businesses. Raising three billion Beli really wasn't too difficult; the loss would simply leave him coughing up blood.
Keeping himself alive came first. Whether he took revenge or squeezed the commoners even harder afterward, that was all something to deal with once he survived.
Over an hour later, a man who looked like a butler hurried over. The casino had temporarily closed for business, and the butler had several dozen people carry the Beli over.
There was no room for that much Beli in the office, so Kazu took Charles to the casino's main hall. Looking at the mountain of Beli before him, Kazu had finally achieved financial freedom.
"Sir, all the Beli has been delivered. Would you..."
As though he hadn't heard Charles speak, Kazu waved his hand and put all three billion Beli into his separate space.
That gave everyone present quite a fright.
The mountain of Beli had simply vanished into thin air. It was beyond their comprehension.
Tap, tap, tap~
The place was frighteningly quiet. Only the sound of Kazu's footsteps echoed in everyone's ears.
"Ah, don't worry."
"I'm a man of my word."
Kazu's words filled Charles with delight. He felt that his life was safe this time.
"But."
"But?"
"Sir, we had an agreement. You've already taken the money. You can't hurt me now."
Kazu glanced back at Charles, then picked up a chair and said, "Of course I won't go back on my word. It's just that this chair has a grudge against you. I can't stop it no matter how hard I try."
"Huh? A chair?"
Before Charles could react, Kazu simply coated the chair in a layer of Armament Haki, then hurled it hard at Charles's head.
Bang!!!
There were no surprises. Charles's head was smashed to pulp on the spot like a watermelon. He couldn't have been any deader.
Then Kazu unleashed another burst of Conqueror's Haki, instantly sending the butler and Charles's subordinates off to dreamland.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What exactly did you do to this chair to make it hate you so much? You can't blame me for this. The chair killed you, after all."
Of course Kazu wasn't going to leave a potential threat behind. This Charles squeezed the commoners dry, so he certainly wasn't a good person. His death counted as ridding the people of a scourge.
Besides, no one could guarantee that this fellow wouldn't spend a fortune pulling strings and reporting him to the World Government.
Money could make the devil turn a millstone. If he really did attract some Admiral-level powerhouse, Kazu might not necessarily lose, but it would still be a nuisance.
Charles's subordinates, on the other hand, lacked the funds to sway those bloodsuckers in the World Government. Some of them deserved to die, while others might only have been trying to put food on the table.
Kazu didn't have time to screen them carefully, so he simply knocked them out with Conqueror's Haki. They couldn't pose a threat to him anyway.
His Armament Haki and Observation Haki were already quite good after eight years of training. He could already perform Armament Haki hardening, coating, emission, and internal destruction.
But his Observation Haki still hadn't awakened, and he still couldn't perform Conqueror's Haki coating.
His only consolation might have been that, having lived two lives, his mental strength was unlike that of ordinary people, making his Conqueror's Haki exceptionally powerful and allowing it to improve very quickly.
Combined with the great swordsman's swordsmanship he had obtained through the Sword Saint's inheritance, he truly had nothing to fear even if an Admiral came.
Kazu walked out through the casino's entrance as though nothing had happened. Now that he had money, he planned to buy a better ship when he went to Water 7. After all, anyone else could suffer, but not him.
"Sure enough, you can only get rich through your own hardworking hands."