The city of Aru-Ma, near the coast, had gradually fallen into disrepair due to drought and sandstorms, causing many residents to leave.
However, three months ago, it began to rain, and the kingdom started rebuilding the city. Today, Aru-Ma's reconstruction is complete.
On this day, soldiers stood guard at intervals along the streets of Aru-Ma, while crowds gathered in the center of the street.
"The casino opens today."
"Yeah, and it's a casino opened by the Alabasta Kingdom, even bigger than the old Raindinners Casino."
"But all the other small casinos have been shut down, except for that one."
"The Alabasta Kingdom is too overbearing, they can do it but others can't?"
"I actually think it's fine. You guys don't know, the dozen or so small casinos that opened this year were incredibly chaotic, with frequent fights. Not only that, some casinos were even cheating people out of their money."
"Now that the Alabasta Kingdom is involved, gambling feels a bit safer."
"It's just too far, right in the middle of the desert."
The surrounding civilians chattered amongst themselves, all moving forward, eventually arriving at the edge of the central lake.
On the lake's edge stood a massive, opulent building covering a vast area. A sign above the entrance read "Las Vegas."
At this moment, the casino's two gilded main doors were open, and figures streamed inside. Most were civilians, eager to experience the casino.
"Hello, please come this way to exchange your chips."
"This is Blackjack."
"This is Blackjack, sir, would you like to try?"
"Over here are the slot machines."
Attendants introduced the various entertainment options. The entire first floor was two-thirds gambling tables and one-third slot machines.
In addition, there were alluring dealers, inspectors in black suits with red trim, and guards in black suits with blue pocket squares.
The first floor was spacious and sumptuously decorated with magnificent chandeliers.
The second floor could be accessed via stairs at the back and featured only round tables with higher stakes and more spaced-out seating.
The third and fourth floors were private rooms, accessible only to VIP clients.
"So many people, it looks like we'll break even."
On the second floor, several figures stood before the glass of a room above the main entrance, allowing them to see the area below.
A blue-haired girl looked down at the dense crowd of gamblers and sighed, "With such a huge investment, judging by today's customer traffic, it looks like we'll break even soon."
"Princess Vivi, today is just the opening. It's unlikely to be this crowded every day. If we get a tenth of this on a regular basis, it would be good," said a tall, thin old man.
"A tenth? That's too little,"
Vivi frowned slightly. "Won't many places be empty then? I checked the daily expenses; hundreds of security staff and operators incur tremendous daily costs. And the initial investment was close to a billion Belly. If fewer people come later, will we be able to recoup the cost? This casino is too large, several times bigger than the one Crocodile built. And the decorations are too extravagant."
The old man smiled. "Don't worry. Even if we only get a twentieth, it'll be enough to cover the casino's expenses. As for the decorations and the size of the casino, it's to send a message to others that this place is luxurious and safe. That way, the big clients will come here, and our income will depend on them."
"He's right, Princess Vivi. As long as we build a reputation, not only residents of Alabasta but also visitors from other places will come here."
Igaram stood not far away and said, "This city was already abandoned. We rebuilt it, and not many people planned to move back. But seeing the number of people here today, I'm sure the city will be lively in the future. A new city will emerge around the casino."
"That's good."
Vivi nodded. Seeing the abandoned city come back to life, the lingering unease in her heart vanished completely.
Bringing vitality to the city and increasing its financial revenue, this casino wasn't a bad thing, at least for now.
Vivi looked at the sturdy man beside her and asked curiously, "Heckle, what does the name 'Las Vegas' actually mean?"
Heckle used his real name directly, making no attempt to conceal it.
"I don't know."
Heckle shook his head. "The President said we had to use the name Las Vegas."
Vivi nodded, then looked at Heckle curiously. "You really don't know who your President is?"
"No, besides the Vice President, no one knows the President's identity," Heckle replied.
"Your President is truly mysterious."
Vivi exclaimed, then asked with interest, "As your partner, don't I even have the right to meet your President?"
After lurking within Baroque Works for so long without meeting the so-called President, Vivi was curious about his identity.
"If you wish, I can help you ask the President for his opinion."
A voice sounded from behind her; it was Vice President Zala. She sat there, drinking her black tea, and asked Vivi, "Princess Vivi, what do you think?"
"I'll pass."
Vivi glanced at Zala behind her and shook her head. "I'm afraid if I meet him, he might kill me to silence me."
"Then there's nothing we can do."
Zala downed her black tea and placed the cup on the table.
But at that moment, a scream suddenly erupted from below.
"Ah, no."
A group of pirates appeared in the first-floor lobby. Their leader grabbed the beautiful dealer by the collar, a lecherous smile on his face, and said, "What a beautiful woman. Why don't you come with me and have some fun at sea?"
The pirates' actions disturbed the nearby security. Guards immediately stepped forward. "Sir, please let her go."
These guards, from the Millionaire, had a rule of conduct: when faced with improper behavior, they were to first attempt to dissuade the perpetrator, rather than resort to force.
"Hmm?"
The pirate leader immediately glared at them and asked, "Who do you think you are, daring to stop me?"
"Then we'll have to ask you to stop."
A guard stepped forward and charged at the pirate leader, throwing a punch.
*BOOM!*
The next moment, the guard was sent flying backward, crashing to the ground far away.
Seeing this, guard after guard rushed forward, but they were easily knocked to the ground by these pirates.
"Too weak. But you scared me, and I need compensation. Call out your casino owner and prepare two hundred million in cash for me, or I'll kill everyone here."
The pirate leader shouted arrogantly.
"That's pathetic."
Vivi looked at Heckle and said coldly, "Your men were defeated so easily."
"It's not just our men, but also your soldiers," Heckle replied.
"But protecting the casino's safety is your responsibility," Vivi said unhappily.
"Don't worry, I won't let them leave alive."
Heckle's face turned grim. He turned and left the room.
"Wait for me."
Mr. Christmas followed closely behind, walking downstairs with Heckle.
Heckle reached the turn of the stairs and didn't continue down. Instead, he leaped forward, heading toward the scene of the incident in the distance.
*WHOOSH.*
His body traveled an incredible distance before plummeting down.
*CRASH.*
The pirate leader was pinned to the ground by Heckle, spitting blood.
"If you dare to cause trouble in our casino, you should be prepared to die."
Heckle snorted, stood up, and charged into the midst of the pirates.
Amidst screams, pirate after pirate was knocked to the ground.
*BANG, BANG.*
Gunshots rang out from a distance. Pirates were hit by bullets and slumped to the ground.
In less than twenty seconds, all dozen or so pirates lay on the ground, barely alive.
"It's done."
Heckle returned upstairs and stood beside Vivi, speaking softly.
"You worked hard."
Vivi nodded slightly, somewhat surprised by his performance. He had leaped dozens of meters and killed them in such a short amount of time.
Not only that, but Mr. Christmas's strength was also considerable, hitting every shot from such a distance.
Although she could turn into sand and their attacks would be useless, making her unafraid, she knew that besides herself, no one else in the entire Alabasta could stop them.
And individuals like these were merely Mr. 3 in Baroque Works. Above him were many others, and then the mysterious President.
Therefore, they still needed to cooperate cautiously.
Vivi watched as the guards below dragged away the bodies and asked curiously, "What are you going to do with these pirates?"
"Bury them somewhere."
Heckle said softly.
"Okay, then you handle it."
Vivi nodded. She didn't feel much pity for these pirates.
She had participated in killing many pirates at Whiskey Peak and, in the original story, would even actively go to Reverse Mountain to lure pirates to Whiskey Peak to help kill them.
However, in reality, these pirates were not buried in the desert.
On the coast of Aru-Ma City, the pirates were tied up and loaded onto a ship, which then sailed into the distance.
The sea ship traveled a distance, arriving at a small island. Several bounty hunters disembarked, dragging over a dozen pirates.
Most of these pirates were already dead, bearing fatal wounds. Some were still alive, injured to varying degrees. Two, in fact, hadn't sustained any injuries at all, surrendering directly to an unbeatable enemy without a fight.
However, all those who were still alive had their mouths gagged and their limbs bound, rendering them immobile.
"Thank you for your trouble."
On the shore, over a dozen billionaires took the pirates over, then placed them on flatbed carts and transported them deep into the woods. They reached a massive courtyard wall, opened the gate, and saw a giant beast lying within, terrifying and ferocious.
"The giant beast is here. We don't need to kill them, just leave them here."
The billionaires glanced at the distant giant beast, carefully placing all the pirates on the open ground not far from the entrance, then slowly departed.
After they left, Xia Qiu slowly walked over and sniffed the pirates.
"Mmm mmm mmm."
One of the surviving pirates' eyes widened in panic, wanting to struggle but to no avail.
Xia Qiu opened his mouth, bit through the bodies of all the pirates, and after a minute, swallowed their corpses whole.
"Not bad."
Xia Qiu felt the heat flow appear within him and nodded with satisfaction. These pirates contained a good amount of energy, more than most pirates hunted by the Whiskey Peak bounty hunters.
As time passed and the casino's reputation grew, there would be fewer troublemakers. However, those who dared to act there in the future would all possess considerable strength.
Furthermore, pirates appearing in the port city of Nanohana would also be transported here by another senior agent leading billionaires.
This would make it a relatively stable source of energy.
It allowed for both reinforcement energy and a stable income stream, killing two birds with one stone.
Therefore, Xia Qiu would spend a day here whenever he was on Leaf Island near Whiskey Peak.
After finishing the corpses, Xia Qiu lay down to rest, occasionally diving into the sea to hunt. When the night was deep and silent, he would enter the ocean and swim towards the distance.
The next morning, he arrived at Little Garden, waited for a while, and attacked a Triceratops. He ate it in two sittings, then returned to Leaf Island near Whiskey Peak to see if any pirates had been delivered.
At night, he would leave again.
One dinosaur a day, and then feeding on pirates in Alabasta and on Leaf Island. Although he couldn't eat pirates every day, and their strength varied, he could still get a few every two or three days. Accumulating them would be quite substantial.
With sources for both evolution energy and reinforcement energy, Xia Qiu's body was slowly strengthening, meaning he didn't need to rush to attack powerful pirates or Marines.
What remained was the development of Baroque Works. With a sufficient source of funding, Baroque Works could accomplish much more.
So, first, Xia Qiu planned to establish an intelligence department responsible for gathering information and building his own information channels.
This would be for investigation, supervision, and preventing infiltration and investigation by others.
For a large organization, an intelligence department was indispensable.
However, he found it somewhat difficult. Firstly, he was spread too thin. Besides evolution and reinforcement, he had less and less energy to spare.
Secondly, there were too few people he could utilize. Zala was too foolish. She could handle ordinary matters, but to independently manage a department, especially one dealing with intelligence, was basically impossible.
At the same time, he couldn't expose himself completely to others and could only control others through Zala.
With an intermediary layer, orders needed to be relayed twice, which was too cumbersome, and Zala herself couldn't manage everything.
Most importantly, he couldn't grant Zala too much power, lest she usurp him, and he needed a way to balance her influence.
Therefore, he still needed suitable subordinates to help him establish the intelligence department – individuals who were capable, could be identified, and were sufficiently loyal.
Such people were truly hard to find.
This chapter, at four thousand characters, was only finished after one in the morning. I feel like I can't adjust the time anymore.
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