Chapter 496: Chapter 496: Pirate King: Gold City (13)

They split into two groups: one group would deal with the Den Den Mushi inside the Gold City, while the other would be responsible for stealing the black box.

"Luffy and Franky, you two are in charge of destroying the Den Den Mushi in the city. Otherwise, we’ll be exposed immediately."

"Before removing the gold powder from our bodies, we can’t engage Tesoro head-on."

"As for us, we’ll secretly disguise ourselves and infiltrate the Golden Tower. I’ll assist you in getting inside the tower. Before reaching the core area, there shouldn’t be any obstacles."

"Tesoro is an awakened user of the Gold-Gold Fruit. If we choose a frontal assault, we absolutely won’t be his match inside the Gold City."

After hearing the plan, Luffy clenched his fists at once.

"Alright!!! Let’s move!!!"

...

"The plan is going very smoothly..."

Gently swirling the wine glass, Tesoro looked at the Den Den Mushi before him. Several sneaky figures were approaching the Golden Tower.

He drained the red wine in one gulp, his palm closing slightly as faint sparks of static electricity flickered in his hand.

Inside the Gold City, he wasn’t worried that Luffy and the others could cause any real trouble. Like a cat toying with a mouse, he wanted to give the Straw Hat boy a bit of hope before bringing down despair.

Only such an ending could truly satisfy him.

"Shururururu..."

The big-headed doll emerged from the wall and walked forward respectfully.

"Tesoro-sama, Marine warships are approaching the Gran Tesoro. It seems CP0 is leading them. What should we—"

"Ignore them. After all, Orin and the Celestial Dragons are both here. I don’t believe they’d dare do anything. Our top priority right now is to keep a close eye on the Straw Hat crew."

"Yes~"

The big-headed doll acknowledged, then added another matter.

"Oh right, Lady Stella has also arrived at the Golden Tower."

"What?!"

Tesoro frowned deeply, his expression turning ugly.

"Why was she allowed in?!"

Seeing Tesoro’s anger, Tanaka immediately broke out in a cold sweat and waved his hands.

"No, no, it was Lady Stella who said she felt too stuffy. We didn’t dare act rashly."

"Then hurry up and send her back!!!"

Tesoro gritted his teeth.

Although he believed everything was foolproof, this was, after all, Orin’s game field. One careless mistake could lead to an accident.

He had to make sure Stella stayed somewhere safe.

"Yes!!!"

With a single leap, the big-headed doll dove straight into the ground and vanished.

...

On the other side,

Beneath the Golden Tower, a blonde woman whose belly was only slightly showing arrived under the escort of several guards.

"Lady Stella, we really should head back quickly!!!"

"Yes, this place is very dangerous!!!"

The surrounding guards urged her on, but none of them dared touch the pregnant Stella, fearing that any mishap would get them killed by Tesoro.

Stella looked somewhat gloomy and immediately said she needed to use the restroom. After being scolded, the guards didn’t dare follow her inside.

After waiting for a long time without seeing Stella come out, their faces turned pale. They called out several times, but there was no response.

"We’re doomed!!!"

As for Stella herself, she had already reached one of the floors of the Golden Tower. Standing by the window, she had no idea how to get up further, until she encountered two sneaky figures climbing upward.

"Hey!!! Luffy, what’s going on?!"

Franky asked in confusion. Luffy stopped climbing and looked toward Stella inside the window.

"We’ve been spotted!!! But that person doesn’t seem like an enemy. Looks like she’s calling us???"

"What the heck..."

Just like that, Stella sat on Franky’s shoulder as Luffy and Franky carried her along during their infiltration.

"By the way, auntie, who are you? Why are you inside this tower?"

Luffy asked curiously while climbing.

Stella hesitated for a moment, then covered her belly and said,

"My name is Stella. I’m Tesoro’s wife."

"Oh... huh!?!" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Eh?!?!"

"No way, you’re kidding?!"

After quite a bit of explanation, Stella finally made her intentions clear to Luffy and Franky. Luffy burst into laughter.

"I see, you want Tesoro to go back to how he used to be."

Franky also looked thoughtful.

"Never thought that the richest man in the world would have a past like that."

"Alright!!! We’ll help you!!!"

The three of them headed toward the upper levels of the Golden Tower.

One of those floors was the Den Den Mushi control room that Carina had mentioned.

"That’s right. This tower built by Orin-san is actually very similar to the golden skyscraper in the city center. You could say it’s a perfect replica."

"If that’s the case, I might know where the black box you’re looking for is."

Stella said seriously.

"Really?!"

The two of them were overjoyed.

"Yes. That’s where Tesoro likes to store valuable items. It’s made with the highest-grade Seastone. To unlock it, only Tesoro and I can authenticate it successfully."

"After taking it out, I can hand it over to you."

"You just need to secretly leave me on the third floor..."

Stella quietly slipped into the third floor, while Luffy and the others went to deal with the Den Den Mushi—only to be caught on the spot.

Aside from the footage of them climbing the outer wall, they were being monitored in real time the entire time.

Luffy and Franky were thrown into the ship’s lower-level prison.

As for Nami and the others, they painstakingly disguised themselves and infiltrated the tower. But when they reached the so-called "second floor," what they saw was a stage.

"What an interesting performance~"

"A spectacular show where you struggle endlessly for victory, only to discover it was all a scam!!!"

At this moment, the "traitor" Carina also returned to Tesoro’s side, pretending to defect back.

Tesoro believed he held absolute victory in his grasp, completely unaware that the Straw Hat crew had laid an even bigger trap for him.

Just as he was about to execute them, streams of seawater erupted from the fountains of the Gran Tesoro, rendering the gold impossible to control.

Nami smiled and said,

"You’re the one who was fooled. We never planned to steal the black box at all, but instead..."

"To defeat you head-on!!!"

"What kind of joke is that?!"

Tesoro was furious. Watching Luffy escape from underground and return to the battlefield along with the surging seawater, he felt like he was about to explode.

But what drove him into true despair was the urgent report from his subordinates.

"Tesoro-sama, Lady Stella is missing. Surveillance footage vaguely shows her being taken away by the Straw Hat crew... She may have already—"

The subordinate stopped halfway, not daring to continue.

Because he saw Tesoro’s expression, like that of a demon.

At that moment, Tesoro stared at him coldly, as if he had come straight from hell, carrying boundless killing intent.

He locked eyes with his subordinate, his face as cold as a blade.

"You... said... what?"

Crack crack crack crack crack—

The killing intent reached its peak. Black-red lightning tore through the ground.

Streams of bloody tears flowed from the corners of Tesoro’s eyes.