Chapter 620: The Female Thief
Edward Weevil was indeed subdued, but Aokiji's face suddenly turned grim.
Aokiji had seen Tesoro's move clearly—the gold had simply emerged from Edward Weevil's body on its own. He knew a bit about Tesoro's Gold-Gold Fruit ability and understood that he could manipulate gold, but he also knew that Tesoro couldn't create gold out of thin air.
So where did the gold that came out of Edward Weevil's body come from? Had Tesoro planted it on him beforehand, or...
Aokiji's combat experience was extensive, so he immediately thought back to when they entered the port—the glittering golden powder that had fallen from the ceiling above. He then elementalized his body for a thorough check and, sure enough, discovered the gold powder that had already seeped into his body!
Aokiji realized that he probably wasn't the only one affected. Smoker, Kuina, and Tashigi had likely been contaminated by this gold powder as well.
In other words, whenever Tesoro wanted, he could manipulate this gold and trap them all...
Aokiji discreetly tried to expel the gold powder from his body and succeeded. So it seemed Smoker could probably do the same, but Kuina and Tashigi wouldn't be able to!
Being at someone else's mercy wasn't a pleasant feeling, but Aokiji now thought of an even more pressing issue: since Tesoro had set this trap at the port, did it mean that Dragon had also fallen for it!?
If Dragon had also entered through that port, then the gold powder would be inside his body as well. With Tesoro's unique perception of gold, he might even be able to find Dragon quickly!
Clearly, Tesoro's appearance alongside the World Government officials meant he had already stepped in to help them capture Dragon. If he used this power to control gold and restrained Dragon like he did with Edward Weevil, then Dragon would truly fall into the hands of the World Government...
Aokiji didn't know how strong Dragon had become or whether he could break free from Tesoro's control. But if he couldn't and was captured, the situation would inevitably spiral into disaster: the World Government would execute Dragon, and since he was the leader of the Revolutionary Army, all the hidden revolutionaries across the world would immediately emerge and wage an all-out war against the World Government to save him. Any World Government member nation with revolutionary infiltrators would instantly face massive turmoil.
At that point, the entire world would erupt into an even greater war! One far more terrifying than the war between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates...
No! That can't happen! This must be stopped. The Marines were still recovering from the shadow of their defeat against the Whitebeard Pirates. If an even larger war broke out now, all of the Marines' foundations would be destroyed!
Dragon and his Revolutionary Army were indeed dangerous, and it was normal for the World Government to desperately want to eliminate them. But not now!
Aokiji glanced at the World Government officials trying to move Edward Weevil and Bakkin, as well as Tesoro beside them, pondering what to do.
If he acted directly to stop them here, Tesoro would definitely intervene. He and Smoker would be fine, but Kuina and Tashigi might be controlled and used by Tesoro to threaten him. If they got hurt, he would be to blame.
This plan had too low a success rate. He needed to think of another way.
Right, Ian!
Aokiji suddenly remembered that Ian was also in Gran Tesoro. Maybe he could go find him and see if he had any ideas.
With that thought, Aokiji turned and left with Smoker and the others.
After all, having spent so many years in the Marines, Aokiji subconsciously still didn't want to oppose the Marines or the World Government. His sudden thought of Ian was partly because he felt that if Ian acted, it might spare him from an awkward situation...
Well, to be honest, he was still just lazy...
Meanwhile, back in the hotel room, Ian heard a knock at the door.
Ian thought it was Robin or Enel returning, so he didn't pay much attention. With a baby bottle in his mouth, he got up and opened the door.
But to his utter surprise, it wasn't Robin or the others. Instead, it was a beautiful girl with purple hair and a stunning figure...
As Ian opened the door, the girl leaned seductively against the doorframe, about to greet him, but froze when she saw the baby bottle in his mouth!
Ian was also stunned. The baby bottle in his mouth was actually a special item he had just obtained from refreshing his exclusive treasure shop.
It was the "Demon King's Baby Bottle" from *The Baby Boss*, said to contain royal family-specific milk powder...
A pretty rare special item, right? Curious, Ian wanted to try if the milk powder inside was actually drinkable. But then, an unexpected stranger knocked on his door.
Feeling a bit awkward, Ian tried to cover it up by calmly hiding the bottle behind his back and said with a straight face, "Miss, I didn't order any special services!"
This remark infuriated Carina. As a super-popular songstress in Gran Tesoro, she couldn't believe someone mistook her for a special service worker...
Fortunately, Ian saw she was about to explode and pretended to suddenly remember, saying, "You, you're that songstress under Tesoro!?"
Ian was quick-witted enough to defuse the awkwardness from earlier...
This relieved Carina, who was glad that the Black Dragon Ian had recognized her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have known how to continue the conversation. Suppressing her irritation, she smiled and said, "Lord Ian, won't you invite me in to sit?"
Ian stuck his head out to check the hallway and, seeing that Carina was indeed alone, stepped aside to let her in.
After closing the door, Ian watched Carina lazily sit down on the sofa, her revealing outfit hinting at her alluring figure. He asked with a strange expression, "Did Tesoro send you?"
Ian misunderstood, thinking that Tesoro had found Baccarat unsuitable and was trying a different person for a seduction tactic.
But Carina smiled charmingly and said, "Lord Ian, I'm not one of Tesoro's subordinates!"
"Oh!?" Ian's interest was piqued. He remembered that Carina was once a fellow treasure thief like Nami. If she was approaching him and claiming not to be Tesoro's subordinate, was she planning to team up with him to rob Tesoro's vault?
Sure enough, Carina smiled and said to Ian, "I heard you traded gold with Tesoro for a huge sum of 20 billion Berries, right?"
"Yeah!" Ian sat down across from her, handed her a glass of wine, and nodded in acknowledgment.
"20 billion Berries is a lot, but you know, that's just a drop in the bucket for Tesoro!" Carina said. "Not to mention the gold, he has 500 billion Berries in cash!"
"500 billion, that's really a lot!" Ian took a sip of wine and smiled. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"How about we team up for a heist?" Carina leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand on the coffee table, and said to Ian, "I'll tell you where the vault is, and after you get the goods, just give me a tenth!"
Ian glanced at her cleavage, thinking it was impressive, rivaling Reiju and Robin. But he didn't believe Carina's lies for a second. If he agreed to team up with her, she would probably betray him the moment he attacked Tesoro's vault.
Carina, the treasure thief, was far too shrewd...
So instead of answering her question, Ian asked, "So you've been lying low beside him with this plan in mind... But coming to me, aren't you afraid Tesoro will find out?"
Carina giggled and said, "He's too busy to bother with me right now. The Revolutionary Dragon has appeared in Gran Tesoro, and he's running all over the city with the World Government people chasing that mysterious revolutionary. So slipping away for a while won't raise his suspicions..."
But as soon as she finished speaking, she saw Ian staring at her with wide eyes!
"What did you just say!? Dragon!?"