One Piece Gunslinger

Bakara was utterly speechless. She had entertained at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, high-ranking officials and nobles. But none of them possessed Li Ang's rationality. He saw through their facade immediately. Yes, whether they had connections with him, sought cooperation and benefits, or were involved in some shady dealings, currying favor with him was always a safe bet, because he was a powerful figure.

Finally, Baccarat could only sigh and say, "You're right, we did indeed tamper with that. You were the first to see through the scheme. No wonder you're the CEO of the Grandet Group, while I'm just a receptionist. I have to admire you."

At this point, Bakara felt it was no longer possible to set a trap for Leon. It was better to be more straightforward and, as a second choice, change course and openly show goodwill.

Li Ang also adopted a mysterious demeanor and asked, "So, do you understand about the issue of the slaves from before?"

Bakara was very clever; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to scam so many people. She quickly learned from Li Ang's theory and continued, "Now that you think about it, it's because some people can't see the strength of the weak and don't know when to quit while they're ahead. They insist on winning big overnight. But they are weak in front of the dealer, and by winning again and again, they are going against the dealer and even the entire Golden City."

So it wasn't bad luck they had; on the contrary, it was good luck that kept them winning, and they didn't stop. So the strong simply stomp their feet, and they were reduced to their original state. 'To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.' The strong get stronger, and the weak meet with the weak—it's that simple.

After listening, Li Ang also showed an expression of "this child is teachable." Indeed, for someone of this era, his comprehension was already quite high. It felt just like when he was imparting knowledge to Kela.

Li Ang finally laid it all out and said, "So now you understand why I refused to go to the VIP room before?"

Bakara's expression turned somewhat grim when she heard Leon's question: "Because in the face of the Golden City, you become the weaker party..."

Chapter 340 It's That Simple

After this final question, Bakara realized that Li Ang had seen through everything from beginning to end. Even when she led him to the VIP room, Li Ang immediately saw through it as a trap.

"Rumor has it that the Grandet Consortium has grown from nothing to its current state in just a few years because of the person before me. Is this the true sage? Looking into his eyes, I feel as if I am naked and completely seen through. This cold feeling is terrifying."

This was the psychological suggestion that Li Ang exerted on Bakara after his series of actions. In reality, Li Ang wasn't as powerful as Bakara imagined.

Besides making Bakara believe she was incredibly powerful and invincible, Leon had another purpose: to make Bakara firmly remember a "simple" principle that Leon repeatedly emphasized.

“That’s right, that’s exactly why I refuse to stand against someone stronger than me. If I had really followed you up there, I would have become nourishment for Tesoro, everything would have been taken from me, and he would have become stronger. The strong get stronger, the weak get weaker, it’s all that simple.”

Just then, they heard a knock on the door, and the food they had ordered was served, so they temporarily stopped talking.

The two of them started cutting their steaks in silence, and the only sounds in the room were the sounds of them eating.

Bakala is in a very difficult situation right now. Her plans have been exposed, but she has no legitimate reason to do anything to Li Ang. She feels frustrated and stuck in a limbo.

Moreover, this feeling was unique to him; everyone else only saw Li Ang and Bakala eating peacefully through the video and assumed everything was going smoothly.

And so, the two remained silent, and time slowly passed in this atmosphere. Even when they were almost finished with their meal, neither of them spoke.

To Bakara's relief, Li Ang didn't immediately turn against her, remaining completely indifferent. This gave Bakara some breathing room, thinking there was still a chance to salvage the situation. After all, she hadn't truly harmed Li Ang, and when profit is paramount, who would turn down money?

So Bakara decided to speak first: "I think we can compensate for those unpleasant things, such as more orders, more projects and support."

Hearing this, Li Ang put down his knife and fork, then, feeling that it was about time, wiped his mouth and said, "You know what? At times, I quite agree with your boss's point of view: wealth is arguably one of the most useful things in the world. Controlling all the money is equivalent to controlling the world. No, not even all of it, not even half."

Moreover, for businessmen like us, wealth is the ultimate pursuit in life. I really have no reason to refuse such a large sum of money.

Hearing Li Ang say this, Bakara immediately smiled. Problems that could be solved with money were indeed not problems. Once back, all she had to do was explain to Tesoro that Li Ang was not someone to be trifled with, but rather someone fully qualified to cooperate with.

"You're right. Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation in advance."

"Tsk tsk." But Li Ang shook his head. "I think you misunderstood me."

Seeing Bakara's puzzled look, Li Ang slowly revealed his plans: "Wealth is certainly something I pursue. That's no problem."

However, my appetite is not so simple. How much wealth one can acquire depends not only on one's ability but also on one's appetite.

You might be thinking, "It's nothing, it's just giving up a little benefit. Anyway, Tezzolo will talk to me about the specifics in person, and it might even be a win-win situation for both of us."

If you think that way, you're seriously mistaken. My appetite goes far beyond that. Think about your boss first, and then I'll tell you, my appetite is even bigger than Tezzo's.

If Tesoro's goal is to devour me, then I also want to devour him.

To be honest, Bakura's wealth in the Golden City is truly enviable; it possesses twenty percent of the world's gold. Even the Four Emperors would be tempted. No, even the World Government would be tempted.

As I said before, no one can resist the temptation of wealth, and the person sitting in front of you right now is certainly no exception. So you see, it's perfectly reasonable for me to be tempted.”

At this point, Li Ang paused, admiring Bakara's incredulous yet slightly mocking expression, before picking up the wine glass beside him and taking a small sip.

“Well, this is quite unexpected.” Bakara chuckled twice. “It seems the allure of wealth is indeed immense, even capable of leading one down a dead end. I initially thought I had met a wise man, but it turns out he’s just a madman.”

Li Ang, however, was not annoyed. Instead, he asked in return, "I understand. In your mind, everyone would be tempted by the Golden City, and you've even come up with the concept of 'Tesoro's Treasure.' But those who dared to covet this treasure were ultimately dealt with by Tesoro."

As I said before, this world is one where the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker, so the fate of those petty people was already sealed.

However, while Tesoro is strong, he's not the strongest in the world. Do you know why the Four Emperors and the World Government haven't taken action against him?

"Huh? This..."

Upon hearing this, Bakara had a bad feeling. Could it be that Leon was prepared for this, since he could say such things and was determined to devour Tesoro's Golden City?

Bakara removed her gloves under the table, wary of Leon looking for an opportunity to strike, and said, "Of course I know that. What do you mean by that?"

Even though Bakara said she knew, Leon still explained on his own: "The World Government has been eyeing the wealth here for a long time, but when the Gold City joined the World Government and became a member state, there wasn't that much gold here. And after it developed, the World Government had no reason to take action against it."

Furthermore, a large amount of Celestial Gold was subsequently handed over, which turned the World Government into a golden goose. Allowing it to exist long-term was certainly more cost-effective than killing the goose that laid the eggs all at once. If it showed signs of breaking free of control, it wouldn't be too late to eliminate it then.

(That's how it is in the original work. Tesoro's accumulated wealth had already begun to influence the World Government and even the Celestial Dragons, so the World Government took action against him at that time. Great minds think alike, and the Revolutionary Army also infiltrated the area. At that time, the Revolutionary Army also felt that Tesoro's existence was a threat to the entire world.)

And what about the Four Emperors? They also receive a considerable sum of money from Tesoro every year. Although it's not as much as the Heavenly Gold they give to the World Government, it's still a huge amount.

Furthermore, if they were to act, it would inevitably anger the World Government, which would never allow such an astonishing fortune to fall into the hands of one of the Four Emperors. The other Four Emperors would also not allow any single entity to dominate, and whoever stole Tesoro's wealth would become the target of everyone's wrath.

Because of these various relationships, within this intricate web of interests, even those stronger than Tesoro didn't dare to attack him.

Bakara was confused. This analysis was so sharp, yet the execution was so illogical. She asked in bewilderment, "If that's the case, where did you get the courage, or rather, what gave you the confidence, to come up with such a bold idea?"

“Oh, I’ll have her explain that to you.” Then, without turning his head, Li Ang said, seemingly to Bakala but actually to the person outside the door, “Come in first.”

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room on the other end of the signal.

"How is the situation?" a man with a large, chibi-style head asked as he emerged from the ground.

“Mr. Tanaka, judging from Baccarat’s expression, things don’t seem to be going very well,” said a staff member sitting in front of a large screen. “They seemed fine at first, but things took a sharp turn for the worse after they entered the steakhouse. For a long time, they didn’t say a word to each other. Of course, it could also be due to etiquette; in some places, you can’t talk while eating.”

Mr. Tanaka frowned. Based on his understanding of Bakala, he knew that Bakala was not in a relaxed state at all, and the atmosphere and rhythm were completely out of her control.

“We’ll continue to observe. Karina heard that Leon was coming. She said he was an old acquaintance and that Leon was not an easy opponent. So she volunteered to go. If Bakara and Karina go together, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Just then, the surveillance footage showed Li Ang talking to Bakara, and Karina walked in with a disgruntled expression: "What are you talking about, Li Ang! I really don't know what's going on in your head?"

Of course, no sound could be heard; all that could be seen was Karina pointing at Leon and looking displeased. In contrast, Leon smiled and waved to Karina, as if greeting her.

"Hey, Karina, I've finally waited for you. Come on, let's introduce ourselves."

Seeing this, Karina knew that her previous plan had completely fallen through. She had originally intended for Leon to feign being affected before activating the underwater device to break Tesoro's abilities (the original storyline). Now, however, she had no choice but to follow Leon's instructions.

Karina put her hand to her forehead and said, "Hey, Bakara, I'm actually the Revolutionary Army's intelligence chief, Karina. And this is our chief of staff, Leon."

Looking at the shocked Bakala, Li Ang laughed and said, "Remember that? The strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker. It's that simple."

Chapter 341 It's Not That Simple

That's right, the principle is that simple. This simple principle is the psychological suggestion that Li Ang has been trying to instill in Bakala.

It has proven true so many times before, and Bakara has acknowledged it, so this time, of course, it will inevitably follow the same principle.

Where does this confidence come from? Where does this reliance come from? Is he crazy? Or is there some premeditated scheme?

The answer is actually quite simple: in the face of the Revolutionary Army, Tesoro is nothing more than a weakling. There were no surprises; the ending was already predetermined.

This is the strategy Li Ang envisioned—the operation of a strongman: a powerful dragon forcibly suppressing a local snake, applying immense pressure step by step to make the opponent feel powerless and ultimately succumb to this oppression.

Baccarat has swindled quite a few well-known figures. Over the years, she has fully experienced the confidence and sense of superiority that arises when dealing with relatively weaker people, especially when backed by powerful figures.

However, when she actually encountered an insurmountable obstacle like the revolutionary army, the confidence and sense of superiority built up by her years of work experience were instantly shattered.

If you use their own methods against them, you will fall harder from the place where you stood up.

"The strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker. The Revolutionary Army's intelligence minister infiltrated the city a year ago and gained Tesoro's trust. How many Revolutionary Army members are still in Golden City? How many Revolutionary Army troops are deployed at sea? There is no such thing as luck in this world. The outcome was already decided when the Revolutionary Army set its sights on this place."

No, I have to escape.

Under this psychological pressure of a worldview collapsing and being reshaped, Bakala's usually high IQ instantly dropped to zero. In a panic, she tried to get up and run away.

Well, of course there was no escaping it. Li Ang had anticipated this move. People can indeed do unpredictable things when they are afraid, so Li Ang wouldn't be surprised if Bakara was squatting in the corner drawing circles.

So after Li Ang finished speaking, he pressed his Conqueror's Haki onto Bakara and carefully locked onto her with Observation Haki. When he sensed Bakara making a move, he immediately exerted his power.

Even in the past two years, he has not been without growth. After witnessing the high-level Conqueror's Haki, Li Ang has also become fascinated with this subtle and sophisticated way of showing off.

Just like that, Li Ang suppressed Bakala without moving an inch.

"What is this tremor in my heart? Why can't I control my body?! What did you do?!" Bakara quickly cried out in terror.

Fortunately, Karina stepped in front of Bakara as soon as she entered, otherwise her terrified and hysterical state would have been seen by the surveillance cameras.

Seeing Bakara's panicked and helpless expression, not knowing what to do, Li Ang tried to speak in a gentle voice: "Relax, don't panic. If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't be telling you all this. You need to understand, I don't need to use these complicated methods."

Bakara swallowed hard, instinctively shrinking back and covering her chest with her hands, saying, "Then what do you want?"

However, Leon didn't explain to Bakara. Instead, he shouted at Karina, "Wait, what's with that expression, Karina? What are you thinking? Do I look like that kind of person? That's just a subconscious action that most women do when they feel insecure. I didn't do anything before you came, hey!"

"Hmph! If you have nothing to hide, why are you explaining yourself? Does it even need an explanation? Since you've explained, it means you definitely have ulterior motives. I'll have to warn my Nami-chan to be careful of people like you when I get back," Karina said with a look of disdain.

"Damn it, last time I didn't explain, and when you went back, you told everyone that Li Ang was heartless and shameless. It took me a month to calm down and explain. But even if I didn't explain, you still have something to say. Did I offend you somehow?"

Also, I'm really curious about what you mean by "Nami-chan." Since when did Nami become yours?!

"Never mind that, Nami-chan is mine anyway, hehe. Also, it's all because of your lousy gardening plan, always coming up with such lame names, I haven't seen Nami-chan for ages. You bastard!"

……

And so, the two of them left Bakara standing to the side, engaging in a verbal battle for two minutes, seemingly oblivious to everyone else. This nearly caused Bakara's entire worldview to collapse once again.

Not only was Bakara stunned, but the person watching the surveillance footage was also dumbfounded. They had absolutely no idea about the relationship between Karina and Leon. How could the two of them be laughing and hurling insults at each other at the same time?

Karina cooperated perfectly in this scene, and the clever girl quickly understood Li Ang's purpose. Since that was the case, she needed to calm him down and make sure he wouldn't do anything rash. So she improvised and staged this scene with Li Ang.

Of course, the effect is also fantastic; at least we're not afraid of this wave anymore.

"Ahem, okay. Hold on. Let's get down to business." As the saying goes, a good man doesn't argue with a woman, so Li Ang decided to put the matter aside for now. Actually, he couldn't win; both of them, masters of verbal sparring, had absolutely no advantage when arguing with women (mainly Karina).

"Tch, I wonder who started this whole thing," Karina said, arms crossed.

Li Ang decisively pretended not to hear and turned his head to forcefully steer the conversation back to the main topic: "Your mood has calmed down a bit. Then I can continue."

As mentioned before, the Four Emperors and the World Government did not take action against Tesoro, but we, the Revolutionary Army, can disregard all of that. We are inherently hostile to the World Government, and our relationship is one of mortal enmity.

Furthermore, acquiring this wealth won't disrupt the balance among the Four Emperors. They might even be happy to see the Revolutionary Army grow stronger, allowing them to keep the World Government in check. Therefore, the Four Emperors have no reason to oppose us.

Without these worries, we can proceed with confidence and boldness, especially given the formidable strength of our revolutionary army.

So now that Tesoro's defeat is a foregone conclusion, do you still want to go to the underworld with him? If you choose to surrender to our revolutionary army, then you can gain merit, and we can save ourselves some effort. It's better for everyone."