CEO of Beasts Fruits, world-famous celebrity, ruler of Gran Tesoro—this is Tesoro’s identity in the eyes of outsiders. With his wealth and status, he stands above most people. Even ordinary government officials have to show him some respect.
Backed by the Beasts Pirates, Tesoro is known as a ruthless figure who has connections to both sides of the world—legal and illegal.
However, he rarely displays his strength, as most of the time, fighting isn’t something he involves himself with.
Even Knight had never seen Tesoro fight. Usually, he’s accompanied by either Tanaka or Dice, who serve as his bodyguards. Seeing Tesoro standing alone on a high platform, Knight mistakenly thought Tesoro must trust Who’s-Who too much.
“This little trick won’t work on me!” Knight wasn’t panicked even though his body had been seized by a massive golden hand. He could tell the hardness of this gold was different from ordinary gold, but he didn’t take it seriously. To him, this was just another part of Gran Tesoro’s transforming structures.
Not many people knew that Tesoro had eaten the Gol-Gol Fruit. Outside of the Beasts Pirates, even Doflamingo only knew that the fruit had ended up in Tesoro’s possession.
But with his personality, he wouldn’t expose Tesoro’s secret, even if he knew the truth.
The gold affected by the Gol-Gol Fruit becomes extraordinarily hard, far more durable than regular gold. Yet, Knight’s body was equally special. He forcibly slipped out from between the gaps of the giant golden hand.
“Razor.”
Relying on his well-developed muscles, Knight unleashed Soru several times in a row, and then with the help of Geppo’s footwork, he swiftly reached Tesoro’s side.
“This is my first time meeting a rich man so unafraid of death. But don’t worry—I just want to leave here safely. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”
Knight’s fingernails were aimed at Tesoro’s throat without any weapons in sight; for these agents, their limbs have already been trained into lethal weapons.
Looking down from here, Knight could see Who’s-Who’s expression turn unusually grim, which was exactly the reaction Knight had wanted to see. However, what Knight didn’t know was that the reason for Who’s-Who’s grim expression was completely different from what he imagined
It was true that Who’s-Who was displeased because Knight had gotten close to Tesoro, but it wasn’t because he was worried about Tesoro’s safety. He was only concerned that his own performance evaluation would be lowered. Knight, however, was unaware of the true reason.
Tesoro, meanwhile, still had the presence of mind to joke.
“That’s not unreasonable—but I refuse. Since you dared to come here, you should be prepared to face the consequences. Letting you leave easily would make it seem like anyone could walk all over me.”
“You think I don’t dare to kill you?”
“Can you?”
At Knight’s threat, Tesoro responded with a mocking smile. They were all pawns in a larger game, but the difference was that Tesoro was the king piece on the board. Unless someone intended to flip the entire table, neither side would allow anything to happen to him.
Whether it was the Beasts Pirates behind him or the Celestial Dragons behind Knight, it was the same.
But Knight was different. He was just an ordinary pawn, one that could be sacrificed at any moment to gain a greater advantage.
“What makes you think I wouldn’t dare? No one could stop me from killing you at this range, least of all Who’s-Who!”
Just as Knight reached out to grab Tesoro by the collar, he suddenly lost control of his body. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move.
“Could you keep your filthy hands to yourself? This suit was handmade by Stella. If you get it dirty, I’m going to be in a lot of trouble.”
“You… you…”
“The stage is already set. Here, I’m the one in control!”
Gran Tesoro has only one entrance, and whenever a newcomer arrives, a large amount of streamers is thrown from the sky as part of a welcoming ceremony, and these streamers are filled with gold dust.
The people living here inevitably get coated with this dust. Through this gold, altered by his Devil Fruit ability, Tesoro can control the movements of most people.
Knight standing before him didn’t yet have the strength to forcibly break free from his control.
“Your skills seem to have gotten rusty; this makes me doubt your abilities,” Tesoro looked over at Who’s-Who and bluntly gave his assessment. It was just a small mistake, but such minor mistakes could often have fatal consequences.
“It was my mistake. I’ll be more careful in the future…”
Who’s-Who didn’t try to explain further. The more he tried to explain such a blatant mistake, the more incompetent he’d appear. Besides, there wasn’t much to say—he hadn’t expected Knight to use his abilities in such a way.
He knew Knight’s abilities, but only part of them. Knight wasn’t foolish enough to reveal his full strength to a junior he hadn’t known for long.
It was only at this moment that Knight realized something: the strongest person here wasn’t Who’s-Who—it was Tesoro.
A person who could awaken and fully develop their Devil Fruit ability wasn’t weak by any means. The current Tesoro might not have turned to the dark side, but he has something precious to protect. For the sake of his loved one, he never stopped growing stronger.
A dual Ability User of Gol-Gol Fruit and Beedrill, in his home ground of Gran Tesoro, Tesoro could even go up against Calamity-level people, let alone a CP0 agent.
“Why do you hire bodyguards, then?” Knight asked.
Whenever Tesoro appeared in public, bodyguards always accompanied him. This had led Knight to misjudge the situation.
Now it was clear—Tesoro was far stronger than any of his bodyguards. In a real danger, it would be unclear who would protect whom.
“You mean Dice? Don’t you think that big guy really adds to the atmosphere? I’m a public figure after all. I need to keep up appearances. Anyway, Who’s-Who, take care of him.”
To Tesoro, the main role of his bodyguards was to take care of Stella when he couldn’t spare the time himself. Some of their Devil Fruit abilities were also quite convenient—Tanaka, for example, saved him the trouble of looking for doors everywhere.
Knight, controlled by the Gol-Gol Fruit, was powerless to resist and could only let Who’s-Who’s claws pierce through his heart. However, this wasn’t fatal to him, as in his Earthworm Devil Fruit’s transformed state, he had more than one heart.
Just as Knight was about to fake his death and escape, he overheard Who’s-Who speaking.
“Mr. Tesoro, do you have fire?”
“What do you need fire for?”
“This guy is a Zoan-type, a user of the Earthworm Devil Fruit. His vitality is extremely strong. This might not be enough to kill him. Just to be safe, it’s better to burn him to ash. After all, he knows too much.”
“Who’s-Who! You b*stard!”
At this moment, Knight’s greatest regret was the day he had revealed part of his abilities to recruit Who’s-Who.
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