Super Card System

Chapter 616: An Unexpected Discovery

With these formidable figures arriving on his turf, Tesoro felt that he couldn’t afford to offend any of them. Thus, he decided to follow his usual strategy and try to keep these individuals as far apart as possible.

Golden City was vast, and if Tesoro wanted to ensure these people didn’t run into each other, he had ways to manage it. His subordinates were spread throughout the city, and surveillance Den Den Mushi were placed all over as monitoring devices. By assigning guides to these guests and coordinating information in advance, he could ensure they wouldn’t end up on the same paths.

Upon arriving in Golden City, Perospero and Katakuri immediately inquired about Ian’s whereabouts, asking Tesoro if he had appeared in the city.

Tesoro had no idea why these two were looking for Ian. To prevent the worst-case scenario, he decided to stall them. He didn’t dare reveal the location of Ian and the Dragon Hunter Pirates. He simply brushed them off, promising to inform them if he got any information while internally resolving to ensure they didn’t encounter each other in his city.

As a result, all of Tesoro’s subordinates began to act under his orders…

Perospero and Katakuri only knew that the Dragon Hunter Pirates were in Golden City, but they didn’t know their exact location. The Big Mom Pirates had limited intelligence capabilities in Golden City. Realizing they couldn’t extract any useful information from Tesoro, they decided to roam the streets after settling in, hoping to find traces of the Dragon Hunter Pirates.

In reality, they were just there to deliver tea party invitations, so they didn’t pose a threat to Ian. If they had directly informed Tesoro, he might have helped them contact Ian. However, both Perospero and Katakuri, being significant figures in the Big Mom Pirates, looked down on Tesoro and didn’t bother to explain their intentions.

This led to Perospero and Katakuri wandering around Golden City for the next two days without encountering a single member of the Dragon Hunter Pirates.

After a while, both Perospero and Katakuri began to doubt whether their information was accurate, questioning if the Dragon Hunter Pirates had even arrived in the city.

What they didn’t realize was that Tesoro had absolute control over Golden City, making it extremely easy for him to manipulate certain situations.

For example, if Perospero and Katakuri were walking down a street and a member of the Dragon Hunter Pirates, identifiable by their tattoos, appeared ahead of them, the surveillance system would immediately detect it. Tesoro’s subordinates would then receive an alert from the surveillance control room and implement the appropriate response based on the identity of the Dragon Hunter Pirates member.

If it was a young man, they would send two beautiful women to approach him, quickly diverting him away from the area.

If it was a woman, nearby shops would immediately come out to solicit customers, offering very generous discounts to draw her inside.

Over the past two days, the men of the Dragon Hunter Pirates had been surprised to find themselves frequently encountering beautiful women, being invited to VIP rooms in casinos for winning, rather than mingling with other gamblers in the main hall. Robin and Reiju, on the other hand, were often drawn into shops with big discounts, enjoying substantial savings.

This led to the girls returning from shopping every day, carrying numerous bags filled with various items, shopping to their heart’s content.

Tesoro went to great lengths to arrange these “accidental” encounters because he had no choice. Under his management, Golden City had always maintained a “safe zone” reputation, where neither pirates nor the navy dared to start trouble. By creating this peaceful atmosphere, he attracted countless tourists to the city.

He had to maintain this peaceful, neutral stance as it was the foundation of his business. Tesoro understood that this stability was generally upheld by his show of force. However, when faced with people he couldn’t suppress, he had no other option but to pray they would leave quickly.

Currently, with the Dragon Hunter Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, and even the former Admiral Aokiji in Golden City, it felt like having three bombs that could go off at any moment. There was no telling when they might explode.

Tesoro carefully managed everything, ensuring that Perospero and Katakuri didn’t run into the Dragon Hunter Pirates, and even Aokiji and his group didn’t encounter them while wandering the city.

Aokiji wasn’t in a hurry to meet Ian; he was also vacationing in Golden City. Kuina had Ian’s Vivre Card and knew his location, but she hesitated to leave Aokiji and meet Ian alone, unsure about the relationship between Ian and Aokiji.

In reality, if Tesoro hadn’t made such a big deal out of it and had directly brought Perospero and Katakuri to see Ian, things might have been much simpler. These two were here to deliver an invitation to Ian, and once the task was completed, they would likely leave immediately. Whether Ian accepted the invitation or not was Ian’s business, and there wouldn’t be any immediate conflict between them.

The same applied to Aokiji. After meeting with Ian, he might have left quickly. But due to Tesoro’s interference, things were becoming increasingly complicated.

Moreover, this complication was caused by someone Tesoro hadn’t anticipated at all…

On a busy street, Miss Bakkin and her foolish son Edward Weevil were standing, scrutinizing everyone who passed by.

Every man wearing a floral shirt and beach shorts was stopped by Bakkin, who then approached to closely examine and sniff them.

That’s right, Bakkin was searching for the man who had kicked her that day!

Ian had been dressed as a tourist and was wearing sunglasses, so Bakkin hadn’t seen his real appearance clearly. However, that unexpected and forceful kick had left a deep impression on her. The shoe print on her face still hadn’t faded, and her nose was bandaged, looking as if she hadn’t fully recovered from the injury.

Since having Edward Weevil as her son, Bakkin had never suffered such a significant loss! So, upon waking up, Bakkin was furious and swore to find that damned guy and have Weevil avenge her.

Edward Weevil was simple-minded and naturally did whatever his mother told him. Bakkin had always played the role of a loving mother, so Weevil was more than willing to avenge her. For the past two days, he had been standing menacingly behind Bakkin with his naginata, glaring fiercely at everyone she stopped to inspect.

In such a situation, who would dare to resist? They could only let Bakkin scrutinize them. In Golden City, wearing a floral shirt and beach shorts was a common tourist outfit, which meant Bakkin had stopped and checked many people over the past two days.

However, Ian had been staying in his room for the past two days, focusing on his card collecting endeavors and hardly going out. As a result, Bakkin had been unable to find Ian despite searching for two days. Baccarat had also been avoiding her, leaving Bakkin clueless about Ian’s identity.

“Mama, I’m hungry!” Edward Weevil said to Bakkin, unable to hold out any longer.

“Quiet! Keep looking for a bit longer!” Bakkin snapped, hitting him with her cane. “Your mother has suffered such a great humiliation, and all you can think about is eating! How did I end up with such a foolish son?”

“But, I’m really hungry…” Edward Weevil said, feeling aggrieved.

“Don’t worry!” Bakkin reassured him. “That guy must be rich. Once we find him, we’ll make him pay us a huge sum of money. Then, we can have a big feast!”

“Really?” Edward Weevil perked up at the thought.

At that moment, Bakkin spotted another man wearing a floral shirt and beach shorts walking toward them. However, this man was also wearing a hat, with the brim pulled down low, obscuring his face.

Bakkin’s instincts told her that this man was suspicious, so as he approached, she jumped out and blocked his path.

“Hey, kid! Take off your hat and let me see your face!” Bakkin demanded, with Edward Weevil glaring menacingly from behind her.

“…Is there something wrong?” the man asked, hesitating for a moment.

“Stop talking!” Bakkin snapped, thumping her cane. “I told you to take it off!”

“…Alright!” The man reached up and removed his hat.

Bakkin looked up, only to find that it wasn’t the kid she had seen before. Although this person also wore sunglasses, he had a strange square-shaped tattoo on his left cheek, unlike the one she was looking for.

“Alright, you can go!” Bakkin said.

The man silently put his hat back on and walked away.

Bakkin didn’t think much of it initially, but something felt off. She began to carefully recall the details.

After a while, she suddenly pulled out a thick stack of bounty posters from her pocket and started flipping through them one by one.

Moments later, she stopped, her eyes fixed on one particular poster.

Looking at the incredibly high bounty and the photo on the poster, Bakkin’s hand began to tremble!

“Th-that man was… Revolutionary leader, Dragon!?”

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