Arceus's Pirate Journey

Chapter 769: Chapter 768: I Know Your Abilities Perfectly, While You Know Nothing About Mine

The CEO of Hundred Beasts Fruit, world-famous actor, and ruler of Grand Tesoro—this is Tesoro’s identity in the eyes of outsiders. His wealth and status place him above most people. Even ordinary officials have to give him some face.

With connections to the Hundred Beasts Pirates, Tesoro is a formidable figure who navigates both legal and illegal worlds effortlessly.

However, he rarely shows his strength; in most cases, fighting has little to do with him.

Even Knight has never seen Tesoro in action, and he’s always accompanied by Tanaka or Dice, who act as his bodyguards. Watching Tesoro stand alone on the high platform, Knight thought it was because Tesoro trusted Who’s-Who too much.

”These little tricks won’t work!”

Though his body was caught by the golden hand, Knight didn’t seem very flustered. Even if he sensed that the hardness of this gold was different from ordinary gold, he didn’t take it seriously. In his view, these were simply part of the transformative architecture of Grand Tesoro.

Not many people know that Tesoro consumed the Gol-Gol Fruit. Besides the people of Hundred Beasts, even Doflamingo only knows that the fruit is in Tesoro’s possession.

But given Doflamingo’s character, even if he knew the truth, he wouldn’t expose Tesoro’s secrets.

The gold affected by the Gol-Gol Fruit becomes extremely hard, unlike regular gold that is easily damaged, but Knight’s body is equally extraordinary, forcing his way out of the gaps in the golden giant hand.

”Soru·Wandering Serpent.”

Using his well-developed muscles, Knight performed multiple Soru consecutively and used the Moonwalk technique to appear next to Tesoro,

”You’re the first wealthy person I’ve seen who’s so unafraid of death. But don’t worry, I just want to leave here safely. That’s not too much to ask, right?”

His fingertips were pointed at Tesoro’s throat without using any weapons. For these agents, their limbs are already deadly weapons.

Looking down from here, Who’s-Who’s face was extremely unsightly, which was exactly the reaction Knight wanted to see. However, he didn’t know that the reason behind Who’s-Who’s expression was completely different from what he assumed.

Indeed, Who’s-Who’s unpleasant expression was because Knight neared Tesoro, but it wasn’t Tesoro’s safety that worried him. Rather, he feared a downgraded assessment of his actions. Knight simply didn’t know the true reason.

Tesoro even had the leisure to joke with him.

”Not too much, but I refuse. Since you dared to come here, you should be prepared to bear the consequences. Letting you leave smoothly would imply that anyone can take advantage of me, wouldn’t it?”

”Do you think I don’t dare to kill you?”

”Do you dare?”

Upon hearing Knight’s threat, Tesoro revealed a disdainful smile. They were all pieces on a chessboard, but the difference was that Tesoro was the king of this chess game. Unless someone wanted to overturn the board, neither side would allow him to be harmed.

Both the Hundred Beasts behind him and the Heavenly Celestial Dragon behind Knight operated this way. Knight was different. He was just an ordinary pawn, a dispensable piece sacrificed in exchange for greater benefits.

”Why do you think I wouldn’t dare? No one can stop me from acting from this distance. Who’s-Who certainly can’t!”

He was just about to grab Tesoro’s collar, but before he could act, he lost control of his body. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t move.

”Can your dirty hands be a bit more disciplined? This is a dress made by Stella herself. If you dirty it, I’ll be in big trouble.”

”You... you scoundrel...”

”The stage is set, and here, I’m the one in control!

Grand Tesoro has only one entrance, and each time a newcomer enters, a large amount of confetti is showered from the sky as a welcome ceremony. Among them, the ribbons are filled with gold dust.

People living here inevitably get this dust on them. Through this gold, affected by the Fruit Ability, Tesoro can control most people’s movements.

The Knight in front lacked the power to forcibly break Tesoro’s control.

”Your skills seem rather rusty now; this makes me doubt your ability.”

Tesoro looked at Who’s-Who and straightforwardly shared his evaluation. This was just a minor mistake, but often such minor mistakes could have fatal consequences.

”It’s my failure; I’ll be more vigilant in the future...”

Who’s-Who didn’t offer any explanation. The more one explains such blatant mistakes, the more incompetent they appear, and there was no other way around it. He didn’t expect Knight to exploit his ability like this.

Who’s-Who knew Knight’s abilities but only partially. Knight wasn’t foolish enough to reveal all his powers to a junior he had recently met.

It was only at this point that Knight realized one thing—the strongest person here was not Who’s-Who but Tesoro.

Anyone who relies on himself to develop his Fruit Ability to the level of Awakening is not weak. Now, Tesoro was not blackened but had a goal he must protect. In order to protect his beloved, he was continuously getting stronger.

A double-ability user of Gol-Gol Fruit and Beedrill; in Grand Tesoro’s home turf, he could even inch his way against disaster-level figures, let alone a CP0.

”Why did you recruit bodyguards...”

Whenever Tesoro appeared in public, he always had bodyguards with him, which led to Knight’s misjudgment.

In retrospect, Tesoro was much stronger than those bodyguards. If danger truly arose, it was uncertain who would be protecting whom.

”Are you talking about Dice? Don’t you think that big guy is great for the show? I’m a public figure, after all; I need a bit of spectacle. Now, Who’s-Who, deal with him.”

For Tesoro, the greatest function of bodyguards was to look after Stella when his hands were tied. Plus, some abilities from the Fruit could bring great convenience, like Tanaka, who could save him the trouble of finding doors.

Under the control of the Gol-Gol Fruit, Knight could not resist and could only allow Who’s-Who’s claws to pierce his heart. Yet, this wasn’t fatal to him, as his Earthworm Fruit transformation left him with more than one heart.

Just as he was thinking of faking his death to escape again, he heard Who’s-Who speak.

”Mr. Tesoro, got a light?”

”What do you need the fire for?”

”This guy is a Zoan·Earthworm Fruit Ability user, with incredibly strong vitality. This might not be enough to kill him. To be safe, it’s best to burn him to ashes, since he knows quite a lot.”

”Who’s-Who! You bastard!!”

At this moment, Knight regretted most showing off part of his ability years ago to recruit him.