Elsewhere in the Casino

Meanwhile, on the Thousand Sunny.

"Who are you?" Cabernet looked up at the giant dressed in a tuxedo that had sat himself down next to the ship.

"I'm here to guard your vessel as a special V.I.P. service." the giant lied. He was actually here to prevent the Straw Hats from trying to leave by lifting the ship out of the water if the need arose.

"Okay." Cabernet accepted the explanation easily and turned back to what she was doing.

She sat at a table across from Caesar, playing a game of Shogi with him while Merry acted as the referee. Caesar was, of course, still handcuffed to ensure that he didn't try to run off.

Why was a sheep acting as a referee? Well, that was because Cabernet didn't really know the rules, which necessitated having Merry tell her which moves were legal and illegal as well as prevent Caesar from cheating. Both of these reasons infuriated Caesar, the former because it made the game last ten times longer than necessary and the latter because "Why in the world would I cheat at a board game?!"

He did actually try to cheat, believing that Merry didn't actually know what was going on either, and was promptly bitten on the ass cheek by an angry sheep. He didn't try to cheat again.

"Tsumi." Caesar said, indicating his win after his turn.

Cabernet then proceeded to study the board for five whole minutes because she didn't trust Caesar not to just lie about his win to make her concede.

"What's Zou like anyways? How come we have to follow a vivre card to get to it instead of a log pose?" Cabernet asked, making small talk as she glared at each piece on the board as if it had murdered her parents.

"How should I know?" Caesar asked incredulously.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart?" Cabernet raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.

"I AM smart!" Caesar shouted. "The few minks in the outside world haven't exactly advertised their homeland! They're very secretive, the selfish beasts…"

"Bah." Merry bleated.

"Merry says 'Look who's talking.'" Cabernet translated, resetting the board.

"..." Caesar sat in silent contemplation as he stared at Merry before speaking again. "It's very interesting. I've seen Vegapunk's Zoan type objects before of course, but they've never possessed as much independence as the two of you. You having a human human fruit would explain your own intelligence, but not the sheep's. Is it that woman's method, perhaps, that makes the difference? Or is there some truth to the myth of the Klabautermann?"

This was a very interesting mystery to a scientist such as himself. He had no doubt that Vegapunk would be thrilled at the prospect of studying these two, yet it was him who got the chance to observe them first! That fact alone brought him great joy. It was just a shame that passive observation was the only thing he could do in his current circumstances.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, a pair of keen cat-like ears were eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Why don't we just take them now? The rest of them are in the casino." Capone 'Gang' Bege asked with some irritation.

"Are you stupid? How does a mobster not know about Gild Tesoro? Grr…" Pekoms growled back in a low voice. "That giant may not be a match for us, but he can cause enough of a ruckus and stall us long enough for reinforcements to come, and that'll be the end of us. Nobody but Mama and the top officers can start a fight with Tesoro on his own ship and survive. It's also just bad business to piss off a man whose hands are so deep in the underworld's pockets, Gao."

"Tsk." Bege clicked his tongue. He wasn't so sure that they couldn't pull a fast one and take Caesar and get away, but he knew that he couldn't do it with just himself and his men at least. "What now, then?"

"I overheard where they're headed. Zou, my homeland. That weather witch might be able to summon cyclones in the open ocean, but we can take them once they get there. Gao." Peckoms spoke his thoughts.

"Right. Well, since we aren't doing anything here, I might as well have a little jaunt around the casino. Maybe I'll run into one of the Straw Hats while I'm at it and I can deliver the invitation." Bege said, walking away from the lion-turtle.

Peckoms grunted in acknowledgement and continued to eavesdrop of the Thousand Sunny, intent on learning anything he was able to.

…

"You're so good at this, Kin'emon-san~"

"And so big and strong and handsome, too~"

"Huhuhu~! I'm just lucky, that's all! But I AM big and strong, huhuhu~!" Kin'emon said to the two beautiful ladies dressed as bunnies on each of his arms.

""..."" Kanjuro and Momonosuke deadpanned at his shamelessness and both thought, 'This is a married man…'

Kin'emon caught sight of their disapproving looks and did his best to hide his rather shameful expression. "Ahem. We've made a tidy profit, so perhaps we should take our winnings and retire for now."

They truly had made quite the profit. From the original 5 million Beri that Cherry had loaned them, they were up to over 30 million Beri! More than enough to pay back the original amount and have enough Beri for any purchases they may wish to make on the Gran Tesoro before they eventually returned home.

"Can we try one of the restaurants?" Momonosuke asked.

"Of course! We should try the food since we have the money. It isn't everyday you get to sample the fine dining of the outside world, after all!" Kin'emon agreed. "Sanji's cooking is quite good, but his priority is clearly set on practicality first and foremost, given he's a ship's cook."

"I believe I saw a restaurant called "Wild Cow" with a large bull's head on the front. Perhaps we can go there?" Kanjuro suggested.

"Ohhh! It sounds like they serve beef there. It has been a while since I've had beef, it was somewhat of a luxury even during our time in Wano." Kin'emon concurred.

Momonosuke was already drooling at the prospect.

"Ah, but first I need to find a toilet. Those 'cocktail shrimp' they gave to us don't seem very agreeable with my intestines." Kanjuro said, drawing disgusted looks from the two bunny-eared women who promptly stalked off.

"Ah, wait- Oh well. Go on then, Kanjuro. We shall meet back up at the restaurant; it shouldn't be too hard to locate." Kin'emon said.

Nodding at each other seriously, as if they had just made a battle plan and were now going to enact it, they parted ways.

Once they were a fair distance apart, Kanjuro found an isolated corner that wasn't even observed by the numerous den den mushi security cameras. He took out his brush and painted a small bird, tying a scrap of paper to it and sending it on its way to who knew where.

*grumble*

Kanjuro hurried off to find a toilet. The shrimp really hadn't agreed with him.