Gamblin' Man

Gild Tesoro didn't become one of the world's most influential men by being a fool.

Once his excitement about the possibility of resurrecting his long lost love, he naturally began to question the authenticity of the outrageous claim that Cherry had made.

Cherry couldn't have known about his sweet Stella to tempt him with such a thing and he didn't have any other people that he particularly cared for either, so that was a point in her favor.

She also shouldn't have known about Morgans being such a momma's boy; nobody but other emperors of the underworld and himself would dare to gossip about that bird. That leant some weight to her claim being the truth as well.

'Seeing is believing, though.' Tesoro thought.

"About that demonstration…" Tesoro brought up the subject again.

"How much would it cost to see it in action?" Cherry asked his question for him.

Tesoro nodded seriously.

"Bring me a corpse, the more recent the better… and the cheaper." Cherry said simply. "Less damage is cheaper too. I'll tell you my price when I see it."

This was an easy thing to obtain for him. He didn't even have to pick someone out to kill, he could just pluck one of the bodies from his golden desert prison. He searched through his connection with the gold within his control for a still body, checked its pulse, and began dragging it up through the nearest pipe.

Tesoro steered the drunken woman to where the body would be produced, and sure enough a somewhat emaciated middle aged man with an oversized head and messy green hair popped out of a large golden pipe. "Here you go, what about this one?"

Tesoro watched her closely for signs of distress or unease, anything that might give away a lie. He found no such signs as Cherry skipped over to the body and placed a hand each on his chest and forehead.

"Hmmm…" Cherry hummed in contemplation. "Dead within the last hour of severe dehydration. Hehe, I suppose it'd have to be severe if he died from it, amiright~?"

"Can you do it and how much?" Tesoro cut to the chase, clearly impatient.

"30 million Beri." Cherry answered after a few seconds of pondering.

"Do it." Tesoro answered instantly. 30 million Beri was barely pocket change to him, he wouldn't even stop to pick that much money off the ground.

"Hehehehehe~!" Cherry cackled and got to work.

Wisps of sickly green energy gathered at her hands before she thrust them at the man's head and chest where she had touched him before.

*GASP* The man instantly took a large breath in and started to cough and hack. The pale color of his skin became healthier and even the flesh on his bones seemed to return somewhat.

Tesoro didn't see it because Cherry was in the way, but the man's eyes alighted with recognition for a short moment when they landed on Cherry. As soon as it appeared, it disappeared and the man went back to composing himself.

Tesoro stepped forward and examined the man with interest. He hadn't known who exactly he'd picked out as his gold wasn't THAT sensitive, but he certainly recognised him now.

"Raise Max! How good to see you again! You really are a lucky man, you know that? Out of all the people who could have been 'rescued' by my lovely companion here, it was you!" Tesoro teased maliciously.

"Rescue? Companion?" Raise Max asked in mild confusion, looking between the two people in front of him. It only took a moment for him to recognize Tesoro and glare at him fiercely. "Gild Tesoro! I don't need any pity from you! I'll survive with my own wits, so send me back to your golden hellscape!"

Tesoro was delighted at his words. Raise Max didn't seem to have the memory problems that he would expect from a man who has been dead for an hour. He was no doctor, but he knew that oxygen deprivation could cause some serious brain damage, especially after almost an hour of being dead. That was his main concern with whatever Cherry's miraculous technique might do to his beloved; there was no point bringing her back if she was brain dead.

"Who's this geezer? Why's he so rude?" Cherry poked at Max's big face, prompting him to weakly wave her hand away.

"Who are you calling a geezer?! I'm only 33!" Raise Max took offense to that.

Cherry blinked at him lazily, then looked to Tesoro. "I can work with old people, but old-looking is out of my hands."

"Screw you!" Raise Max swung at her, but Cherry leaned back a bit and made him topple himself over.

"This is Raise Max. Formerly one of the world's greatest gamblers, though he was ultimately on match for my Gran Tesoro, Hahaha!" Tesoro introduced him casually.

"Your pet luck sucker got him huh~?" Cherry nodded. "Say, I've never had a butler before. Can I have this guy?"

Tesoro gave her a questioning look. "Why? He's so ugly…"

"I can't make any charming ladies toil away with their delicate hands for me, can I? Handsome guys kind of piss me off too, so it has to be a guy with an ugly mug like him." Cherry reasoned.

"I won't do a damn thing for you!" Raise Max refuted. His languid state was noticeably improving, his strength returning to him slowly much to Tesoro's growing satisfaction.

"Oh, you'll do it. I was willing to let you waste away in my dungeon before, but I won't let you go so easily if you refuse my charming guest here. Who knows, maybe after a few decades I'll consider your debt settled, hm? Hahaha!" Tesoro laughed.

Raise Max tried to look defiant, but his heart wasn't in it. Ever since he lost his status as an undefeated gambler, his confidence had vanished and left behind a shell of his former self. "... Fine…"

Tesoro's laughter grew, taking great joy in the once proud gambler's misery and despair. Cherry cackled alongside him and prodded his big face some more, this time without him putting up any resistance.

Tesoro called over some servants and ordered them to get Raise Max cleaned up and outfitted properly for his new role. After Raise Max was taken away, he returned his full attention to Cherry.

"Now I must ask you, can you bring back someone who has been dead for more than a decade?" Tesoro's eyes glittered like gold, awaiting her answer.

"Sure~! It's much easier with a body, mind you, but not entirely necessary." Cherry said, clearly in a good mood.

"How does that work?" Tesoro asked curiously.

"Devil fruit, of course~! One of my former crewmates, the skeleton, has the revive revive fruit that brought him back from the dead. I was able to study it in great detail and while I cannot replicate it to its full potency just yet, I have other abilities to fill in the gaps." Cherry explained quickly.

Tesoro understood now. He had seen the skeleton of course, but he hadn't expected that Cherry was a scientist who could work with devil fruit like Vegapunk. Bringing her to his side was already starting to show its potential dividends.

Putting that aside, he was glad he spent so much time and resources finding his love's body for a proper burial. The celestial pigs had thrown her away like trash when they were done with her, but fortunately they hadn't tossed her into the ocean.

"Only a matter of time, my love…" Tesoro muttered under his breath.

Cherry took in his hopeful expression like one would smell the aroma of a fine wine before partaking in it. His downfall would be so very delicious~!