After the whole chain of incidents, Hancock finally managed to collect herself and formally received her guest of state as the Empress of Amazon Lily.
Her pet snake Salome served as her chair in place of a throne, and from a vantage point far higher than Solomon’s, she made no effort to hide her usual lofty pride.
Just the fact that she was looking down on a Celestial Dragon gave Hancock a strange sense of satisfaction, and she quietly observed the pathetic man stuffing himself with local delicacies brought from the jungles of Amazon Lily by her attendants.
"You have no elegance at all. You look like a piglet with its face in a feed trough."
"Mm. These are first-rate fruits, unlike anything I’ve ever tasted even in Mary Geoise. Can I take some home when I leave?"
"...Those fruits spoil quickly if left fresh. There are dried ones prepared for long-term storage, so take those instead."
Even if Hancock was no longer afraid of Solomon, that did not mean she had grown fond of him.
The mere fact that a man had been brought into a forbidden sanctuary for men still left her in a foul mood, and as if venting her irritation, she kept picking at Solomon’s every action and word.
Solomon tried to act calm, but Hancock’s spiteful barbs were wounding him inside, and he was currently sinking into a very public sulk.
He did his best not to show it, but the chicken’s life was already zero.
"Come to think of it, man, there is one thing I forgot. May I say it now?"
"Solomon. Just call me Solomon. Should we do introductions all over again?"
Hancock fell into troubled thought. For some reason, when Solomon smiled absentmindedly like that, he kept seeming harmless, like a sheep.
The king of humanity, soft by nature, had an inborn warmth that made people feel he was kind without even trying.
"Ugh... that is not a sheep. Not a sheep, but a filthy mutt... Ngh. Pull yourself together, Hancock. He must have cast some wicked Magecraft on me."
"Why would you say something that harsh?!"
"Quiet! I am already suffering from cognitive dissonance because I keep feeling these soft, fluffy emotions toward a Celestial Dragon!"
In the end, unable to hold back her temper, Hancock sprang down and grabbed Solomon’s smooth cheeks, tugging them out hard. The elasticity was better than expected, and she nearly gave them an unconscious high rating.
"Ow..."
"It is supposed to hurt! If you are a Celestial Dragon, then act like one: arrogant and evil! Damn it, how shameful! To think I almost found a man cute! But I am cuter and more beautiful, so I forgive myself."
Faced with Hancock’s utterly absurd self-praise, Solomon could only pretend to stay composed. Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, he could not shake the feeling that Hancock was treating him like a teddy bear made for stress relief.
"Do not act familiar with me anymore! Hypocrite! I shall eradicate this fluffy virus! No smiling!"
"That’s too much?!"
Not even allowed to smile.
Solomon decided Hancock really was a tyrant.
"Enough nonsense. This is all your fault. In any case, there is something I wish to say. Will you hear me out?"
"Go ahead."
"Our Amazon Lily is a non-member state. We do not receive the protection of the World Government, but in exchange, the natural fortress known as the Calm Belt protects us. Even so, it would be hard to call our circumstances abundant, even as empty flattery. We rely solely on the expeditions of the Kuja Pirates to supply the island, but to be honest, it is often too much to bear."
Put simply, the entire nation was a pirate group, and the island of Amazon Lily was little different from a pirate den.
"And it is not only supplies that are scarce. Manpower is scarce as well. Not every resident of the island is born with the qualities of a warrior. Recently, we suffered considerable losses in personnel during an expedition."
Hancock’s expression turned grave.
"The problem is that the warriors who were separated from the expedition seem to have fallen prey to human traffickers and been taken to the Human Shop in the Sabaody Archipelago. The accident happened near the end of the expedition, and because we were short on supplies, we had no choice but to turn back instead of pursuing the villains who abducted our warriors to the very end."
Solomon knew of it as well. The Sabaody Archipelago and the Human Shop. A place where illegal human trafficking ran rampant beneath the surface.
Just hearing about the various crimes committed in the Sabaody Archipelago had always disgusted him enough that he had never even wanted to take an interest in the place.
But this time... this was different.
"I know this is an unreasonable and shameless request. You are already doing us a great favor just by smoothing over what happened here, and I know I have no right to ask for more... but the warriors who were taken are young. Inexperienced. I do not want those girls, who may one day become the future of Amazon Lily, to suffer the same pain that the Gorgon sisters did."
It was not a difficult request.
But from Hancock’s perspective, this was almost the same as openly asking Solomon to use his status as a Celestial Dragon on her behalf, so she was extremely tense.
No matter how harmless this man seemed for a Celestial Dragon, she had no way of knowing whether he would be generous enough to overlook such a brazen request.
Contrary to Hancock’s fears, Solomon readily nodded and accepted.
Without the slightest hesitation.
Because he agreed so easily, Hancock was left even more flustered.
"Truly...? You really mean to find our abducted warriors?"
"Yes. To be honest, I’ve never thought well of slavery itself, so the people who attend me are all actually freed slaves. I only keep those who chose to stay by my side, and I pay them wages."
"...A Celestial Dragon who does not keep slaves. That is very hard to believe."
"There’s another odd one besides me, a man named Mjosgard. He doesn’t even keep employees. He’s the real thing. He’s far braver than I am, someone who only half-compromised with reality."
"Heh. Is that so? Perhaps some Celestial Dragons really are human, like you."
Thinking that the joy the world’s most beautiful woman revealed with complete sincerity might be one of the rarest forms of human beauty, Solomon held out his hand and asked her for a handshake.
After only a slight hesitation, Hancock willingly took it.
The wounds left by the Celestial Dragons had not fully healed... but Hancock would no longer be buried beneath the shadow they had left behind.
Though her complete salvation would not come until several years later, after a first love that would strike like a hurricane.
Even so, this alone would be enough for Hancock to live a far healthier life than she had in the original story.
Hancock released Kizaru from petrification, and after hearing Solomon’s account, Kizaru sternly ordered the subordinates guarding his petrified body on the shore to keep their mouths shut.
The completely wrecked warship was processed as a maritime accident through the insurance company of the shipping king, Deep Current Umit.
And the small clash that took place that day on Amazon Lily was also wrapped up, with Solomon taking an active hand in making it all end as though absolutely nothing had happened.
Hancock also kept her promise. In the unusually rare event of her attending a meeting held at a Marine branch base, she found and dealt with the troublesome rookie before any of the other Seven Warlords could.
It truly was the completion of a world where no one got hurt.
The only thing injured was the accounting ledger of Umit’s insurance company, which had rashly approved an expensive liability policy without ever imagining that a warship carrying a Marine Admiral would sink in the Calm Belt.
Munching away on the assorted dried fruits Hancock had packed for him, Solomon was currently aboard a new warship with Kizaru, heading for Marine Headquarters.
The Sabaody Archipelago was far too vast to search alone efficiently.
Solomon intended to use his position as a Celestial Dragon to request direct cooperation from Marine Headquarters.
He did not like using his rank as a Celestial Dragon, but if he could use it to help a friend in trouble, he did not mind.
Of course, regardless of Solomon’s intentions, Marine Headquarters was thrown into chaos by the sudden one-sided notice that one of the highest-ranking figures among the high and mighty would be paying them a visit.
Dozens of tubes of toothpaste and jars of wax were mobilized to polish every corner of Marine Headquarters, and Sengoku personally went into town to handpick the finest tribute goods to present to the Celestial Dragon.
Sengoku had no idea what kind of havoc this Celestial Dragon intended to cause by coming all the way to Marine Headquarters. Had Kizaru perhaps offended him somehow while escorting him?
While Sengoku declared the highest level of alert and poured all his energy into arranging the procedures, ceremonies, and events to receive Solomon, the hero of the Marines and legendary marine Garp was sitting on the terrace of a resort hotel with his disciple Aokiji Kuzan, chatting away in complete peace.
"Vice Admiral... shouldn’t you answer that Transponder Snail? Fleet Admiral Sengoku is going to be furious..."
"Pwahahaha! This is exactly why I refused promotion from Vice Admiral. I’m off duty, and officially I’m on vacation. He can go to hell."
"But... isn’t it really unusual for a Celestial Dragon to come directly to Marine Headquarters? If things go well, this could be a huge chance to improve the Marines’ situation."
"Exactly! Which means that’s a job for some big shot like Sengoku, not a lowly Vice Admiral like me! Pwahahahaha! So quit worrying and enjoy the vacation. How about we hit that new tavern nearby tonight and have a drink for the first time in a while, Kuzan?"
"Sounds good. Honestly, you’re not wrong."
Aokiji also thought Garp had a point. They were on legally approved vacation, after all. Why should they go? Tedious and pretentious.
"Oh, right. There is one thing I forgot to mention."
"Hm? What is it?"
Picking his nose with a thick finger, Garp waited casually for Aokiji to continue.
"The Celestial Dragon coming this time is apparently also called the Mage King... have you ever heard of him?"
Just as Garp was about to dig out a king-sized booger, his finger froze.
"Ha. Damn it. Kuzan."
"Yes, Vice Admiral."
"Love for your comrades is love for your country. I can already picture how hard my old comrade Sengoku must be struggling, so there’s no way I can just sit here and enjoy my vacation!"
"What?!"
We’re going to Marine Headquarters right now. Why? What about my vacation? Ah, yes. Love for your comrades. Love for your country. Sengoku isn’t my comrade from the same generation, though. Then isn’t Kizaru from your generation instead? Love for your comrades. Love for your country. Damn it.
The two Marine officers who had been openly slacking off promptly volunteered to cut their vacation short. Ah, yes. Love for your comrades. Love for your country. O great power of noble love.
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