Kizaru was a corporate drone.
He was the type to follow orders from above without complaint, but even someone with his passable social instincts did not particularly enjoy escort missions where he had to cater to the whims of suddenly appearing VIPs. And if the person in question was a world noble, a Celestial Dragon, then all the more so.
Kizaru quietly warned Solomon about the dangers of the Island of Women.
The women there held deep hostility toward anyone connected to the World Government.
What worried him was that, as a Celestial Dragon, Solomon might lose his head at the sight of the island’s beauties and do something reckless.
Of course, Kizaru knew Solomon was very different from other Celestial Dragons in character. But that did not guarantee he had no interest in women like the rest of them. If he suddenly fixated on someone from the Island of Women and tried to make her a slave and drag her off to Mary Geoise, Kizaru would be the one left cleaning up the entire mess. Under those circumstances, staying on guard was only natural.
"I understand your concern, Admiral Borsalino."
Solomon was well aware of the atrocities committed by other Celestial Dragons, so he understood the request Kizaru was making in such a roundabout way.
"As expected of Saint Solomon. You really are different~ Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease."
"I won’t set foot on the Island of Women. I’ll stay quietly aboard the warship. Does that promise help you relax even more?"
"Oh my. If that’s the case, then I couldn’t be more grateful~"
Relieved by Solomon’s consideration, Kizaru naturally slipped back into his usual slow, slippery tone.
"By the way, what were you doing alone in the Sorbet Kingdom, Mage King? Don’t tell me that tyrant we met last time, Bartholomew Kuma, did something to you?"
"Of course not. I was treated extremely well in the Sorbet Kingdom."
Kizaru did not press further. It was hardly unusual for Celestial Dragons to leave Mary Geoise and cause strange incidents in the lower world. If anything, Solomon was remarkably mild. No one had died, after all.
Solomon took a small bite of the refreshments Kizaru had offered.
Since he had not been an expected guest, the quality of the snacks was not very good. They tasted far worse than Solomon had imagined, but he found the experience oddly fresh. So this is what ordinary Marines eat? Hmm. Perhaps I should ask for a bigger supply budget for the Navy.
Kizaru had no idea what Solomon was thinking, but he also could not presumptuously question a Celestial Dragon first, so he was quietly breaking into a sweat. Solomon really was just absentmindedly enjoying the snacks of the lower world, but there was no way Kizaru could know that.
The seagulls cried overhead, and time drifted aimlessly across the silent sea of the Calm Belt.
At the same time.
On the Island of Women, Amazon Lily.
Gloriosa, the empress from several generations past, was busy trying to persuade Boa Hancock, the current empress of Amazon Lily, captain of the Kuja Pirates, and one of the Seven Warlords.
"Granny Nyon. I have never answered a single summons from the Seven Warlords before, so why are you pestering me to attend this meeting no matter what?"
"I heard a troublesome rookie with a dangerous ability has been rampaging through nearby waters. It seems the Government recognized the threat and requested extermination support from the other Seven Warlords, including us. It has been a long time since we last made an expedition to the outer seas, so the island is short on supplies. Since we have the position of Seven Warlord, it would be better to use it and get what we can from the people at the center for once. Think it over carefully, Snake Princess."
"Hmph. That is the Marines’ job. Why should I be the one to move?"
"This time is different from the previous requests. The central authorities even paid in advance to ask for your deployment, and by now the Marine ship carrying the promised supplies should already be on its way. If we take the advance and shamelessly ignore them, there may truly be debate this time over stripping the Snake Princess of her Seven Warlord status."
"The desperate side is always the center. They should be grateful that I deign to maintain the title of Seven Warlord at all. And yet they keep treating me like some subordinate and trying to dump bothersome chores on me. I will accept what they give, but that does not mean the Kuja Pirates are obligated to shed blood for them."
"But—"
"Silence! If I said no, then why do you keep nagging me?"
Boom! With a throbbing vein mark rising on her forehead, Boa Hancock kicked the pestering Gloriosa like a soccer ball and sent her flying out the window.
Gloriosa, better known as Granny Nyon, being launched around the palace for one reason or another was such a common part of daily life on Amazon Lily that no one passing by paid any attention to her desperate screams as an elderly abuse victim.
Hancock forgot about the matter almost immediately.
At least until a Marine ship openly anchored at the harbor, violating Amazon Lily’s national law.
"Marguerite. Is that report true?"
"Yes! A Marine warship flying the central government’s flag has anchored off the island’s coast. By our law, the penalty is death for all of them...! What should we do?"
"...Did we not warn them in advance?"
"We did! The warriors warned them beforehand, but they blatantly ignored it and anchored their ship anyway."
"...We have not made an expedition in some time, and now the men of the center have forgotten fear. I will go myself."
Mewrr! Boa Hancock rose from her throne while casually kicking aside the kitten rolling around at her feet.
She could not tolerate disgusting men shamelessly trampling the soil of Amazon Lily.
There was only one thing she had failed to anticipate.
The strength of the enemy.
With Gloriosa quietly tagging along behind her, Hancock took the lead of the warrior women.
When she reached the shore where the intruders were waiting, she found a middle-aged man whose sly face was perfectly matched by his sunglasses.
Marine Admiral Kizaru.
Hancock, who had little interest in information from the outside world, did not recognize him at once. But Gloriosa, who had secretly smuggled in newspapers through News Coo and learned at least a little about the outside, desperately clung to Boa Hancock’s waist when she tried to launch a preemptive attack on sight. You lunatic! That’s a Marine admiral!
"A Marine admiral...? Then that man is one of the central government’s core military powers?"
"That’s right! You must never underestimate him! It infuriates me, but for now we need to retreat! A Marine admiral is on a completely different level from any outsider who has ever visited this island!"
Gloriosa tried desperately to stop her in horror, but Hancock showed no sign of backing down. She was a jungle warrior raised in an environment where the strong devoured the weak. Bowing her head to someone based on reputation alone, without even testing them first, was unthinkable.
"Snake Princess! It is not too late to try talking first!"
"Be quiet! Honestly, it is irritating enough that an old woman who can barely fight anymore keeps telling me what to do!"
Boiling with fury, Hancock kicked Gloriosa away with all her strength once again and sent her flying into the distance.
Even Kizaru, easygoing as he was, could tell by this point that Hancock had absolutely no intention of talking and was filled with nothing but hostility.
Among the Seven Warlords, all of whom were troublesome and impossible to control, Hancock was considered the biggest headache of them all. That was why Marine Headquarters had unusually dispatched an admiral in person to make this mission succeed.
Kizaru had no intention of simply overlooking Hancock’s arrogant behavior. He had his own pride as an admiral and as a Marine. In fact, Sengoku had secretly asked him to take this chance to knock her down a peg if possible.
Because he had been informed in advance about Hancock’s Love-Love Fruit, Kizaru had already been maintaining an excessive level of Haki defense from the moment he faced her.
"Mero Mero Mellow!"
Kizaru intended to make this arrogant young woman, ignorant of how the world worked, understand the standing held by the Marine Headquarters’ highest military power. Within reason, of course.
Hancock possessed Conqueror’s Haki, but Kizaru had already faced opponents of her level many times before.
It did not take long before Hancock was coughing up blood and rolling across the ground.
When the warrior women of Amazon Lily saw their leader, whom they had always believed to be invincible, getting beaten down one-sidedly and collapsing onto the sand, every last one of them froze in terror.
If Kizaru had entered the battle intending to kill from the start, it would not have been strange at all if Hancock had died. The fight was that one-sided.
Even so, the women of the Kuja Pirates did not stop cheering.
Hancock, who had fallen, staggered back to her feet once more.
"How~ curious~ At this point, I’d think you would understand the gap between us. Are you still trying to fight~?"
"Silence...! I am the empress of Amazon Lily...! Do you think I would fall before some man from the outside world?"
"Oh? And then~?"
"Huff... huff... This is not a duel. Pirates have no use for fairness. I sensed a presence on your ship. That loathsome kind of presence unique to them..."
Kizaru felt a chill run through him. For an instant, the overwhelming killing intent Hancock unleashed stirred up a storm of Conqueror’s Haki around her.
A power-up at the very brink of defeat... This is why Conqueror’s Haki users are such a pain~
Kizaru anticipated Hancock’s next attack and reinforced the Armament Haki guard he excelled at.
But this time, Hancock was not aiming at Kizaru.
A rain of hundreds of arrows, created by Hancock’s power and infused with Armament Haki, flew past Kizaru and fell like meteors toward the warship he had arrived on.
And there—
There was someone aboard, left completely defenseless, someone Kizaru had to protect no matter what.
Oh no.
Kizaru’s mind went cold at the sudden disaster brought about by a single moment of carelessness.
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