Chapter 112: Hancock's Ultimate Deluxe Card Set
Calm Belt.
The sea lay flat as glass, a flawless mirror reflecting the sky, without the slightest hint of wind or waves.
So long as you ignored the enormous shadows lurking far beneath the surface, it was almost peaceful, almost comforting.
Hidden within this paradise that most people in the world would never see was a strange island.
Amazon Lily, the Kingdom of Women.
At the highest point of the island, several enormous serpent statues loomed over the surrounding sea. Their blood red maws gaped wide, as if they might tear apart any enemy who dared approach.
Beneath the statues, carved into the massive rock face, were two giant characters.
Nine Serpents.
At the approach that led from the shore up toward the town, a crowd of Amazon warriors had gathered. A line of beautiful, battle ready women stood waiting, some to welcome little Hancock home.
And some… were staring at Roy.
"Wow, is that a boy? He is so handsome. How is he different from us?"
A round faced girl tugged and pinched at Roy's cheeks without any restraint.
Roy looked utterly defeated, shoulders slumped, while Hancock covered her mouth and giggled.
"That fiery red hair, that pale skin, I am so jealous…"
A tall, slender beauty stepped in front of him, leaning down with a very deliberate movement.
Up, then down.
Up, then down.
Roy stared, stunned.
Was this… really happening?
Hancock's eyes flashed. She shoved the woman away with a scowl.
"Hehe, I was just curious about the difference between men and women," the tall beauty said with a mischievous laugh as she stepped back.
I almost touched the little bird.
If not for Hancock blocking me.
The women crowding around began chattering all at once, treating Roy like some rare animal they had never seen in person before.
Farther back, the current empress, the Snake Princess, had just finished speaking with the previous empress. Now she stood watching Hancock and Roy, a serious expression on her face.
It was not that she could not defeat this boy. It was that… she respected Hancock.
And spoiled her.
In truth, she had only agreed after hearing Hancock tell Gloriosa that there was not a single Amazon warrior who could beat Roy.
His fists were simply too hard.
Since ancient times, having a little more hardness in the right place had always been an advantage.
"Hancock, Roy, listen carefully."
The Snake Princess spoke with solemn dignity.
"After much discussion, we have decided that Roy may stay in the Amazon Kingdom for only a few years. Once there are any signs that he is growing up, he must leave the island at once."
"Yes, Snake Princess," she declared.
"What are 'signs of growing up' supposed to be?" Hancock asked, frowning in genuine confusion.
One innocent sentence was enough to make the Snake Princess's face flush bright red.
"Mind your own business. I will tell you later," she snapped, glaring at Hancock.
"Then you mind your own business. Hmph. I will just leave with him. Who cares about some stupid throne. I do not want it," Hancock shot back.
She grabbed Roy's hand, shouldered past the Snake Princess, and dragged him away as if she were taking him straight home.
Roy was in a daze the whole time.
Hancock was so forward.
He loved it.
"Cough… cough…"
Tritoma, the current Snake Princess, suddenly coughed up blood. Little Hancock stopped in her tracks, eyes widening.
"What… is wrong?"
Was she sick?
"Alas. That is the true origin of the ban on men," the former empress sighed. "Hancock, do you want to hear it?"
Hancock nodded without thinking.
Over these last few days, she had become painfully aware that she had suddenly fallen in love with the boy who had fallen from the sky and saved her.
Like a wildfire catching in dry grass, it had come without warning.
Once it started, there was no putting it out.
…
Inside the palace of the Snake Princess on Amazon Lily.
Tritoma lay on the bed, face pale, while Gloriosa stood beside her, explaining a very particular "illness" to little Hancock and Roy.
"This year, the Kingdom of Women sent a baby boy away," Gloriosa said quietly.
"He was taken by a man in a cloak. The Snake Princess stood by the shore and watched him go."
For a very long time, that man never came back.
"In this land," Gloriosa continued, "once a woman truly falls in love with someone…"
If the two are forcibly separated, then death follows not far behind.
Unless the lovers can stay together all their lives, and keep their hearts bound to one another.
Otherwise…
They fall ill.
And they die slowly.
"This is the sickness of the Amazon Kingdom. That is the true reason the ban on men was created," Gloriosa finished.
"Hancock… Hancock only knows she likes him. So what if I have to leave Amazon Lily?" little Hancock muttered.
She sneaked a glance at Roy.
Roy stared back, stunned.
He… had just been confessed to for the first time in his life.
[Friendship with Boa Hancock increased by 50!]
Good grief.
That was vicious.
As expected of Hancock, future Empress of women obsessed with love.
It had only been a few days.
Roy had prepared all sorts of strategies and plans, ready to slowly build her affection step by step. Meanwhile, Hancock simply told him, very simply, that he did not need to do anything.
She was giving her heart away for free.
He was completely overwhelmed.
No strategy required.
Roy's mental system crashed on the spot.
Hancock tightened her grip on his hand and stared straight at Gloriosa and Tritoma, her small face serious to the point of stubbornness.
Her meaning could not have been clearer.
She, Hancock, was willing to throw away that so called empress throne and run off with Roy to slowly nurture their relationship.
What right did two old women who had already made their own mistakes have to bully her now?
At worst, she would flip the table.
Hmph.
What a ridiculous illness. As long as she followed Roy everywhere and she was happy, then that was all that mattered.
Everything else was trash.
This was moving way too fast.
Roy stared at her blankly.
He had not done anything, so how… had things progressed this far already?
His thoughts were a tangled mess, his mind still echoing with the constant chime of Hancock's affection.
Hancock's affection increased by 1.
Hancock's affection increased by 1.
Hancock's affection increased by 1.
Each time it was only a little, but the accumulation was terrifying. Her intimacy score had rocketed straight through the friendship line before he could react.
It felt like seeing a ghost.
It felt like a dream.
In truth, developing a relationship with Hancock was incredibly fast. Sometimes it could feel impossibly hard, but once you found the right angle, it became absurdly simple.
And what she was giving now, she would never take back. Once she committed, the Empress would be fiercely, frighteningly devoted.
All because of one unintentional chain reaction triggered by Roy and Luffy.
In the original story, Luffy covered the slave mark on the Empress's back, and that alone had shaken her heart.
What Roy had done now was nothing more than an upgraded, expanded version of that.
He had literally fallen from the sky into the darkest moment of her life and rescued her.
No wonder Hancock was moved.
On top of that, Roy really was handsome, with a gentle, soothing charm that made her feel safe at a time when she had been more afraid than ever.
Hancock's flurry of emotional blows left Roy completely dazed. He barely heard what anyone said or what they argued about afterward.
He had thought falling into Mary Geoise would be pure nightmare.
Instead, it had turned into paradise.
He almost felt like setting Mary Geoise on fire a second time.
This was too effective.
He loved it.
…
As dusk approached, the red sun slanted toward the horizon.
On the training grounds, Amazon warriors swung their weapons and drew their bows. Graceful figures moved in practiced drills, bodies shining with sweat, many of them already radiating a sharp, imposing aura.
One arrow, wrapped in Armament Haki, flew across the field and shattered a boulder into fragments.
Roy sat at the edge of the lawn, watching the warriors unleash their Haki with open envy.
At the same time…
He was flipping through Hancock's talent cards with a blissful expression.
Ahem, do not misunderstand. He was only looking at her incredibly luxurious talent cards.
Gold. Gold. Gold. Gold.
The glittering rows of golden cards almost burned his eyes.
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