Chapter 111: The Future Empress Clashes with the Former Empress!
Hancock had still been thinking that Rayleigh was a good person, that he had saved them and Roy.
But now… what was this supposed to be?
How could a wonderful brother like Roy be handed over to some great pirate?
The navy was out of the question too.
To be precise, what Hancock really could not accept was anyone taking Roy away from her. She had finally realized how much she liked him, how much she did not want to leave his side, and how much she refused to watch him be handed to someone else before she had even spent any real time with him.
This was the only boy she could accept.
Roy glanced at Hancock, then at Rayleigh and Shakky, both of whom were clearly enjoying themselves as they teased him.
To be honest, between Hancock's sugar sweet attachment and Rayleigh casually dropping bombshells, his mind had been spinning.
Thankfully, he forced himself to calm down.
"Ahem. As for Linlin, I will contact her when I have the chance. As for Tsuru… forget it. We are walking different paths now."
Roy pretended to casually wave it off.
Contact Linlin through a Den Den Mushi when he was older. That was the only sane way.
If he showed up in front of her while he was still this small, she really might tear him apart.
In several ways.
If the main character did not grow strong enough, a hungry great white shark like that would empty his little fishpond without a second thought.
And from what Rayleigh had just said, Linlin had turned into a frighteningly devoted woman, whose daily hobby was thinking about Roy.
A single minded, insanely powerful great white shark, rampaging across the sea.
Yes. Hiding sounded like a fantastic idea.
"Hahaha, I was only joking," Rayleigh said, laughing as he smacked Roy on the forehead and ruffled his red hair with excessive enthusiasm.
Hancock stared between Rayleigh and Shakky, trying to decide if they had really been joking the whole time.
Roy let out a long breath. As long as they did not keep digging into his identity, he was happy. Thank goodness this was the world of One Piece.
Here, even pirates could be worth sharing a drink with.
If this were the Marvel world, he would already be on an operating table.
"Cough, cough…"
A dry cough sounded from the doorway.
An elderly woman stepped in, white hair pinned up with flowers, a cane gripped in her hand. The cane was actually a snake, coiled so tightly it looked like wood. She paused in the doorway, eyes widening as she took in Hancock, Sandersonia, and Marigold.
Gloriosa, age unknown, former empress of the Amazon Kingdom.
After Hancock and her sisters disappeared, the old woman, who had already abdicated, had left the island alone and come all the way to Sabaody to look for them.
"Hancock?"
The old woman hurried forward, voice trembling with excitement.
Marigold and Sandersonia exchanged a look and sighed.
With their older sister around, they were practically invisible.
In the Kingdom of Women, it had always been like this. Their sister drew every gaze. Their grandmother, Gloriosa, was no different.
Roy was the same. From the very first moment and all through the escape, he had reached for Hancock's hand first.
What could they do? They were not as pretty as their big sister.
Sister, you are too beautiful.
After they talked for a while, they pieced together what had happened. Gloriosa had met Rayleigh and Shakky during her search and learned that Hancock had been rescued.
Only now, when she saw her precious Hancock standing this close to a red haired boy, fingers actually pinching his clothes, face faintly pink…
Granny Gloriosa's rage shot up like a geyser. She very nearly ordered her snake to bite Roy on the spot.
The most beautiful girl of the Kingdom of Women had barely gone missing before getting abducted by a boy.
Unforgivable.
"Hancock, I can take you back. You understand the rules, do you not?"
Her voice hardened.
There was a strict taboo on men in Amazon territory. Bringing a man onto the island was absolutely forbidden. Anyone who did would be executed.
Gloriosa glared at Roy like he was a plague, although she kept her words directed at Hancock. Her cane slammed against the floor, and the snake flinched and looked up, confused.
"But…" Hancock bit her lip.
She was not empress yet, and she could not quite summon the courage to stand up to her elder.
Roy watched her with a spark of expectation in his eyes.
Was this it? Was Hancock about to stand her ground for him?
"But he is not a man, he is a boy," Hancock said, eyes wide and innocent, trying to find a loophole in the rule itself.
Technically, she was not wrong. Roy was indeed just a boy, not a grown man.
"Ridiculous. Man or boy, none of them are allowed on the island."
Gloriosa snapped the words out and turned her glare on Roy.
You old…
Roy stared back, speechless.
Grandma, are you sure Hancock is the one who should be calling you old later?
"Old woman, you are being unreasonable. Let me ask you something. When the warriors on the island give birth to boys, do you kill the boys too?"
Hancock sucked in a breath, screwed up her courage, and charged right in.
Gloriosa froze.
The punches were all over the place, but somehow the girl had landed a solid hit.
Roy's eyes went round.
That was exactly the question he wanted to ask.
The warriors of the Kuja tribe regularly sailed out to find men. The question was, did they simply never give birth to boys, or…
This was a philosophical problem, and a terrible one.
"The women of the Kingdom of Women never give birth to boys," Gloriosa snapped, cheeks reddening. "None of us have ever given birth to one."
Whether or not that was technically true was another matter. That was clearly a topic for a very private conversation among elders.
"You are lying. I do not believe you," Hancock replied angrily.
Inside the dim, somewhat smoky bar, a young girl and an old woman were now locked in a heated shouting match over a handsome boy. Their faces were flushed, and every line sounded like they might throw punches at any moment.
Roy and Rayleigh were having the time of their lives watching the show.
Shakky sighed and covered her face.
Sandersonia and Marigold, on the other hand, suddenly understood something. They finally grasped why the previous empress had made such an extreme rule about keeping men out.
Look at Hancock.
She had known this boy for barely any time at all and was already going to war with the former empress for his sake.
So that was why Hancock would rough up Granny Gloriosa so often in the future.
"He saved me. He killed the Celestial Dragon who was torturing me. And you? You are just from the Amazon Kingdom. I am not going back. You… old woman."
Hancock glared fiercely at Gloriosa, eyes burning.
"You… you… you dare," Gloriosa spluttered, shaking with anger.
She jabbed the snake cane toward Roy as if it was his fault.
Roy stared at her silently.
There is something seriously wrong with you.
"I heard Granny almost eloped with some man when she was young. Then the empress before her dragged her back. Cough, cough, just a rumor…"
Sandersonia ducked behind Roy's back and stuck her tongue out at the old woman, voice lowered but not nearly enough.
Everyone in the room heard her clearly.
Of course the little sister would stand with her big sister.
The old woman who had just had her old scars ripped open froze. All the fury drained out of her. After a moment, she sagged, let out a long sigh, and shook her head.
"Do as you like," Gloriosa muttered, defeated.
She shuffled over to the bar stool, climbed up with some effort, and glanced at Shakky.
"Another drink, if you please."
"Hmph."
Hancock turned away with a snort, still unhappy, then looked back at Roy and could not help but brighten, lips curving in a small smile.
Roy met her eyes and smiled back.
So Hancock had always been like this. Headstrong. Proud. Fierce.
Even as a child, she was already a little shark.
And right now, she had just bitten the former empress for his sake.
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