Saint Dio scrutinized the stubborn young face before him, his fingertips lightly tracing her tightly pressed lips.
Hancock’s body stiffened slightly, and her lips pressed even tighter.
A flash of humiliated fury crossed her dark eyes.
She longed to bite down, to sever the finger that dared to touch her so insolently.
But catching sight of her two trembling sisters behind her out of the corner of her eye, she forced the impulse down.
She couldn’t risk their lives for a moment’s spite.
Saint Dio seemed pleased with her restraint.
He withdrew his hand and commanded coolly, “Take them back to the ship.” “Yes, Master,” Stussy replied with a nod.
She tugged the chains in her hand, preparing to lead the three girls away.
Just then— BOOM!!
A massive explosion erupted nearby, followed by the crash of splintering wood and the chaotic screams of the crowd.
Saint Dio and Stussy both turned toward the sound.
At the end of the street, a building’s wall had been blown apart.
Through the billowing dust, a group of agile figures charged from the breach.
They were a band of fierce women warriors.
Clad in garments woven from animal hides and coarse cloth, they revealed skin toughened by sun and sea.
Each wielded a uniquely crafted bow, its frame formed by a living snake coiled tight, its head raised and tongue flickering.
At the front was a woman of immense stature, standing nearly three meters tall.
Her muscles were knotted like cords, making her look like a moving mountain.
She was bare-chested, wearing only a broad animal hide wrapped around her chest and waist.
Her bronze skin glistened under the sun.
Most striking was the unique weapon in her hand—a thick, living python.
The snake’s jaws clamped tight around the blade of a sharp naginata.
As the serpent’s body writhed, the blade traced dangerous arcs through the air.
“Hancock—!!
Where are you—!!” The giant woman’s roar rolled like thunder, so powerful it shattered the nearby soap bubbles.
Hearing the voice, Boa Hancock, bound in chains, jolted.
A spark of hope instantly ignited in her dull eyes.
She rose on tiptoe and shouted toward the sound: “Captain!
I’m here—!!” The Kuja warriors instantly locked onto the source of her voice.
When they saw the three girls chained up, a blazing fury erupted in all their eyes.
“Damn slave traders—!!” “Give us back our comrade!” The Kuja warriors roared, charging forward like an unstoppable torrent.
They drew their Snake Bows, and arrows infused with Armament Haki tore through the air, striking down the auction house guards who tried to block their path.
But the auction house security was not the only obstacle they faced.
“Protect the World Noble—!” The guards brought by Saint Dio, though mediocre in strength, were bound by duty.
They could only grit their teeth, draw their swords, and charge.
Their heavy armor gleamed in the sun as they formed a human wall, blocking the Kuja Pirates’ path.
Clang—!!
Swords clashed with Snake Bows, and the air filled with the sound of metal striking metal and battle cries.
Several guards were taken down by the Kuja warriors’ masterful martial arts, but more poured in from the rear, using their superior numbers to barely hold the line.
The massive woman, the Kuja Pirates’ captain, swung her Serpent Naginata with all her might.
A single horizontal sweep sent three armored guards flying.
She roared, her eyes locked on the three girls at the end of the chains.
Like a furious lioness, she charged forward.
Though the World Noble’s guards were called elites—each handpicked from Marine Headquarters or the World Government’s direct forces—the gap between them and the Kuja warriors, who had fought Sea Kings in the Calm Belt for years and had even mastered Haki, was as vast as the heavens and the earth.
Clang—!
Another guard’s sword was sent flying by a Snake Bow, followed immediately by a fierce kick that struck his helmet squarely.
The force sent him hurtling back, slamming into a wall before sliding down, his fate unknown.
The Captain of the Guard clutched his blood-soaked shoulder, retreating as he roared at the Kuja warriors, “Are you insane?!
We’ve already called for Marine backup!
An Admiral will be here any minute!
It’s not too late to stand down—” Far from intimidating the Kuja, his words only fueled their fury.
They knew all too well that once a Marine Admiral arrived, their chance to rescue their comrades would be gone.
They had to take them back before the reinforcements arrived.
“Cut the crap!” The Kuja Captain roared, her Serpent Naginata sweeping out in a deadly arc, its blade enveloped in Haki.
The Captain of the Guard’s pupils constricted.
He didn’t even have time to raise his sword before a chill swept across his neck.
His vision flipped.
He saw a headless body, clad in familiar armor, spraying blood from its neck as it slowly toppled backward.
The body looked so familiar…
It was his own.
Thud.
The helmeted head rolled across the ground, bouncing a few times down the slope before coming to a stop at the toes of a pair of white boots.
Saint Dio glanced down at the severed head, its eyes still wide in a death glare.
His expression remained utterly unchanged, not even a single eyebrow twitching.
It was as if the object that had rolled to his feet wasn’t a human head, but an insignificant pebble.
From start to finish, he had shown no intention of helping.
“The Captain is so amazing!” Hancock, chained and bound, exclaimed.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement, her small body trembling slightly.
She saw hope.
With the Captain being this strong, she would definitely defeat that hateful white-haired man and rescue them all!
Having scored her first kill, the Kuja Captain’s gaze shot toward the three girls behind Saint Dio.
Her legs bent slightly, ready to spring forward.
“Stussy,” Saint Dio said calmly.
“Take them back to the ship first.” Stussy licked her lips, her sharp fangs glinting in the sunlight.
She was already eager to test her mettle against the Kuja Captain.
But at her master’s command, she could only reluctantly suppress her eager expression and nod obediently.
“Yes, Master.” She tugged on the chains in her hand, forcibly dragging the three girls who were trying to linger.
She turned and began walking toward the harbor.
Hancock struggled desperately, but the collar around her neck served as a grim reminder: any resistance could detonate the bomb.
She could only be dragged away by the chains, step by step, from the figure fighting a bloody battle.
Seeing this, the Kuja Captain’s eyes turned crimson.
She roared, “Stop right there—!” Her massive body erupted with a speed that completely belied her size, charging like a cannonball in Stussy’s direction— Then, she stopped.
An invisible sword aura grazed the tip of her nose, severing a strand of hair from her forehead, which fluttered down to land softly on her shoulder.
Moments later, the ground before her split open as the sword aura plowed a deep trench into the earth, sending shattered rock and dust flying in all directions.
If she hadn’t sensed the danger with her Observation Haki and halted instantly, that same blade of air would have split her head in two.
The Kuja Captain’s pupils constricted as she slowly turned her head toward the source of the attack.
The white-haired youth had appeared, blocking her path to Stussy’s retreat without her even noticing.
He held a longsword, its scabbard nowhere to be seen.
The blade angled toward the ground, its dark silver metallic luster swirling under the sunlight like a coiled viper ready to strike.
He stood there, the hem of his white robes fluttering gently in the sea breeze, his expression as impassive and unchanging as ever.
It was as if the devastatingly sharp sword aura he had just unleashed were a mere trifle.
His gaze fixed on the towering, menacing Kuja Captain, and he finally spoke his first words: “I am your opponent.”