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"Take me there at once!" Hancock commanded, her voice ringing with absolute authority.
Arthur only ate food prepared by Jessica—every single day. Stussy, meanwhile, handled the administrative affairs of the Thunder God Pirates. As for Hancock herself, aside from leading expeditions outside their territory, she felt as though she offered little in the way of personal service to him. She was determined to change that.
"Then, if the Empress would follow me..." Neptune rose from his throne, his small-mountain-like physique leading the way out of the hall. The Left and Right Ministers followed closely behind.
"Wait, let Shirahoshi come with me!" Hancock paused after two steps, suddenly remembering Arthur's warning: she was not to leave the girl's side for even a moment.
Through six months of companionship and personal instruction, Hancock had come to realize the immense strategic significance of the Poseidon. Wherever Shirahoshi went, the Sea Kings obeyed, swarming to protect their sovereign. If an endless army of super-colossal Sea Kings were commanded to strike from the abyss, what power on earth could withstand the onslaught? Unless they could fly, an entire island would be swallowed whole.
Given such terrifying potential, it was impossible for the World Government or the Revolutionary Army to stand idly by and let her grow.
"Oh..." Shirahoshi responded reluctantly. She pouted, her eyes welling with tears as she left her mother's side.
Queen Otohime felt a pang of sympathy for her daughter. "Empress, perhaps Shirahoshi could stay here in my chambers for a while? We have much to catch up on."
"Indeed, the Empress need not worry about her safety," Neptune added. "Let the child speak with Otohime. This is Ryugu Palace, after all, and we are barely thirty nautical miles from Raijin Island. Under Lord Arthur's name, no one would dare cause trouble."
Hearing Arthur's name praised made Hancock swell with pride, as if she were the one being complimented. She nodded in agreement, her head held high as she departed with Neptune.
..............
"Halt! Who goes there?"
At the palace gates, the guards crossed their spears, blocking the CP9 squad.
"Employees from the harbor shipyard. We are here to report on our progress... Please notify King Neptune and Queen Otohime," Lucci said calmly, showing no fear. The other three stood behind him in silent discipline.
"Wait here!"
The guards exchanged a glance. One entered the palace and returned moments later. "King Neptune is currently occupied, but Queen Otohime has granted you entry. You may proceed."
The guards parted, creating a path for the four.
"Thank you," Lucci nodded politely. He led Kaku, Kalifa, and Blueno into the grand hall, keeping his eyes strictly forward.
The moment they entered, they saw Queen Otohime speaking softly with Shirahoshi, who towered over her mother. Aside from the two of them, the hall was completely empty.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The mission ends now!!
The thought flashed through all four minds simultaneously. They exchanged a brief look, their eyes reflecting a cold, unified killing intent.
"You... wait. You aren't shipwrights."
Otohime's smile faltered, her expression shifting instantly to one of horror. She could be kind to anyone, but her unique Observation Haki—the ability to "hear" the voices of hearts—had just picked up a deafening roar of malice.
These four were here to kill Shirahoshi.
"Shirahoshi, run! Get to your room and wait for the Empress to return!!" Otohime's voice was frantic. She stepped in front of Shirahoshi, trying to shield her daughter, but her 1.5-meter frame was a pathetic defense compared to Shirahoshi's five-meter height.
Shirahoshi, meanwhile, was frozen in a daze, her innocent mind unable to process why her mother had suddenly become so hysterical.
"Oh? We've been spotted? Then there's no more need for disguises."
"Finish it quickly. We might still have time to escape..."
"SORU!!"
The four figures vanished instantly. In the next heartbeat, Kalifa delivered a sharp kick that sent Otohime flying. The Queen slammed hard against Shirahoshi's massive frame.
"WAHHHH!!"
Struck by a sudden surge of pain and seeing her mother attacked once again, Shirahoshi burst into a heart-wrenching wail.
"The Ancient Weapon Poseidon... was it really this easy?" Kaku asked, almost in disbelief.
"She doesn't even have a shred of self-defense?"
"Do it now, before the Pirate Empress returns!" Lucci barked. "Kill them both!"
"RANKYAKU—!"
"SHIGAN!!"
The air was compressed into lethal blades by their kicks, and fingers were thrust forward like bullets. With the assassination techniques they had honed in CP9, a single hit would ensure there were no survivors.
Shirahoshi was still wailing, her voice once again rippling out to awaken the ancient covenant. Sea Kings stationed near the island began to stir.
But when she saw the killers closing in on her mother, the girl who appeared so fragile and timid found a core of steel within her heart. After six months of training under the Gorgon sisters, she had never actually fought a real opponent. Because she was so well-protected, she had no frame of reference for her own strength—she didn't even understand the concept of being "powerful."
Seeing Lucci flying toward her like a lethal shadow, Shirahoshi stopped crying. In a frantic panic, she swung her fist outward like a child in a playground brawl.
"Hmph... TEKKAI!"
In mid-air, Lucci and Blueno let out a sneer of disdain. They hardened their bodies into iron, refusing to dodge as they closed the distance to strike.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A deafening explosion of force followed. Under Shirahoshi's panicked, flailing fist, the two were sent hurtling backward at a much greater speed. They slammed into the reinforced stone walls of the palace with a thunderous CRASH, buried under a pile of rubble.
"Lucci..."
"Blueno??"
Kaku and Kalifa froze as if they themselves had been struck. Their minds went blank.
Setting aside Blueno, Rob Lucci was the strongest prodigy in the eight-hundred-year history of CP9. He was a monster who had wiped out pirate crews and quelled national rebellions alone since childhood.
Now, he had been swatted away by a six-year-old girl.
What is happening? What is wrong with this world?
They had entered the hall thinking the two targets were helpless prey, believing the mission was a foregone conclusion and that they would be out of the territory by nightfall.
It was all a delusion. Even without guards, the Poseidon had developed her own fangs.
They had to get word back to the World Government. The Five Elders needed to know.
RUMBLE—
Debris tumbled as Lucci and Blueno emerged from the wreckage. Lucci, whose life had been a series of unbroken successes, wore a face of shocked fury.
"Lucci, don't waste time! We have to leave!!" Kalifa urged, immediately moving toward the exit with Kaku.
With the delay, the wailing and the sounds of the structural collapse would have alerted everyone within miles.
"LEAVING? YOU LOWLY, DESPICABLE WORMS... YOU DARE MAKE ME BREAK MY PROMISE TO LORD ARTHUR? YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS..."
The words were thick with a cold, murderous rage. Boa Hancock and her sisters stepped through the grand entrance, their expressions veiled in a dark, terrifying shadow.
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