"A monster scientist?!"
Not only was Gloriosa taken aback, even Rayleigh looked puzzled.
Yemu didn't bother keeping them in suspense. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking off the remaining droplets. As heat rose, his body quickly dried, his hair falling smoothly back into place as he spoke.
"There's a man named Vegapunk. I don't know the details myself. You just need to know this. His technology is about five hundred years ahead of this world. He currently works for the World Government, so I think it won't be long before he develops the technology that allows warships to sail through the Calm Belt."
This time, everyone was genuinely shocked.
"Vegapunk…"
For most of them, the name meant nothing. Rayleigh, however, seemed to recall something and stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"Shakky mentioned that name before. I think he has some connection to the Vinsmoke family's Vinsmoke Judge."
"Yeah. They worked together in the past," Yemu said, nodding, but clearly unwilling to go into details.
"Anyway, he's a terrifying guy. That's about all there is to it. If there's nothing else, I'm going to continue my training."
Gloriosa was truly at a loss now.
Because of their isolated environment, the people of the Island of Women had always been somewhat cut off from the outside world.
Gloriosa herself had only learned about the world after betraying her homeland for love in her youth and venturing into the open seas. Even so, after receiving the forgiveness of the current Empress, Galahad Anne, and returning to the island, gathering information remained difficult due to that same isolation.
Just then, Galahad Anne, who had been watching the whole scene with quiet interest, slowly ran her tongue over her red lips and spoke in an indifferent tone.
"Training? Sitting there motionless hardly counts as training."
"Huh?!"
Everyone was startled.
Before their eyes, Galahad Anne untied the red cord at her neck, removed the thick cloak, and tossed it to the warrior behind her, revealing the alluring figure beneath, clad in a red qipao.
Her crimson eyes locked onto Yemu. One hand rested on her slender waist as she smiled with dangerous charm.
"So, are you interested in a fight? I'd like to see for myself just how frightening this 'monster' is that this old woman claims can stir the seas."
Now everyone was truly shocked. Gloriosa panicked and hurriedly spoke up.
"Hey, Anne, wait! We didn't come here to fight! We came to talk… to negotiate!"
But Galahad Anne didn't listen at all. Her eyes never left Yemu as she waited for his answer.
Yemu snapped out of it and found the idea surprisingly appealing.
"Is that so? That's not a bad idea. Sitting around for too long does make the body stiff."
"Then…"
As he spoke, Yemu pointed toward the distant, now-dormant volcano at the center of the island.
"How about that place… as an arena?"
…
"F-Fighting… why?"
More than ten minutes later, when Flare and the others rushed over after hearing the news, Yemu and Galahad Anne were already gone.
"I'm sorry…"
Feeling the not-so-welcoming gazes from the Sky Pirates, Gloriosa lowered her head apologetically and explained in a sincere tone.
"Please don't misunderstand. Anne had absolutely no intention of becoming your enemy. She was left with no choice."
"Left with no choice?!"
Everyone froze.
"What kind of situation leaves her with no choice?" Flare asked, completely confused.
Guilt was written all over Gloriosa's face as she explained everything carefully.
"Because of certain matters involving myself and the previous Empress, Anne has been extremely wary of outsiders since childhood, and she has always lacked a sense of security."
There was a trace of doubt on everyone's faces, but seeing Gloriosa's awkward and remorseful expression, no one pressed further.
At that moment, Hancock suddenly leaned toward Ayala beside her and whispered angrily,
"Actually, Gloriosa was the Empress before last. She betrayed our country for a man from the outside world. If Anne-sama hadn't been merciful enough to forgive her, no one would have accepted that old woman. The previous Empress also met that outsider because of Gloriosa, fell ill with lovesickness, and died. That's why Anne-sama hates outsiders, especially men!"
Hancock's voice was low, but in the quiet, snowy wind, it carried clearly.
"What?!"
Everyone was stunned.
Seeing this, a female warrior stepped forward and stopped Hancock.
Gloriosa let out a sigh.
"Hancock isn't wrong. This old woman is indeed at fault. Because of me, Amazon Lily went through a period of terrible upheaval back then. Anne grew up in that environment. In the end, she relied on her own strength to pacify the country and put an end to the chaos. But because of that, Anne became someone who deeply lacks a sense of security."
"I see."
Although Gloriosa's explanation was brief, everyone present could more or less imagine how difficult it must have been for a young girl to stand alone amid chaos and stabilize an entire nation.
However…
"What does that have to do with her fighting Yemu?" someone asked.
Gloriosa looked at Rayleigh, her tone tinged with dissatisfaction.
"It's all because of Rayleigh."
All eyes immediately turned to Rayleigh. He looked momentarily stunned, completely unsure what he'd done wrong.
Seeing this, Gloriosa sighed and continued.
"Although Anne lacked a sense of security, her own strength allowed her to keep that unease buried deep inside. On top of that, she was the most capable Empress in our history and was deeply loved by her people, so there were never any problems. That was, until a few months ago, when Rayleigh suddenly came to Amazon Lily and defeated Anne with ease…"
Rayleigh seemed to understand at once.
Gloriosa went on.
"Even though I told Anne that warriors like Rayleigh are exceedingly rare in the outside world, people you could count on your fingers, Anne had always been confident in her own strength. Being defeated so effortlessly still made her doubt herself, and the insecurity she had buried for so long finally surfaced."
"Then, after learning from me about your backgrounds, especially the things Captain Yemu has done in the outside world, Anne made a decision."
At this point, Gloriosa's expression turned extremely serious.
"She wants to use a battle with Captain Yemu to understand the true outside world, and to assess the Kuja's chances of victory if war were to break out in the future, whether the enemy is pirates, the Marines, or the World Government."
"War?!"
Everyone was truly shaken this time.
"Yes… that is both the responsibility of an Empress, and a reflection of Anne's inner unease."
Just then, the ground suddenly began to tremble, accompanied by a deep rumbling sound.
Everyone turned toward the source and was shocked to see that in the distance, the long-dormant volcano was once again belching out thick smoke…
"What's going on? Its activity cycle shouldn't be up yet. Why… why is the volcano erupting all of a sudden? Could it be…"