"Look at the sky, something is flying!"
At these words, everyone immediately looked up at the sky.
They saw a figure in the sky, encased in a strange transparent protective bubble, flying towards a certain direction and getting lower and lower.
And looking in the direction the figure was flying, someone immediately exclaimed.
"Oh no! That direction…"
"It's Lady Snake Princess's palace!"
Watching the figure fly straight towards the palace, they wanted to stop it but it was too late.
Boom!
There was a loud bang.
Everyone saw the roof of the tallest building explode, and the figure seemed to bounce in the air from the impact, then fell straight down through the blown-open roof.
This scene immediately caused all the Nine Snake Pirates' warriors and citizens to panic immensely.
However, not being able to enter the city during this time was an iron rule, and facing the intruder, they were extremely conflicted, not knowing what to do.
Just then, someone suddenly ran over in a panic, reporting to Ran, a cadre of the Nine Snake Pirates.
"Lady Ran! Intruders have been found in the forest outside the city."
"The National Guard warriors are no match for them after engaging in battle!"
"Those intruders are too strong; we request support from the Nine Snake Pirates!"
At these words, all the Nine Snake Pirates' warriors collectively frowned.
Ran also felt a surge of tension.
"Are there really such strong intruders? Even the National Guard warriors, who all possess Haki, are no match!"
She looked back at the tallest building where the Empress had just been, quickly thought for a moment, and made a decision.
"With Lady Marigold and Lady Sandersonia there, there should be no problem!"
"You few stay here to prevent anyone else from entering the city!"
"The rest of you, follow me to support the National Guard warriors!"
At these words, a unified and powerful response immediately echoed throughout the area.
"Yes!"
Soon, under Ran's leadership, a large wave of warriors swiftly headed towards the forest outside the city.
...
After being sent flying by Kuma, Luffy temporarily fell unconscious.
When he woke up, he didn't know how much time had passed.
The first thing he saw was the rapidly flashing blue sky and white clouds above him, and at the same time, he felt an extremely strong sense of hunger.
Luffy rubbed his belly, looking somewhat bewildered at the rapidly passing scenery around him, for a moment not knowing where he was.
Just as he was feeling completely lost, he suddenly felt an impact from behind.
The transparent protective bubble encasing his body shattered with a crash.
Before he could react, he felt himself falling straight downwards.
Splash!
As he landed, the sound of splashing water simultaneously rang out.
Realizing he had fallen into water, Luffy instinctively wanted to quickly struggle out.
But no sooner had the thought flashed through his mind, he suddenly paused.
The water was hot?!
And he didn't feel like he had lost his strength; this wasn't seawater!
Luffy quickly made a judgment in his mind and calmed down.
He quickly climbed up and scanned his surroundings, finding himself inside a room.
The entire room contained only a huge hot water pool.
It looked like a bathhouse!
As Luffy was thinking this, he suddenly felt a chill.
He sharply turned his head to look.
He saw a beautiful figure in the bath ahead, her back to him, obscured by the misty steam.
The figure had perfect curves, her hair draped from both shoulders to the front, fully revealing her fair, jade-like back.
However, on that back, there was a very jarring mark.
Luffy recognized the mark at a glance.
The Hoof of the Celestial Dragon!
This was the mark of a Celestial Dragon slave.
Just then, the figure suddenly tilted her head back slightly, looking at Luffy from the corner of her eye.
And the moment she saw Luffy, she also let out an extremely low voice.
"A man?!"
As she tilted her head to look, Luffy also clearly saw her profile.
Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock!
The moment he recognized the Empress, Luffy immediately realized where he was.
It seemed that upon realizing Luffy had been staring at her back, the Empress's expression instantly changed drastically.
She abruptly twisted her body, hiding her back and facing Luffy directly.
The impact this turn had on Luffy was far greater than seeing the mark on her back.
However, at this moment, he couldn't afford to admire her.
Because he felt the extremely strong killing intent and aura emanating from the Empress.
The Empress frowned, her eyes filled with extreme rage, and her killing intent was displayed to the fullest in an instant.
She gritted her teeth and said in a cold, deep voice,
"You saw it?!"
However, before Luffy could answer, the door suddenly burst open.
The Empress's two younger sisters rushed in in a panic, exclaiming simultaneously,
"Sister! What happened?"
"Sister! Are you alright?"
As the two anxiously asked, they suddenly saw Luffy in the bath.
They immediately asked in confusion,
"Who is that? Is that a man?"
"Why is there a man here?"
"Sister! What exactly happened?"
The Empress frowned, her eyes filled with killing intent as she looked at Luffy and said coldly,
"My back..."
"He saw it!"
Upon hearing this, the two younger sisters' faces instantly filled with terror.
The next second, they, like the Empress, revealed boundless killing intent in their eyes.
Marigold took out her weapon, looked at Luffy, and said coldly,
"Then he has only one path—death!"
Seeing that the other party intended to act without a word, Luffy felt a bit helpless.
He certainly didn't want to fight.
So he tried to say,
"I don't want to fight with you!"
"And that mark on your back..."
"I promise you, I won't tell anyone else!"
Hearing Luffy say this, the Empress frowned even more tightly.
She asked in a deep voice,
"So..."
"You know what that mark is?"
Luffy also realized that he seemed to have provoked the other party even more.
Though helpless, he still answered truthfully,
"Yes! I know!"
"That's the Celestial Dragons..."
"Shut up!"
Luffy was cut off mid-sentence by the Empress's sudden, extremely furious, sharp rebuke.
She put her hands together in a heart shape, aimed at Luffy, and said to him with an extremely grim expression,
"That mark is something we would rather die than have anyone see."
"You will take everything you've seen..."
"All of it to your grave!"
With that, the Empress let out a soft cry,
"Mero Mero Mellow!"
Immediately, pink hearts were released from her hands, growing larger and larger as they flew towards Luffy.
Just as they were about to pass through him, Luffy's gaze suddenly sharpened.
An unparalleled aura suddenly burst forth.
And the moment his aura erupted, the hearts also passed through his body.
But what puzzled the Empress and her two sisters immensely was that Luffy did not turn to stone as they had imagined.
Moreover, what shocked them even more was that the aura that had just erupted from Luffy's body even made them feel fear.
The two younger sisters exclaimed simultaneously,
"How is that possible?! Was that just... Conqueror's Haki, like Sister's?!"
"Does this man actually possess such strength?"
Although the Empress was also shocked, what she cared about more was why Luffy hadn't been petrified.
Unwilling to give up, she once again released a [Mero Mero Mellow] towards Luffy!
However, the same scene replayed.
Luffy still stood there perfectly unharmed, with no signs of being petrified.
This sight immediately stunned the Empress and her two sisters.
The Empress frowned, questioning Luffy incredulously,
"Why aren't you petrified?"
"You saw me bathing..."
"Why aren't you captivated?"
Seeing that the Empress was actually doubting her own charm, Marigold immediately said,
"Sister, how is that possible?!"
"Your naked body should be so beautiful that everyone, regardless of gender or age, would fall in love with it!"
Sandersonia, by her side, speculated,
"Perhaps his fear of death has surpassed his impure thoughts!"
"He's truly useless..."
"But a lucky man."
Facing the trio's confusion, Luffy did not hide anything and explained to them,
"I used Haki to resist your ability."
Upon hearing this explanation, Marigold was the first to object,
"That's impossible!"
"Sister has petrified countless people who use Haki before."
"Haki simply cannot withstand Sister's ability."
"Only those without impure thoughts towards Sister can remain unaffected."
Both the Empress and Sandersonia tacitly agreed with Marigold's statement.
Even the Empress herself had never seen anyone who could use Haki to resist her ability.
However, at this moment, Luffy continued to explain,
"Ordinary Haki, of course, cannot dispel abilities."
"But when Haki becomes strong enough, it gains the effect of resisting and dispelling Devil Fruit abilities."
Upon hearing Luffy's words, the Empress and her two sisters immediately frowned with extreme solemnity.
This was the first time they had heard such a statement.
However, it was normal for them not to know this.
Currently, only the Four Emperors and those whose strength is only one tier below them can achieve the feat of dispelling Devil Fruit abilities using Haki.
Moreover, because this ability consumes a lot of Haki, very few people use it.
Although they were half-convinced by Luffy's words, the Haki Luffy had just displayed was indeed incredibly powerful.
This also made the Empress and her two sisters dare not show any contempt towards Luffy.
But despite this, the three sisters still showed no signs of backing down.
The two younger sisters instantly used their respective Devil Fruit abilities, transforming into snake forms, and prepared to attack Luffy.
Seeing that the other party still intended to fight, Luffy said helplessly,
"Believe me!"
"I won't reveal your secret!"
"Also..."
"You are not my opponents!"
The two younger sisters completely ignored Luffy's words, snorted coldly, and said,
"Hmph! Do you think we would believe a man?"
"You underestimate us three sisters too much! Sister is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and her strength is renowned across the entire sea! Don't think you're the only one who can use Conqueror's Haki; Sister is also a sea king who has mastered Conqueror's Haki!"
With that, the two brandished their weapons and charged towards Luffy.
At this moment, the Empress also lightly touched her lips with her finger, conjuring a giant pink heart.
Then, she pulled from it with her hand, like drawing a bow, and aimed at Luffy.
She could see Luffy's strength more clearly than her two younger sisters.
She still believed some of what Luffy had said in the latter part of his statement.
But despite this, she still did not back down.
"I already said it, that secret is something we would rather die than have anyone see. Even if we truly are not your opponents, we will fight to the death!"
"Slave Arrow!"
With a loud shout,
Heart-shaped arrows from the Empress's hand shot towards Luffy like rain.
Meanwhile, her two younger sisters attacked from both sides, attempting to prevent Luffy from escaping the arrow rain's range.
Seeing the arrow rain approaching and attacks from both sides, Luffy immediately retreated, creating some distance.
Instantly, the spot where Luffy had just stood was completely petrified.
This ability was different from [Mero Mero Mellow]; any area struck by an arrow, regardless of whether it was a living or non-living entity, and regardless of whether one was captivated by the Empress, would be petrified.
The arrow rain continued to pursue Luffy, constantly shooting backwards.
Luffy was quickly forced against the wall.
The two younger sisters attacked again from both sides, suppressing Luffy's escape range.
In reality, Luffy could easily break through from either side.
But just as he said, he didn't want to fight these three sisters.
Looking up at a hole in the ceiling, that was where he had just fallen from.
Luffy suddenly leaped up, planning to leave from that hole first.
Luffy's speed was so fast that his two sisters couldn't stop him at all.
The Empress's Slave Arrow also seemed unable to hit Luffy before he escaped.
All three of them instantly felt extremely annoyed.
However, just as they thought Luffy was going to escape like that, they unexpectedly saw Luffy suddenly turn back and flash from the air towards the Empress.
Seeing this, his two sisters immediately exclaimed.
"Sister, be careful! He's back again!"
"Is he pretending to escape, then trying to launch a surprise attack? That hateful man, how insidious!"
His two sisters were extremely resentful of Luffy's actions, cursing his disgraceful behavior.
The Empress, seeing this, snorted coldly.
"Hmph! You dare to approach me willingly, now you can't escape!"
With that, the Empress suddenly lifted her leg and kicked towards Luffy.
"Perfume Femur!"
This ability can also petrify people; although it cannot completely petrify, it can restrict the enemy's movements, and its power is considerable.
Because he was too close to the Empress, Luffy indeed couldn't dodge in time and used one leg to block, but it was petrified on the spot.
Seeing Luffy's leg being disabled, his two sisters were instantly overjoyed.
"Hmph! With one leg gone, you can't escape now, can you!"
"Die!"
The two of them shouted and rushed towards Luffy.
However, to their and the Empress's surprise, Luffy still had no intention of stopping after one leg was petrified.
He continued to approach the Empress.
Such a scene left all three of them very confused.
Seeing Luffy already close, the Empress immediately kicked towards Luffy again.
She originally thought Luffy would stop there and create distance.
But to her further surprise, Luffy still maintained his forward momentum and blocked with one arm.
Immediately, that arm was also partially petrified.
At this point, Luffy finally stopped.
But what made all three of them petrified, frozen in place for an instant, was...
Luffy actually hugged her tightly from behind the Empress.
Such a scene caught all three of them off guard.
However, after a moment of daze, their eyes were simultaneously filled with rage.
The Empress was currently completely naked.
Being hugged so tightly from behind by Luffy, the scene was naturally self-evident.
His two sisters were simultaneously enraged by Luffy's behavior, roaring with extreme resentment.
"You hateful man, you sacrificed an arm and a leg just to take advantage of sister before you die."
"Let go of sister quickly, you shameless man!"
The Empress also had killing intent and rage in her eyes, turning her head to look at Luffy behind her with her peripheral vision, saying in an extremely chilling tone.
"Your actions..."
"Are absolutely unforgivable!"
After uttering a harsh threat, the Empress intended to attack Luffy.
Thump thump thump thump!
However, just then, a sudden rush of chaotic footsteps came from the entrance.
Because the battle had temporarily paused for an instant, and the bathhouse door had just been opened by his two sisters, the sound of footsteps became incredibly clear.
And along with the sound of footsteps, there were also extremely panicked exclamations.
"Something bad has happened, Empress!"
"Oh no! Marigold! Sandersonia!"
"Huh?! What... What's going on?!" Sanji.