A fiery red figure fell from the direction of the volcano like a meteor, appearing before them in an instant. It was a tall, beautiful woman with a cold expression. She wore a tight-fitting combat suit made from some kind of animal hide, which outlined her incredibly voluptuous figure. Her long black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, but her eyes were colder than ten-thousand-year-old ice. A powerful and suffocating Haki wrapped around her, a complex aura that mixed imperial dignity with deep-seated sorrow.
Without a doubt, she was the former empress of Amazon Lily from three generations ago—Gloriosa.
"Outsiders. Who gave you permission to set foot on my island?" Her voice was as cold as her person, devoid of any emotion.
"Wahahaha! You're the empress who was troubled by love? You look much better than I imagined!" Gatz laughed tactlessly.
This sentence seemed to light a powder keg. Gloriosa's eyes instantly became incredibly dangerous, and a tangible Conqueror's Haki erupted from her! "You're courting death!"
She wasted no more words. Her figure flashed, appearing in front of Gatz in an instant. A hand-blade, wreathed in advanced Armament Haki, chopped at Gatz's neck! She was so fast that even Gatz couldn't react in time.
CLANG!
With a crisp sound, Newgate's naginata, arriving later but striking first, accurately parried the fatal blow. "Gurararara, getting so angry at a child is not very becoming of an empress," Newgate's figure had appeared in front of Gatz at some point.
Gloriosa's attack was blocked, and her eyes grew even colder. She recognized Newgate's strength, but instead of retreating, her will to fight grew stronger. "Then I'll start with you!"
She gave up on Gatz and engaged Newgate in battle. Gloriosa's fighting style was extremely fierce and wide-open. Every punch and kick contained world-destroying power. It was clear that she had cultivated her physical skills and Haki to a very high level. Every collision between her and Newgate made the surrounding ground crack and the rocks fly.
"Interesting! Let me join in the fun!" Charlotte Linlin, seeing a fight, also charged over excitedly, urging Prometheus and Zeus to join the battle. For a time, the three of them engaged in an earth-shattering brawl on the volcanic island.
Gloriosa's strength was unexpectedly powerful. She fought one against two, holding her own against the combined attack of Newgate and Linlin. Her Haki seemed endless, and every attack was precise and deadly. The aftershocks of the battle turned the entire island upside down. The volcano erupted even more violently, and lava flowed down from the summit like tears of blood.
"What a... nice welcoming ceremony," Rocks's lazy voice sounded. He had appeared at the edge of the battlefield at some point, watching the fight with great interest. He glanced at Ren and Wang Zhi, who were equally calm beside him, and grinned. "Looks like it's time to end this farce."
Rocks took a step forward. A will that was far deeper and more domineering than Gloriosa's soared into the sky, instantly enveloping the entire battlefield. The three people who were fighting fiercely all faltered, as if their bodies were being pressed down by an invisible mountain.
Rocks's figure teleported, appearing in front of Gloriosa. He extended a finger and lightly tapped at her forehead. Gloriosa's pupils contracted. She wanted to dodge, but her body was imprisoned by an irresistible force, unable to move. She could only watch as the finger grew larger and larger before her eyes.
At that critical moment, an indescribable, warm, and mellow aroma, as if it had a life of its own, silently drifted over and entered everyone's nostrils. The scent was different from any dish Ren had made before. It wasn't overpowering or strong, but like a gentle hand, it soothed their tense nerves from the fierce battle and calmed their racing hearts. It was a wonderful taste, a mixture of the purest sweetness of rice, the clearest flavor of spring water, and a warmth like sunshine.
The fighting Newgate and Linlin stopped their movements. Even the invincible Rocks's finger, which was about to touch Gloriosa's forehead, paused in mid-air. Everyone's gaze instinctively turned to a spot not far away. Ren had set up a small pot in the clearing at some point, and in it, the simplest white rice porridge was bubbling away. Wang Zhi was beside him, using his treasured fishing rod to slowly grill a few fiery red, scale-covered fish he had just caught from the lava stream.
The aroma that could quell all disputes came from that seemingly ordinary pot of white porridge and those few grilled fish.
For the first time, a look of astonishment appeared on Gloriosa's icy face. This smell... was so familiar... so familiar that it made her long-frozen heart tremble. It was a smell that could awaken memories from the depths of her soul. For the first time, a ripple appeared in Gloriosa's eyes, which had been frozen for who knows how many years. She stared blankly at the small figure in the distance and the pot that was emitting a warm fragrance. Her attack unconsciously dissipated.
Seeing this, Rocks retracted his finger and stepped back with great interest. He knew that the stage was no longer his, but belonged to his unfathomable Head Chef. Ren ignored the frozen atmosphere around him. He just focused on the white porridge in the pot. When the porridge was cooked to the perfect state, where the rice grains were about to burst but had not yet, he extinguished the flame. He served a bowl, without adding any seasoning, and walked step by step to Gloriosa. "Please," Ren said, looking up and handing her the bowl.
Gloriosa looked down at the plain bowl of white porridge, then at the child before her, whose eyes were so clear and whose expression was so calm it was uncanny. As if bewitched, she took it. The bowl was hot, and the warmth spread from her palm to her heart. She hesitantly took a spoonful and gently brought it to her mouth.
The moment the porridge entered her mouth, Gloriosa's massive body shuddered violently, as if she had been struck by lightning. She froze on the spot. It was a taste that could not be described in words. It was not some world-shaking delicacy, had no complex layers, no fancy texture. There was only the purest sweetness of the rice grains and the warm, ricey fragrance that had been catalyzed to the extreme by the heat.
But this simple, pure taste was like a key, which with a loud boom, unlocked the floodgates of her long-sealed memories. She seemed to see her younger self, sick in the palace of Amazon Lily, with no appetite. Her mother, the queen, had personally cooked a bowl of white porridge for her. The same taste, the same warmth, the same clumsy but sincere love.
She saw the man again. During the days they were in love, she had clumsily learned to cook porridge for him. The result was either burnt or bland, but he always smiled and finished it, saying it was the best porridge in the world.
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