Antonieta's screams were pathetic, muffled by the very walls she had commissioned to ensure her privacy. All thanks to the 100% soundproof glass, a marvel of Vegapunk's genius
Arlo knew about that because his last master had also used the technology. Normally, Celestial Dragons believed themselves to be untouchable, so they never worried about their own safety.
Actually, as Arlo had noticed in his years working for them, they were unable to worry about or do anything at all.
"Scream all you like," Arlo said, his voice a low, calm counterpoint to her hysteria. "They can't hear you. You wanted absolute privacy for your… indulgences. Congratulations. You have it."
Her eyes, wide with a terror she had never known, as she was forced to face reality, she was absolutely in the hands of Arlo at that moment.
The supreme arrogance that had been her birthright began to crack, revealing the petulant, helpless child beneath.
"You insect! You vile, lower-lifeform!" she shrieked, her fear morphing back into a brittle fury. She launched herself at him, nails aiming to claw his eyes out.
It was a clumsy, thoughtless attack, the lunge of a creature who had never had to throw a real punch in her life.
Arlo didn't even need to step back. He caught her wrist with one hand, his grip like iron. On the other hand, balled into a fist, drove forward.
THUD.
It wasn't a world-shattering blow, but it was precise and brutally efficient. It sank into the soft, doughy flesh of her stomach, just below the ribcage.
All the air rushed from her lungs in a pained, whistling gasp. Her eyes bulged, the fury instantly replaced by pure, unadulterated shock.
"You… you struck me…" she wheezed, the words a disbelieving whisper.
"I did," Arlo confirmed, his voice still terrifyingly flat. "And I'm not done."
He didn't roar. He didn't snarl. He just kept his cool, observing that pathetic woman.
As she stumbled back, he followed. A backhand across her cheek snapped her head to the side. A sharp jab to her shoulder made her cry out and clutch at the blossoming pain.
"This is for every order," he said, punctuating the words with a stinging slap.
"This is for every insult," another blow, this one to her other arm.
"And this," he growled, his calm finally fracturing to reveal the simmering rage beneath, "is for the smell."
His fist connected with her jaw. It wasn't hard enough to break a bone, but it was more than enough to break her spirit.
She crumpled to the polished floor, a heap of pale, quivering flesh. The arrogant Celestial Dragon was gone. In her place was a sobbing, broken thing.
Tears, hot and messy, streamed down her face. She curled into a fetal position, arms wrapped around her head, as if she could physically hide from the reality of her powerlessness.
"Please… stop…" she whimpered, the words barely audible between sobs. "No more…"
Arlo stood over her, his chest rising and falling steadily.
He watched as her cries softened into silent, shuddering tears. She had given up. The facade of divine right had been shattered into a million pieces, leaving only a terrified, silent woman on the floor.
[Quest Complete: Break the arrogant bitch, Antonieta.]
[Reward Acquired: The Mirror of Divine Reshaping.]
An ornate mirror materialized in the air before him. A moment later, a descriptive panel shimmered into view:
{
Class: Divine Item
Name: Mirror of Divine Reshaping
Uses: 1
Duration of Effect: 72 Hours
Effect: Allows the user to reshape a target's physical appearance into the form of their heart's truest desire.
}
[New Quest Received: Utilize Divine Reshaping]
[Objective: Use the mirror on Antonieta.]
[Reward: Hypnotic scroll
A sadistic smile touched Arlo's lips, so he activated his item. Looking at the mirror, he remembered the beautiful woman he had once seen on the news.
He looked down at the pathetic form of Antonieta. He had no reason not to use the item on her, so he could keep leveling up.
"Get up," he commanded.
She flinched but didn't move. He nudged her with his foot, not gently. "I said, get up. We're not finished."
Trembling, she pushed herself onto her knees, refusing to meet his gaze. Arlo reached out a hand, not to touch her, but to gesture in the air, manipulating the system interface only he could see.
He selected the target, Antonieta, and then, with a flick of his will, he activated his item, and the power of the system began to mold her.
It started with a golden, ethereal light that enveloped her body.
The bruises on her skin faded in an instant. The soft, doughy flesh of her torso began to tighten and pull inward, sculpting itself into a taut, graceful waist that flared into hips of perfect, sensual proportion.
The pale, distended pouch of her belly vanished, replaced by a flat, smooth stomach with the faint, elegant suggestion of muscle.
Her back arched involuntarily as her spine realigned itself, becoming the graceful, sinuous curve of a dancer.
Her flat chest became a pair of full, impossibly perfect breasts, round and high, each tipped with a rosy, pert nipple that seemed designed to drive men mad.
They were, by a deliberate inch on the scale of perfection, slightly smaller than the legendary model he had unconsciously drawn from, making them no less breathtaking.
The coarse, neglected thicket of pubic hair smoothed away, leaving behind only perfectly bare, alabaster skin. Her thighs, once fat and pale, became powerful and thick. Her arms, her neck, every line of her was refined and perfected.
The light concentrated on her face, sharpening her jawline, plumping her lips into a lush, crimson pout, and lengthening her eyelashes into a sooty fringe. When the radiance finally faded, the woman kneeling on the floor was no longer Antonieta the Celestial Dragon.
She was a goddess of vulgar, breathtaking beauty.
She was, for all intents and purposes, Boa Hancock. She possessed the same devastatingly beautiful face that could launch a thousand ships, the same flawless, peach-toned skin that seemed to glow with an inner light, and the same body that defied mortal geometry.
Antonieta stared down at her new body, her hands, now slender and elegant, fluttering over the new curves, the new skin. Her mouth hung open in a perfect 'O' of shock.
[Transformation Complete.]
Arlo circled her, his eyes critically appraising the system's work. It was flawless. An observer, however, could quickly spot the main difference between this new Antonieta and the legendary Pirate Empress.
Where Hancock's hair was a sheet of lustrous, obsidian black, Antonieta's was a cascade of deep, fiery crimson, falling around her shoulders like spilled wine.
Besides that single, fiery trademark and the subtly smaller chest, if one looked for a very long time, they would find no difference between her and the hottest woman in the world.
Then the system message appeared in the air:
[Quest Complete: Break the arrogant bitch, Antonieta.]
[Reward Acquired: Hypnotic scroll.]
[New Quest Received: Corrupt Antonieta ]
[Objective: Choose one of the five humiliation methods and do it.]
[Reward: ?????]