Surrounded by countless pirates, Baccarat Stussy looked like a dazzling courtesan, sending hordes of them swooning at her feet.
Stussy lifted her gaze toward Skull Eye and, spotting Rocks's Executives under the lights, gave a faint, confident smile.
Scientific research was her gift, and creating buzz was her hobby.
She had these men figured out down to the last detail!
She refused to believe Rocks and Fang Huo wouldn't fall head-over-heels for her.
The strong love conquest!
Right now she was the undisputed center of attention.
What red-blooded man could resist that?
Letting the Rocks Pirates come to her was far safer than volunteering.
She had no wish to end up like Ganzi, sliced by Rocks.
The surrounding pirates stirred restlessly; had Paradise Island not belonged to the Rocks Pirates, they would have snatched this beauty already.
——Skull Eye, Planet-Bursting Star.
"So that's the future scientist of the Rocks Pirates?"
"Is she all hype?"
Rocks hadn't expected this glamorous woman to be one of his future officers.
She looked nothing like a scientist!
More like a top courtesan!
It made Rocks wonder whether he should recruit this scientific bandit at all.
Even if fate marked her as one of his Executives, Rocks had no intention of blindly following Fang Huo's predicted future.
After all, they had already killed the fated Executive Wang Zhi.
"A future officer?"
"Can Fang Huo really see the future?"
Ganzi narrowed his eyes; if so, had Fang already foreseen his own ambition to vie for first mate?
That could be bad news for him.
A sudden chill ran through his heart.
It hit him why Golden Lion Shiki had egged him on—and why Babel and the others wore mocking grins.
Damn it!
He'd nearly fallen for Shiki's trap!
From now on he'd keep a low profile.
He also realized why Silver Axe, the thorn in everyone's side, was constantly targeted and teased.
Shiki was up to no good; he'd have to watch his back against that bastard.
Luckily, years of smuggling had sharpened his wits—he'd weathered worse storms.
He wasn't some brute like Fierce to be toyed with by Shiki.
"Bahahaha, the first mate sees your futures crystal-clear,"
Babel sneered at Ganzi; the sly smuggler was quicker on the uptake than the dim-witted Fierce.
"..."
Ganzi gave a dry laugh and shot Golden Lion Shiki a dark look.
Shiki's support was probably meant to turn him into the next laughing-stock—another Silver Axe.
——"How strong is she?"
Rocks narrowed his tiger-like eyes; his crew had no room for ornaments.
If this scientific bandit was just hot air, he'd gladly erase another fated officer.
"She should be fairly strong."
Fang Huo didn't know Stussy's exact level, but she had been one of the Rocks Pirates' original six Executives.
One of the three who accompanied Rocks, Golden Lion, and Whitebeard in search of Harald—she had to be capable.
Otherwise she'd have died in the crossfire long ago.
Stussy loved bickering with Gloriosa, so their strength was probably close.
If even her clones could become CP0 Agents and Queens of the Pleasure District, the original's talent had to be top-tier.
"Linlin! Test her strength!"
Rocks didn't send the men—Shiki and Kiel Bastard would go easy, while Newgate and Fierce disdained fighting a woman.
"Don't order me around!"
Charlotte Linlin protested again—why keep singling her out when Fang Huo and Shiki could fly too?
"I'll do it!"
Fang Huo flashed a wicked grin; after three grueling years, it was time to treat his little brother.
Elder Tong always taught: keep women out of your heart, not out of your bed.
He wasn't like the Great Love Immortal Venerable, who wiped out beauties as if they were kittens.
"You punk…"
Rocks raised an eyebrow—was this guy going to go easy on her?
"Ladies and gents, behold—how to act like a boss!"
Fang Huo floated forward, glancing back at the rowdy bunch with a calm smile.
"Divine Physique Manifestation: Moon Rises Over the Sea!"
A silver moon formed behind him; silver-haired and barefoot, he stepped into the sky, his white-wolf cloak billowing.
Each footfall rippled Moonlight through the air, as though space itself had turned solid.
"Ahhhhh!!"
"It's Lord Fang Huo!!"
At his dazzling entrance, countless female pirates screamed themselves hoarse.
They saw a sight far more handsome and majestic than any photo.
Reporters and fans snapped shots with den den mushis, desperate to freeze the moment forever.
"Damn it, show-off!"
Rocks cursed as he watched Fang Huo descend like a god—what was there to brag about with a few extra Devil Fruits?
Shiki and Fierce felt their egos bruised; how were they supposed to impress girls now?
Kiel Bastard scribbled notes, planning to copy the entrance and maybe conjure a full-moon ghost with his Ghost-Ghost Fruit.
He wanted that divine aura too!
Even Stussy, who had made a grand entrance herself, stood transfixed by Fang Huo's godly visage.
Before this deity, she felt as plain as a drab servant girl.
"Baccarat Stussy, are you ready for this sovereign's trial?"
Floating forward beneath his moonlit mirage, Fang Huo sent crescent blades slashing through the air.
Those glowing arcs proved the moon wasn't mere decoration.
"A trial?"
Stussy's pupils shook—Fang Huo knew her full name and was attacking?
She'd never planned to fight the Rocks Pirates.
She'd meant to rely on beauty… but seeing the even more gorgeous Fang Huo, she was at a loss.
Instead of seducing him, she found herself entranced by his divine looks—just as relentless crescents rained down.
Stussy flung off her ornate robe and vanished in a blur, using a high-speed move akin to Soru.
The nearby pirates scattered at once, fleeing the danger zone.
"Ahhh~! Even Lord Fang Huo's battles are elegant and dashing!"
"Lord Fang Huo! I love you! Let me be your handmaid~!"
"Score! I snapped a ton of shots—gonna sell them to papers and Female Celestial Dragons!"
——Female pirates and special reporters went wild; after days of staking out, they'd finally captured the 4-billion-bounty Supreme Great Succubus!
——