"Flame Flower, it's alright to call you that, isn't it?"
A gentle yet confident male voice suddenly rang out beside Gloriosa without warning, causing her weathered skin to prickle with alarm.
"Who?!" Gloriosa's eyes widened, her silver hair standing on end like startled quills.
She hadn't detected when the person approached at all, a terrifying realization for someone of her experience.
"Intruder!"
The surrounding Kuja warriors immediately reacted, their movements sharp and precise as arrows and serpentine spears all aimed at the suddenly appearing Kai. The air hummed with tension, weapons gleaming in the sunlight.
"Put them all down."
Gloriosa took a deep breath, the salty ocean breeze filling her lungs as she suppressed the shock racing through her heart. She waved her gnarled hand with a heavy sigh.
As an old hand who had once sailed with the Rocks Pirates, she understood all too well what a monster of Kai's level meant. The memories of battles past flooded back, reminding her of the futility of resistance.
Ordinary warriors' attacks would be meaningless against him.
"Heh, I didn't expect that young people in this era would still remember this old woman's nickname from the past."
A trace of complex reminiscence flashed through Gloriosa's cloudy eyes, like sunlight filtering through storm clouds. She looked at Kai, her tone returning to measured calm: "Call me Granny. Flame Flower is a thing of the past."
Kai's appearance actually made her tense heartstrings relax slightly, the way a drawn bowstring settles when the archer realizes the target isn't worth the arrow.
The fact that the other party was willing to communicate meant they hadn't come with the purpose of destroying Amazon Lily.
Kai wore a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, his expression as serene as still water: "Then, Granny, how about we talk about cooperation?"
"Cooperation?"
Gloriosa feigned confusion, her brow furrowing like old parchment: "The Kuja Pirates are Warlord members with agreements with the Navy. We can't afford the risk of cooperating with an Emperor pirate crew."
"Granny, we're both intelligent people. Why play riddles?"
Kai's voice remained calm yet carried a penetrating power that seemed to see through layers of deception: "You and I both know the Navy only gave you Warlord status because Amazon Lily is located deep in the Calm Belt, easily defended and hard to attack. A direct assault would be too costly, so they had no choice but to offer recruitment."
He shifted his tone, the words becoming sharper like a blade finding its mark: "But have you considered what would happen if one day the Navy mastered technology that could safely traverse the Calm Belt on a large scale?"
"You surely don't naively expect the Navy to keep faith and honor promises with a group of pirates, do you? Especially when..." Kai's gaze shifted toward Hancock, still fighting in the distance, her movements creating small whirlwinds of displaced air, "with your Emperor's temperament, doing something to anger the Navy and World Government would be perfectly normal."
"When that time comes, having lost the protection of natural barriers while having completely offended the Navy, would Amazon Lily still be able to live as peacefully as now?"
Gloriosa unconsciously tightened her grip on her snake staff, her knuckles turning white as old bone: "Does the technology you mentioned really exist?"
Kai nodded decisively, his certainty cutting through her doubt like a hot knife through butter: "Of course. It's the technology of embedding seastone in ship bottoms. As far as I know, Vegapunk has almost perfected it."
The moment Vegapunk's name was mentioned, Gloriosa believed more than half of it, the name carrying weight like a stone dropped into still water.
When she still roamed the seas years ago, she had heard of Vegapunk's reputation. Even then, Vegapunk had already mastered many amazing technologies that defied conventional understanding.
Compared to that, seastone embedding technology seemed rather ordinary.
"Even so, Amazon Lily might not be without fighting power."
Gloriosa still wanted to struggle, clinging to hope like a drowning person grasps driftwood.
"If you're referring to Shakky and Rayleigh, I advise you not to hold too much hope."
Kai mercilessly shattered Gloriosa's illusion, his voice cold and realistic as winter wind: "They're old now, past their prime, with greatly diminished stamina. How can two aging elders protect your entire country?"
Gloriosa closed her eyes, her aged face a canvas of struggle and helplessness, each wrinkle telling a story of battles fought and lost.
After a long while, she sighed deeply, the sound carrying decades of weariness. She seemed to age several more years in an instant, her shoulders sagging under invisible weight.
When she opened her eyes again, only grim determination remained in her cloudy gaze.
"What do we need to pay? And what can we get?"
See, negotiating with intelligent people is simple, Kai thought with satisfaction.
Kai showed a pleased expression, his smile warm yet calculating: "When Amazon Lily faces crisis, I can intervene to protect you. As the exchange condition, Amazon Lily will join the Beast Pirates when the time comes."
"Very reasonable."
Gloriosa weighed the pros and cons like a merchant calculating profit margins: "But what would our status be? Partners or subordinates?"
"That depends on your Emperor's strength."
Kai's smile carried a hint of playfulness, like a cat toying with its prey: "This sea ultimately respects strength above all, doesn't it?"
"I seem to have no reason to refuse."
Gloriosa finally admitted bitterly, the words tasting like ash in her mouth: "But I'm no longer the Emperor. This matter needs Hancock to decide."
"Understood. I'll persuade her." Kai's voice brimmed with confidence.
Gloriosa looked at him strangely, not knowing where this man's confidence came from. Hancock was a woman proud to the point of arrogance, her ego as vast as the ocean itself.
Could it be based on his handsome face?
Meanwhile, the battle on the field was about to reach its thunderous conclusion.
"Extreme Ice Bagua!"
Yamato's arm muscles bulged like steel cables as her kanabo, wrapped in bone-chilling freezing air that made the very atmosphere crystallize, crashed down toward Hancock with the force of a glacier.
Hancock was about to raise her leg to counterattack, but the intense collisions earlier had affected her physical condition. Yamato's freezing air had seeped into her bones, making her movements sluggish.
She was half a beat too slow.
This instant was the decisive moment of battle, the difference between victory and defeat measured in heartbeats.
Hancock, frozen into an ice sculpture that gleamed like a work of art, was sent flying backward through the air.
"Sister!" came the dual cry.
"Snake Princess-sama!"
"Hancock!"
Cries of alarm rose one after another, voices carrying desperation across the battlefield.
The black-haired girl crashed heavily to the ground, solid ice shattering and scattering like broken diamonds. She struggled to stand and continue fighting when a round iron rod, carrying suffocating pressure, rapidly enlarged in her pupils.
Whoosh! Before the staff arrived, violent wind pressure struck first, making Hancock's waterfall-like black hair dance wildly around her face.
Hancock desperately closed her eyes, preparing to receive this blow capable of crushing her skull like an eggshell.
However, the expected severe pain never came.
The kanabo's tip steadily stopped at her smooth forehead, so close she could feel the cold radiating from its surface.
"Hehe, you lost."
Yamato grinned, her expression friendly despite the deadly weapon in her hands.
Hancock opened her beautiful eyes, looking strangely at this white wolf girl with a face full of genuine smiles, her own complexion pale as fresh snow.
She had truly lost.
Even if she still had fight left in her, the outcome was already decided with crystal clarity.
Unprecedented feelings of defeat and humiliation crashed over Hancock like a tidal wave, emotions she had never experienced in her reign.
"Sister!"
Sandersonia and Marigold immediately rushed forward, their feet pounding against the beach as they moved to support the swaying Hancock.
Gloriosa also hurried over, her old bones protesting as she lowered her voice to quickly relay the cooperation conditions Kai had proposed and the future development of Navy technology.
"No!"
Hancock almost reflexively screamed, her face contorting with extreme disgust and resistance: "Men are all no good!"
"Hancock, now is not the time for your willful behavior." Gloriosa's voice carried the weight of years and wisdom: "Once our worst-case scenario occurs and we lose the Calm Belt's barrier, Amazon Lily will face catastrophic disaster."
"Such a thing will never happen."
Hancock cupped her own stunning face with both hands, her movements theatrical and stubborn: "Because I am too beautiful! No matter what I do, I will be forgiven!"
"Snake Princess-sama is right!"
The surrounding Kuja warriors were immediately charmed, their eyes turning to hearts as they fanatically shouted in unison, their voices echoing across the beach like a chorus of devoted believers.