A "swish swish" sound filled the air, as dozens of huge wind blades appeared out of thin air, converging at Bello Betty from all sides. It should have brought a sense of grim satisfaction to Dragon, yet his mood was anything but. His heart felt as though it were bleeding. This was the last thing he had wanted to do.
He couldn't understand what kind of dirty trick Adrian had used, what dark pact he had made, to make Betty so utterly determined, so unyielding. She stood there, ready to face death as if it was normal to die for someone whom she had met the same day. To be honest, Dragon was truly envious. For so long, he had believed his methods of winning hearts and minds were unparalleled. From the small spark of his revolutionary army to its current state of a spreading prairie fire, it had all been built with his words, little by little. Bartholomew Kuma, Ivankov, Morley, Lindbergh, Karasu... every one of his cadres followed him wholeheartedly. It had been the same with Betty.
Until today.
The moment he met Adrian, the nightmare had begun. They had spent less than half a day together, so why had Betty's temperament changed so much? Where had he gone wrong? Dragon truly couldn't understand it. If they weren't enemies, he would have approached Adrian with a gift to ask for his secrets. His methods had proven to be was truly awesome.
But it was too late now.
"Betty, don't blame me," Dragon murmured, his voice a low thrum against the wind. "When your Devil Fruit reappears again, I will help it find a suitable successor!!" It was the last of his mercy.
Facing life and death situation, Betty's beautiful eyes looked at Adrian's position in the distance, a reluctant look on her face. As early as Impel Down, she had already accepted the coming of death. Compared to the methods she had endured there, what Dragon was doing was just pediatric. She didn't feel scared at all, only regret that she would never see Adrian again.
"You piece of scum, to harm at an unarmed woman is an unforgivable crime!" At the critical moment, a purple shadow appeared in a flash.
"Perfume Femur!"
A series of wind blades exploded under the swift and haki enforced kick of the Empress, causing a turbulent flow in this area.
"Damn it, Pirate Empress, you'd better not get in my way, otherwise the revolutionary army won't let the Amazon Lily kingdom go!" There was a look of extreme anger on Dragon's face, and he roared ferociously.
He had already seen the Empress and Adrian working together. But he was seriously injured right now. Besides being able to bully non-combatants like Betty, all he had left for the Empress was to speak harshly.
"Shut up, you disgusting scum, no matter what you say now, you will be punished with a capital crime by this Empress." Hancock once again showed her signature contemptuous gesture.
Betty, as the only non-combat member under Adrian, had just demonstrated a hypnosis type, control ability that had amazed the Empress. She was no fool, and she understood at once how important this woman was to Adrian's future plans. As the "First Empress," as she called herself, she had kept a close eye on the commotion. She had expected the need for herself to intervene, but not this quickly.
"Damn...!"
Dragon jumped into the air, and flew into the distance under the cover of a tornado. Although his heart was unwilling, he still maintained an extremely calm judgment. The decisiveness he showed at the critical moment even displeased the Empress. He found it impossible to win now, and he immediately chose to escape. This was undoubtedly the most sensible and correct choice. Otherwise, Dragon was likely to face the back and forth attack of Akainu and the Empress, and he wouldn't be able to leave at all.
"You did a good job just now, your courage is commendable!" On the proud face of the Empress, there was a rare softness. She affirmed and recognized Betty's performance just now. The Empress seemed to be born with a hidden attribute of commanding the harem. While her Conqueror Haki was showing its dominance in battle, it also showed her majestic appearance as the head of Adrian's future harem. The powerful aura instantly overwhelmed Bello Betty.
And what she just heard from Hancock seemed like something else in Betty's mind: You did a good job just now. You have been approved by me. In the future, there will be a place for you in Lord Adrian's harem!
"Thank... Thank you, Empress Hancock for your compliment." Betty almost cried with joy, her face was full of gratitude. It was as if the "Stockholm Syndrome" in her body had been activated again. In the blink of an eye, she had become a follower of both Adrian and the Empress. There was no other way; following the big sister was the only way to survive.
"Okay, go ahead and complete whatever work Lord Adrian told you to do. I will watch over you from the side!" The Empress sat on the body of the pet snake Salome, dragged her chin with her hands, and looked obsessively at Adrian who was fighting in the distance.
My lord, my heart is aching... I obviously hate sharing your love with any woman, but... as long as you are happy, anything is acceptable. I'm such a reasonable wife! So... please have a baby with me!
"Ah choo!!..."
Adrian sneezed suddenly for no reason, and he almost got caught in the red-haired sword's path for a moment of hesitation.
"Is this kind of meaningless battle what you're after?" Shanks slashed out a Slash Wave with his sword, and gnashed his teeth and asked: "The sea is in chaos again. What good is it for you?!"
"No matter how much chaos there is now, is it more chaotic than the era of great pirates started by your captain Roger?"
"How many people did he kill?"
Adrian retreated abruptly, using his Paw-Paw Fruit ability and superb physical skills, bouncing off several slashes one after another, then pressing his hands to the ground, he said with a sneer: "It doesn't matter if it's more or less chaotic this time. I just don't want to give you this so-called face today!"
"Lion Majesty: Govern Place Earth Coiling!"
Suddenly dozens of ferocious ice lion heads condensed on the thick ice, facing the red hair and pounced on it again.
"Hmph, how many times do you have to fail, to understand? Such tricks are simply useless to me." A look of contempt flashed in the red-haired eyes, before he even finished speaking, a strong sense of crisis suddenly surged in his heart. His sharp cold eyes swept across Adrian's cheeks, only to see an evil smile curling up from the corners of his face.
"burst!"
Boom———!!
The continuous explosion directly engulfed the area where the red hair was. The thick ice finally couldn't bear such an impact, and a huge gap was formed. The sea water rushed in crazily.
"Captain Shanks!"
"Captain!"
Seeing the red-haired figure being enveloped by the explosion, many members of the Red Hair Pirates showed shocking expressions on their faces. It's just that they were all busy with their own fight. There was no chance for anyone to get out and go for a rescue.
"Don't be distracted, Shanks isn't that easy to beat." At this critical moment, Benn Beckman called out, calmly and steadily. As the vice-captain of the red regiment, while possessing both strength and mind, he also has a deep understanding of Shanks. That man would not be easily defeated by this method.
As expected. The moment Beckman's voice fell, the figure of Shanks jumped out of the sea onto the ice with a "shua." But at this time, the youngest of the Four Emperors, looked somewhat embarrassed. The whole body was soaked in sea water, and the hem of the black cloak behind him was burned off in the explosion, leaving only a piece about the size of the shoulders, which looked ridiculous. And Shanks' proud short red hair stuck to his cheeks in a messy fashion, with blood streaming from his brow, dripping down.
"Captain is...injured?!" Seeing this scene, the peripheral members of the Red Hair Pirates were shocked. They had never seen their captain get hurt. Even in battle against Kaido, he had remained uninjured.
"Jie ha ha ha, that red-haired brat should've learned a lot this time... If he dares to mess with our captain, he will not end well." After Bullet finished speaking, he suddenly felt that something was weird. Well, that's right. It really won't end well for him too if went against Adrian.
"Don't get too complacent, Bullet, whoever pissed off Shanks didn't do well either." Beckman snorted coldly, and pulled the trigger with his finger again, the jet-black bullets covered with the Emission type haki, and suddenly blasted towards Bullet.
"Look at you, digging and searching. Every time you're only wrap a little bit of Emission type Armament Haki. Can it really hurt people?" There was a sneer on Bullet's face, and he deliberately teased: "Beckman, if you aren't doing better with the red haired's, you might as well join Lord Adrian."
"clatter"
Purple-black Haki, so rich that it was visible to the naked eye, formed a huge flowing armor like glove around Bullet's fist. Facing Beckman's bullet, he smashed it up.
"This monster!" Beckman's pupils contracted sharply. Aside from being shocked, he felt deeply helpless. Armament haki depletes on the rate, depending on the quality and quantity of usage. No normal person would dare to use it like this lunatic Bullet. This was simply the huge gap of rookie and Admiral class."
Shanks, this time we have really touched the hornet's nest!