On Amazon Lily—an island in the Calm Belt off the Grand Line—steam veiled the palace hot spring.
Eyes shut, Amakawa Kumo soaked up the heat like a cat in sunlight.
The water rippled.
A figure with ink-black hair rose from the surface, lips like cherries. She leaned close and slipped an actual cherry between his lips.
"My lord husband," she blinked, bright-eyed. "Does it taste good?"
"Delicious," Kumo said.
"Then shouldn't there be a reward for your humble consort?" she asked, hopeful.
Kumo chuckled, pinching her petite nose. "If anyone saw you like this, who'd believe you're their Snake Princess?"
It was none other than the most celebrated beauty of the seas—Boa Hancock.
Yet next to him, she was nothing but a clingy kitten.
"As long as you're happy, my lord husband, I don't care what others think," Boa Hancock said breezily.
Kumo smiled, satisfied.
It hadn't been for nothing that, years ago, he'd saved Boa Hancock and her sisters the moment they were seized by the Celestial Dragons.
He'd crossed over into this world on a Celestial Dragons' slave ship, shackled alongside the three Boa sisters. He'd feared he was doomed to slavery—until the Dragons, on a whim, made him eat a Devil Fruit for fun.
The fruit was the Weather-Weather Fruit, a power that let him command wind, rain, lightning—every mood of the sky.
His strength exploded. Before the ship reached Mary Geoise, he smashed his chains, broke free, and rescued the Boa sisters, winning Boa Hancock's heart in one sweep.
After that, he drifted the seas with the sisters, honing his fruit and mastering the three colors of Haki.
Not long after, the Marines marked Kumo as a threat and sent the newly appointed Seven Warlords of the Sea to crush him—only to be suppressed and forced into his service.
The World Government then dispatched the Three Admirals. Kumo overpowered them too and even took them prisoner.
In the end, Garp and Sengoku came in person to Amazon Lily, yet still failed to defeat him. They could only strike a deal to recover Akainu and the other two Admirals.
From then on, Kumo stood as a sea emperor feared even by the World Government—the God-King.
After all, to rule the weather was a power of legend, fit for gods.
Once he took the title God-King, the Seven Warlords of the Sea earned a second reading across the world—the Seven under the God-King.
Ten years ago, after that upheaval, Kumo married Boa Hancock and settled on Amazon Lily, living well.
He'd expected the World Government to send stronger hitters. Instead, in a blink, ten quiet years passed with no real movement.
Sometimes he wondered if those theories from his past life were wrong—maybe the Five Elders and their shadowy master Imu weren't top-tier fighters after all.
Still, a blissful life suited him. No one with a death wish came knocking, and peace meant leisure.
Because Kumo hadn't stirred up a major incident in a decade, most people only spoke of the Four Emperors—Whitebeard, Red-Hair, Kaido, Big Mom—never realizing the World Government feared a God-King residing on Amazon Lily even more.
Now and then, Kumo wondered if he'd go on being a salted fish on Amazon Lily forever. The life was pleasant—but a little dull. He itched to make some waves.
As that thought drifted by, Boa Hancock, nestled at his side, seemed to remember something. "Right—my lord husband. A message came from below. Dracule Mihawk, Donquixote Doflamingo, Gecko Moria, and Jinbe are outside Amazon Lily asking to see you."
"What are they here for?" Kumo blinked.
He'd strong-armed the Seven Warlords of the Sea once upon a time, but since his semi-retirement he'd rarely meddled in their affairs. It was odd to see them show up together.
"It should be about Marine Headquarters inviting the Seven Warlords of the Sea to attend Portgas D. Ace's public execution," Boa Hancock said. "They don't dare decide this alone, so they came to ask your view."
Kumo stilled. So the timeline had reached the brink of the Marineford War.
Which meant the protagonist of this world—Monkey D. Luffy—should be arriving at Amazon Lily soon.
"Then I'll see them," Kumo said. "Also, ask around below—has a Straw Hat pirate named Luffy come ashore lately?"
"A Straw Hat pirate… on our island?" Boa Hancock looked startled. With Amazon Lily's defenses, not invincible, but close, no one should slip in unnoticed.
Still, it was Kumo's order. She asked no more and nodded.
She didn't leave at once. Instead, she leaned on him, coy. "Do we have to meet them right now, my lord husband?"
"No rush," Kumo grinned. "Let me reward this little minx first."
"Y-yaa~"
"My lord husband, I love you!"
…
An hour later.
Glowing, Boa Hancock reluctantly left the bathhouse. Kumo emerged from the spring, dressed, and turned toward the audience hall to meet his subordinates.
That was when a cold, mechanical chime rang in his mind.
DING!
"User 'Let the World Know Pain' invites you to answer a question: Please analyze whether my peace plan using Tailed Beast weapons can succeed?"
Kumo paused. A phantom window unfurled before him, visible to him alone.
"Hm?"
He frowned. First thought: some Devil Fruit ability at work.
But no—something was off.
This question invite, and that floating window… they looked exactly like the interface of Zhihu from his past life on Earth.
People of this world couldn't possibly know Zhihu, could they?