"Senior brother, I take back what I said before."
Lu Mingfei lowered his voice, leaning close to Chu Zihang's ear. "The environment in this world is pretty nice, but the people look way too abstract."
"These people look even weirder than the Orks in the Warhammer world."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was still heard by quite a few people.
Boa Hancock slowly lowered her chin, revealing an icy expression.
How dare these people loudly discuss her beauty!
"Insolent!"
An invisible, kingly aura erupted with a bang! Powerful Conqueror's Haki transformed into an invisible shockwave, sweeping toward Ian and his group in the center of the plaza!
*Vooom—!*
The air wailed, and the stone slabs beneath their feet seemed to tremble slightly.
The surrounding Amazon warriors all revealed expressions of fanatical worship. This was their empress, a ruler possessing the "qualities of a king"!
They were already prepared to watch these rude men make complete fools of themselves.
However, as the shockwave washed over Ian and the others, it didn't even stir the corners of their clothes.
Lu Mingfei even stuck out his pinky as if no one else was around, lazily picking his ear before complaining to Chu Zihang with an innocent face.
"Senior brother, did you feel a weird breeze? It made my ear itch."
The fanaticism on the Amazon warriors' faces instantly froze, turning into sheer shock.
"What?"
Hancock was also full of surprise.
How was this possible! Were these people actually this strong?
Holding nothing back, she formed a heart shape with her hands in front of her chest.
A peculiar pink energy gathered at her fingertips.
"Mero Mero Mellow!"
A heart-shaped pink beam shot out. This was her Devil Fruit ability; anyone harboring impure thoughts toward her would be turned to stone.
The Amazon warriors' eyes were filled with absolute confidence. No man could resist the Snake Princess's charm.
Unfortunately, the pink beam struck Ian and the others but yielded absolutely no reaction.
The men in the plaza remained completely unharmed.
Xia Mi even reached out with great interest, touching the spot where she had been hit.
"Oh, the composition of this energy is quite interesting. It's like spiritual power mixed with some sort of low-level rule force," she observed.
"Impossible!"
Hancock lost her composure.
Beauty, Haki, and her Devil Fruit ability—her three invincible weapons had failed one after another.
Her figure vanished, and in the next instant, she appeared right in front of Ian.
Her long, beautiful leg swung high, the tip of her foot coated in a layer of Armament Haki as she aimed straight for Ian's head!
"Perfume Femur!"
This kick was powerful enough to shatter a Marine battleship!
However, this thunderous strike was effortlessly stopped as Ian grabbed her ankle.
Ian flicked his wrist, and Hancock felt an irresistible, soft force transmit from her ankle. She instantly lost her balance, falling backward uncontrollably.
The moment she fell, her beautiful, long black hair scattered in the air.
A hideous hoof-shaped brand was thus exposed to everyone's sight—the symbol of a Celestial Dragon's slave, the "Hoof of the Soaring Dragon"!
"Big sister!"
Hancock's two younger sisters, Sandersonia and Marigold, paled in horror at the sight. They immediately rushed forward, trying to shield Hancock's back.
The surrounding Amazon warriors instantly went into an uproar.
"They saw it!"
"They saw the mark!"
"Kill them! Anyone who sees that mark will not leave Amazon Lily alive!"
Thousands of female warriors drew their longbows simultaneously, glaring viciously at Ian and his group.
However, to their confusion, the men in the plaza did not show any expressions of shock or disdain.
This deeply shocked Hancock, who had just scrambled to her feet.
She subconsciously covered her back, her face pale with humiliation and anger, yet a strange feeling she couldn't even understand herself rose in her heart.
"Why... are you...?"
Hancock struggled to stand; she needed an answer. So, she attacked Ian once more, though her movements lacked their previous ferocity.
Ian easily sidestepped the attack, grabbed her arm backhandedly, and smoothly pulled her backward, exposing her entire back to him.
Then, under Hancock's astonished gaze, Ian gently pressed his other hand against the brand on her back.
Hancock only felt a warm sensation transmitting from Ian's palm.
Her entire body trembled violently, followed by a warm current flowing from her back. Washed over by this warmth, she felt as if she had lost all her strength. Her legs gave out, and a blush inexplicably crept onto her cheeks.
"Big sister! Your back!" Sandersonia stared at Hancock's smooth, jade-like back and let out a cry of disbelief.
Awakened by her sister's voice, Hancock jumped back as if electrocuted, putting distance between them. She felt as though the skin on her back still retained the warmth of Ian's palm.
"What's wrong with my back?"
"Big sister! The mark on your back is gone!"
Sandersonia then immediately handed her a mirror.
Hancock froze.
Trembling, she looked at her back in the mirror.
It was smooth, fair, and beautiful, completely devoid of that disgusting pattern.
The mark that had haunted her for her entire life, representing humiliation and darkness, had truly been erased just like that.
She snapped her head up, looking at the calm-faced man with eyes full of shock.
She asked with a trembling voice, "Just... who exactly are you people? Are you... not afraid of the Celestial Dragons?"
Hearing the words "Celestial Dragons," Lu Mingfei and the others behind Ian reacted as if they had just heard the funniest joke of the century.
Xia Mi, Chu Zihang, and Lu Mingfei exchanged glances before bursting into laughter simultaneously. Their laughter was filled with undisguised contempt and mockery.
Lu Mingfei wiped away tears of mirth, looking at Hancock as if she were an idiot.
"Celestial Dragons? Are you talking about that bunch of inbreds in the Holy Land Mary Geoise who have been reproducing among themselves for hundreds of years and are dumber than pigs?"
His voice echoed across Amazon Lily, every word striking like a thunderbolt.
"Something like that is worthy of our fear?"
"Those bullshit Celestial Pigs—from now on, we'll slaughter every single one we see and properly clean up the trash in this world."
These words shocked all the Amazon warriors.
The gazes everyone directed at Ian's group instantly shifted from hostility to indescribable shock, along with a trace of... fanatical worship and affection.
Especially those odd-looking female warriors of Amazon Lily—the way they looked at Lu Mingfei was practically dripping with desire.
Hancock's delicate body trembled slightly.
She shyly looked at Ian, who had just removed her slave mark, her face growing redder the longer she stared.
Looking at Ian's face, Hancock continuously screamed in her heart, 'He's so handsome! So manly! His palm is so warm! I really want him to press his hand against my back again!'