Boa Hancock's heart pounded wildly, feeling as though it would leap right out of her throat.
Hancock stared blankly at Ian's face, her breathing involuntarily quickening as her cheeks burned hot.
While all the female warriors of Amazon Lily were still immersed in shock, two longing gazes fell upon Ian.
Sandersonia and Marigold, her two sisters with bloated and grotesque figures, stared intently at their older sister's smooth, jade-like back.
'Our sister's mark... was casually erased by this man.'
'Then, what about us?'
A silent spark of understanding flashed between the two sisters.
A second later, they mustered a shred of courage.
The two walked up to Ian with awkward, shuffling steps, their movements somewhat comical.
They didn't even dare to look up at Ian's face. Stopping a few steps away, they turned around, exposing their own backs, which were similarly branded with the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon.
"Um... my lord..."
"Could... could you please help us too..."
Sandersonia's voice trembled. After speaking, she bowed her back even lower, silently waiting for Ian's answer.
Ian's gaze swept over their bloated and obese bodies, a side effect of their Devil Fruits, seeing past their exterior to their true essence.
'So this appearance is nothing more than a physical distortion caused by improperly developing their powers.'
"It's a minor matter," he replied calmly.
Before his voice even faded, he reached out, pressing his warm palms against the sisters' backs.
The moment his hands made contact, the two sisters' bodies shuddered violently.
But this time, what happened was different from Hancock's experience.
The hoof-shaped brands were effortlessly erased.
However, Ian did not pull his hands away. A surge of energy suddenly poured from his palms into their bodies.
"Ah!"
The two sisters let out agonizing screams.
"Holy crap, why are they reacting so intensely?" Lu Mingfei yelped, his eyes wide as saucers.
Just as he spoke, under everyone's horrified gazes, Ian forcefully ripped two massive, illusory snake phantoms right out of the sisters' backs!
One was a python, the other a king cobra.
"Hiss!"
The two snake phantoms writhed and struggled madly in midair. They were the very essence of the Devil Fruits, possessing their own wills and resisting this foreign power.
"Hold still," Ian commanded with a frown. With a sweep of his will, he locked the two serpentine phantoms in place.
"How interesting. To think Devil Fruits can develop consciousness," Xia Mi remarked, her dark golden eyes flashing with curiosity.
Ignoring Xia Mi's curiosity, Ian began kneading the two serpents of law with both hands as if they were dough.
The python phantom was forcibly stretched out in his hands. He then blew a breath into it, filling out its form. After injecting it with power, the World Serpent, Jormungandr, was born.
As for the king cobra, he tore off its hood, coiled its body, and connected its head to its tail. After injecting it with power, the Ouroboros was born.
The entire process happened in a flash.
"Go back."
Having completed the modifications, Ian casually slapped the two entities—now elevated to Mythical Zoan creatures—back into the sisters' bodies!
Boom!
A dazzling golden light erupted from the two sisters!
When the light slowly faded...
The figures standing there were no longer the bloated, grotesque silhouettes from before.
In their place stood two tall, curvaceous, and breathtakingly beautiful women. They bore a striking seventy or eighty percent resemblance to Hancock, yet each possessed her own unique aura!
One was charming and alluring, while the other was valiant and heroic.
They were so perfect they hardly seemed mortal.
"Is... is this me?"
Sandersonia slowly raised her hand, looking at her slender, pale arm before brushing her fingers over her flat, toned stomach in disbelief.
Finally, she stumbled over to a nearby puddle.
The beautiful face reflected on the water's surface left her instantly stunned.
A second later, a line of scalding tears slipped uncontrollably from the corner of her eye, dripping into the water. It was the release of over a decade of suppressed grievance, pain, and despair.
On the other side, Marigold was feeling the completely different, world-destroying new power surging within her body.
With a mere thought...
Boom!
A terrifying aura shot into the sky. Behind her, the phantom of an unimaginably massive serpent slowly materialized.
In the giant serpent's eyes lay the absolute coldness of doomsday and the end of all things!
"Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Jormungandr Model!"
Sensing her sister's power, Sandersonia subconsciously activated her own Devil Fruit ability.
Behind her, the phantom of another giant serpent emerged.
This serpent connected head to tail, forming a perfect ring that exuded the ancient concepts of infinity, cycles, eternity, and unity.
"Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Ouroboros Model!"
The two vastly different mythical auras intertwined and clashed in the sky above Amazon Lily, causing the weather to change and all creation to submit.
Clang...
Clatter...
The surrounding Amazon warriors dropped their longbows, arrows, and swords, littering the ground.
They were all dumbfounded.
One by one, their mouths hung open as they stared blankly at the reborn sisters in the center of the plaza.
The three Hancock sisters stared blankly at each other's appearances before simultaneously converging their gazes on Ian.
Shock, gratitude, worship, adoration... all these emotions ultimately transformed into the most absolute submission.
Thud!
The three sisters dropped to one knee in unison. Placing their right hands over their chests, they deeply bowed their once-proud heads to Ian.
This was the highest form of etiquette on Amazon Lily.
They were offering up the entirety of Amazon Lily, pledging their eternal loyalty.
Looking at the three breathtaking sisters kneeling before him, Ian was just about to tell them to rise.
Right at that moment.
The sound of "Puru puru puru" rang out.
"Report!"
An Amazon warrior rushed in from outside the palace in a panic. Running too fast, she stumbled on the steps and practically tumbled to her knees.
She held up a stern-looking Den Den Mushi.
"Snake Princess! It's an emergency!"
The warrior rushed forward, reporting breathlessly.
"It's... it's an emergency mandatory summons from Marine Headquarters!"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku orders you to immediately head to Marineford!"
The female warrior gulped.
"To assist in the public execution of 'Fire Fist' Ace and the encirclement of the Whitebeard Pirates!"