"Hancock! Where are you?!"
Camellia's voice echoed through the dense jungle as she pressed deeper into the underbrush. Somewhere nearby, the girl in question, Hancock, heard her call but had no intention of ending her moment of freedom so soon.
"Troublesome beasts, huh? Fine, I've decided, I'll go find one myself."
Making up her mind, Hancock deliberately veered off the path Camellia had taken. She leapt lightly onto a tree branch, and like a rabbit darting through the canopy, bounced swiftly through the jungle.
Meanwhile, Credos Vito was standing before the enormous lion he'd just defeated. Thanks to his life force, both internal and external injuries on the beast had healed rapidly.
Even a ruptured heart, ordinarily a guaranteed death sentence, meant nothing to Vito anymore. The Life-Life Fruit's healing consumed energy based on wound size, not location. Whether it was a hole in the brain or the palm, the cost was the same.
He stared up at the massive lion. Its eye alone was the size of Vito's head.
And yet, despite the vast difference in size, the lion's gaze was filled with fear. Fear of this tiny human standing before it.
"You're free to go."
Vito waved dismissively.
The lion looked as if it had just received divine pardon. With its tail tucked between its legs, it turned and ran for its life.
"Sigh… These beasts' main traits are thick skin and raw power.
And unfortunately, my Devil Fruit basically pushed both of those to the extreme."
His current strength rivaled even these giant predators, but more frightening was his endless stamina, thanks to his surging vitality.
That iconic line from a certain tight-butted superhero, "I could do this all day", would be an understatement for Vito.
As long as he could use his ability, he could fight forever.
Unparalleled strength, regeneration, and stamina, his battle endurance was, frankly, terrifying.
Which was why… every clash ended with Vito standing tall in the end.
But lately, he felt the battles had stopped pushing him. Fighting wild beasts no longer brought growth.
If he truly wanted to improve now, he needed to shift focus to skill, especially mastering Haki.
Say what you want about Rayleigh being a so-called "mediocre teacher," but without those two years of training, how could Luffy have possibly gone from learning Flowing Armament, to Advanced Armament, to becoming Nika under Kaido's curriculum?
Let's face it, Kaido's crew wasn't a pirate gang. It was a faculty of elite educators.
A teaching force that prided itself on individual tutoring and accelerated awakenings, giving everyone a chance to live their "Awakening for All" dream life.
"Tch."
Vito pulled out the bone whistle hanging around his neck and gave it a sharp blow.
A striped tiger emerged from the trees, it was the same beast that had once chased him relentlessly.
Now, it padded up with a docile expression, like a giant purring kitten.
"Grummm…"
The tiger crouched obediently, allowing Vito to pet its head.
Its transformation was simple: Vito had adopted the Yujiro-style taming method.
Step one: order it to obey.
Step two: grab its reluctant head.
Step three: if it resists, beat it.
Repeat until submission. Once broken, it'd become a loyal pet.
Suddenly, the tiger's ears twitched. In a flash, it bit down on Vito's clothes and leapt away.
BOOM!
The spot they had just stood on exploded like a cannonball had struck it.
"Rrrrowr…"
The tiger growled low, eyes fixed in one direction, a warning before an attack.
Vito immediately understood.
"Hold it, wait!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
His warning came too late. A volley of arrows tore through the trees toward them.
"Tch."
Vito recognized it instantly, Kuja archery.
Those arrows carried Haki and followed sharp, precise trajectories.
Whoever shot them… was no ordinary opponent.
"ROAR!"
The tiger, no longer the graceful feline hunter it once was, had turned into a brutish berserker under Vito's influence.
Without hesitation, it charged straight toward the source.
More arrows flew, aimed at its vital points.
The tiger twisted mid-air, barely dodging them with last-second contortions.
Crash!
It swiped its claw, and the massive tree it hit shattered like tofu.
And that's when Vito saw the attacker's face.
A face no One Piece fan could ever mistake.
The future Empress of the Seas,
Boa Hancock.
"Oh crap!"
Vito wasn't sure if Hancock could survive a hit from that tiger's paw. And if she couldn't…
BOOM!
He stomped the ground, generating enough force to crack the earth.
His body shot forward like a cannonball.
Just in time.
He threw himself between Hancock and the incoming paw, fist drawn back, ready to counter.
But Hancock had already acted.
Her leg swept up, coated in Armament Haki, ready to strike,
And then she saw Vito barreling toward her.
"Don't get in my way!"
She didn't hesitate. Her kick didn't slow down one bit, it followed through with precision.
…
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
Hancock crossed her arms, scanning Vito from head to toe.
His face was decent enough, but his outfit was an eyesore. He had some strength, sure, but nowhere near her own beauty.
"…Maybe only slightly worse than me.
No, three points worse. In the beauty department, I clearly win."
She smirked in self-satisfaction, humming proudly.
After all, Vito was still just a kid. At their age, the difference between boys and girls wasn't that noticeable.
So naturally, Hancock just assumed he was a strange girl she hadn't met before.
"Uhh…"
A faint sobbing noise came from behind a tree.
The tiger was curled up, head bruised with a massive lump, softly whimpering.
"…My name's Credos Vito," Vito muttered, healing the tiger with one hand.
"I sort of… washed up here."
"Boa Hancock."
Hancock's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Wait, does that mean you came from… the outside?"
"Outside?"
Vito was confused at first, then remembered, Amazon Lily was located deep in the Calm Belt, surrounded by Sea Kings.
Normal ships couldn't even enter these waters, and the entire island was extremely isolated.
There was only one vessel capable of leaving this place at all.
So of course, the people here were completely ignorant of the outside world.
It was like everyone else was using 5G…
While Kuja was still marveling at how fast 3G was.
//----------------------------------------------------//
//--- Add to Collection!
//--- 150 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter