SWISH!
SWISH! SWISH!
Several arrows, like black lightning, shot out from the forest opposite, accurately hitting the giant snake's vital points.
The arrows had immense force, penetrating through the vital point from the other side.
"Such accurate archery!"
And did the arrows seem to be coated with Busoshoku Haki?
Luffy's eyes condensed. He looked toward the direction the arrows had come from.
He also knew that on the first half of the Grand Line, having Haki was quite a big deal.
Had he reached the New World?
"Are you two okay?"
A clear female voice rang out.
From the dense forest on the riverbank, a tall young woman emerged. She had short golden hair with slightly upward-curling ends and a slender figure.
Perona, sticking her head out, muttered quietly, "She's quite pretty. Why did they show up only now?"
She had been hungry for days.
"It's dangerous here. There are many wild animals around."
A slightly more rugged voice came from beside the golden-haired woman. A woman with a strong build walked out.
"Oh, very strong." Luffy said.
Both were wearing highly ethnic attire.
Their tops were short, like tube tops, exposing their firm waists and abdominal muscles. Their bottoms were long skirts with very high slits on both sides, making them look both sexy and agile.
They carried long bows on their backs and quivers at their waists. Even more striking were the large snakes wrapped around their shoulders, their scales glinting coldly!
Perona saw the two large snakes flicking their tongues and again buried her face. At this moment, she was more afraid of these two strange women with snakes than of Luffy.
"Thank you. But could you help find some clothes? Hers seem to have disappeared."
Perona looked up and saw her Gothic Lolita dress floating from the river.
She nearly fainted.
That was her favorite dress.
Though she wanted to thank Luffy for thinking so kindly of her, she realized that she had been wrapped around him like an octopus.
Ahhh! This was so embarrassing!
But why did Luffy look so calm?
Was that a normal reaction?
Perona's brain was about to overheat.
No, it wasn't normal. Luffy had simply experienced this so many times that his reaction wasn't surprising.
The two women then noticed that Perona, held in Luffy's arms, was nearly naked. Their expressions became somewhat strange.
Even in their "simple and honest" Amazon Lily Kingdom, this kind of posture was something only people with a very close relationship would use.
For some reason, seeing this posture also brought a blush to Marguerite's cheeks.
She took a spare outfit of the same style from a small bundle she was carrying and handed it over.
"Which village are you two from? How did you end up so far downstream on this dangerous river? Come back to our village with us." Marguerite's tone was concerned.
She clearly thought Luffy and Perona were residents of the island.
Perona quickly took the clothes.
Then, flustered, she got down from Luffy, hid behind the rock, and quickly pulled on the new clothes.
Luffy, meanwhile, was curious about Marguerite's invitation.
So there was a village here?
"Go to the village? Sure!"
Luffy readily agreed.
He had been wanting to ask someone about this island.
If he could find a place to train, he would like it to be the Sabaody Archipelago.
It wasn't that "the safest place is the most dangerous place" or anything.
The Thousand Sunny and the Going Merry were both on the Sabaody Archipelago. Since his crewmates weren't there, he could guard them. After all, it was also very close to Impel Down.
Whether as a base for breaking into Impel Down or as a place to set sail again, it was a good choice.
He could ask them where this place was and how to get back to the Sabaody Archipelago.
He was also very curious about how they had learned Haki.
He knew that even Zoro and Sanji had needed quite a bit of training to learn Haki.
Perona, now fully dressed, stepped out from behind the rock, a shy, almost coy expression on her face.
The outfit felt a little too revealing for her. The strapless top clung tightly to her figure, accentuating her curves while leaving her slender waist and navel exposed. The high-slit skirt revealed glimpses of her long, fair legs as she moved.
She tugged lightly at the hem, clearly uncomfortable, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
Her pink twin-tails, still damp from her recent bath, had come undone and now fell loosely over her shoulders. With her usual heavy makeup washed away, her delicate and refined features were fully revealed.
She had lost some of her Gothic, delinquent-girl look and gained a softer, more girl-like beauty, with a hint of mature charm.
"Yeah. You look better this way."
Luffy looked her over and commented. "Anyone would think you're a different person."
Compared to her previous image—the Gothic, heavily eye-shadowed, pigtailed, slightly delinquent-looking girl—this more ladylike appearance was indeed much more pleasing to the eye.
"Hmph! I didn't ask you!" Perona crossed her arms and retorted, though it sounded weak.
"The style isn't bad." Nika nodded.
Nika looked somewhat interested and reached out to grab something on Perona's back.
Perona's face turned even redder.
What was this stinky tanuki doing!
The two women across from them also introduced themselves.
The golden-haired one was Marguerite. The other, with the sturdy build, was Stode.
They looked at Perona with curiosity.
They had noticed that Perona seemed to float out from behind the rock, her feet not touching the ground.
"How did you do that? Float in the air?"
Marguerite couldn't help asking curiously.
"This is the power of the Horo Horo no Mi,"
Perona said matter-of-factly, while awkwardly adjusting to her new clothes. "I'm a Horo Horo no Mi user."
She gave a small demonstration, floating a few centimeters higher.
"A Devil Fruit user?!"
Marguerite and Stode exchanged glances.
Because Amazon Lily was isolated from the outside world, getting newspapers and other outside information was very difficult. Most of the island's residents didn't know that such things as Devil Fruits existed in the outside sea.
"Is it like with Snake Princess and the others?"
"Someone who has defeated the Gorgon Sisters?"
"Snake Princess?"
Luffy frowned. That title sounded familiar. He thought he had heard it somewhere.
Had Shanks mentioned it?
Or Rayleigh?
As they spoke, the group had crossed the river and entered the deep forest.
They then began walking up the mountain.
One could see that the jungle and tall mountains surrounding the island tightly surrounded it like fortresses. The villages and castle were built against the cliffs and in the valley below.
Marguerite and Stode enthusiastically led the way, occasionally turning back to talk with Luffy and Perona.
Marguerite couldn't help but sneak curious glances at Luffy. She seemed particularly interested in him.
Because his chest was flat!
Completely different from hers.
And there seemed to be something like a mushroom under his pants, vaguely visible when he walked.
Marguerite's face reddened again.
Was this what they called peeping?
She had only dared to sneak such glances at Snake Princess before.
Entering Kuja Castle, they saw women everywhere.
Many women enthusiastically greeted Marguerite and the others. They were the elite warriors of Amazon Lily. They were the ones who had a chance of being chosen to board the Kuja pirate ship.
"Hey, Luffy. Did we come to some kind of crazy place?" Perona leaned close to Luffy's ear and whispered.
This place looked really unsettling.
Why were there only women?
And they were strangely shaped, strong women.
"Probably?"
Luffy also noticed many glances looking him over. He reassured her, "But it's okay. They don't seem hostile."
Or were they just not hostile yet?
Perona hugged her small parasol.
"Luffy, which direction is your home? We can take you back." Marguerite asked.
She still thought Luffy and Perona were residents of the island, just from a more remote village.
Luffy pressed down on his straw hat. He was only now realizing that these two women had misunderstood something from the start.
He stopped and looked at Marguerite and Stode. "We don't have a home here."
Marguerite blinked, not understanding. "What do you mean?"
Just then, a shrill, elderly scream came from nearby, interrupting their conversation.
"Marguerite! Stode! What are you doing?! Get away from that man!"
Everyone turned to look. A short, elderly woman, leaning on a snake-head cane, was running toward them with a terrified expression.
She was the former, former, former empress of Amazon Lily, Gloriosa—known as Grandma Nyon.
"Nyon? Why?"
Marguerite looked at the flustered Nyon in confusion.
Nyon rushed up, out of breath, and pointed her cane at Luffy. Her voice trembled. "Why? Because that's a man! A man!"
"A man?"
What was so strange about a man?
Perona blinked, looking at the women of Amazon Lily, who had instantly become tense and were raising their weapons against her and Luffy. She was completely baffled. "Have you never seen a man before?"
She had lived for over a decade, and this was the first time she had seen anyone react so strongly to the fact of being male.
She wasn't surprised by the fear of zombies.
But as more and more women gathered, all holding weapons aimed at her and Luffy, Perona began to panic.
"Ah. It seems we really did come to a crazy place."
Luffy also looked around at the suddenly hostile gazes. He grinned. "Suddenly, they're full of hostility."
His Kenbunshoku Haki swept the area. Everyone was radiating a strong fighting spirit.
"Is now the time to laugh? They're treating us like enemies!" Perona was about to cry.
Why did these people's attitudes change so suddenly?
Just a moment ago, they had been all smiles; as soon as they heard Luffy was a man, they drew their weapons!
"Are you ready?" Luffy suddenly asked.
Perona was stunned. "Ready for what?"
This is just an example of how someone who had recently joined and didn't know Luffy would struggle.
If it had been Nami, however, she would have quickly wrapped herself around him like an octopus.
Sure enough, the next moment, Luffy's arms rapidly extended. Like rubber cables, one wrapped around Perona's waist, who was floating beside him. The other arm extended and wrapped around Marguerite, who was closest and had not yet completely reacted.
"Let's dodge for a bit and find out from Marguerite what this country is all about!"
Luffy grinned. He put force into his legs.
Then, the women warriors of Amazon Lily saw Luffy leap up and jump directly down from the hundreds of meters high wall.
Down there was hell!
Jumping from a height of several hundred meters, anyone would be smashed to pieces!
"Why are you so serious? You're supposed to enjoy this kind of thing!"
Luffy laughed, with a kind of excitement that had no regard for the lives of others.
At this, Perona's screams nearly burst her own eardrums. "Fxxx you..."
She thought that scaring people on Thriller Bark had been thrilling enough. It turned out she just hadn't met Luffy yet.
If she had met Luffy earlier, she definitely wouldn't have scared people!
Luffy had actually driven Perona to repentance. Or at least, that's what Perona now believed.
She felt like a tied-up rag doll, with Luffy's rubber arm tightly around her waist, falling freely toward the ground at an accelerating speed.
Everything before her turned into blurry blocks of color and lines.
"L-Let me go! We'll die! We'll really die!"
Another in the same situation was Marguerite, whose face had already lost all its color.
Though she was a national protector of Amazon Lily and had undergone rigorous training, that training hadn't included jumping from a several hundred meters high city wall without any equipment!
The wind pressure nearly made it impossible for Marguerite to breathe. Her golden hair flew wildly backward. She could only clutch Luffy's arm instinctively.
The shrieks of the two women intertwined in the air.
"Wahooo~"
Luffy laughed cheerfully. He was still in pain, feeling like small knives were scraping his skin. But someone who can find joy in suffering has a different mindset.
When it came to willpower and perseverance,
he wasn't just boasting.
Perona felt like her soul was about to be scared out of her. Several translucent Negative Hollows indeed floated out of her mouth but were instantly blown away by the downdraft.
A few seconds later.
BOOM!
A dull impact. The ground was cratered. Dust flew.
Luffy landed steadily on slightly bent legs. His rubber body perfectly absorbed all the impact. He didn't even sway.
He released his arms. The two women he had been holding were not so lucky.
Perona collapsed to the ground with a thud, her eyes swirling. A small, spinning white ghost floated out of her mouth. She was completely knocked out.
After a long moment, the small ghost disappeared with a pop. She gasped, struggled to her feet, grabbed Luffy by the collar, and tearfully accused:
"Y-Y-You! Could you at least warn me next time?! My heart nearly jumped out of my chest!"
"I did warn you."
Luffy, looking innocent, clutched his straw hat, which had nearly been pulled off, and blinked. "Didn't I just ask you?"
That's what you call a warning?
Perona almost cried from frustration.
She suddenly developed an indescribable sense of empathy for the members of the Straw Hat crew she had only met briefly on Thriller Bark.
What kind of strong heart and ability to adapt must one have to follow such a captain, who could never be understood by common sense?
If the scary, big-breasted navigator she had mentioned were here, she would probably pat her on the shoulder with a worldly-wise sigh and say:
"When it's safe, being near the captain is the most dangerous."
Luffy looked at Marguerite, who was slumped on the ground, and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
"What do you think?!" Marguerite's legs were still trembling.
Did this man even know how high that was?
Even a Sea King, with its hard body, would die if it fell from that height.
Marguerite looked at Luffy as if he were a monster. "How can you ask that so calmly?"
She had really thought she was going to die a moment ago!
She touched her arms and legs, confirming they were still attached to her body. It was a miracle.
"Eh, eh. This kind of thing is very common." Luffy said cheerfully.
He wasn't lying.
Zoro and the others had a lot to say about this kind of thing.
If they had time, they could all exchange stories. Maybe they'd find some common ground.
"Now, to business."
Luffy slowly approached Marguerite. "I actually wanted to ask you something."
"Don't come any closer!"
Watching Luffy approach, Marguerite jolted. She quickly drew the short knife at her waist, its tip pointed at him, and said sharply, "Don't come near me!"
She stared intently at Luffy, recalling the unbelievable scene just now. Her mouth seemed to have turned on some kind of switch.
"Your hand just got longer, didn't it!
And you jumped from that height and you're completely unharmed. What's the matter with you?
No! Is your brain broken?! Why would you jump from that height?!"
Finally realizing it, she is practicaly shouted the last sentence.
Perona, standing nearby, slightly vigorously in deep empathy. Finally, someone understood her pain!
"You see, your countrymen seem to have some misunderstanding about us."
Luffy spread his hands and explained. "If we didn't run, and we started fighting, the casualties on your side would be too high."
"Our casualties?"
Marguerite found Luffy's words somewhat absurd. They were the kingdom's defenders, elite warriors.
But looking at the confident man before her, and the fact that he had just jumped from that height without injury, she suddenly didn't know how to retort.
"As for the stretching, it's because I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Don't you know about Devil Fruits?"
Luffy took two more steps closer.
"Don't come any closer!"
Marguerite nervously shook her short knife. "Men carry viruses! Is that Devil Fruit a pathogen?"
Perona pursed her lips.
She felt that these women's common sense seemed less than hers, and she had been a shut-in on Thriller Bark for years!
This country was really isolated.
"This seems like it will be complicated to explain."
Luffy scratched his head, but still emphasized seriously, "But I need to make one thing clear: Men do not carry viruses!"
"Then what's that thing down there?"
Marguerite's cheeks flushed slightly.
She didn't know if she should ask, but she asked anyway.
Even as a warrior, she was curious. Her gaze unconsciously glanced toward Luffy's crotch. She had noticed earlier that it was bulging there, completely different from them.
Beside them, Perona instantly covered her mouth, her eyes wide.
Are you serious?
***
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