"We choose to join the pirate faction!" The wavy-haired woman made her decision in her mind.
At this moment, less than thirty seconds remained before the half-hour deadline.
[Faction selection successful. The Reincarnator squad must reach Marine Headquarters, Marineford, within seven days. Failure to arrive before the Summit War will result in complete squad erasure.]
The emotionless mechanical female voice echoed in everyone's mind, causing their expressions to become even more tense.
"Ah... seriously? There's a time limit too? We don't even know where Marine Headquarters is! What if we're too far away?" The short-haired woman in her twenties complained, looking frustrated.
Two other team members shared her concern, but the rest, including the wavy-haired woman, remained unfazed.
The wavy-haired woman reassured them, "No need to worry. Since the Lord God Space placed us on this island, it means we're not too far from Marine Headquarters. Seven days should be enough to reach it. Plus, we have the Eternal Pose to guide us, so I don't think this will be an issue."
"Hmm, that makes sense. Otherwise, there'd be no point in us even attempting this mission—erasing us right away would be much simpler."
"Exactly. Who knows? We might not even need the full seven days to get there, which would give us extra time to prepare."
"Still, to avoid unexpected delays during the voyage, we should set sail immediately. If we're lucky, we might find an inhabited island along the way where we can buy a map to confirm our exact distance from Marine Headquarters."
As they discussed their plan, the wavy-haired woman summoned the sturdy sailing ship gifted by the Lord God Space and placed it into the sea.
Without wasting another moment, the squad quickly boarded the ship. The vessel was more than spacious enough for ten people. After a brief familiarization with the ship's controls, they set sail in the direction indicated by the Eternal Pose.
At the same time, across nine other islands, the Reincarnator squads that had chosen their factions also set off, each navigating a different route toward Marine Headquarters with the ships provided by the Lord God Space.
Without exception, every squad leader was at Level 2, Stage 9—comparable in power to a Marine Admiral. Even if the Admirals were slightly stronger, the difference wouldn't be overwhelming.
With ten squads in play, this meant that ten Admiral-level combatants had just entered the battlefield.
It was easy to imagine the chaos that would erupt in the coming seven days around Sabaody Archipelago and the seas near Marineford.
...
"Interesting... so a hundred Reincarnators arrived all at once? It seems the Summit War is quite the attraction for them." Eriri chuckled softly.
She had just used her consciousness to scan the entire One Piece world and pinpointed the locations of all the newly arrived Reincarnators.
By eavesdropping on their conversations, she had also learned the specifics of their mission.
"Hmm?"
After finishing the newspaper, Arifureta was momentarily stunned by Eriri's abrupt statement, but she quickly reacted.
"Eriri, has the One Piece world been chosen as a Reincarnation World?" Arifureta asked in surprise.
"That's right. Just half an hour ago, a hundred Reincarnators arrived in this world," Eriri nodded.
"A hundred Reincarnators?" Arifureta's face lit up with excitement. "Isn't that a walking ten billion points?!"
"You're not wrong. A hundred Lord God fragments are indeed worth ten billion points, but we can't just slaughter them indiscriminately," Eriri replied with a light chuckle.
She wasn't exaggerating. In previous encounters with Reincarnators, they had only dealt with the truly evil ones. For example, in the Attack on Titan world, Eriri had spared more than half of the Reincarnator squad they had come across.
And now, with a hundred Reincarnators arriving in the One Piece world, it was unlikely that every single one of them was a cruel and ruthless killer.
Just as there were good and bad people among ordinary individuals, the same held true for Reincarnators.
"Of course! I never said we should just harvest them all," Arifureta playfully rolled her eyes at Eriri.
At the same time, in Eriri's mind, the voice of a white-haired loli in the form of a holographic interface, Little Skirt, spoke up again.
"Onee-sama, should we issue a group mission?" Little Skirt asked.
Normally, the moment Reincarnators appeared, Little Skirt would automatically post a mission in the chat group.
But now, Eriri's commands took precedence over everything else. Even mission postings required her approval.
Just like back in the Attack on Titan world, even when a Reincarnator squad appeared, Little Skirt hadn't issued a task.
After a moment's thought, Eriri decided against it. She wanted to observe how the Reincarnators would behave during the Summit War first.
Besides, there was still a whole week before the war began. Issuing a seven-day mission didn't seem practical.
So, she responded to Little Skirt telepathically, "Forget it. No need to issue a task this time."
"Okay, got it~" Little Skirt replied in a sweet voice.
After finishing her conversation with Little Skirt, Arifureta, who had been watching from the side, brought up the same question.
"By the way, Eriri, why hasn't the chat group posted a mission yet? The Reincarnators have been here for half an hour already," Arifureta asked, slightly puzzled.
She knew Little Skirt was directly linked to Eriri, so asking Eriri was the same as asking Little Skirt.
This situation was different from their time in Attack on Titan. Back then, Eriri had only been accompanied by Antilene and Kohina, so no other group members had been aware that she had taken down three Reincarnators.
But now, with Arifureta present, as a group leader, she had to consider the chat group's overall dynamics—even if her position in the group ranked second only to Eriri's.
"No need for a mission. Once those Reincarnators start dying in the Summit War, we'll just collect the Lord God fragments. Then, we'll distribute the points among the girls in the group," Eriri said with a smile.
Arifureta nodded. She had no objections to Eriri's decision, but Eriri's words piqued her curiosity.
"Eriri, do you already know what mission those Reincarnators received?" she asked.
"That's right," Eriri confirmed.
Over the next few moments, she shared everything she had learned with Arifureta.
When Arifureta heard that the ten Reincarnator squads would be splitting into two factions to participate in the Summit War, her interest was immediately piqued.
Even if Eriri and the others didn't intervene, the war itself had already become an unpredictable mess due to the Reincarnators' interference.
Time soon passed into the afternoon, and the Voyage continued its aimless navigation through the Calm Belt.
Over the past two days, the Voyage had passed by several islands. Some were desolate and devoid of life, while others were inhabited only by wild beasts. However, they had yet to come across a single island with human inhabitants.
Not only that, but during these two days in the Calm Belt, they had not encountered a single ship.
Only specially constructed vessels or ships pulled by sea beasts could traverse the Calm Belt.
Apart from the Navy, only a handful of pirate crews possessed the means to navigate these treacherous waters.
Thus, it was not unusual to go for extended periods without encountering other ships in the Calm Belt.
However, now Eriri and her group had finally spotted ships—not just one, but two.
About ten kilometers ahead, two vessels of vastly different sizes were stationary on the sea.
The larger vessel bore the Navy's insignia, indicating that it was a specially designed warship capable of traversing the Calm Belt. The deck was filled with uniformed marines, all wearing white caps.
The smaller vessel, by contrast, was a striking red and black ship. Its prow featured two enormous sea serpents, clearly indicating that the ship was being dragged through the Calm Belt by these creatures.
Despite its differences from the Voyage, this red ship had one notable similarity—it was crewed entirely by women.
However, unlike Eriri's group, which consisted entirely of beautiful young girls and adorable lolis, the women aboard this ship had an incredibly diverse range of appearances.
Some were as muscular as men, others were round like spheres, and some were diminutive, resembling dwarves.
Only a few among them had normal physiques or could be considered cute.
Yet, one woman stood out from them all, a true peerless beauty—the one known as the most beautiful woman in the One Piece world, the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock.
This red ship was none other than the Kuja Pirates' flagship, led by Boa Hancock herself.
About three kilometers away from the two ships was an island bearing the large inscription "Kuja", marking it as Amazon Lily, the island ruled by Boa Hancock.
A nation inhabited solely by women.
For this reason, the island was often referred to as the "Daughter Island."
At this moment, a Navy officer draped in a "Justice" cape, wielding a long sword, stood at the forefront of the warship, facing off against Hancock, who stood regally atop one of the sea serpents.
The atmosphere between them, however, was not one of impending battle but rather a deadlock—neither side was making a move.
Behind the naval officer, all the marines stood mesmerized, their eyes filled with infatuation as they gazed at the breathtaking Boa Hancock.
Thanks to her Love-Love Fruit (Mero Mero no Mi), Boa Hancock's charisma was greatly amplified, allowing her to captivate people of all ages and genders, unless they had exceptionally strong willpower to resist.
Clearly, these marines did not possess such willpower.
At that moment, a loud voice suddenly rang out from the Kuja Pirates' ship:
"Big sister! There's an unmarked, sail-less ship approaching us from afar!"
Her shout immediately drew the attention of both the Navy officer and Boa Hancock, as well as Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold, who stood behind Hancock.
This area was close to Amazon Lily and lay deep within the Calm Belt, a region teeming with massive Sea Kings.
Due to the agreement between the Navy and Hancock, outsiders rarely ventured here.
Even the Navy's presence here today was solely for the purpose of inviting Boa Hancock, as a Warlord of the Sea, to Marineford—to participate in the war against the Whitebeard Pirates seven days later.
"This conversation is over. We will not be participating in this battle."
Due to the presence of an unknown intruder, Boa Hancock had lost all interest in further negotiations with the Marine Vice Admiral Yamakaji.
"Big sister, I think I've seen that ship somewhere before," Boa Sandersonia murmured, watching as the approaching Voyage drew closer.
However, before she could fully recall where, Vice Admiral Yamakaji suddenly shouted in alarm from the Marine warship:
"All hands, prepare to set sail immediately! We are leaving this sea at once!"
The composure he had displayed while speaking with Hancock vanished entirely, replaced by sheer urgency and panic.
Unlike Sandersonia, Yamakaji clearly remembered the Voyage and its passengers.
He had seen Admiral Kizaru's miserable state firsthand and was well aware that neither he nor the entire crew aboard this warship stood a chance against that ship's occupants.
In his mind, staying any longer meant only one thing—certain death.
Because of the bounty issued against Eriri, Fleet Admiral Sengoku was deeply concerned that she might retaliate against the Navy.
As a result, the Navy had established a strict order:
"If any Marine warship lacking Admiral-level protection encounters Eriri's group, it must immediately flee at full speed to prevent unnecessary casualties."
Thus, at that moment, Yamakaji abandoned his mission to recruit Hancock, leading the Marines in a hasty retreat from the area.
...
The sudden withdrawal of the Marine warship stunned Hancock, leaving her both surprised and slightly annoyed.
She had originally planned to seize all the supplies aboard the warship, confident that her irresistible charm would prevent the Marines from resisting her demands.
But before she could act, the ship turned tail and fled, dashing her hopes entirely.
At the same time, Sandersonia's mind finally pieced everything together.
"Big sister, I remember now!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I saw this ship in today's newspaper!"
Hancock's expression shifted slightly.
"Today's newspaper?"
She had read the morning's news as well, and it had thrilled her for hours. However, her focus had been entirely on the major headlines, and she hadn't paid attention to any ship-related details.
But now, seeing her sister's excitement, an idea formed in her mind—one that made her heart race faster.
"That's right!" Sandersonia confirmed. "This uniquely designed sail-less ship belongs to the very same mysterious girl who killed a Celestial Dragon, defeated Marine Admiral Kizaru, and received an unprecedented first bounty of 2 billion Berries!"
Sandersonia's words instantly validated Hancock's suspicions, and an intense wave of excitement surged through her.
However, with so many of her subordinates present, she forcefully suppressed her emotions, keeping her expression composed.
...
After reading the entire news report about Eriri, Hancock had been overwhelmed with admiration for her.
She had even considered setting sail on the Kuja Pirates' ship in search of the Voyage.
However, as the Captain of the Kuja Pirates and the Empress of Amazon Lily, her duties and responsibilities had forced her to restrain her impulse.
But never in her wildest dreams did she expect that the very person she admired would appear before her on her own shores.
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