"Okay, what are you thinking?" Shin tapped Charlotte Pudding on the head.
"If I were really the greedy type, would you still trust me? Aren't you afraid that I might betray you and sell you as a slave one day?"
"You wouldn't sell me out." Charlotte Pudding stuck out her tongue. "I was just saying that—I didn't actually want to steal their golden bell."
"By the way, Captain, now that you've got your Rumble-Rumble Fruit, where are we heading next?"
Shin squinted his eyes and thought for a moment. "To Amazon Lily. I remember there are two Zoan-type Snake-Snake Fruit users there."
"Amazon Lily? Boa Hancock's territory?" Charlotte Pudding asked. "Could it be that Captain wants to see the so-called most beautiful woman in the world?"
To Charlotte Pudding and her Big Mom Pirates, the title of "Pirate Empress" meant nothing. In their eyes, there was only one true empress in the pirate world—Charlotte Linlin.
So naturally, Charlotte Pudding had never acknowledged Boa Hancock's title and never referred to her as an empress.
Shin rolled his eyes. "Honestly, with so many people suffering from face blindness in this world, how did Boa Hancock end up as the universally acknowledged number one beauty?"
The world of One Piece not only had a high rate of face blindness but also some truly bizarre aesthetic standards.
Just thinking about Charlotte Linlin's many husbands—who came from every race imaginable—made it clear that Big Mom never discriminated.
And her daughters? While some were indeed beautiful, others had... unique appearances. Yet many of them had found true love, proving that One Piece's world aesthetics were incredibly diverse.
Even so, the fact that nearly everyone in the world regarded Boa Hancock as the most beautiful woman was baffling to Shin. When had the world's beauty standards become so uniform?
"I don't know much about that. But she is really pretty," Charlotte Pudding admitted, a bit stumped by the question.
'Could it be the effect of the Love-Love Fruit?' Shin wondered.
It wasn't an entirely baseless thought. Boa Hancock's Devil Fruit abilities were absurdly powerful—who knew if even he could resist them?
If the Love-Love Fruit was the primary reason behind her charm, then that would be good news. As everyone knew, Devil Fruit's powers had their limitations. If it was the fruit's ability that made her so enchanting, then a strong enough Haki user should be able to resist its effects.
But if Boa Hancock's natural beauty was the main factor and the Love-Love Fruit only enhanced it, then resisting its power through sheer will alone would be much harder.
People in this world were simple-minded. There were those who were obsessed with women, those who were indifferent, and even many who didn't conform to traditional gender norms. Yet, nearly every man and woman who faced Boa Hancock ended up petrified by her charm.
Shin was pragmatic, but he wasn't immune to attraction. If Haki couldn't counteract the Love-Love Fruit's effects, then he might actually find himself in serious trouble when confronting her.
And as for whether he'd end up clashing with Boa Hancock... well, knowing her personality, a conflict was practically guaranteed.
After all, she was an arrogant narcissist, and Shin doubted they'd get along.
Her two younger sisters probably didn't care much about their Snake-Snake Fruits. After all, they were force-fed the fruits by the Celestial Dragons for amusement. Boa Hancock was lucky to have eaten the Love-Love Fruit, but her sisters' Zoan fruits weren't particularly powerful.
Normally, if Shin wanted to extract the Devil Fruits from them, the sisters might actually agree.
Of course, "normal" didn't apply to Amazon Lily. The island was full of warriors, and Boa Hancock was famously eccentric. A battle was almost inevitable.
Amazon Lily was located in the Calm Belt, making it nearly impossible to reach through conventional means.
However, with all the advanced technology scattered across the One Piece world, the Calm Belt only posed a challenge for regular sailboats.
The real threat came from the enormous Sea Kings that lurked beneath its waters.
After their journey to Skypiea, Shin made modifications to the Azure Dragon using parts salvaged from Enel's Ark Maxim.
Enel had chosen gold as his primary building material purely for style. In reality, aside from a few internal circuits and electrical components, most of the ship could have been made from wood.
Shin dismantled the golden ship's engines and propulsion systems and installed them on the Azure Dragon, giving his ship the ability to fly.
Although the flight system relied on electricity, it at least meant that Shin no longer had to manually lift the ship through difficult waters.
High above, Violet scanned the surroundings, directing the ship forward with her enhanced vision. Thanks to her ability, they never needed a Log Pose.
This time was no different. There was no Log Pose leading to Amazon Lily—only a vague idea of its location. But with Violet's eyes, finding the island was simple.
"That should be Amazon Lily," Shin said, pointing ahead.
"Yes, that's the place!" Violet confirmed. "But I don't see Hancock or her sisters there."
"That's normal. Amazon Lily is a nation of warriors, and as their ruler, Hancock spends most of her time plundering other ships."
"Speaking of which, Hancock is the only Warlord who actually engages in traditional piracy."
Crocodile had tried to establish a kingdom. Doflamingo was the ruler of Dressrosa and a powerful underworld boss. Kuma was a secret revolutionary and a test subject for Vegapunk. Jinbei only joined for the protection of Fishman Island. Mihawk was a lone warrior who sought out worthy opponents.
None of them engaged in petty piracy. The so-called privilege of the Seven Warlords to plunder freely was meaningless to them.
Only two people truly acted like pirates—Moria and Hancock. Even then, Moria mostly preyed on other pirates. Hancock was the only one who actively plundered merchant ships.
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