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[Chapter Cover Serial: Big News 9: “Scared to Death—Wait, No!—Actually Scared to Death!!!”]
[Grand Line, Momoiro Island. Ivankov, in his female form, elegantly sips wine. While flipping through the newspaper, his eyes bulge in shock, and a mouthful of wine sprays out.]
—
Even Cosmos, a well-trained national guard warrior, found her limbs stiff and hard to move at that moment.
The young girls, being far less capable, all rolled their eyes back simultaneously. Some even foamed at the mouth and passed out completely. Only Sandersonia and Marigold, who had anticipated something, clung to each other, trembling under their elder sister’s terrifying presence. They barely managed to keep their composure and avoided fainting.
Hancock glanced around at the scattered training grounds and said in surprise, “Oh my, I heard how interested you all were, so I thought it might be nice for you to personally experience Haoshoku Haki… Did I do something wrong?”
From somewhere nearby, a voice emerged from the Den Den Mushi hidden among the trees, “The righteous light…”
—
Two weeks had passed in the blink of an eye since Liam and Robin began their covert operation in Kuja City.
Inside the Den Den Mushi’s City Fortress, Liam, whose head was tightly wrapped in layers of Flower-Flower Fruit arms, was nimbly dodging the attacks coming from all directions—floor, ceiling, and walls alike.
To keep up with Liam’s movements, Robin was working quite hard to control her multitude of arms. Fortunately, being a prodigy who earned her doctorate in history at the age of eight— and now around ten years old— Robin’s mental faculties were even sharper. Multi-tasking to control all the arms was not too difficult for her.
After a while of practice, a slight sheen of sweat appeared on Robin’s forehead as she dispelled all her arms, letting them dissolve into falling petals.
Liam caught one of the falling petals and held it in his palm.
“How’s it going?” Robin asked.
“Sigh…” Liam wore a melancholic expression. “What kind of training is this? I still haven’t awakened Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), but my sense of smell keeps getting sharper…”
It wasn’t just his sense of smell.
This method of training—where he was blindfolded, with his ears and nose blocked—had also heightened his sense of hearing.
It felt as if…
“Is this like mastering the seventh technique of Rokushiki—’Heaven and Earth, Infinite Pursuit’?”
For the first time, Liam felt a bit frustrated with his natural talent for Life Return. The effect was so overwhelming that he couldn’t seem to develop any other skills.
When Liam’s five senses were obstructed, it actually triggered his body’s potential, enhancing the very senses being blocked. Liam seriously suspected that if he kept training like this, he might somehow develop x-ray vision!
If you can train your body to become impervious to swords and bullets, if you can train your legs to walk on air and even perform flying slashes…
Why can’t I train my eyes to see through everything?
If not x-ray vision, infrared sight could work too, right?
Robin was a bit baffled after hearing his brief explanation of his current state.
After two weeks of training and countless attempts, Robin had already realized that she wasn’t cut out for martial arts… It was unlikely she’d be able to develop Haki on her own.
Liam comforted her afterward (though Robin didn’t think she needed it), telling her that once he mastered Haki, he could use his ghost ability to attach it to her, allowing her to experience Haki firsthand, which would naturally help her train her own. But now, even Liam was stuck, unable to awaken Haki. What should they do?
“So what now?” Robin asked, half-expecting that Liam might give up on Haki altogether and instead fully commit to the Life Return path he had mentioned. Was he planning to go all-in on that?
“What now?”
Liam pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket. It was the letter of introduction Crocus had written for Rayleigh.
He glanced at it briefly before tucking it back into his pocket.
“Well, if the direct path doesn’t work, we’ll just take a detour…”
Before long, in the dead of night, the Den Den Mushi turned a lead-gray color as it crawled up the wall of Kuja City.
With the Shiro Shiro no Mi (Castle-Castle Fruit), its body transformed, deploying tank-like treads beneath it. The speed at which it climbed was astonishing. It quickly reached over a hundred meters high, flipped around, and swiftly began descending the outer wall.
…
Kuja City Palace, where the National Guard soldiers brought the three Hancock sisters.
The green-haired second sister and the orange-haired third sister were both starving. Faced with the lavish feast prepared by Snake Princess, they couldn’t resist and began devouring it as if there was no tomorrow.
It wasn’t that they didn’t respect Snake Princess, but rather, they felt that their own big sister’s aura wasn’t much weaker than the Snake Princess’s. After getting used to their big sister’s presence, the Snake Princess didn’t seem all that intimidating anymore.
The two girls exchanged guilty glances as they ate, silently ashamed of their inner thoughts.
Hancock, meanwhile, held a fruit, took a bite, and tossed the rest to her beloved snake, Salome, to devour.
With a gentle smile, the Snake Princess asked, “Hancock, when did you awaken your Haoshoku Haki?”
“Oh, that…” Hancock thought for a moment and then replied with a sweet smile, “I’ve long forgotten about such a trivial thing!”
“Nonsense!” The elderly woman, who could no longer hold back, scolded. “Haoshoku Haki usually erupts during moments of extreme emotion. How could you forget something like that?”
Hancock’s eyes reddened as if she were about to cry. With a pitiful expression, she said, “But… but I really forgot…”
Even though they knew she was acting, Hancock still looked adorable… Snake Princess couldn’t help but stroke Hancock’s soft, smooth face. She mused, “It seems you’re the type to naturally awaken Haoshoku Haki… Hancock, you may very well become the most beautiful and strongest warrior in Amazon Lily’s history.”
“What else would you expect?” Hancock asked with a puzzled expression.
Both the Elder and the Snake Princess were momentarily stunned.
Suddenly, they had the distinct feeling that some people are born with an innate grandeur.
Meanwhile, the green-haired second sister and the orange-haired third sister were still focused on their food. They knew all too well that in their big sister’s heart, she naturally saw herself as the next Empress of Kuja.
And they wholeheartedly agreed.
—
In the deep, quiet forests of Kuja Island at night…
The Den Den Mushi, like a miniature tank, joyfully raced through the trees.
From the left eye portal, Liam sat upright, gazing at the forested night ahead.
From the right eye portal, Robin, wrapped in a blanket, nodded off, her head bobbing as she drifted in and out of sleep.
Suddenly, a dark figure sensed their approach and rushed toward them at great speed.
“Wait for me!”
Liam raised his hand from behind the left eye of the Den Den Mushi, righteously commanding the oncoming dark armor to stop. The figure halted just in front of the green Den Den Mushi.
“Go find more food,” Liam suspiciously eyed his glowing white-eyed, white-chested Stand in the night.
After two weeks of roaming free, had this guy caused any trouble?
B.I.B. nodded silently and led the Den Den Mushi to a certain spot, where Liam discovered a small mountain of animal and sea beast corpses, along with various fruits from the surrounding forest.
Judging by the freshness of the animals and sea beasts, they hadn’t been dead for more than a day.
Robin had already been awakened by Liam’s exclamation of “Wait for me!” Rubbing her eyes, she vaguely saw the food pile.
With her sharp mind, she immediately guessed who was behind it.
Liam’s ghost had gathered all this food…
Could it be…
Robin looked to the side, just in time to see Liam jump out of the left eye of the Den Den Mushi.
“Looks like you’ve been busy,” She heard Liam say with a relaxed chuckle from the dark night, “Alright, I’ll eat.”
—
As dawn broke, with the distant black sea of the Calm Belt tinged with light, Robin poked Liam’s arm as he lay on the ground.
From a place Robin couldn’t see, a black-armored figure—one that overlapped with Liam—sat up as if its soul had left its body, floating away.
However, unlike before, the figure was now a “headless knight.”
B.I.B.’s helmet remained firmly on Liam’s head.
Liam spoke to the helmet on his face, “Well then, let’s begin.”
The glowing eyes on the helmet flashed, and nearby, the headless B.I.B. drew a medium-sized circle on the ground with its foot before standing silently inside it.
…
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