Heading for: A slave ship

The other Kuja Pirate Women talked over one another, but their hands never hesitated. They drew the longbows their pet snakes had turned into by stretching their bodies taut, nocking arrows to the strings at once.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Four ordinary wooden arrows with iron tips flew straight at Ruidio as he dodged.

A pirate crew whose members were all Haki users was impressive!

Ruidio pushed off and vanished from the spot with a whoosh. Wreathed in invisible energy, the four arrows crossed paths and struck two petrified pirates behind him. Bang, bang, bang, bang! They blasted both statues to pieces.

The Observation Haki of the woman with her hair in a bun, who had first noticed Ruidio, suddenly alerted her. She spun and drove an elbow backward, only for the man who had appeared behind her to catch it with a bang.

Ruidio's hand went numb from the impact. After fighting Ace all day, his whole body was still a little sore, but he smiled and said, "So this is Haki? Doesn't seem like much!"

He seized the woman's arm and twisted it behind her back.

Rindou winced in pain, then nimbly twisted around and kicked at Ruidio's crotch.

Bang!

Ruidio kicked her incoming foot, sending it rebounding into a female companion who was coming to help and knocking her flying.

At the same time, Ruidio pulled Rindou up by the arm and swung her into two other Kuja pirates. Together, they crashed into a heap of treasure chests the women had been carrying, spilling jewels and grain across the ground with a clatter.

Whoosh!

The only other caped warrior still standing raised her snake bow and fired another arrow wreathed in Armament Haki at Ruidio.

That was close!

Ruidio narrowly dodged it and used Silent Soru, appearing before the archer in an instant. As she stared in shock, he planted a palm on her face and knocked her head over heels to the ground.

In just a few exchanges, all five women were down.

"All right, everyone, stop fighting!"

Ruidio stood in the middle with both hands raised, looking around at the scantily clad Kuja pirates sprawled across the ground. "Listen to me. I'm not with those petrified pirates."

"You..."

"Shouldn't you have said that to begin with?!"

Rindou, the warrior with her hair in a bun, helped two companions to their feet. The last pirate woman Ruidio had knocked down covered the handprint on her face and spoke indignantly.

"He's really strong, even though he's a man!" another pirate woman said admiringly, clutching the stomach he had kicked.

The Kuja considered strength beautiful. This man from the outside seas had subdued them with clean efficiency, and she thought more highly of him for it.

Ruidio smiled. "You know how to use Haki, but you're not all that strong!"

With a cigarette between her lips and her coat hanging open, Rindou made no attempt to conceal the curves of her chest. A short cannon hung at her waist. She said coolly, "Haki and physical strength are two different things to begin with. Don't you even know that? Man, you say you're not with these pirates, so who are you?"

"Me..."

Ruidio thought for a moment. "I'm a psychologist. I'm here to treat your Snake Princess's psychological problems!"

This man was crazy. He had actually said the perfect Lady Snake Princess had psychological problems.

But he was strong, so he was right.

Rindou and the others exchanged glances and nodded. Turning around, she said, "Come on. But we can't promise Lady Snake Princess will agree to see you."

Ruidio followed them in the direction the petrified sunflowers were facing.

The Kuja Pirates' red ship, the Perfume Yuda, was anchored by the shore. Two enormous sea snakes were tethered to its bow. Rindou went ahead, and one of the snakes lowered its head. She leaped onto it and boarded the deck, soon disappearing from sight.

In the distance, the blood-red setting sun sank below the horizon.

After a while, three figures emerged onto the deck. The two on either side were enormous, while the one in the middle was tall and slender, with long, flowing hair. Silhouetted against the orange-yellow sunset, she leaped down, her cape fluttering in the evening air, and landed in her high heels atop the giant sea snake's head.

"Man, stay right there," she said coolly.

Backlit, her face was indistinct. Only her beautiful eyes could be seen looking down coldly. She formed a heart with her hands and aimed it at Ruidio and the four Kuja pirates who had brought him. Wave after wave of pink heart-shaped light flew from her palms, quickly passing through all five of them.

The four warriors beside Ruidio looked up at the beautiful figure on the bow, hearts appearing in their eyes as they turned to stone on the spot.

"I wasn't wrong when I said you had a problem, was I?"

Ruidio's white hair fluttered as his brilliant blue eyes turned toward the Pirate Empress. Thin wisps of hot steam hissed from his body as he strode toward her.

Why hadn't he turned to stone?!

Heads bobbed among the pirate women gathered around the Kuja Pirate Ship as they gasped and whispered.

Boa Hancock refused to believe it. She formed another heart with her hands and once again unleashed the power of the Love-Love Fruit—

"Mero Mero Mellow!"

The pink wave struck Ruidio squarely, but when it touched the protective barrier created by Limitless around his body, it stopped, unable to advance another inch.

[Satoru Gojo Mode remaining: 53 seconds]

Ruidio was unharmed and continued forward without slowing, causing another uproar aboard the ship.

The towering figures on either side of Hancock jumped down, landing with two heavy thuds. They instantly transformed, one into a giant humanoid python with green hair, the other into a fierce king cobra with yellow hair, and attacked Ruidio from both sides.

Bang, bang!

With a light punch, Ruidio sent them flying almost simultaneously. Then his feet left the ground, and he floated straight toward the Kuja Pirate Ship's bow. The two enormous sea snakes were so startled their eyes nearly popped out.

[Satoru Gojo Mode remaining: 40 seconds]

"Boa Hancock,"

Ruidio floated in midair, his eyes so blue they seemed to glow as he looked down at the Pirate Empress's darkened face on the bow. "Deep in your heart is a wound that can't heal, and it's still bleeding."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A dense rain of arrows flew at Ruidio from the deck, each one wreathed in Armament Haki powerful enough to shatter stone and split monuments. Yet every arrow stopped a few centimeters from his body.

[Satoru Gojo Mode remaining: 20 seconds]

Ruidio pressed a finger downward, and an invisible attractive force actually dragged the entire pirate ship forward with a scraping hiss. Ruidio floated down to stand before the Pirate Empress.

"Perfume Femur!"

Hancock launched a high kick that clearly struck Ruidio, yet the kick, imbued with the Love-Love Fruit's petrifying power, strangely failed to touch his body.

[Satoru Gojo Mode remaining: 8 seconds]

What kind of power was this?

The Pirate Empress wreathed her foot in Armament Haki and spun into another kick at Ruidio, but the result was the same. He neither dodged nor defended himself, yet her kick simply could not make contact with his body.

"You have a problem in your heart. Can't you feel it?" the white-haired, blue-eyed man said.

Hancock said nothing and continued attacking, but Ruidio kept teleporting, evading her with ease. Finally, he pointed behind her. An invisible attractive force pulled Hancock backward, sending her flying across the entire deck and slamming her hard against the cabin's outer wall.

[Satoru Gojo Mode remaining: 1 second]

Ruidio strode toward Hancock. The Kuja pirates on the deck could no longer hold back. Some drew their snake bows, while others drew blades and swords, attacking Ruidio from both sides.

"Domain Expansion..."

Ruidio formed a hand sign with one hand. "Unlimited Void."

A domain barrier resembling a starry cosmos spread across the entire deck in 0.2 seconds, then vanished just as quickly. It was almost a sweep, but every Kuja pirate attacking Ruidio froze mid-motion, their eyes vacant as they stood rooted to the spot.

Hancock had just been glaring hatefully at Ruidio from in front of the cabin, but after the power of Unlimited Void swept over her, her eyes likewise lost their light in an instant.

"Branded warrior, if you're sick, you need treatment."

Ruidio's white hair faded as he ended Satoru Gojo Mode. He walked toward the Pirate Empress, pressed a hand to her chest, and smiled. "Keep bottling it up inside, and it's easy for your mind to become twisted. Don't you agree?"

[Task accepted]

[Name: Boa Hancock]

[Overall strength: ★★★★★]

"..."

At his touch, Hancock shuddered and came to her senses. Anger, terror, and pain mingled in her beautiful eyes as she said coldly, "Just what do you know?!"

Chapter 51: Heading for: A slave ship

[Cover serial: Executive vice president Miss All Sunday 1 — "Farewell"]

[One month after Ruidio's departure, King Cobra and Princess Vivi see Olvia and Robin off at the port of Alabasta. Close-cropped Clover peeks out from nearby, smiling and waving.]

I know plenty.

Ruidio gave Hancock a gentle push and turned away. "Anyway, go back and give it some thought. I hope you'll cooperate with the treatment the next time I come to see you."

Goodbye, Revolutionary Army. I've found an even better Haki instructor.

"You think you can just leave like that?!"

Hancock gritted her teeth and touched an index finger to her red lips. She blew a pink heart-shaped mass of energy and aimed it at Ruidio like a pistol—

Ruidio looked back and smiled at her, then vanished into thin air.

"..."

The Pistol Kiss poised at Lady Snake Princess's fingertip gradually dissipated. She stood there in a daze, the sea breeze gently lifting her long, smooth black hair, her thoughts in turmoil.

Does he really know my secret? But how could that be... Could he be one of those Celestial Dragons? Did he... recognize me?!

Hancock's heart filled with shame, inferiority, anger, and deep fear. She looked blankly at her Kuja Pirates subordinates on the deck, her own subjects...

She had expected to see the strange looks she feared, but instead, they were all standing there in a daze, still holding their drawn blades and raised bows. Their eyes were vacant and unfocused, as though they had fallen into a dream.

Hancock suddenly realized that before she had come to her senses, she had been just like them!

Her thoughts had stopped, her mind defenseless! She had been completely unaware of the outside world!

That white-haired, blue-eyed man did this...

Hancock stood in silence for a moment, then leaped from the bow and landed on the shore.

"Sister!"

"Are you all right?!"

Her green-haired second sister, Sandersonia, and yellow-haired third sister, Marigold, who had been easily knocked flying by that blue-haired, white-eyed man, finally hurried back.

"That man was so strong! Sister, where is he?" Sandersonia looked up at the Perfume Yuda.

Marigold turned toward the four petrified Kuja warriors and said in disbelief, "That man wasn't turned to stone! Could he have seen your beauty, Sister, without having a single impure thought? That's absolutely impossible!"

Anyone who harbored impure thoughts would certainly be turned to stone by Mero Mero Mellow.

But what counted as harboring impure thoughts?

When someone was as beautiful as Boa Hancock, a man committed a sin just by turning to look at her!

The same went for women.

Sandersonia analyzed the situation calmly. "Maybe the light was bad just now, and you were standing too high up, Sister. He couldn't see what you looked like clearly."

Marigold disagreed. "Are you saying the allure of Sister's silhouette alone isn't enough to captivate one mere man?"