vs. Boa Hancock

Mohji and Shuma quickly jumped out of Boa Hancock's beam of light and rushed to Buggy's side. Looking at the surrounding situation, they could roughly understand what had happened.

However, their behavior seemed quite strange to the Kuja Serpent Warriors.

"These two stinky men... how come they weren't petrified by Snake Princess's light beam...?"

"Could they be... women?"

"No, even women... have fallen madly in love with Snake Princess! What on earth is going on?!"

Even Boa Hancock, for a moment, doubted her own charm. Why were there people in this world who could remain unmoved by her abilities, and not just one person...?

"You foolish lot..."

In the blink of an eye, she regained her immense confidence, stretched out a finger, tilted her neck back, and instantly jerked her entire head back, declaring, "I am the most beautiful being!"

The Kuja Warrior's inner monologue. "It's here! The Snake Princess's pose when she's looking down on someone! She's so contemptuous that she's practically lying on her back!"

Buggy ignored Boa Hancock and looked at Mohji and Shuma with surprise. "You two are actually alright... It's normal that Shuma is alright, but Mohji, you weren't petrified after being hit by Mero Mero Mellow... Could it be that you don't like women and have fallen for men instead?"

Mohji's vision of Richie's head now focused on Buggy again. He quickly slapped his head to straighten his crossed eyes and explained, "Captain Buggy, I've undergone some arduous training lately, how could I be captivated by a mere woman!"

"Is that so..." Buggy looked ahead, "But she's not an ordinary woman, she's the Pirate Empress, one of the Shichibukai..."

"Oh... Ah!!" Mohji responded, his eyes widening as he stared at Boa Hancock, stammering, "Captain Buggy... This woman is... is the Pirate Empress... No wonder she's so beautiful!"

"Mohji, you're too excited... The Shichibukai are powerful, but we should broaden our horizons. Have you forgotten who guided your training during this time...?"

Reminded by Buggy, Mohji nodded in realization, "Oh right..."

"You lot... how dare you ignore me!" Boa Hancock was truly enraged this time. She was always the one who ignored others, and today she was being ignored by these unknown, smelly men. Her fragile, easily broken, and extremely arrogant and narcissistic mindset exploded instantly!

"Don't interfere."

Buggy instantly pushed Mohji and Shuma back, raised a foot, and collided with the oncoming Perfume Femur.

A powerful burst of energy instantly spread in all directions, causing the surrounding trees to rustle loudly!

"You wretched man, you have angered me. Now... I will personally execute you!" A shadow fell over Boa Hancock's forehead, and her stunningly beautiful eyes were filled with contempt and indifference.

"Just what I wanted!" Buggy flicked his trouser leg, and the stone chips covering it immediately fell off.

Boa Hancock's Perfume Femur has the ability to petrify anything, whether it's a living or non-living thing. Anyone hit by it will have their contact point turned into stone and shattered. However, not everyone who is hit will be petrified. The invisible Armament Haki can neutralize this Devil Fruit ability.

Buggy had just covered his legs with Armament Haki before he clashed with her. As soon as the kick landed, Buggy felt the opponent's formidable strength, perfect power and speed, and unfathomable Haki!

Seeing that Buggy had blocked her attack with his footwork, but his foot hadn't turned to stone, Boa Hancock's opinion of Buggy improved by one level. However, it was only a change from an arthropod to a slightly higher level reptile. She still wouldn't consider Buggy an equal opponent. She then gracefully spun in the air and delivered a follow-up kick.

Facing an opponent of Shichibukai caliber, Buggy's attitude was completely opposite to Boa Hancock's. He cautiously raised his right arm to block at his side, like an invisible barrier, to ward off Boa Hancock's kick. However, he was still knocked back a few steps by the Armament Haki on the opponent's leg.

As she forced Buggy back, Boa Hancock lightly touched her lips with her finger, creating a very delicate pink heart-shaped substance.

Life Return. Lightning Flash!

Buggy, who had been knocked back, suddenly shrank a size and then charged toward Boa Hancock. Both of his arms had turned black, and the air around them seemed to be distorted.

After Life Return and converting his power into speed, Buggy was already close to Boa Hancock, giving her no chance to use the Pistol Kiss, and quickly shot towards her abdomen.

This was the first time in her life that Boa Hancock's Pistol Kiss spell had been interrupted. Buggy's speed of movement was beyond her expectations, and she had to abandon the pink heart she had just made and instead raise her foot to block.

However, being the Pirate Empress, she was virtually unmatched even on the Grand Line. Her superb combat skills and rich experience not only prevented her from falling behind, but also allowed her to launch a swift counterattack while simultaneously raising her leg to block.

She braced herself with her hands on the ground, hanging upside down, and suddenly swept her other leg across, striking Buggy's shoulder with tremendous force. The entire right shoulder of the latter was instantly petrified and shattered, and countless stone fragments flew through the air from the shattered right shoulder!

Although she retaliated fiercely against Buggy, Boa Hancock sensed something was amiss and quickly rolled backward.

The scattered pebbles didn't fall to the ground; instead, they floated in mid-air. Then, the outer layer of stone cracked open, falling in a rustling sound, turning back into countless tiny bits of flesh, which then flew back to Buggy's right shoulder, where a gash had been kicked...

His body was completely intact once again!

Boa Hancock frowned at Buggy: "Devil Fruit User, right? Strange ability..."

Buggy rubbed his right shoulder. He knew Boa Hancock wasn't referring to his ability to regenerate his right shoulder, but rather the strange power he sensed during their clash.

After the Chop-Chop Fruit Awakening its power, it can not only split non-living objects in the outside world, but also "split" Armament Haki!

The split here is not just the literal meaning. Armament Haki is a latent power within the human body, forming its own cyclical system. It is consumed during combat, and the consumed Haki is continuously replenished from within the body. However, once the Haki in the body is depleted, it takes a certain amount of time to recover.

Using his splitting ability can split the invisible armor formed by Armament Haki. The Haki inside the attacked party will surge out and continuously repair this part of the armor on their body. In this case, Buggy's splitting ability will accelerate the consumption of the opponent's Armament Haki!

For example, if someone could normally fight using Armament Haki for an hour, but in a fight against Buggy, their Armament Haki might only last for 40 minutes... 30 minutes... or even less. Of course, this also depends entirely on the intensity of the battle and the extent to which Buggy has developed his Devil Fruit ability.

After exchanging blows with Buggy, Boa Hancock, who was adept at using Haki, naturally noticed that her Haki "stockpile" was running low. Although she had previously looked down on Buggy, at this moment, she began to subtly take this strange man who had suddenly barged into the Calm Belt seriously.