Marine Headquarters' Action (No Tickets?)

Three months earlier.

Hancock and the Kuja Pirates had returned from an expedition.

But on their voyage back...

The three Hancock sisters unexpectedly learned that Fisher Tiger, who would later form the Sun Pirates, had been ambushed and gravely wounded by Marine Rear Admiral Strawberry, who had been lying in wait when Fisher Tiger escorted a child named Koala back to her hometown not long ago.

Although Fisher Tiger managed to escape in the end, he succumbed to his injuries.

This caused the three Hancock sisters to completely lose their reason.

They began to hate Rear Admiral Strawberry, the Marine who had ambushed Fisher Tiger, to the bone.

For no other reason.

Fisher Tiger was the savior of the three sisters—a hero of the sea they would never forget, someone worthy of their lifelong gratitude and respect.

The three Hancock sisters were of one mind on this matter. They sailed the Kuja ship back into the Grand Line, intending to intercept that rear admiral on his way through the New World back to Marine Headquarters.

At the time, even old Granny Zami could not stop the Hancock sisters' impulsiveness, no matter how she threatened to harm herself.

In short, the three Hancock sisters swore to eliminate that detestable Marine rear admiral, avenge Fisher Tiger, and make him bear the brunt of their fury!

And so, one week later.

Near an island on the route to the New World, they successfully intercepted Rear Admiral Strawberry.

The two sides immediately clashed and engaged in a fierce battle.

In the end, Boa Hancock, consumed by rage, awakened her Conqueror's Haki during the battle and turned the tide. She even dealt devastating blow after devastating blow to Rear Admiral Strawberry, who wielded two swords and excelled at headbutts.

Of course, Norse did not take part in any of the fighting.

During his three years aboard the Kuja pirate ship, he had remained silent and inconspicuous.

In the pirate world, he was even more of an unknown. He neither asked about nor involved himself in any major matters aboard the ship, at most doing the miscellaneous work expected of a low-ranking crew member.

Such as cooking, salvaging food from the sea, sweeping the deck, and countless other chores.

Yet the incident of pirates intercepting and attacking a Marine Headquarters rear admiral—one who had just earned military merit—spread across the Four Seas, the New World, and countless Marine branches in barely a month.

Another lawless pirate had awakened Conqueror's Haki, displaying the potential of a king.

The higher-ups of Marine Headquarters, led by Fleet Admiral Sengoku, immediately issued bounties and arrest warrants for every crew member of the Kuja pirate ship.

But after several months, they had achieved nothing.

It was only when the secret intelligence agency's P Organization delivered intelligence on the Kuja Pirates that they learned the ship had entered and exited the Calm Belt many times.

Their base of operations was confirmed to be Amazon Lily.

After weighing all the factors and considering the pros and cons, Sengoku, the current Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters, decided to recruit Boa Hancock under the title of Warlord of the Sea.

Today, near the waters outside this stretch of the Calm Belt, ten warships from Marine Headquarters had lowered their sails and anchored.

Every Marine soldier aboard was an elite. They were well-equipped; sabers and rifles were merely standard gear, while cannons and Seastone were the more formidable weapons.

The officer leading the fleet...

Was Aokiji, the renowned Marine vice admiral who had risen to fame in recent years. Rear Admiral Strawberry, whose injuries had only recently healed, was accompanying him as well.

"Vice Admiral, I, Strawberry, am willing to serve as the vanguard and enter the Calm Belt to recruit Boa Hancock of the Kuja Pirates as a Warlord of the Sea," the rear admiral respectfully requested.

Vice Admiral Aokiji sat on an old armchair on the deck, dressed in a vice admiral's uniform and draped in a great coat, one leg crossed over the other. Pale white frost radiated from his entire body as he gazed coldly ahead. Yet an invisible, terrifying pressure surrounded him, like a sleeping white tiger.

He was the terrifying figure who had made countless pirates tremble in fear over the past few years.

It was said that his mastery of ice was unfathomable, and the number of pirates who had fallen into his hands was beyond counting.

"I'll give you three days at most," Aokiji said flatly, sounding weary and listless.

"Yes, Vice Admiral." Rear Admiral Strawberry was delighted. At last, he had a chance to establish his authority.

At a coastal port on Kuja Island.

The situation there had already spiraled out of control.

Sea Kings in the water and the female warriors of Kuja Island were fighting over the same food.

More than a dozen massive Sea Kings, each several hundred meters long, had been drawn in by their dead companions floating on the sea. Wanting to devour the bleeding hunks of flesh, they rushed forward and began fiercely competing for them.

Water sprayed everywhere as waves surged across the sea.

The female warriors on shore, unwilling to surrender the Sea Kings they had worked so hard to kill, swore to drive away those latecomers trying to steal their food.

"Fire! Drive them away!"

A commander issued an absolute order.

A group of fierce women came into view—women even stronger than ordinary men.

They wore matching uniforms. In one hand, they held curved bows shaped like Boa serpents; with the other, they powerfully drew their arrows. The arrowheads were coated in Armament Haki, their sharpness beginning to show as several gusts of rapidly spinning wind gathered around them.

The instant the commander gave the order.

Arrows flew out in succession, streaking across the sky as they relentlessly shot toward the Sea Kings on the surface.

The Haki applied to the arrowheads was like magic infused into bullets. Their speed and power multiplied severalfold. Even Sea Kings thousands of meters long would not dare fare well beneath such a dense rain of arrows.

Let alone these Sea Kings that were only a few hundred meters long.

"Boom, boom!!"

"Pfft, pfft!!"

But unexpectedly, the Sea Kings in the water were driven completely berserk by the pain.

They madly rammed Kuja Island's harbor coastline from beneath the sea. Some of the smarter ones even churned up towering waves on the surface, letting the rolling swells crash down and drown the countless humans along the harbor shore.

At that moment, countless female warriors engaged in hunting and fishing were swallowed by wave after wave dozens of meters high. Some women were struck by the surf and flung hundreds of meters backward.

"Ahhh~~"

"Ahhh~~ My chest hurts so much!"

"Ahhh~~ I can't take it anymore!"

Countless female warriors cried out one after another, each in their own way and for their own reasons.

Looking around, the members involved in the fishing operation had nearly been wiped out.

"Sigh~~ It seems the Sea King fish we killed slipped away again during the retrieval!"

The commander crawled up from the ground, drenched from head to toe. She merely sighed and did not become discouraged, because things like this happened often. They had simply been unlucky this time.

They would still work hard next time!

"You really are pathetically weak. You were fishing on land, yet you still let a few big fish outsmart and injure you."

Suddenly, Norse appeared at the scene with a cold expression, with the little girl Marguerite standing beside him.

"Sorry, Lord Norse. We've all disappointed you!"

The commander blamed herself deeply. In truth, she had been hoping for Lord Norse to act. She had heard that Lord Norse had followed the Empress on an expedition at sea for three years, so his abilities had to be immensely powerful and terrifying.

"Hmph~~ And you lot who keep screaming, just hearing you is making me irritated." Norse's face darkened, looking thoroughly displeased. "Now, all of you, shut your mouths!"

As he spoke, he casually released dozens of sun orbs. They were exceptionally warm and filled with powerful healing and restorative energy.

The sun orbs descended one after another toward the injured warriors lying on the ground.

In less than a minute, the light orbs vanished into their bodies, and the injured female warriors lying there seemed to witness an unimaginable miracle.

Their chests no longer hurt.

Their legs were healed too.

Even their strength had recovered somewhat.

Yet none of them said another word. Since Lord Norse disliked noise and clamor, they would say what they wanted to say to him in their hearts instead.