Taking Off the Empress's Clothes (Seeking Recommendation Tickets, Third Update)

"Ignorance. Who said sleeping meant you couldn't train? I, Norse, never took the conventional path. There's nothing I can't do!"

Norse's elusive afterimages were everywhere around them. Hancock's attacks either missed or were in the process of missing. He had no concern for how she felt right now; instead, he mercilessly struck at her with his words, "Honestly, you're all far too weak. I'm disappointed. My speed has only reached half the speed of light—of course, half the speed of light is also my current limit—but even so, I can still let you use every trick you have, because your attacks can't keep up with the speed at which I evade them. How could they possibly do anything to me?"

"Gawain, how could you treat us like this?"

Sonia pouted. Hearing Norse tear them down made her feel deeply uncomfortable. What angered her even more was that he had mercilessly attacked her elder sister as well.

"There's nothing wrong with it. Freedom, the right to speak, human rights... these are all things I'm about to take back from Hancock. I said it before: from today onward, I'll be speaking from above your heads. Even if you saved my life, that isn't enough to completely restrain what I've already decided I want."

"Of course, you can simply understand it this way: because I'm stronger than you, I can do whatever I want. If you want to change all this, then try to surpass me. But I think you'll never be able to, because even when I'm asleep, I improve far faster than any of you!"

The moment Norse said that, the three women present grew even more enraged.

They could still understand what Norse had said earlier; at most, it meant that they had wasted his talents over the years. But those last few lines were utterly unforgivable. What did he mean, he was stronger than them even while sleeping?

Gorud said indignantly, "Norse, you'd better not go too far. Not everything can be said to us. You must always remember who gave you the chance to sleep—it was us, the Kuja Pirates!"

"Your arrogance and disdain can be directed at Sonia and me, but never at our elder sister. For you to remain and live on Lily Island, do you have any idea how much effort our elder sister spent?"

"Exactly, you bastard! Are you rebelling now? Ungrateful, and seriously challenging our self-respect! We agreed to meet for a fight, so why are you escalating things during the battle and saying so many hurtful things?"

Sonia was far more direct.

Actually, over the past three years, they had grown quite fond of Norse. After all, Norse was an excellent cook, and he had let them all experience the happiness of being foodies.

But even so, Norse could not go this far.

Their elder sister cared greatly about her pride and image. She had not said a single word by now, which meant there was surely a volcano erupting inside her heart.

Wasn't he deliberately looking for trouble?

"Did I really do something wrong?" Norse felt rather depressed.

They were bringing up their feelings, and they were trying to morally blackmail him.

Norse had always believed that he was not a bad person, but neither was he a good one. Whenever he did anything, he generally never considered the consequences or what others could bear. In short, as long as acting as he pleased and being wild and unrestrained made him feel proud and satisfied, that was enough.

He had always been like this before.

Yet now, after hearing them say those things, Norse unexpectedly felt an irrational sense of regret.

For a moment, he pondered inwardly.

Had he really gone too far? Or had the three years they had spent together somehow created a complicated bond between them?

Friends? Or companions?

"No, you didn't do anything wrong. You simply did something you shouldn't have done!"

Hancock was at the peak of her rage.

In one breath, she drew more than a dozen heart-shaped projectiles from her crimson lips and somehow fired them all at once. Countless dense arrows shot out wildly, indiscriminately targeting friend and foe alike.

Wherever they passed, the ground within several hundred meters erupted and turned to stone. The trees and grass were petrified without exception. Even Gorud and Sonia, standing nearby, failed to escape.

Norse, however, dodged them all.

He could see that Hancock was clearly exhausted. Fragrant sweat drenched her hair and body, and her originally scarlet lips had turned a sickly pale. Yet Hancock still intended to continue attacking.

"Ah! You've already spent so much—are you really going to keep going? You really are a foolish woman who refuses to bow her head." Norse sighed.

Although this woman suited his tastes in certain ways, it was no good that she cared so little for her own life.

"I think you should learn more from me in this regard. No matter what, you must preserve your life first, rather than clearly having already lost and still worrying that you won't fall quickly enough!"

"Who asked you to concern yourself with this Emperor?"

Hancock heard him. Drenched in fragrant sweat, she looked at Norse, and it almost seemed as though she saw a phantom.

"Don't be so petty. No matter what, you're my savior and my beautiful captain. It won't do for me not to look after you today. I've already decided to leave you with some unforgettable lessons."

Norse walked toward her step by step. Even if Hancock suddenly launched another attack, he could still evade it with ease.

Moreover, as the owner and developer of the Sun Fruit, no one could possibly scheme to exhaust his stamina by such means. That would simply mean they did not understand the power of plant photosynthesis, which, when applied to a human body, possessed the effect of Life Return.

"What do you want to do to this Emperor?"

Hancock suddenly started, growing somewhat flustered as she realized the meaning behind Norse's last words. What did he mean by leaving her with some unforgettable lessons?

Could it be that even a man as dismissive as him had actually been coveting her beauty all along?

"Now is merely the time for me to retaliate against you. Could it be that you're hoping I'll do something to you? How could you make such a veiled request of me? Give up already! I, Norse, never take advantage of someone's vulnerability. Of course, this is a fair duel now. If you must blame someone, blame yourself. You had only recently gained control of your new ability, yet you used it continuously without regard for the consequences!"

Norse's figure became ethereal and vanished from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he was already behind Hancock. Although Hancock activated her Observation Haki and sensed Norse's presence behind her, she ultimately had no time to strike before Norse knocked her unconscious with a chop to the back of her neck.

Norse calmly looked at the woman lying on the ground.

Beneath her red robe, she was dressed entirely in red. Now that she was drenched in fragrant sweat, her silk clothing clung tightly to every part of her body, making all the prominent places especially alluring.

If it had been any other beastly man here, Norse felt they would have shamelessly done whatever they wanted to Hancock without hesitation.

After all, her entire body exuded a fragrance potent enough to throw one's hormones into disarray.

She was a feast for the eyes, her scent seeping straight into the heart.

What was more, her face was exquisitely beautiful, her skin fair, and every curve of her body supple and full. Very few people could withstand such temptation—temptation that was sinful by nature.

The saying that a beautiful woman could bring disaster was no empty rumor; on her, it was simply the truth.

"Then... I'd better hurry up and take off her clothes first!"

Norse had no such thoughts. He simply wanted to take off her clothes and do something she could never have imagined even in her dreams.

As for what Hancock would think when she woke up afterward, that was her own business!