Beating Up the Empress

"You can call me Ye Zhuo, your captain."

Ye Zhuo smiled, the lasers in his eyes as arrogant as ever.

"I'll kick that glowing head of yours into pieces!"

The Empress stepped forward in her high heels, planted her right foot, and swept her long left leg across.

"Perfume Femur!"

"Sorry, you can't hit me."

Ye Zhuo tilted his head and easily dodged the attack.

There was no helping it; his Observation Haki and speed worked together flawlessly.

"Wing Chun, Ye Zhuo!"

There were no Six Naval Powers, nor any flashy moves.

Wing Chun was one of the countless traditional martial arts Ye Zhuo had learned over the course of his previous life.

Bang!

His fists grew faster and faster as he seized the opening and struck the Empress hard.

Hancock swiftly dodged after taking the blow head-on. Ye Zhuo's little fists had hurt far too much when they landed on her body.

"Slave Arrow!"

The Empress pulled at the heart, drawing it into the shape of a bow.

Whoosh!

Countless heart-shaped arrows shot forth.

Ye Zhuo dodged every one of them without relaxing in the slightest.

Snake Talisman invisibility!

For once, he did not use his laser eyes.

While invisible, he used Observation Haki to locate the Empress.

The Rabbit Talisman and Ox Talisman worked in tandem.

He threw a punch that landed squarely on the Empress's face.

Boom!

The formidable power of the Demon Sorcerer Form became even more terrifying with the Ox Talisman's enhancement.

Even without Armament Haki, its destructive force was far beyond what ordinary people could match.

The Empress had already unleashed a wide-range attack.

At that critical moment, she had no time to pull back her strength.

Ye Zhuo took advantage of the opportunity and punched her in the face.

Her entire body arched backward as she flew away and crashed into the wall.

"Big Sister!"

"Big Sister!"

The two sisters rushed over immediately.

They were stunned. Given the Empress's strength, they had never heard of anyone who could hold such an overwhelming advantage in speed.

What was more, Ye Zhuo had come at them so fiercely that they had never even heard of him before.

The wooden wall had been reduced to rubble.

Empress Hancock's delicate hands trembled slightly as she clawed her way out of the debris.

"Damn it! I'll tear you to pieces!"

She had never been this angry before. Everyone on the seas surrendered before her beauty; as long as she did this, they would fall for it.

Yet Ye Zhuo did not care about any of that. He only knew how to keep throwing punches. It was simply too brutal.

Ye Zhuo took a deep breath.

In an instant, he appeared before the Empress.

At first, he truly had been unable to suppress the little thoughts in his heart.

After all, he had been a virgin for ninety-nine years.

However, as he carried out the system's task, he reasoned with her through both emotion and logic.

Ye Zhuo's fists defeated the wicked thoughts in his heart.

He discovered another kind of pleasure!

The Empress was beautiful, very beautiful!

But beating up the Empress felt even better!

"Tai Chi, Carry-and-Block Punch!"

Ye Zhuo did not hold back at all. Since the system had not chimed, it meant the task was not complete.

Crack!

The Empress barely dodged the blow. Ye Zhuo's attack struck the mountain behind the wall, instantly blasting open a hole.

"You merely rely on your speed and strength. Before me, you are not truly qualified to boast!"

The Empress unleashed all three types of Haki, and her Conqueror's Haki brought crushing pressure.

Ye Zhuo spun around and launched a kick.

"Shendu once divided Blue Star with the seven great demons. How many little islands can that pathetic Conqueror's Haki of yours suppress?"

"Twelve-Route Tantui!"

Bang!

Unfazed by the Empress's Conqueror's Haki, Ye Zhuo came flying in with a kick.

"Perfume Femur!"

The Empress retaliated with a kick of her own.

Their kicks became faster and faster.

Ye Zhuo's attack patterns shifted endlessly, swift and fierce.

"His kicks can actually rival Big Sister's!"

"No, his strength and speed are even greater!"

The final kick came down from above the Empress's head.

The floor shattered.

Hancock was kicked from the top of the palace all the way to the bottom floor.

She smashed through several ceilings in succession before crashing onto the ground.

"She shouldn't be dead, right?"

Ye Zhuo landed. Based on his memories, people in the Pirate World were generally very hard to kill.

"What do you want? Where did you come from?"

The Empress barely forced herself to her feet and tried to fight Ye Zhuo.

Every attack was effortlessly defused by Ye Zhuo.

"Tai Chi, Grasp Sparrow's Tail!"

No matter how the Empress attacked, Ye Zhuo could evade perfectly with his speed and Observation Haki working together.

"Snake Fist, Snake Finger!"

One move decided the battle.

Empress Hancock's stamina was utterly depleted, and she finally collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

"That should count as a defeat, right?"

Ye Zhuo stood up, withdrew his stance, and patted the dust from himself.

"After training in martial arts and combat techniques for over eighty years, they finally came in handy."

[Ding!]

[Task completed: Invite the Empress to set sail, step two]

[Task reward: Advanced Armament Haki: Ryuo]

The system interface refreshed as swiftly as ever.

[Main chain task: Invite the Empress to set sail, step three: play hard to get. Once the Empress recovers from her injuries, decisively set sail.]

[Task reward: Fire Chi, complete version]

Ye Zhuo froze for a moment. No wonder he had always felt that something was missing.

He had the Demon Sorcerer Form and the Twelve Talismans.

So he was missing the Fire Chi. He had strength and magic, but no Fire Chi.

He still needed the Fire Chi, which could be bestowed upon others and could also strengthen his own flames and dragon transformation!

"What else are you trying to do?"

One sister quickly helped the Empress up, while the other tried to block Ye Zhuo.

"Shh!"

Ye Zhuo glanced at the Empress. Her robes had been badly torn apart in the battle, revealing the Celestial Dragon's Hoof Mark.

With a snap of his fingers, he simply turned both himself and the Empress invisible.

The palace guards quickly rushed inside.

All they saw were shattered ceilings and the Empress's two sisters.

Recalling the terrifying sounds of battle from earlier, they could not help but shudder.

Yet there was no trace of the Empress anywhere in the entire palace.

"Nothing happened here. We were merely training."

The second sister, Boa Sandersonia, said.

They had already understood Ye Zhuo's intentions.

After the confused guards left.

Ye Zhuo finally revealed himself.

"Treat her injuries. During that time, I'll stay in the forest outside the city.

"Prepare breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and late-night snacks.

"I've cared about health preservation since I was young. I eat six meals a day, and I get hungry if I miss even one."

Ye Zhuo glanced at the Empress and turned invisible again.

He also used the Horse Talisman and Undying Flame to heal her a little. After sleeping for roughly one day and one night, she would recover completely.

The next day.

The Empress was still sound asleep.

Amazon Lily received the latest newspaper.

The two sisters stood beside the Empress's bed holding the newspaper, feeling as though their entire worldview had collapsed.

The newspaper reported on the Sabaody Archipelago Incident!

Ye Zhuo had killed three Celestial Dragons, publicly executing one of them.

Even Kizaru, who had personally arrived with a massive force, had been forcefully held back by him.

Two hours later, he had departed with ease!

His whereabouts remained unknown!

The wanted poster showed Ye Zhuo smiling as he executed a Celestial Dragon!

"His bounty is 1.08 billion Beli!"

"He reached the level of a great pirate the moment he set sail!"

"Why did he dare execute Celestial Dragons?!"

Even as their hands trembled, an inexplicable trace of joy rose in their hearts.

That day, the two sisters personally delivered six meals.

Ye Zhuo saw the reverence in their expressions and did not fear poisoning anyway; after all, he had the Horse Talisman.