Amazon Lily

From the treetops, he could see exotic-looking buildings in the distance. They resembled South American Indian architecture, yet carried a touch of Chinese style. It was truly strange.

Sal headed toward the cluster of buildings. After passing through a dense forest crawling with fierce beasts and poisonous insects, a sizable city came into view, with two female guards stationed at its gates.

One was a burly woman standing a full three meters tall, like a gorilla. The other was a tall, beautiful woman. Both radiated a wild strength that was far from weak.

Sal stroked his chin and remarked.

"This is Daughter Island, huh? It really is pretty much how I imagined it."

Daughter Island, also known as Amazon Lily, was the nation of the female warrior tribe known as the Kuja Tribe. As its name implied, it was an island inhabited solely by women. They were raised as warriors from birth, shouldering all household duties and labor, and even after becoming pregnant, they only gave birth to girls.

The island was located in the Calm Belt beside the Grand Line. Since enormous Sea Kings roamed the Calm Belt, ordinary ships could not enter the waters near Daughter Island.

Every ruler was known as the Kuja Empress. The current empress was named Boa Hancock. She was one of the Shichibukai and bore the title of the world's most beautiful woman.

Sal had come to Amazon Lily not only to avoid a possible pursuit by an Admiral before the Marineford War, but also to see this world's most beautiful woman for himself.

After observing for a while, he saw that the guards were actually quite lax. Sal secretly took a woman's bag filled with vegetables, then swaggered toward the city gates.

As he drew closer, the guards noticed this oddly dressed fellow. However, seeing the bag of food on him, they merely watched him enter with suspicion, assuming he was simply an unusual gatherer.

After all, Amazon Lily was located in the Calm Belt. Other than Rayleigh's visit twenty years ago, no outsiders had ever come here, much less men. The guards here did not even know what men looked like. They had lived in comfort for too long.

After entering the city, Sal's appearance drew plenty of attention, but he still swaggered through the streets. As someone from Blue Star, he was naturally quite curious about this kingdom of women.

At the center of the city was a place resembling an arena, where two vastly different women were fighting. One was as strong as a grizzly bear, while the other was petite and adorable.

The two were evenly matched, giving Sal quite a visual spectacle.

Suddenly, the system issued a notification.

[S-rank character Doflamingo has developed an ordinary emotion toward the host: minor surprise. Experience increased by 5000.]

[S-rank characters have developed ordinary emotions toward the host: minor surprise. Experience increased by 5000 x4.]

[A-rank characters have developed ordinary emotions toward the host: minor surprise (hostility) (friendliness). Experience increased by 100 x37.]

[B-rank characters have developed ordinary emotions toward the host: minor surprise (hostility) (friendliness). Experience increased by 20 x512.]

[C-rank characters have developed ordinary emotions toward the host. Experience increased by 5 x6780.]

[D-rank characters have developed ordinary emotions toward the host. Experience increased by 1 x132065.]

[Level increased: Level 51 (32065/38000)]

[Level 50 achievement completed. Reward: one blue draw.]

The sudden level-up, five levels in a row, made Sal freeze for a moment. Then he understood what had happened and muttered.

"I didn't expect Morgans to be so fast. He spread the new paper in just two days."

The spread of the new paper would inevitably make Sal's killing of a Celestial Dragon widely known. Once people saw the paper, most of them would develop emotions toward Sal. That was why he had killed the Celestial Dragon.

Compared to the experience, the consequences of being hunted by an Admiral for killing a Celestial Dragon were simply not worth mentioning.

The paper had not yet fully spread, so experience would continue pouring in until everyone knew about it. Moreover, with the paper spreading, ordinary civilians were more likely to provide him with emotional experience.

Over the past few days, Sal had already discovered the system's different emotions: surprise, hostility, friendliness, and fear.

Of the four emotions he had discovered, hostility, friendliness, and fear were the easiest to trigger. Surprise, as an ordinary emotion, required the most emotional buildup to reach the minor level.

For example, the news had clearly spread throughout Marine Headquarters long ago, yet according to Sal's observations, at least half the people in Marine Headquarters had not given him any emotional experience.

Sal sold the vegetables in the bag, used the Daughter Island currency he had just obtained to buy food, then sat leisurely in the stands and silently watched the Amazon Lily female warriors fight.

It had to be said, watching women fight was indeed somewhat interesting, and there were occasional flashes of spring scenery as well.

In the waters around Amazon Lily, two ships were docked beside a recently killed medium-sized Sea King. One was a large Marine warship, the kind only Marine officers of admiral rank and above were qualified to possess.

The other was somewhat smaller. Its pirate ship had a red hull and was pulled by two enormous sea serpents. It was the ship of the Kuja Pirates, the vessel of Amazon Lily's empress, Boa Hancock.

At that moment, all the female pirates aboard calmly watched the Marines opposite them, showing none of the hostility pirates usually had toward Marines. That was because their empress was one of the Shichibukai. The Shichibukai were seven powerful pirates recruited by the World Government to oppose the Four Emperors of the New World.

Nominally, the Shichibukai were in a cooperative relationship with the World Government and the Marines, and they possessed the legal right to plunder. Unless a Shichibukai attacked a nation allied with the World Government, even if Marines were nearby, they could only watch helplessly as they committed evil.

The Shichibukai's duty, meanwhile, was to help the World Government deal with weaker pirates or appear as outside support in a war against the Four Emperors.

A Kuja warrior looked at the Marine leader with admiration and called out.

"Did you kill this Sea King?"

The Marine leader was a middle-aged male swordsman with a mustache. He was Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Momonga.

Momonga answered loudly.

"That's right. I killed this Sea King. I've been waiting here for quite some time. Unfortunately, before your Kuja pirate ship arrived, this Sea King showed up first."

Hearing his answer, the female warrior admired him even more. Kuja women admired powerful people the most. Therefore, their empress had to be the strongest woman on the island, and even outside, she had to stand among the very best.

Momonga continued.

"I am Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Momonga. I have come to receive you. Come out and see me, Shichibukai Boa Hancock."

Seeing how rude he was, demanding to see their leader, the female warriors refused.

"I already told you, Her Majesty the Empress will not see you."

Seeing their refusal, Momonga merely tossed out a newspaper and said.

"The Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, Portgas D. Ace, will be publicly executed. The location and time have been set. This Warlord Summons is a strict order issued by the World Government. If you refuse, the World Government will regard it as your abandonment of the Shichibukai agreement and revoke your Shichibukai title."

"Then you will become ordinary pirates again and face the hostility of both the World Government and the Marines. Do you understand, Boa Hancock?"

Momonga's voice drifted across the sea, and the Kuja Pirates fell silent. They all understood clearly what revoking the Shichibukai title would mean for Amazon Lily.

The sound of high heels echoed within the quiet pirate ship.