The Empress Again

"Hey, Hancock! Long time no see!"

Jiang Lin smiled and waved at Boa Hancock. His innocent grin and familiar greeting sent a jolt through the Marine Soldiers, who had only just begun to hope.

Wait... Are the Empress and Jiang Lin on the same side?

The Marine Soldiers quickly dismissed the thought.

The Empress was a Shichibukai. She would never give up that position to help Jiang Lin.

"Jiang Lin!"

The Empress looked at Jiang Lin with a hint of admiration. She still remembered the day he had stopped her pirate ship outside Amazon Lily and challenged her.

Jiang Lin had been nowhere near this strong back then. Though he had already copied Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit, he had been no match for the Empress. She had knocked him unconscious with a single burst of Conqueror's Haki when he was already at his limit.

Now Jiang Lin had stepped alone into the battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and Marine Headquarters. After driving Kizaru back, he had even attacked Whitebeard by himself.

It had turned out that Jiang Lin only wanted to copy Whitebeard's power. Even so, that kind of nerve and sheer personal strength were enough to make him an important piece on the crowded battlefield of Marineford.

"Empress, ever thought about becoming a man?"

Jiang Lin gave her a wicked grin. He had just gained the ability to use two Devil Fruits and needed an opponent to test his limits. To him, the Empress was the perfect choice.

"Don't you dare!"

The Empress snapped her chin higher. A clear flush colored her cheeks; Jiang Lin had plainly infuriated her.

"Haha... Just kidding. If I turned you into a man, the readers would tear me to pieces."

Jiang Lin chuckled. He removed the Sand-Sand Fruit and equipped the Tremor-Tremor Fruit he had just obtained.

Tremor-Tremor Fruit (enhanced by Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix) equipped. Duration: ten minutes. Cooldown: thirty seconds.

The Tremor-Tremor Fruit paired with the Glint-Glint Fruit was already one of Jiang Lin's strongest means of attack.

"Boa Hancock, fight me!"

With a shout, Jiang Lin charged at the Empress.

"Are you serious?"

The Empress narrowed her eyes, shock flickering across her face. Jiang Lin now exerted tremendous pressure on her. With two Devil Fruit powers equipped, he seemed like another Whitebeard. She and the powerful Marines nearby all grew wary.

"So that's the power of the Copy-Copy Fruit? It can reproduce someone else's Devil Fruit ability that perfectly?"

Standing at the edge of the battlefield, Garp stared at Jiang Lin in astonishment. Despite the distance, he could clearly feel the energy coming from him.

But Garp had misunderstood the source of Jiang Lin's power. Jiang Lin had not gained it through the nonexistent Copy-Copy Fruit. It was the system that let him copy other people's Devil Fruit abilities.

However Jiang Lin had acquired that power, his ability to copy others had made Marine Headquarters wary of him.

"D! With an ability like yours... I cannot let you leave here alive!"

From the Execution Platform, Sengoku watched Jiang Lin clash with the Empress in the distance. His expression hardened with resolve.

As the Pirate King's son, Ace had originally been the most important "piece" in this battle.

But Jiang Lin's sudden arrival had made the game far more unpredictable.

"Jiang Lin..."

Sensing the shift in Sengoku's mood, Ace looked toward Jiang Lin with worry and dread. Jiang Lin had exposed his "copying" ability to the Marine leadership to save him, and Ace felt deeply guilty.

"Mero Mero Mellow!"

While Sengoku, Ace, and the Marine leaders were each forming their own thoughts about Jiang Lin, the Empress brought her hands together before her chest. She formed a large heart and launched her attack at him.

"Yata Mirror!"

Jiang Lin turned into light, evaded the Empress's attack, and appeared above her head.

"Fall in love with me!"

A pale red mist poured from Jiang Lin's body and rushed down toward the Empress.

"Perfume Femur!"

The Empress had fallen for Jiang Lin's trick once. She was not about to be caught by the same move again.

The Empress pushed off with one foot and leaped high above him. Then she snapped up her right leg and kicked at Jiang Lin's left shoulder with blinding speed.

Crack!

A faint tremor sounded. Jiang Lin clenched both fists and shattered the air around him.

"Ah!"

The Empress cried out in midair. Knocked off balance, she plummeted toward the ground.

"Careful!"

Seeing that the Empress might be hurt, Jiang Lin immediately stopped his attack. He flashed to where she was falling and caught her.

"P-put me down!"

Flushing, the Empress jumped out of Jiang Lin's arms after he caught her like a princess.

"Ah... Sorry! I didn't think that would happen!"

Jiang Lin hurried to apologize once the Empress was on her feet. He had only just acquired the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power and could not yet control it perfectly.

If Jiang Lin had not noticed something was wrong and stopped in time, the Empress might have suffered far worse than a fall. The tremors could even have shattered her body.

The Tremor-Tremor Fruit deserved Sengoku's description of a power capable of destroying the world. Jiang Lin had defeated the Empress, one of the Shichibukai, with ease.

That made Jiang Lin even more confident about what came next.

"You... You..."

After leaving Jiang Lin's arms, the Empress stood there blushing for a long while, unable to finish a sentence.

"Love you! Heh!"

Jiang Lin playfully formed a little heart with his fingers, then walked past the stunned Empress.

"L-Lady Boa Hancock lost too!"

The Empress's defeat left the Marine Soldiers waiting behind her for the outcome staring with their mouths open.

The Shichibukai were said to possess strength rivaling that of entire nations. If even someone like her could not stop Jiang Lin, perhaps only a Marine Admiral could.

"Well, well. Looks like I don't have a choice but to step in."

Kizaru shook his head helplessly. Then he turned into a beam of light and appeared before Jiang Lin.

"Kizaru! Perfect timing. I still remember how you beat me up at the Sabaody Archipelago."

Jiang Lin smiled faintly and turned his gaze on Kizaru. Their eyes met, and an astonishing tension surged between them.