Perhaps the Five Elders did not expect that this piece they had meticulously planted had already quietly and utterly defected to the other side under Saint Dio's years of "tough-love education".
Chapter 17 Since You Will Not Walk Over, Then Gracefully Accept
Stussy's legs were propped on Saint Dio's broad shoulders, her entire body almost folded in half, and her snow-white skin shimmered with a fine layer of sweat under the dim lighting.
Her hands clutched the bedsheets beneath her for dear life, her knuckles turning white, and her cherry lips parted slightly as she let out intermittent pants that made a man's blood surge.
"Those five... old, old men... pant... must be plotting... mm... something again..."
Her words became fragmented under Saint Dio's thrusts, yet she still did not forget to complain about those five lofty holders of the world's highest authority.
Having followed Saint Dio for many years, she had long been subtly influenced by this youth, gradually losing that careful respect for those five beings who ought to have been held in awe.
Saint Dio did not answer, simply responding to her complaints with practical actions.
The creaking of the bedboards and Stussy's suppressed pants intertwined, echoing within the cabin for a long, long time.
By the time that expensive bedsheet was crumpled beyond recognition by Stussy and even torn in several places, Saint Dio finally poured the climax of this long exercise into her body.
Stussy let out a moan of ultimate satisfaction, her entire body going limp on the bed like a puddle of melted cream, too lazy to move even a single finger.
Her lower abdomen bulged slightly, and as her body relaxed, that liquid slowly flowed out, staining a wet trace on the bedsheets beneath her.
Saint Dio got off her, casually threw on his outer robe, fastened his belt, tucked Jörmungandr behind his waist, and walked out of the room.
He walked through the corridor, reached the door of the room where the three Hancock sisters were housed, and pushed the door open.
The furnishings inside the room were unexpectedly luxurious: soft bedding, exquisite furniture, clean clothes, and there was even a window overlooking the night view of Mary Geoise.
Saint Dio did not deliberately mistreat these three young girls, at least in terms of material conditions, granting them treatment above the average standard of the Holy Land.
At the moment, the three girls were huddled together on the same large bed, fast asleep.
The fear, rushing, and mental torture of the past few days had pushed their bodies and minds to the limit.
Even in their sleep, their brows remained tightly furrowed, and their bodies occasionally twitched unconsciously, as if they were fleeing something terrifying in their dreams.
Saint Dio did not wake them up.
He sat down on an armchair in the corner of the room, crossed his legs, his right fingers tapping rhythmically against his knee, his eyes flickering with thoughtful light in the dimness.
He was pondering his next plan.
The three Boa Hancock sisters were all Devil Fruit Users in the original work.
Hancock ate the Love-Love Fruit, while her two younger sisters ate the Snake-Snake Fruit: Python Form and the Snake-Snake Fruit: King Cobra Form respectively.
Since Saint Dio had intercepted them in advance, he naturally would not let go of these three fruits.
As early as before setting off for the Sabaody Archipelago, he had already intercepted all three fruits through his own channels and used his cheat to strengthen and upgrade them.
He was just waiting for the right opportunity to hand them over to the right people.
As he was deep in thought, a slight movement came from the bed.
Boa Hancock woke up.
She opened her eyes in a daze, and the unfamiliar ceiling that met her eyes made her pause for a moment. Then memories flooded back into her mind like a tide—the Sabaody Archipelago, the auction, her captain being killed, being taken away by that White Hair youth, the branding iron-like searing mark...
Her body jerked violently, and her entire body sprang up from the bed like a frightened cat.
Then, she saw the white figure on the armchair.
That White Hair youth was sitting there with his legs crossed, one hand supporting his chin, and a pair of eyes looking at her calmly, as if he had been sitting there for a long time.
Hancock's heart contracted violently, and the hair all over her body stood on end.
She instinctively rolled off the bed, spread her feet, clenched her hands into fists, and assumed a standard fighting stance.
Saint Dio looked at the black-haired girl before him who was clearly still shaking in her legs yet still assumed a fighting stance, and the corners of his mouth could not help curving into an interested arc.
It was only like this that it was interesting. If she were to fawn and beg for mercy after just a few moves, completely submitting, that would instead be far too boring.
A wild little beast was much more satisfying to train.
He leaned against the back of the chair, casually tossing out a bait in a casual tone: "If you can defeat me, I will let you three sisters go and let you return to Kuja."
A trace of hesitation flashed through Hancock's black eyes, but for just an instant, she bit her lower lip and glared back fiercely: "Do you think I'm stupid?"
She had witnessed with her own eyes how this White Hair youth had effortlessly suppressed her captain.
That powerful warrior who was practically a peerless existence in her mind.
Even her captain was no match for him, so why should she, a young girl of around ten years old, challenge him? She was not some fool who would be carried away by a provocation.
Upon hearing this, Saint Dio not only did not feel displeasure at being rebuked, but instead smiled.
It was a smile carrying a sense of appreciation.
He stood up from the chair and walked slowly toward Hancock.
Hancock subconsciously wanted to retreat, but her feet felt as though they were nailed to the ground, unable to move-not because of fear, but because she knew that running away was meaningless.
Saint Dio reached out, pinched her chin, applied a little force, and forced her to raise her head to lock eyes with him.
Those pitch-black eyes were like bottomless cold pools, reflecting her face filled with fear and defiance.
"It seems you are very clear about your situation." Saint Dio's voice was neither high nor low. "Since you know I won't let you go, then obediently accept my training."
He let go of his hand, turned around, and walked toward the door, leaving a final sentence lingering in the air: "Starting tomorrow, don't expect me to show mercy."
One month later.
The New World, a certain nameless barren island.
The climate of this island was hot and humid, filled everywhere with muddy swamps and dense tropical jungles.
The air was permeated with the stench of rotting vegetation and animal carcasses, and swarms of mosquitoes flew about.
Venomous snakes lurked in the swamps, and hungry crocodiles crawled in the shadows of the jungle.
This was a natural death trap, with only a few patches of dry and hard ground available to stand on across the entire island.
At that moment, a girl's shout broke the silence of the jungle.
"Hah-!"
An agile figure flashed past the edge of the swamp, followed closely by an even more burly figure.
Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold, Hancock's two younger sisters, were at that moment holding a pair of customized naginata and fiercely tangling with a giant crocodile standing five meters tall.
After this month of brutal training, the bodies of the two girls, which previously still possessed some baby fat, had become sturdy and powerful, their skin tanned into a healthy wheat color, and the muscle contours of their arms and legs presenting smooth and explosive outlines under the sunlight.
"Roar-!"
The giant crocodile roared as it swung its massive front claws, sweeping across with crushing force.
Sandersonia and Marigold raised their naginata simultaneously, the blade shafts colliding with the crocodile's claws and producing a muffled metallic clanging sound.
The two girls' feet plowed two long gullies in the ground, yet they stubbornly withstood the blow.
"Now!"
Taking advantage of the gap when the giant crocodile's old strength was spent and its new strength had not yet risen, Sandersonia leaped up fiercely.
She pressed all her weight onto the naginata, with the tip facing downward, and utilizing the acceleration of gravity during the descent, she fiercely stabbed into the giant crocodile's immobilized front claw.
"Plop-!"
The naginata pierced the crocodile's rough scales, driving deep into the flesh.
The giant crocodile let out a deafening roar of pain, frantically shaking its front limbs, but Sandersonia gripped the hilt for dear life, hanging onto it and refusing to let go no matter how the giant crocodile thrashed.
On the other side, Marigold also seized the opportunity, rushing forward in a dash to the giant crocodile's other front claw, turning her naginata horizontally, and thrusting upward with all her might. The tip of the blade pierced precisely into the joint gap, pinning that claw firmly to the ground as well.
"Oof!"
In pain, the giant crocodile frantically twisted its massive body, its huge tail sweeping across and snapping the surrounding trees in half.
The two girls bit their lips tightly, their feet sinking deep into the muddy ground, using all their strength to fiercely suppress those two pinned front limbs to prevent it from breaking free.
The giant crocodile opened its blood-red maw, revealing a full mouth of gleaming white teeth, and bit down fiercely toward Marigold, who was the closest-
"Sister!"
The two shouted at the same time.
Just at the moment when that tooth-filled maw was about to snap shut, a tall figure leaped out from the canopy at the side.
Boa Hancock was dressed in a tight-fitting cheongsam convenient for movement, her slender legs tracing a graceful arc in the sunlight.
Her body stretched out in mid-air, her right leg lifted high, and pitch-black Armament Haki dyed her lower leg and toes like ink.
"Hah!"
With a high kick carrying formidable momentum, she struck the giant crocodile's lower jaw squarely.
"Crack-!"
A crisp sound of bone shattering rang out.
The giant crocodile's blood-red maw that was snapping shut was kicked shut with a jolt, and a few broken teeth flew out from between the gaps, falling into the swamp along with streaks of blood.
The giant crocodile was sent dizzy by this blow, its massive body swaying a few times.
Meanwhile, Hancock used the recoil of this kick to complete a graceful flip in mid-air, her legs pressed together, plunging straight down like a meteor.
"Boom-!"
Her heels smashed fiercely into the top of the giant crocodile's skull, a visible shockwave rippling outward with the landing spot at its center, and the muddy ground beneath her feet churning up.
The giant crocodile's fierce vertical pupils constricted sharply, then scattered.
Its massive body twitched a few times and finally collapsed with a crash, kicking up large patches of muddy water and broken leaves.
Hancock landed steadily on the giant crocodile's skull, breathing slightly, her black bangs in front of her forehead dampened by sweat, sticking to her brow.
Chapter 18 Saint Dio Is God
"Mm, not bad. It looks like you've more or less mastered your Armament Haki."
A leisurely voice came from not far away, carrying a hint of satisfaction.
The three sisters looked toward the sound, only to see Saint Dio comfortably lying on a lounge chair that had been brought over at some point, with his legs crossed, bathing in the harsh sunlight of the New World, with an expression so cozy that one would think this was a vacation in his own backyard rather than a hazard-filled barren island.
The sunlight cast a soft halo over his white hair.
Beneath him, Stussy was crouched between his legs, that blonde head bobbing up and down, making relishable sucking noises as she happily slurped away at something.
That face, usually cold and capable, was currently flushed with intoxication, as if savoring the most delicious delicacy in the world.
As three sisters born in Amazon Lily who had never encountered males, Hancock and her two sisters had all turned red and felt ashamed to death the first time they saw such a scene.
Yet under Stussy's day-in, day-out, tireless "brainwashing education"-such as "this is a necessary ritual to show loyalty to the master," and "only women favored by the master are qualified to do this"-
Nowadays, they had long regarded this behavior as a matter-of-course daily routine, and even occasionally peeked secretly, comparing the gap between themselves and Stussy in their hearts.
Saint Dio raised his chin slightly from the lounge chair, looking at those three bodies covered in mud and sweat and breathing slightly, and continued: "However, what you defeated was merely a small fry."
He paused, the corners of his mouth curving into a meaningful arc: "Crocodiles like this live in groups, you see. Moreover, they have a boss with the strongest strength."
As if to corroborate his words, the moment his voice fell...
"Boom-!"
The surface of the swamp water ahead of the three suddenly burst, muddy water and debris shooting into the sky, and a shadow far more massive than the previous giant crocodile slowly rose from the depths of the swamp.
That was a giant crocodile exceeding ten meters in length.
Its scales presented a deep dark green, its back covered with rock-like jagged horny protrusions, and a pair of vertical pupils like two gloomy green lanterns coldly overlooking the three tiny figures on the ground.
Merely standing there, it radiated a suffocating sense of oppression.
Saint Dio leaned back into the lounge chair, waved his hand, and said casually: "Next, your target is it."
The three sisters stared at the behemoth, swallowing in unison.
They had just undergone a fierce battle, their stamina was mostly depleted, their entire bodies were covered in wounds and mud, and they had not even regulated their breathing yet.
Yet Saint Dio's commands never permitted bargaining.
The three exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and once more gripped the weapons in their hands.
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