One Piece: Nico Robin Collection

Chapter 148 For a Man
"Snake Princess, look at this!"

"What's the big deal? Why are you making such a fuss..."

Hancock looked impatiently at the tiny old woman in front of her, who was not even as tall as her knees.

Every time she saw her, this old woman would point and gesticulate, say things she didn't like to hear, and order her to do things she didn't want to do.

Don't you know that she's in a bad mood right now?

Unconsciously tightening her cloak, Hancock bit her lower lip.

Over the years, every time she takes a bath, she recalls that terrifying experience and the pigs wearing bubble head covers that caused her immense psychological trauma.

Fear and hatred, like a persistent carbuncle, tormented her every night over the years.

It was for this reason that she subconsciously put on a mask of arrogance, trying her best to appear more noble and arrogant than anyone else, as if only in this way could she dilute the terrifying shadow of having once been a lowly slave.

Tsk, of all times, they had to pop up at this moment...

Hancock, with a sour face, reluctantly accepted the newspaper offered to her.

After all, it was that old hag who escorted her back to Nine Serpents back then. Let's just consider it a small favor, a token of that worthless kindness. Humph~
Hancock casually unfolded the newspaper, and behind her, the pink-spotted python named Salome leaned over, curiously looking at the contents of the newspaper.

Snake breeding is a tradition on Amazon Lily. Almost every Amazon Lily warrior has a reliable python partner. These pythons are highly intelligent and are tamed from a young age. They not only have a deadly venom that can corrode bones, but also have a very strong body that can bend into the shape of a longbow to hold the bowstring and be used as a longbow.

As the Empress's loyal companion, Salome naturally didn't need to do such troublesome things, and its strong body, nearly ten meters long, didn't allow it to pretend to be a bow. More often, it served as Hancock's means of transportation, or as a seat for Hancock to sit and rest.

In the naive Salome's eyes, his master was always high above, powerful, and arrogant.

But when she saw the newspaper that Granny New handed her, Salome saw another side of her master for the first time.

That smell was shock, fear, and vulnerability.

It could clearly feel its master's body trembling slightly as it pressed close to the 1.9-meter-tall, sexy snake's body.

"All go out."

Hancock gave the order in a cool, detached tone.

Although the ladies-in-waiting behind him were surprised, they did not object and withdrew from the palace.

For a moment, only Hancock, Granny New, and her two younger sisters, Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold, who had the same experience as Hancock, remained in the palace.

Just as the palace doors were tightly shut, Hancock staggered. Salome instinctively leaned over to let her support her head, then bent down and gently carried her back to the soft bed deep inside the palace.

"What happened, sister?"

Sandasonia quickly stepped forward and asked with concern.

She flicked out a long snake tongue, her green hair resembled seaweed, and her towering figure, several meters tall, firmly protected her sister, carefully safeguarding her most beloved elder sister.

On the other side, Mariegret was in the same posture, her plump body like a towering wall, guarding Hancock's other side.

Hancock didn't speak, but instead covered her eyes with one hand, pursed her lips tightly, and pointed her slender index finger lightly at the newspaper in front of her.

Sandersonia leaned over curiously: "Hey, Sky Emperor King Caesar killed... a Celestial Dragon in the Sabaody Archipelago?!"

"Celestial Dragon?!"

Mariegrud suddenly turned her head, her pupils trembling violently: "How is this possible?!"

With trembling hands, Sandasonia unfolded the newspaper and carefully read its contents.

"Eh... there's no mistake. Just two days ago, that... King Caesar personally killed the Celestial Dragon Charlos at a slave auction in the Sabaody Archipelago, beheaded him, and even took photos. All the nobles and wealthy people present were also captured."

"There really are such lunatics..."

Marie Grürd's face turned horrified: "So why did he do that? Didn't he know the consequences?"

"he……"

Sandasonia opened her mouth, looked at the contents of the newspaper, and tears welled up in her eyes uncontrollably: "He rescued all the slaves on the island and escorted them away from the Sabaody Archipelago."

Upon hearing her sister's words, Hancock's trembling body suddenly jolted, and she slowly raised her head, revealing a beautiful face soaked with tears.

"Was he... just trying to free the slaves?"

"That's what the newspapers said, but whether the information is accurate is unclear." Sandasonia calmed down a bit.

"That should be it."

After a long silence, Granny New suddenly spoke up, staring blankly at the newspaper: "I received a call from Shakky a couple of days ago, saying that Caesar had come to my door, asking Rayleigh to coat the ship for its journey to Fishman Island."

"From this perspective, killing a Celestial Dragon must have been a sudden incident, and this guy's purpose was, unsurprisingly, to free the slaves."

Grandma New pondered, "It must be admitted that there are indeed some rare chivalrous people in this world who dare to do things that ordinary people would not dare to do."

"Moreover, speaking of which, the other party has never claimed to be a pirate throughout his voyage. On the contrary, he even wiped out a pirate island. The swordsman under his command named Yixiao was already a famous chivalrous person more than ten years ago. Now that he has joined Caesar's command, it seems that this captain is also a guy who cannot tolerate any injustice."

"So, he hates pirates?"

Hancock frowned slightly. For some reason, hearing these words made her feel inexplicably irritated.

"maybe."

Granny New shook her head slightly: "Shakky and Rayleigh are both from pirate backgrounds. Since the other party took the initiative to come to us, it is unlikely that they were unaware of this. Moreover, one of his women is the daughter of Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, and he has an alliance with Kaido."

"Women...inside?"

Hancock's brow furrowed even deeper.

"Ah...this guy is quite the womanizer."

Granny New nodded: "She definitely has a romantic relationship with Kaido's daughter, Yamato, the Demon Girl. She also has a relationship with the Devil Child, Nico Robin, who is also no simple woman..."

Sandasonia asked curiously, "Grandma New, how do you know so much about this?"

"Well... after all, besides being incredibly strong, this guy's handsome face is also exceptionally good-looking, so gossip about him is quite popular. I heard he even has a fan club in the East China Sea."

Granny New explained, "But it seems that this kid isn't content to just be an idol. Killing a Celestial Dragon is definitely a major incident that will shake the heavens!"

"Handsome?"

Hancock paused for a moment before looking at the upright figure in the newspaper photo, holding the Celestial Dragon's head.

stare--

Staring at that unfamiliar, handsome face, Hancock remained silent for a long time before looking away.

At the same time, a strange restlessness welled up in her heart, but she suppressed it without making a sound.

"Speaking of which, what happened after he killed the Celestial Dragon?"

After calming down for a few seconds, Hancock looked at the photo in the newspaper again, forcing herself not to look at the handsome face, her complicated gaze fixed on the terrified pig's head that the other person was holding.

"Naturally, we will face encirclement and suppression by naval admirals."

Granny New's expression was solemn: "I believe news will come soon. The Navy may issue a conscription order. Snake Princess, you should prepare in advance."

"Enough with the rambling. I'm not asking for your opinion." Hancock snorted haughtily.

"Don't worry." Granny New shook her head: "On the one hand, this time, I don't object to you refusing the Navy's conscription. On the contrary, it's better not to stand on the opposite side with someone like that."

"Why do you say that?"

Hancock was somewhat surprised, as the old woman was always the first to volunteer whenever the Navy needed to call up a conscription.

"This guy reminds me of someone."

Grandma New's expression was solemn: "That was someone from decades ago. Although the two have different personalities, their unscrupulous way of doing things... no, this guy is obviously more composed and more difficult to deal with."

"So, Granny New, who exactly are you talking about?" Mary Grood asked.

"Lox D. Gibbek".

Granny New's expression was solemn: "Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Big Mom, Kaido, Wang Zhi, Captain John... these now famous overlords of the world, including myself, were all once members of his ship."

"That guy, like Caesar, challenged the Celestial Dragons. Although he unfortunately perished in the end, his strength is absolutely undeniable!"

"how come?"

Sandasonia's face was filled with horror: "Of the current Four Emperors, three are actually that guy's crew members? How could such an organization be defeated by a Celestial Dragon?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. That guy's crew were all won through Davy Backfights, so there's no real camaraderie among them. The fact that he didn't betray us is already a sign of his strength."

Grandma New shook her head regretfully, then said seriously, "But Caesar is obviously different. He personally recruited and trained his subordinates, and within half a year, he quickly built up a force and established his territory in a place as easy to defend and difficult to attack as the Sky Island."

"Needless to say, this guy's vision, ambition, and skills are far superior to those of Rocks back then! As for his strength, although he is still relatively young, his initial bounty reached 2.8 billion, which shows that his strength has already reached the level of a top expert."

"Such a terrifying new generation is the only one of its kind on this sea in all these years. To be honest, this guy is a greater threat to us than the navy, so it's best not to mess with him."

"Hmph, what you old man said isn't entirely unreasonable."

Hancock scoffed. "Speaking of which, where is his territory? We'll just have to avoid it from now on."

"Don't worry, his territory is on Sky Island, and the other one is Gaya Island, which is directly below Sky Island. Although it's not far from us, it's still quite a distance. Besides, we're in the Calm Belt, so we're unlikely to run into each other."

Grandma Niu nodded with satisfaction, feeling that her daughter was more sensible than before and could listen to advice.

The next second, Hancock suddenly stood up, her beautiful, straight black hair swaying in a captivating arc.

"Sandasonia, pass on the word, prepare to set sail."

Granny New looked utterly astonished: "Snake Princess, you..."

"I'm in a good mood today and plan to go out to sea for a while. Do you have any objections?"

Hancock raised her chin, her posture arrogant.

"Where...where are you planning to go?"

"How dare you! Do I need to report to you where I go?"

Hancock snorted and walked out of the palace without looking back.

Seeing this, the two younger sisters could only awkwardly smile at Grandma Niu and then hurriedly followed their eldest sister away.

Grandma New stared in astonishment at Hancock's departing figure, her gaze suddenly falling on a parchment tube rolled up in her hand.

"That is…"

Grandma Niu squinted her eyes, then flipped open the newspaper left on the bed and shook it.

One by one, the bounty posters fluttered down. Granny New searched through them, but the one for Caesar, the one with the highest bounty, was missing.

"Oh dear! So that's how it is?!"

Recalling Hancock's somewhat unusual reaction, Granny New slapped her forehead in annoyance: "Could it be that Boa Hancock is also... No, Boa Hancock, wait for me, I'll go with you!"

With that, the old woman leaped onto the python coiled into a cane and hopped off in the direction the group had gone.

"What are you doing here?"

When Hancock saw Granny New coming along, she immediately looked disgusted.

Tell me first, where are you going?

Seeing that the other party was about to get angry again, Granny New calmly turned her head away: "Speaking of which, I think we might be able to form an alliance with Caesar. After all, although Kuja is a pirate crew, it is also backed by a country. Even if Caesar doesn't like pirates, it is still a diplomatic matter at the national level, so he should be able to give us face."

"Although this old woman is not very useful, I still know a bit about these things... Perhaps I can try to make some contact while I'm at it."

Upon hearing this, Hancock's anger, which was about to erupt, was immediately swallowed back down.

"Hmm... what you said makes some sense."

"sister?"

Upon hearing this, Sandasonia and Marigold stared at their eldest sister as if they had seen a ghost.

When did my older sister become so easy to talk to?
"Speaking of which, what are you holding in your hand? Caesar's bounty poster? You wouldn't be eyeing him for something, would you?"

Grandma New squinted and asked, "This could put Nine Serpents in a very dangerous situation!"

"I just want to know more, after all, Caesar's territory is not far from us, and it may pose a threat to our Nine Serpents."

Hancock raised her chin, like a proud little swan.

Grandma New said in a low voice, "Really? Shouldn't you be taking the newspaper?"

"I took the wrong one!"

Hancock held her head high, so high that Granny New couldn't see the faint blush on her cheeks, and then strode towards the port.

"Speaking of which, Caesar is such a womanizer, he might develop feelings for you, Snake Princess. You should be careful..."

"really?"

Hancock turned her head sharply, then, as if realizing she had been too excited, she coughed lightly, feigning composure: "I mean, of course, no one can resist my charm!"

"After all, I am simply too beautiful~"

Grandma New: Seniors using cell phones on the subway…

After a two-second silence, she sighed softly again.

"Sigh, your personality is too strong, and I'm afraid conflicts are inevitable. When I was young, I was quite good at dealing with men's advances, but unfortunately, I didn't find many of them attractive."

Grandma New looked regretful: "If you could have been a little more restrained, you might not have made that guy completely infatuated, but at least there shouldn't have been any conflict."

Before she could finish speaking, a beautiful face was already right in front of her.

"For the sake of Kuja, I am willing to try!"

"..."

You're doing this for a man, aren't you, you brat!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(PS: Updates are back! Guys! Still 4,000 words a day!)
Aside from a few plans for the 2nd, I don't have any other scheduled activities. Our honeymoon will be a road trip, but only within Northeast China, so it won't interfere with my writing! Thank you all for your understanding during this time! Thank you so much!

(End of this chapter)