One Piece: Starting with Creating the Strongest Character Design

When Hancock opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on a soft leather sofa in a dimly lit bar filled with the smell of alcohol and tobacco.

There were no waiters in the bar, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a freshly mixed drink on the round wooden table in front of her.

Fine droplets of water condensed on the glass, and a slight chill rose from it, indicating that it had just been prepared not long ago.

Hancock frowned, her delicate brows furrowed, her eyes filled with confusion.

She slowly sat up, her fingertips unconsciously touching the back of her neck, where a slight, dull ache still lingered.

All I remember is being knocked unconscious by a navy officer, and then everything goes blank.

This is where?

Hancock slowly rose, supporting herself on the sofa armrest, about to take a step to carefully check the surroundings and confirm whether it was safe to be there.

Just then, a faint tremor came from the bar's wooden door, accompanied by the crisp and intense sound of weapons clashing.

The clanging sound penetrated the door panel and clearly reached my ears.

Hancock's body froze instantly, all her muscles tensed, and her alertness was instantly heightened.

She subconsciously raised her hand, a faint pink halo gathering at her fingertips, ready to activate her ability at any moment.

But the next second, she slowly relaxed.

Although she didn't know exactly what had happened, she didn't seem to be in any danger at the moment.

After hesitating for a moment, Hancock tiptoed toward the old wooden door, placed her fingertips on the handle, and with a little force, slowly pushed it open a crack.

Then, she simply pushed the wooden door open completely and went outside.

The wooden door made a soft "creak" sound when it turned.

In the open space not far away, two girls were huddled together. Hearing the noise behind them, they turned around abruptly. When they saw the figure pushing open the door, their eyes lit up instantly, and tears welled up in their eyes.

"elder sister!"

The two girls shouted in unison, their voices filled with joy, and rushed towards Hancock.

Hancock froze for a moment, then reached out and gently stroked the tops of her two younger sisters' heads. Feeling the warmth in her arms and confirming that they were safe and sound, the last bit of tension in her heart finally relaxed completely.

She gently comforted them while glancing up at the other three people in the open space.

Three people stood on the open ground, two men and one woman, their positions clearly defined.

Two men stood facing each other in the center of the arena, each holding a long sword, and were "sparring" with each other.

Under the shade of a tree stood a woman. She was tall and thin, with a straight posture, short black hair, and a cigarette dangling from her lips. She looked to be in her thirties.

Now look at the two men sparring.

One of them had long, curly, silver-white hair that was casually draped over his shoulders. He had a white beard on his chin and wore thin-rimmed glasses. The most striking feature was his right eye, with a straight scar running from his brow bone to his cheek.

And the one fighting him was none other than the Marine who had knocked her unconscious earlier, Kitahara Tsuneo.

Kitahara Tsune wielded the famous sword, Tōki, each swing of which carried immense power as he charged toward the silver-haired man.

His moves were fierce, but they were all blocked by the silver-haired man with a casual swing of his sword. Several times, he was even knocked away by the man with a light flick of his wrist.

……

After knocking Hancock unconscious, Kitahara Tsuneo quietly took her away from where she was, and after many twists and turns, they arrived at Area 13 of the Sabaody Archipelago.

There's a bar here called "Shaki's Bamboo Knocking," which isn't very famous, but it's been operating for many years.

The bar owner is, on the surface, just a well-informed information broker who makes a living by selling information and extorting money.

She appears unremarkable, but in reality, she is the former Amazonian Empress, Shakky.

Don't let Xia Qi's current ordinary appearance fool you; she has lost the stunning beauty of her youth.

But in her youth, she was a stunning beauty, whose looks were in no way inferior to Hancock's today.

She was also a woman who, in a physical sense, caused a world war.

Even the Pirate King Roger was madly in love with her, and for her sake, he even personally participated in the Kamiya Valley Battle.

When Kitahara Tsune brought Hancock to this bar, he deliberately took off his navy cloak.

He didn't want to attract unnecessary trouble or hear rumors that this rising naval star was secretly trafficking girls.

When I entered the bar, Xia Qi was sitting behind the counter, casually swirling a glass of wine that was still emitting cold air.

Her gaze casually swept over the bar's patrons, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

Hearing the noise at the door, Xia Qi subconsciously looked up and assumed it was another drunkard coming to drown his sorrows.

But when she saw Kitahara Tsune's handsome and upright face, and the Hancock he was carrying on his shoulder, her originally indifferent eyes instantly lit up, and she immediately perked up.

"What would you like to drink, sir?"

Xia Qi put down her wine glass, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Bei Yuan Heng's face, observing his expression.

Xia Qi remained nonchalant on the surface, speaking in a calm tone, but inwardly she was already on high alert.

This man is no ordinary person; he is definitely not simple!

Kitahara Tsune laughed heartily, his smile gentle and radiating a kind aura.

"You're too kind, ma'am. I didn't come here to drink."

He paused, then pointed to Hancock on his shoulder. "This child needs some help."

As he spoke, he gently lifted Hancock, who was slung over his shoulder: "I overheard that the proprietress here is kind-hearted, so I was thinking of asking her for help."

After saying that, he placed Hancock, whom he had been carrying on his shoulder, onto the sofa next to the counter, and then lowered his voice and said softly:

"She was also talking about 'Amazon' and stuff..."

Upon hearing the word "Amazon," Shakky's pupils constricted sharply, her nonchalant expression vanished instantly, and her gaze turned serious.

She abruptly put down the wine glass she was shaking.

Then, she raised her hand, clapped her hands lightly, and shouted to the noisy crowd in the bar:

"Closed for business! Closed for business! Everyone can leave now, we're not open for business today!"

The once noisy and bustling bar instantly fell silent.

All the drinkers who were drinking and talking loudly subconsciously stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Xia Qi behind the counter.

Seeing that everyone was standing there in a daze, showing no intention of leaving, Xia Qi frowned slightly.

Seeing this, one of the regular drinkers who had been coming here for a long time immediately realized what was happening. He quickly stood up, pulled his drinking buddy aside, and hurriedly said:

"Okay, boss, we'll leave right away, we won't bother you any longer!"

After the first person left, the remaining patrons also realized what was happening, hurriedly paid their bills, and quickly walked out of the bar.

Several of the newcomers, who were visiting for the first time, looked bewildered and muttered to themselves, "She's just a woman."

"Idiot, what do you know?"

As one of the patrons walked briskly, he lowered his voice and hurriedly explained to the stunned newcomers, "To be able to run a bar in the Sabaody Archipelago and manage it so well for so long, the owner can't be some nobody, can he?"

Those old drinking buddies all knew in their hearts that the proprietress was far more powerful than she appeared, and was someone they could not afford to provoke.

They had once witnessed a pirate with a bounty of hundreds of millions cause trouble while drunk and speak rudely to Shakky. As a result, Shakky casually picked him up like a chicken, easily caught him, and threw him out of the bar.

The pirate didn't even have the strength to resist.

Before long, all the customers in the bar had left. Xia Qi got up, walked to the door, and hung up a wooden sign that read "Temporarily Closed".

Then, the wooden door was slowly closed, completely shutting out the noise from the outside world.

Inside the bar, only the lingering smell of cigarettes and alcohol remained in the air.

Xia Qi took out a pack of women's cigarettes from her pocket, lit one, took a deep drag, looked at Bei Yuan Heng, and asked:

"Tell me, what's the story with this child? And why did you come to me?"