The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

But just as I was about to leave, things changed too quickly.

As if receiving some kind of order, the Mink Tribe member suddenly retaliated, launching a powerful attack on the Celestial Dragon, a World Noble!

But what truly made me feel like my heart had been violently struck by something...

It's him! It's that man!

That man who crushed a Celestial Dragon with his bare hands!

Watching this scene, I felt my blood boiling in my veins, and my breathing became uncontrollably rapid.

Gern Reginald Sigmar.

I had long heard of the formidable reputation of "Tenjhin," a Rear Admiral of the Navy Headquarters, but seeing it with my own eyes still exceeded my expectations.

Even when facing the Celestial Dragons, the world's nobles, he remained fearless!

That powerful, unrestrained, and arrogant aura instantly attracted me.

At that moment, my pride and reason completely crumbled.

After returning to Kuja, I became obsessed with collecting everything about him.

His record, his legends, even what he likes to eat and what color socks he likes to wear...

One late night, when I finished flipping through the last page of information about him, I suddenly realized—it's over.

Like Lady Gloria and Lady Shaki, I've become a complete and utterly love-obsessed idiot.

"No way!" I slapped myself hard. "Toritoma, you're going to become the most ruthless empress in Amazon Lily's history!"

So I made a strict plan: I only allowed myself to think about him three times a day, and each time for no more than five minutes.

I even had my younger sister, Huobalian, keep an eye on me, and if she noticed me daydreaming, she would splash me with water.

until today.

When that damned snake brought him to me, all my reason and all my plans went to hell.

His eyelashes are so long.

His collarbones are really beautiful.

The way his Adam's apple bobbed when he spoke

His pectoral muscles were still warm...

……

Kuja Pirate Ship

"Hey, hey..." Gern's lips twitched as he tried to pry the restless hand away, only to find it gripped tightly.

"I mean, are all the people from Amazon Lily this...enthusiastic?"

"Enough nonsense! Release Lady Snake!" the leading female warrior shouted sharply, but her hand holding the longbow was trembling slightly.

Gern sighed, suddenly finding this leisurely mission unusually exhausting.

So he grabbed Tori Tomma by the back of her collar with one hand, lifted her up like a kitten, and shook her in front of him.

"Wake up, this... uh, Lady Snake Princess?"

Torritoma's eyelids twitched a few times, and he groggily opened his eyes.

When she saw the handsome face magnified before her, her pupils instantly turned into hearts: "Ah~ it's Lord Gern~"

Her voice was so sweet that it gave everyone present goosebumps.

Gern: "..."

He silently handed the woman to the nearest female warrior: "I think you might need to get a new captain."

"No, that's not it!" Toritoma suddenly snapped back to reality, sprang to her feet, and tidied her disheveled red hair.

Reverting to his initial cold and arrogant demeanor, he forced himself to remain calm and said, "I was careless just now... truly worthy of the title 'Heavenly Tremor'."

"Okay...okay..." she said, stealing a glance at Guern's pectoral muscles before quickly looking away, her cheeks flushed. "Such powerful Conqueror's Haki."

Gern: "I saw you peeking at my chest!"

"Damn it, I didn't expect you to dare attack me. It seems you underestimated the Kuja Pirates!"

The moment Torritoma drew his black-sheathed longsword, it gleamed like snow, and the blade whistled as it sliced ​​through the air.

The movement was swift, aimed straight for Guern's chest.

"Clang!" Black Blade Eight Desolations steadily blocked the attack. The two famous blades clashed, sparks flying everywhere.

Gern raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "You're a great swordsman?"

The Snake Princess did not answer. With a flick of her wrist, the blade slid along the edge of the Eight Desolations Blade, slicing straight at Gern's wrist.

Gurn took a half step back, the blade grazing his sleeve and leaving a tiny crack.

"Hey, are you serious now?" Gern teased, but his eyes became more serious.

He sidestepped the subsequent horizontal slash and swung his sword back at Toritoma's shoulder.

Torritoma's body arched backward like a snake, the blade almost grazing her nose.

Then a cunning glint flashed in his eyes, and taking advantage of the force of Gern's knife strike, he suddenly closed in, his left hand forming a claw, aiming straight for Gern's chest.

"Snap!" Gern grabbed her wrist, and the two were instantly locked in a stalemate.

Torritoma's face was inches away, and the way her chest appeared to be compressed made it seem like Gern could even smell the faint fragrance in her hair.

Snake Princess's breathing became somewhat rapid. Looking at her chest pressed tightly against the other's, her cheeks flushed slightly, but her eyes were unusually bright.

“Your move…” Gern narrowed his eyes, “doesn’t it look like you’re taking advantage of me?”

"Lieutenant General Gern." The Snake Princess's lips curled into a slight smile. "Isn't the point of battle to seize every opportunity?"

Before she could finish speaking, her knee slammed into Gern's abdomen.

Gern released her wrist, sidestepped, and at the same time gently patted her back with the back of the Eight Desolations Blade.

But Torritoma seemed to have anticipated this, twisting his waist and using the momentum to get even closer, almost crashing into Gern's arms.

"Hey!" Gern was both amused and exasperated. This wasn't a fight; it was practically throwing himself into someone's arms!

The Nine Serpent Warriors standing nearby were dumbfounded.

They had never seen Lady Snake fight with such "passion".

For a moment, I didn't know whether I should step forward to help or pretend I didn't see it.

.......

Meanwhile, on a merchant ship in the distance, Libo, holding a telescope, was munching on a carrot and tilting her head when she suddenly exclaimed, "Something terrible has happened!"

"Tesoro, has Gern been kidnapped by pirates?"

Tesoro's lips twitched, and he slowly turned his head: "Ribo, do you think the phrase 'Gern was kidnapped by pirates' really exists in this world?"

"Look, look!"

Tezzolo reluctantly took the binoculars and stared intently.

Gern was being relentlessly pursued by the "Snake Princess" of the Kuja Pirates, who was practically pressed against him.

The blade was sharp yet held back at every turn; it was less a battle and more... a kind of unconventional "passionate exchange."

"Tsk, in broad daylight, with clearly a real rabbit and a fake rabbit, and now..."

"Sigh! It seems..." Tesoro paused for two seconds, slowly lowered the binoculars, and let out a long sigh.

"Lieutenant General Gern, you really should listen to General Sengoku's ideological education lecture when you get back."

Chapter 186 The Thorny Rose, Gern

"Enough!" On the Kuja Pirates' ship, Gern finally lost his temper, slashing the Snake Princess away and creating distance.

Torritoma steadied himself, the tip of his blade touching the ground, slightly out of breath, his eyes still burning, but his tone had regained its arrogance.

"What, is this all the Navy's 'Skyquake' is capable of?"

"That's because I've never seen a swordsman who keeps rubbing against others!"

"Isn't this also a form of offensive?"

"..."

"Fine!" Gern sighed, putting away the Eight Desolations. "I have no interest in playing this game with you. You can leave now!"

Seeing that Guern had stopped trying to gain the upper hand, Toritoma bit his lip and suddenly shouted loudly.

"Gern Reginald Sigmar!"

As the current second-in-command of the Kuja Pirates, I formally issue this challenge to you!

If you win, I'll let you do whatever you want with me; if you lose…

She paused, her cheeks flushing even more, "You have to come back to Snake Island with me!"

Gern: "...?"

The Kuja warriors covered their faces in dismay, but then they thought, "Isn't this a solution?" This was a celestial earthquake, after all!

Aside from the admirals, they are one of the Navy's strongest combat forces at the Navy Headquarters!

If Tianzhen goes back with them...

"Lady Snake Princess sacrificed herself to make Amazon Lily great once again!"

Is it possible that even Lady Shakky couldn't achieve what Gloriosa has done?

No, Lady Snake is the only great swordsman on Amazon Lily! Maybe!!

Seeing this, Gern rubbed his temples and glanced at the aloof and powerful female swordswoman in front of him.

If it weren't for the "close contact" during their fight, who would have thought that this seemingly aloof "Snake Queen" was actually a perverted woman?

Just as Gern was about to refuse, his brows furrowed slightly, and his Observation Haki detected the anomaly.

The woman in front of me was beating at an alarming rate, even faster than during a fierce battle.

“I see…” Gern chuckled, a look of understanding flashing in his eyes.

Torituma felt a shiver run down his spine under his gaze, but forced himself to remain calm and raised his chin: "Enough talk, take this!" Before he finished speaking, the blade was already upon him.

This time, Gern didn't budge.

The Snake Queen's gleaming blade remained steadily an inch from his throat, trembling slightly.

“You…” Toritoma’s hand gripping the knife trembled slightly, “Why didn’t you dodge?”

“Because…” Gern looked directly into her eyes, his voice soft yet firm: “I know you won’t cut it down.”

"How...how dare you gamble like that?" Toritoma's imposing aura crumbled instantly, but his expression remained cold and arrogant.

"I might have actually made that move..."

“Your heartbeat betrayed you.” Gern shrugged, then his eyes suddenly sharpened. “And…”

As soon as he finished speaking, a dark purple Conqueror's Haki swept out like a tidal wave!

Before the Kuja Pirates could react, they fell one after another like wheat being harvested, except for Toritoma, who remained standing with his pupils contracted sharply.

Gern slowly approached the stunned Snake Queen, leaning close to her ear, his warm breath brushing against her reddened earlobe: "If I really wanted to make a move..."

The deep voice carried an undeniable sense of pressure.

“You were all dead from the very beginning.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gern's figure gradually transformed into tiny, vibrating particles, shimmering in the sunlight, and slowly dissipated into the sea breeze.

The next second, his figure had already reformed on the deck of the merchant ship.

On the Kuja Pirates' ship, seeing that everyone had left, Torituma took a deep breath, the sea breeze brushing against her burning cheeks.

Far from backing down due to the earlier intimidation, she fixed her burning gaze firmly on the tall figure on the merchant ship's deck.

"It's...it feels like this..." she murmured softly, her fingertips unconsciously touching her burning cheeks.

Those sharp eyes were now filled with infatuation, and a blissful smile played on her lips.