Amazon Lily – Kuja Lands
The wind whispered through the trees like a warning.
Ships were not welcome here.Men were not welcome here.
But I wasn't a man.Not just.Not anymore.
The Kuja warriors waited at the shoreline with spears raised. Their sharp eyes caught every detail—my ship, my calm, my lack of fear.
And then their gazes shifted.
To her.
Boa Hancock.
The Empress' Warning
She stepped onto the beach like it belonged to her.
Because it did.
Her royal cloak billowed behind her. Her face betrayed nothing. But her Haki—it bled into the sand with silent fury.
"You dare return here?" she said, voice like cracked stone. "You dare set foot on my island after what you did?"
I bowed politely, though not out of respect. Out of amusement.
"Hancock," I said, "I came to apologize."
A spear flew at my head.
I didn't move. Raisa caught it mid-air without blinking.
Behind me, Mireille knelt in the surf, hands folded, reverent as a temple priestess.
The Kuja were unsettled. The stories they'd heard—about me—were many. None painted me as humble.
Because I wasn't.
But today, I played the game.
Flashback: The Game Played Well
In the weeks following the Reverie, I had kept Hancock in the center of my mind—not as a woman to be conquered again, but as a symbol.
The Kuja—an independent militant matriarchy isolated from the world—were a perfect variable.Untouched. Proud. Feared.
Control them, and I would gain more than power.
I'd gain legend.
But this time? I wouldn't manipulate with lies.
I'd do it with truths half-spoken and promises whispered only when they cost something.
Back to the Island
"I want to offer you a choice," I said as the spears closed in.
Hancock gave no reply. But she didn't give the kill order either.
Progress.
I knelt. Slowly. Gracefully. My knee pressed to her sand.
"I ask for no forgiveness. Only a chance to speak."
Murmurs echoed. This wasn't how Celestial Dragons acted. Not even those rumored to be… broken.
"Speak," Hancock said coldly. "Then leave."
I rose and held out a scroll.
"This," I said, "is a list of twenty-two kingdoms that voted to disband the Warlord system."
Her eyes narrowed.
"I know," I continued. "Because I convinced them."
Gasps.
Shock.
Rage simmered just behind Hancock's royal facade.
"You—"
"Because I wanted to see what you would do when you lost your protection."
The Temptation
That was my move.
Expose her to danger.
Then offer salvation.
"All those kingdoms?" I said. "They fear you. As they should. But I can make them obey instead."
"How?" she spat.
"By giving them something worse to fear."
I stepped closer.
"Me."
Boa Hancock's Decision
For a moment, she looked ready to strike. Her hand trembled at her side.
But then…
She turned her back.
"Leave your scroll," she said. "Take your women. Go."
I bowed again.
Not for respect.For victory.
At the Edge of the Forest
As we returned to the ship, Mireille spoke quietly:
"She didn't forgive you."
"No," I replied. "But she heard me."
"And if she doesn't come around?"
"She will. Pride cracks easier than stone."
Raisa added, "You left her with fear."
I smiled.
"Good."
Epilogue – The Serpent Shifts
That night, in the heart of Amazon Lily, Hancock held the scroll under candlelight. Her sisters, Marigold and Sandersonia, leaned over her shoulders.
"He's dangerous," said Marigold.
"He's clever," said Sandersonia.
Hancock didn't speak. She simply stared at the bottom of the parchment.
Where a single line was written in Lucien's hand:
'To fight the world, Empress, you need someone worse than it. Let me be your monster.'
She didn't sleep that night.
But when dawn broke, she gave a single order.
"Watch him."