C248

The bombing of Daughter Island continued. After Hancock assembled the warriors of the Nine Snake Pirates, she realized he had no way to deal with the enemy.

At an altitude of several thousand meters, without a telescope, they couldn't even spot the Ark hovering high in the sky.

"Sister, the warning has been sent. The others are hiding in the cellar and other buildings, but some houses have already been blown up by the enemy. There's no sign they intend to stop."

The second of the Boya sisters reported to Hancock. Although they had done their best to protect the people of Amazon Lily, they were powerless against the Ark in the sky.

"Calendula, later I want you to throw me onto that ship. This king will not allow such lunatics to act with impunity."

"Let's not do that, Snake Princess."

Before Hancock could finish speaking, Granny Z — who had been driven away earlier — reappeared beside Boa Hancock and said, "That mage's Ark ship even hunts flying beasts. If you get thrown up there, you'll face tens of thousands of bullets. Even with Armament Haki, you'll be shot down."

Boa Hancock's expression darkened at Granny Z's words. She didn't like this old woman's constant nagging, but she knew she wasn't lying.

"Our best option now is to hope the enemy ceases fire—or to go directly to Alabasta. I've heard the Mage hasn't been seen in two years. Even the World Government is excited about the floating technology of the Ark Proverbs. You might gain the upper hand."

Granny Z sighed. "But it's dangerous. If you make one wrong move, the World Government might revoke your Shichibukai status."

"However, Snake Girl, don't do anything to Alabasta. They're a member of the World Government. If you act against them, the Marines will definitely respond."

"Hmph, so what if the Marines come?" Boa Hancock raised her chin proudly. "They'll forgive me! Because this king is the most beautiful!"

Granny Z snapped, "Stop being so self-absorbed, Snake Girl! Try to negotiate peacefully—do you really want to watch Daughter Island be blown to bits?"

More than half of Daughter Island had already been bombed. What was once a dense jungle full of exotic animals was now mostly ruins. Only a small portion of the island remained intact.

Then suddenly, the relentless bombardment stopped.

Shortly after, papers began falling from the sky.

A portion of them landed on Daughter Island; the rest drifted out to sea. The Marines picked up several.

Vice Admiral Mole picked up one of the papers that had fallen from the Ark ship, read it, and murmured to himself, "Reparations? If this were any ordinary pirate, I'd give in. But if it's the Empress… I'd better report this to headquarters. It seems only an Admiral can stop the war between Mage and the Empress."

"If the bombing has stopped, it's probably because they've run out of shells. They destroyed half of Daughter Island in one go, leaving the enemy helpless… If this kind of firepower were used on pirates, it'd be devastating."

Marshal Sengoku didn't handle this well. Sending only a Vice Admiral to intervene in a clash between two Shichibukai was beyond inadequate.

On Daughter Island, they too had picked up some of the falling papers. The demands from the Kain Chamber of Commerce were written on them.

After reading it, the second Boya sister shouted in outrage, "What?! They want us to pay over 7 billion Berries and publish an apology in the newspaper? Damn it, Sister, they're provoking us!"

The third of the Boya sisters agreed. "That's right! If my sister gives in like this, the Nine Snake Pirates will lose their reputation!"

Although Granny Z shared the same concern, what caught her attention on the paper was something more important—the return of that Shichibukai.

"Be careful, Snake Princess. The Kain Chamber of Commerce is only this bold because that Shichibukai, the demon Mage, has returned. You know what that means."

Boa Hancock snorted dismissively. "Shut up, old woman. I'm the most beautiful empress. So what if that guy's back?"

But this time, Granny Z wasn't fazed by Snake Princess's vanity. She shouted angrily, "Fool! That man killed Crocodile and defeated Doflamingo. Do you think Ark Proverbs would dare bomb Daughter Island without absolute confidence?"

"Are you saying I'm weaker than those two? You old hag, I've put up with you long enough!"

With a sweeping motion, Boa Hancock grabbed Granny Z by the neck and threw her aside. Then she shouted to the Nine Snake Pirates, "Everyone, to the ship—we're setting sail!"

"Yes, my lady!"

"Yes, Lady Hancock!"

They had noticed that the Ark Proverbs had withdrawn, so the Nine Snake Pirates quickly armed themselves and boarded their ship, departing without delay.

As they were leaving, Boa Hancock's ship crossed paths with a Marine vessel. Vice Admiral Mole tried to deliver orders from Naval Headquarters, but an enraged Boa Hancock ignored him and sailed away.

"One after another… all of them are trouble," Vice Admiral Mole muttered.

He didn't try to stop her—if he did, she might take her anger out on his ship. Besides, he couldn't handle two Shichibukai on his own. Since Hancock refused to follow orders, Mole immediately contacted Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

Meanwhile, high in the sky, an albatross let out a loud laugh. "Oh hehehe! I didn't expect to stumble upon such hot news on my way back. A war between Shichibukai? The World Economic News is going to have the scoop of the century!"

Back at Naval Headquarters, Sengoku scratched his head in frustration after his call with Mole.

"These two had just helped stabilize the first half of the Grand Line. If they go to war now, the consequences could be disastrous."

Vice Admiral Tsuru took a sip of tea and said calmly, "There's nothing we can do about it. Still, things are better now than they used to be. In any case, I support Mage in this. After all, he was the one who got robbed."

Sengoku sighed, troubled. "And then there's those damned World Government officials. I'm sure they're involved in that incident somehow. Just when we had someone who could help the Marines suppress the era of great pirates… and now we have chaos again."

"Tsuru, what I'm worried about now is that if we try to forcefully intervene, we might push Mage to withdraw from the Shichibukai."

With Thunder Fruit powers, ninjutsu, and mysterious magic—Mage was someone they still had limited information on. But one thing was clear: he was a businessman who despised pirates. That kind of person was a natural ally to the Marines.

Yet now, to keep the situation from spiraling, Sengoku had no choice but to clean up after the World Government's mess.

"Hey, Aokiji—where are you now? …Good. Head to the Marine branch in Alabasta. Colonel Hina will brief you once you arrive."

Sengoku finally breathed a sigh of relief after contacting Aokiji.

Akainu had accepted a permanent deployment to the New World. Kizaru, the Marines' emergency response Admiral, was only dispatched in the most critical situations—and a fight between two Shichibukai might not even motivate him to act. Aokiji, on the other hand, was the most suitable for this situation.

On the other hand, after hanging up the phone, Aokiji sighed lazily. His brief sea ride had just begun—and already ended.

"What a hassle," he muttered.

Despite the complaints, Aokiji still pedaled his bicycle back to his warship along the same path. Although Alabasta was relatively close, with the speed of the warship, he could still catch up in time.

After returning to the warship, Aokiji set sail for Alabasta and arrived at the Marine branch there within a few days.

During the journey, he gradually learned more about the situation. Once he arrived, he received a clearer briefing from Colonel Hina.

"Tch. What a hassle, just hearing about it," he grumbled.

When it came to the Shichibukai, even a Marine Admiral couldn't act lightly—and neither side was likely to listen to reason. Aokiji had a headache just thinking about it.

"If I'd known, I'd have claimed to be farther away. Kizaru should be the one doing this sort of thing."

"I understand, Colonel Hina. I'll go check out Alabasta and try to talk to that Shichibukai if I can."

With that, Aokiji got on his signature bicycle and left the Marine branch.

Meanwhile, the intelligence capabilities of the Kain Chamber of Commerce were not just for show.

Across the first half of the Grand Line—and in dozens of countries and towns in East Blue and South Blue—Nico Robin had established a network of intelligence bases. They even had aerial reconnaissance units in place.

Not long after leaving Daughter Island, Nico Robin received the latest report.

After briefing Kain, she immediately went to the military factory and ordered all missiles of the God Series to be prepared.

There were 10 launch units and a total of 50 God Missiles.

Their explosion mechanism resembled Stark Industries' Yahweh series—split-type missiles that could fragment and spread mid-flight.

However, the God Missiles had an added advantage: thermal imaging systems that automatically locked onto targets.

If enemies were grouped together, the split warheads could regroup mid-air to hit the cluster. They could also adjust their flight paths in real time, tracking fast-moving targets with precision, and ensuring optimal bombardment within a 20-kilometer radius.

If the target moved faster than expected and managed to escape the 20-kilometer range quickly enough, they might survive the strike—but if they had that kind of speed, they probably didn't need to fear the God Missiles in the first place.

In addition to the God Series, Nico Robin also prepared twenty P-3 series howitzers—each capable of firing 40 rounds per minute.

This time, the Nine Snake Pirates would serve as the perfect test subjects for the Kain Chamber of Commerce's weapon showcase.

If heavy artillery could bring down even the Nine Snake Pirates, then every nation aligned with the World Government would line up as eager customers of the Chamber.

And from then on, pirates would truly be pirates—chased from every shore, with nowhere to flee but the sea.

….

patreon.com/Vks_sh