Chapter 503: Highlighting Steadiness (Cowardice)
Chapter 503: Highlighting Steadiness (Cowardice)
Though Boa Hancock rarely paid attention to world affairs, Old Nyo had once told her that without Lucius Kro, the Navy’s casualties during the Top War would have been far greater.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea had personally witnessed the man’s performance during that battle.
This was a man who had nearly single-handedly routed the entire Blackbeard Pirate crew and gravely wounded none other than ‘Shanks’. Underestimating him would only bring disaster upon oneself.
But now, the man had discovered them!
Luffy’s trail had been found!
This man must be stopped!
Even if it meant losing her status as a Seven Warlords member, she would protect Luffy’s officer at all costs by confronting this threat.
Otherwise, Luffy’s officer wouldn’t be able to cultivate in peace here.
She wouldn’t be able to stay by his side either.
“Listen,” Kuro twirled Autumn Water and said, “since the Seven Warlords and the Navy are allies, I’m just here to pick someone up. Is there really a need to draw weapons?”
He narrowed his eyes at Boa Hancock. “Or are you saying you no longer wish to be a Seven Warlords member? Ready to defy the World Government’s command and abandon your duties?”
Boa Hancock replied coldly, “You were the one who first violated the agreement between myself and the World Government. This place is strictly forbidden to outsiders. For this, I must punish you!”
“As for the World Government, it matters not. Whatever I do will be forgiven, because…”
She leaned back, tilted her head toward the sky, and pointed a finger at Kuro. “Because I am simply too beautiful!”
“This woman…” Lida gritted his teeth. “Truly unbearable.”
“Sweet Breeze!”
As she pointed at Kuro, a heart-shaped projectile erupted from her fingertip, soaring toward him.
"Surrender to my beauty, you lecherous man!"
The heart moved at blinding speed, though compared to Kuro, it was still slightly slow.
The moment it neared him, Kuro shimmered like a mirage, teleporting to the side and letting the heart pass through his afterimage.
Kuro glanced at the fading heart and said, “Wow, you’re not playing fair. You just snuck in an attack!”
Boa Hancock straightened her posture, her finger tracing a heart across her lips. “Kiss Pistol!”
She aimed at Kuro, her fingers forming a gun shape. With a “Bang!”, a heart shot out at even greater speed.
“I already told you—” Kuro easily sidestepped the attack, “this won’t work.”
“Kiss Pistol: Barrage!”
Her fingers flickered rapidly, unleashing a storm of heart-shaped bullets, densely packing the air around Kuro.
Swish!
Thud! Thud!
But the moment the barrage approached, Kuro vanished in a flash, leaving the hearts to strike the ground, leaving trails of residual energy.
The Kiss Pistol technique wasn’t just about petrification—it carried actual physical force.
Seeing Kuro disappear, Boa Hancock scanned the area, then suddenly twisted her body. She gracefully clasped her hands behind her head and kicked backward.
Bang!
A hand caught her smooth, jade-like calf. Autumn Water’s blade pressed against her neck.
Kuro appeared behind her, leaning close to her ear. “Had enough yet, Boa Hancock?”
“Idiot.” Boa Hancock sneered. “You touched me. Petrification!”
“Eh?”
Kuro froze, instinctively releasing her and leaping back, shaking his palm. “Phew! Almost forgot this woman can’t be touched.”
Boa Hancock spun around, staring at Kuro’s hand. Logically, her ability should have activated the moment he touched her. Anyone who felt desire for her—male or female—would be petrified.
Though this man was strong, she was confident she could petrify at least his hand.
“What nonsense!” She gritted her teeth. “Why aren’t you petrified?!”
Kuro’s lips curled into a confident smirk. “You think I’m just anyone? I’m a Navy officer of Justice! How could I ever feel desire for a pirate?”
“Kuro!” Lida felt a surge of admiration.
Indeed, Kuro still knew where to draw the line.
Touched, Lida turned to him—then his face fell.
Kuro was speaking solemnly, but his eyes hadn’t left Boa Hancock for a second, staring with a lecherous intensity that could curdle milk.
“Don’t flatter yourself!” Boa Hancock scowled. “Your eyes haven’t left me since you arrived. You’re no different from those stinking men outside!”
“You’re mistaken,” Kuro refused to admit. “I’m a man who abhors gambling and drugs!”
He felt desire, yes, but he also knew Boa Hancock’s ability well. From the moment she appeared, he’d been on high alert.
Boa Hancock’s basic ability petrified those who felt desire for her, but those indifferent or focused elsewhere remained unaffected.
Put simply, Kuro’s cowardice—no, his vigilance—overpowered his desire.
My heart races, but my actions remain mature and steady!
Highlighting steadiness (cowardice) indeed!
“Then,” Boa Hancock’s finger brushed her lips, pulling a massive heart into shape. She stretched it like a bowstring, aiming at Kuro.
Basic ability or not, as a strong cultivator, Boa Hancock had long mastered her ‘Sweet Devil Fruit’ to its peak.
She could petrify anyone—living or inanimate—without relying on their emotions.
“Captive Arrow!”
A storm of pink arrows rained from the sky as Boa Hancock loosed her bow.
Even without desire, this technique would petrify the man.
Boa Hancock had no intention of killing Lucius Kro. She knew Kuro’s identity—if she truly killed him, Lucius Kro would never let it go.
But she could petrify him until Luffy’s officer set sail.
With that thought, Boa Hancock’s eyes blazed with a fierce aura, surging toward the lecherous man.
Boom!
The sea itself surged at the coastline.
The overwhelming pressure of Conqueror’s Haki!
Kuro’s body tensed mid-dodge, his brows furrowing as he glared at Boa Hancock. “So you’re determined to stop me here, huh?”
Gripping Autumn Water, he watched the descending arrows. With a sweep of his left hand, a wave of earth erupted, forming a towering barrier.
The first arrows struck the wall, instantly petrifying it into solid stone.
Kuro raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”
This was matter itself—
He leapt atop the stone wall, observing the relentless pink arrows. Raising his left hand, he declared, “Wind!”
Whoosh!
The air roared, whipping the arrows into chaos.
Kuro narrowed his eyes, clenched his fist, and the howling wind spiraled the arrows skyward.
In that instant, his gaze toward Boa Hancock burned with fervor.
Like a lecher beholding a peerless beauty.
Oh…
Because that’s exactly what she was.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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