Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1511.
Marine G-7 Rear Admiral Boa Hancock secretly retired from the Marines and returned to Amazon Lily, ascending to the position of Empress.
Immediately afterward, the Kuja Pirates, inheritors of a legendary lineage spanning generations, officially emerged as a formidable pirate crew.
Amazon Lily itself possessed tremendous heritage. Their national mastery of Haki was no mere legend. As royalty, the cultivation methods Hancock had access to were naturally even more advanced.
Boa Hancock had also received the Paramecia-type Love-Love Fruit from Finn. Combined with her peerless beauty and overwhelming charm, this Devil Fruit's potential was immeasurable.
Therefore, Hancock's Haki was inherited from Amazon Lily's traditions, while her combat techniques and fruit abilities were both exceptional.
She'd spent several years in the Marines, learning Marine techniques such as the Six Powers.
With additional guidance from Gion, even though Hancock was only eighteen years old, her strength was genuinely formidable—even surpassing her original timeline counterpart.
In the original timeline, Hancock had astonished the world on her first voyage at age eighteen, destroying an entire nation in one campaign and seizing the country's wealth, successfully completing her inaugural journey as Empress—what was called the "Emperor's Hunt."
Simultaneously, this had signaled that the veteran pirate crew, the Kuja Pirates, had once again stepped onto the world stage.
With the Kuja Pirates' reputation, relying on her own beauty and strength, as well as her stunning debut performance, Hancock had been invited by the World Government to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea after her first voyage.
And for Amazon Lily's sake, she'd suppressed her hatred toward the World Government and accepted the Warlord position.
This time proved similar.
When Finn arrived in the North Blue, Hancock had already completed her "Emperor's Hunt"—though not as dramatically as the original timeline where she'd conquered an entire nation.
However, she'd defeated numerous pirates on the seas, some with bounties exceeding 100 million berries.
She'd also petrified an entire Marine fleet, including two Vice Admirals from Marine Headquarters. Not a single soul had been spared.
The Paramecia-type Love-Love Fruit's ability was completely unreasonable. Regardless of whether targets were male or female, young or old, strong or weak—as long as they were attracted to Hancock and harbored any thoughts about her charm, her ability would affect them.
It was utterly absurd.
With this outstanding record, and with Stussy from the CP agencies spreading word strategically, the World Government quickly took notice of Hancock.
When Finn arrived in the North Blue, the invitation for Hancock, captain of the Kuja Pirates, to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea had reportedly already been dispatched to Amazon Lily.
Hancock hadn't hesitated. She'd accepted the invitation directly.
At this point, the current Empress of Amazon Lily, captain of the Kuja Pirates, and Pirate Empress Boa Hancock officially joined the Warlords with a bounty of 230 million berries, becoming the fifth Warlord.
Boa Hancock had been previously unknown across the seas. Almost no one had heard of her.
She'd become famous overnight, ascending to Warlord status. The title "Pirate Empress" spread throughout the world in an instant.
Big News Morgan's World Economic Journal devoted substantial coverage to introducing the long-dormant Kuja Pirates and the fabled Women's Kingdom, Amazon Lily.
Sales of newspapers featuring these reports skyrocketed.
It wasn't that people were particularly interested in the Kuja Pirates or Amazon Lily.
It was because Hancock was breathtakingly beautiful. The day her full-body photograph in a qipao appeared on the newspaper's front page, the World Economic Journal sold explosively, requiring multiple reprints over several consecutive days.
Countless people purchased the newspaper and cut out Hancock's photograph as a keepsake without even reading the accompanying content.
Not only were newspapers selling like wildfire, but the wanted poster bearing Hancock's bounty issued by Marine Headquarters was also in extreme demand. Even the vegetable vendor at the market went to obtain one, vowing passionately that he'd definitely capture Hancock.
In reality, he'd immediately gone home and posted the wanted poster on his bedroom wall, gazing at it day and night.
In short, as soon as Hancock set sail, she'd triggered a nationwide phenomenon in early 1511. Her popularity that year didn't resemble that of a pirate but rather a superstar who'd emerged from nowhere.
Men, women, young and old—all were mesmerized by her beauty.
Not long afterward, in a poll conducted by the World Economic Journal, Hancock was voted "World's Most Beautiful Woman" by people across the globe with an absolute advantage.
Her popularity was explosive.
Of course, this was merely a beauty pageant organized by the World Economic Journal.
The World Government did conduct official beauty pageants. Later, the most beautiful woman officially recognized by the World Government would actually be Princess Shirahoshi of Fish-Man Island, who'd been born not long ago.
But that variety of pageant carried stronger political overtones. Generally speaking, people didn't care much about it. Conversely, grassroots elections like the World Economic Journal's were more widely recognized and popular.
If Finn remembered correctly, Hancock had been crowned "World's Most Beautiful Woman" since age eighteen—that is, in year 1511 of the Sea Circle Calendar. From that year forward, Hancock had maintained the title for over a decade. Her position in the world of beauty had never wavered. Every year, she'd outshone all other beauties with absolute advantage.
North Blue.
On a massive standard Marine Headquarters warship, Finn sat on a stool on the deck, fishing. The sea breeze lifted the Justice cloak dragging on the ground behind him, making it flutter with sharp snapping sounds.
Nearby, Hina sat cross-legged on the deck beside Finn, holding a newspaper. She didn't resemble a proper lady at all. She wore sunglasses and had a half-burned cigarette dangling from her mouth.
Her long pink hair swayed in the wind. Her delicate face bore a slight frown of displeasure.
"Admiral!" Hina called out suddenly.
Finn stared at his fishing rod motionlessly. Without turning his head, he asked, "What is it?"
"If Hina sent Hina photograph to the World Economic Journal and participated in this beauty pageant, could Hina beat Hancock?" Hina looked at Finn's profile and asked with complete seriousness, stubbing out her cigarette.
Finn finally withdrew his gaze from the fishing rod and looked at Hina. He couldn't help smiling. "How can you act like a lady? I've never seen anyone sit cross-legged on a deck like you. Fortunately, you're not wearing a skirt. Otherwise, if I looked down, I'd see everything."
"What does it matter if Hina ladylike or not? Hina beautiful—isn't that enough?" Hina said dismissively. She removed her sunglasses, poked her own cheek with one finger, and asked, "Admiral, look at Hina face. How is it any worse than Hancock's?"
Finn rolled his eyes. "Do you actually care about this?"
Hina nodded seriously. "World's Most Beautiful Woman! Hina think this title is more appealing than World's Strongest."
"Perhaps," Finn said with helpless resignation, clearly being perfunctory.
"Who's more beautiful?" Hina pressed relentlessly.
"You're beautiful. You're beautiful. Miss Hina, you're the most beautiful in the world, alright?" Finn said without a trace of sincerity.
Hina glared at Finn with annoyance, then snorted coldly. "Men are completely unreliable."
"Yes, yes, yes." Finn remained perfunctory, having no intention of arguing with this young woman.
Although Hina was now in her early twenties, Finn still treated her as a young girl.
Perhaps it was because Hina had been at his side since her teenage years? In any case, in Finn's eyes, Hina seemed perpetually youthful, never truly growing up.
After reading the newspaper angrily for a while, Hina pretended to sound casual. "You know, when Hancock first joined the Marines, Hina was already at your side."
Finn slowly lit a cigar, bit down on it, and didn't respond at all, ignoring Hina's manipulations.
Seeing Finn exhale a cloud of smoke with no intention of speaking, Hina raised her voice slightly. "In the blink of an eye, Hancock's become a Rear Admiral. Time flies so quickly."
After speaking, Hina glanced at Finn. Seeing him remain completely unmoved, like a statue, she grew furious. She feigned surprise, grabbed the epaulettes on her Justice cloak, and asked in a puzzled tone, "Huh? Admiral, look at my epaulettes. What's wrong with them?"
Finn couldn't endure this theatrical performance any longer. He turned around. "What's wrong? They're fine, aren't they? They're not broken or damaged."
"Look! How many bars are there? How is she a Rear Admiral?" Hina said in an exaggerated, incredulous tone.
Finn rolled his eyes. "What exactly are you trying to say, girl? What's wrong with being a Commodore? Commodore is perfectly fine."
Upon hearing this, Hina propped herself up with one hand and sprang up from the deck. Using a grappling technique, she wrapped herself around Finn entirely. From behind, she hooked her arm around Finn's neck and pulled him backward, saying, "You heartless bastard! Hina've been with you for seven years, almost eight! Hina was top of my class at the academy! Smoker, who graduated a year after Hina and was in the same cohort, was promoted to Rear Admiral years ago! Seven years! Hina've wasted my entire youth on a heartless bastard like you! Don't you feel any shame? Promote Hina to Rear Admiral!"
Hina hugged Finn from behind, locking his neck. Finn naturally felt her admirable figure pressing against him, but he had no mind to appreciate it. Instead, he slapped at Hina's arm and cursed, "Don't use such misleading phrasing! What 'youth'! Let go! Let go, you brat! My fish is on the line!"
"If you don't give me a proper explanation today, Hina will fight you to the death!" Hina roared. But whether intentionally or accidentally, her face shifted from Finn's shoulder toward his profile.
At this moment, it looked exactly like a couple playfully roughhousing.
Not far away, Vergo sat beneath the mast reading a book. He glanced at the two of them, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, as if quite comfortable with the scene.
Over recent years, Doflamingo had shown no intention of opposing the Marines, and the Marines hadn't caused him significant trouble. The two sides even had some business dealings. In short, they'd basically remained mutually uninvolved, so Vergo naturally had no missions to perform.
Over these years, he sometimes wondered whether he was a Marine or a pirate.
Although he was a pirate, he'd performed numerous acts of justice and earned a solid reputation within the Marines.
He was a Marine, yet also an undercover agent from the Donquixote Family, but he did nothing significant. It was rather awkward.
At that moment, a large fish suddenly leaped from the sea beneath Finn's fishing rod, rolling and jumping through the air before splashing back into the ocean.
During this sequence, Finn's eyes instinctively followed the fish's movements, tracking from left to right.
This action naturally required him to turn his head, so his face tilted slightly.
Then there was a soft sound—something warm and soft pressed against his lips, and a pleasant fragrance filled his nostrils.
Both Hina and Finn froze completely.
The next moment, Hina's face flushed crimson. She abruptly released Finn. With an expression mixing embarrassment and strange exhilaration, she drew the sword from her waist. "That was Hina first kiss! Hina will fight you, you old pervert!"
"How the hell is this my fault?!" Finn cursed.
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