"Hey! Let me get you a pig, try one of the forest boars!"
The tiger raised a paw and pointed like a human, as if a lightbulb had gone off in its head, signaling Vito to wait, this matter of food could be left to it.
Vito couldn't help but chuckle at the tiger's ridiculous behavior.
Soon enough, the tiger came back with a large wild boar dangling from its mouth. Vito didn't hold back either; he skillfully processed the meat by hand, tossing some raw cuts to the tiger before digging in himself with gusto.
"I'm stuffed... totally stuffed..."
Vito stood up and grabbed the mammoth hide and rhino pelt he had deliberately saved, planning to make some gear out of them.
Unfortunately, he had clearly overestimated his crafting ability. Anything requiring even basic sewing skills was hopeless for someone like Vito, who shredded wild boars apart with his bare hands. Besides, there weren't exactly tailoring tools lying around this island.
"Hancock, when are you coming back next..."
Staring at the beast pelts, Vito sighed inwardly.
Amazon Lily , Kuja Palace
"When are we going hunting again..."
Hancock clung to Gloriosa, wearing an adorably pitiful expression. Her two younger sisters, Sandersonia and Marigold, stood by looking completely helpless.
"Big sis, Empress Gloriosa..."
Sandersonia started to speak, only to be silenced by a sharp glare from Hancock.
"Alright, alright!"
Gloriosa gently tapped Hancock on the forehead with a wry smile. "Since your two sisters have already passed their training, they're qualified to join the next hunt. But this time, no running off on your own. You need to behave and follow the rules..."
"Mhm."
Hancock nodded her little head, though her half-hearted expression clearly showed just how unserious she was.
"Yeah... she's totally going to sneak off again. Poor Chai will probably be stuck chasing her down," Gloriosa muttered, pressing a hand to her temple with a sigh.
It wasn't that she didn't want to discipline Hancock properly. It was just that, on Amazon Lily, no one could resist Hancock's charm. The girl was simply too beautiful.
The Kuja ship cut through the sea and soon reached Rusukaina once more.
As expected, Hancock slipped away again, but this time, she brought her two younger sisters along.
Gloriosa, upon noticing this, simply gave a resigned sigh and immediately sent people out to track them down.
At that moment, Hancock was sprinting through the jungle with her sisters in tow, stopping every so often to scan the surroundings with a keen gaze.
"Big sis, what exactly are you looking for?"
Sandersonia had already guessed Hancock's intentions, but Hancock merely raised a finger to her lips, signaling for silence.
"Growl..."
A massive lion prowled nearby. While taking it down wouldn't be any trouble for Hancock, her Observation Haki told her that there were other powerful creatures lurking in the vicinity. With her two sisters around, there was no need to stir up unnecessary conflict.
"Big sis... isn't this place a little too dangerous?"
Sandersonia tugged at Hancock's sleeve, speaking in a hushed tone.
Hancock didn't respond. She just brushed her hair behind her ear and picked up speed again.
Sandersonia and Marigold, having long since gotten used to their sister's impulsive nature, had no choice but to follow her helplessly.
Soon, their view opened up.
The three sisters stepped into a clearing, a battlefield ravaged by sheer force. Shattered trees lay scattered in every direction, and the once-dense forest now resembled a crater. The very earth itself had been reshaped by violence.
"Big sis, look over there!"
Marigold, though not one for many words, had sharp eyes. She pointed to a patch of grass where a trail had been dragged along the ground.
Following the trail deeper into the forest, they came upon a massive skeleton, an entire mammoth's remains left behind at the scene.
"H-Huge!"
Both sisters were stunned by the size of the remains, and even their snake companions looked on in astonishment.
After all, in most cases, size meant strength. Just from the skeleton alone, it was obvious that this beast had been a true monster, definitely not something one could take down easily.
Hancock's pupils shrank as she examined a particular spot on the mammoth's skull. There, embedded deep into the bone, was a sunken fist imprint.
The tremendous force behind that punch had fractured the skull with spiderweb-like cracks. A bit more power, and the entire thing would've crumbled.
Standing on tiptoe, Hancock held her own fist against the imprint. It was only slightly smaller.
"Did... Vito do this?"
She recalled the delicate-looking youth she'd once met, he didn't look like someone capable of punching a mammoth to death.
"Could someone else be living on this island? Someone even stronger than Big Sis?"
Marigold blinked in awe.
"Idiot. There's no way anyone's more beautiful, *I mean, stronger, *than Big Sis,"
Sandersonia snapped, clearly offended. Hancock's snake companion, Salome, nodded along in agreement like a loyal fan.
"Her name is Credos Vito. She came from outside the Calm Belt..."
Hancock offered a rare explanation, which surprised her sisters. Their older sister was not the type to waste breath on strangers.
"Someone from the outside? Wow, that's rare. I wonder... has she ever seen a man?"
Naturally, both sisters assumed Vito was a girl who had washed up from the outside world.
After all, the law of Amazon Lily was absolute, no men allowed. Apart from the Kuja warriors who ventured across the Calm Belt with Gloriosa, most native islanders had never seen a man in their lives.
In their minds, men had become something like mythical creatures.
"Maybe. The royal guards said that there are lots of men outside, but most of them are weak..."
"I read in a book that their ancestors were monkeys. Maybe men just look like monkeys?"
"No, no. Men are supposed to be like big trees. Grandma Kikyo said only with a man's seed can a woman bear children."
Marigold and Sandersonia whispered back and forth, completely immersed in their own bizarre theories.
Just then, Hancock's Observation Haki picked up on a relatively strong life form approaching their location.
"Boom!"
Hancock grabbed Salome's body and fired an arrow in that direction, coated with Armament Haki, her arrows were like miniature rockets.
The royal warriors of Amazon Lily could already pierce steel with ease. Hancock, as the strongest among them, was on another level entirely.
"Grooowl..."
From behind the trees, a very familiar tiger crawled out, trembling with fear. The poor beast looked as if it were cursed, why did it keep running into these terrifying bipedal monsters with insane combat power?
"Where is Vito now? Take us to her."
Hancock recognized the tiger immediately and issued her command without hesitation.
//----------------------------------------------------//
//--- Add to Collection!
//--- 150 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter