Chapter 59: Amazon Lily

Approaching nightfall.

"Rear Admiral, we have arrived at the Calm Belt. Shall we continue sailing through the night?"

Karl looked at the stretch of dead water not far away and shook his head slightly.

Although the Seastone warship could ignore the Calm Belt and Sea Kings, the risks of traveling at night were always high. Regardless of whether it was the Calm Belt or not, he would never choose to travel through the night.

"Drop anchor here! We'll set off again tomorrow morning!"

"Yes, sir!"

After Nelson left, Karl said to Ain beside him, "You should get some rest early too!"

"Mm, you too. See you tomorrow!"

The next morning, the sea was calm and the sun was perfect.

"Set sail!"

At Karl's command, the Seastone warship officially entered the Calm Belt, heading toward Amazon Lily.

"So this is the Calm Belt! There really isn't any wind at all. Didn't they say there are many Sea Kings here? How come we haven't seen a single one?"

Ain looked at Karl with her wine-red eyes, filled with confusion.

"It's a good thing we don't see them. If we did, we'd be in big trouble!"

After saying this, Karl pointed at the warship beneath their feet and continued, "See this? The hull is made of Seastone. It emits the same energy as the sea, which can deceive the senses of the Sea Kings."

"That is why we can sail through the Calm Belt unscathed."

Ain nodded in realization: "So that’s why Seastone can suppress Devil Fruit users!"

"Look! That’s Amazon Lily ahead!"

Following the direction of Karl's finger, a lush green island appeared ahead. On the large mountain in the center of the island, the characters for "Kuja" were written, with ferocious snake heads above them. At first glance, it looked quite intimidating.

The warship stopped three kilometers from Amazon Lily and dropped anchor. At this moment, Karl said to Nelson beside him.

"Fire a signal flare, so they don't get all worked up."

"Yes!"

A red signal flare flew into the sky, exploding to reveal the seagull emblem, indicating their status as the Navy.

According to the agreement, warships could only stop three kilometers away from Amazon Lily. To avoid unnecessary conflict and successfully complete the mission, Karl had gone to great lengths.

The Empress's Palace.

"Sister, it's the Navy's signal flare. They really did come because of the summons!"

Hancock, leaning against Salome (the snake), furrowed her brows slightly. She walked quickly to the balcony, staring intently at the red signal flare outside the island.

"Sandersonia, you and Marigold go gather the warriors. I want to see what kind of tricks the Navy is trying to play!"

On the warship.

Karl looked through his binoculars at the Amazon warriors on the port, who were on high alert. His expression was a bit serious; the isolationism of Amazon Lily was even more severe than he had imagined.

"How is the situation?"

Karl shook his head: "Not optimistic. We might end up fighting. That Empress has a rather strange personality."

The arrogance and rudeness Boa Hancock displayed in his memories were just a mask, Move Move Like the spikes of a hedgehog protecting itself; her soft heart was only open to those she loved.

From an observer's perspective, this personality had an unexpectedly cute contrast, but standing from the Navy's position, Karl couldn't bring himself to Move Move Like Hancock.

Arrogant! Rude! Willful!

For the current Hancock, Karl could only use two words: difficult!

"Ding~ Detected Boa Hancock's hostility toward the host. Series mission [Don't Fight Your Own People 3/7] has been activated..."

"Mission requirement: Avoid conflict with one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Boa Hancock, and resolve the issue calmly."

"Reward: Amazon Lily Haki Training Secret Technique, Willpower Exclusive Enhancement Card *10."

Karl took a deep breath. This reward was even more generous than he had imagined, especially the Haki training technique.

Although Karl had already mastered two types of Haki, in the Navy, countless soldiers struggled their whole lives to awaken it. Only those at the rank of Vice Admiral and above generally possessed two types of Haki.

The warrior women of Amazon Lily weren't particularly strong, yet they all possessed two types of Haki. What did that mean? Amazon Lily must possess a special way to awaken Haki.

If he could successfully complete the mission, perhaps the Navy could produce a large number of officers who mastered Haki, significantly boosting the Navy's overall strength.

Simply put, this reward wasn't important to Karl, but it was very important to the Navy.

At this moment, Karl's brain was working frantically, trying to think of a way to get the Empress to accept the Warlord summons peacefully, but after thinking for a long time, he still had no clue.

A woman—an unreasonable woman—how do you persuade her?

During the Summit War, if it hadn't been for Luffy, the Nika fruit user, Hancock might not have accepted the summons at all.

"Sigh~ This is difficult!"

As things stood, Karl could only take it one step at a time. If it really didn't work... Karl touched his smooth, supple cheeks.

Ten minutes later, a "snake" ship with a peculiar design sailed out from the port, slowly approaching Karl's warship, propelled by the giant snake.

The Navy soldiers present couldn't help but swallow their saliva, thinking to themselves: Is that legendary world's most beautiful woman about to appear?

Karl and Ain looked solemn, their heartbeats quickening; after all, this Empress was famous for being unreasonable.

The distance grew closer until they stopped about 20 meters apart.

A group of strange-looking women appeared on the opposite ship, their eyes shining as they looked at Karl.

"My god! Is this what a man looks Move Move Like? He, he is so good-looking! Does he, does he want to come home with me?!"

"How is that possible! Empress Snake is the most beautiful and charming person in the world. He is just a stinking man."

"But he really is quite handsome, hehehe, slurp~"

Dressed in a black suit with a white Justice coat draped over his shoulders, Karl walked to the bow of the ship. His right hand rested on the hilt of Shusui, and a raven stood on his shoulder. He looked at the women on the opposite ship and shouted loudly.

"I am Navy Headquarters Rear Admiral Karl. Warlord of the Sea, Boa Hancock, I am here to pick you up. Please come out."

A sturdy woman on the opposite ship said with a chuckle: "What a coincidence! Empress Snake will not be coming out!"

"Hee-hahaha, it's been a long time since I've seen a man! Do all men look as good as you?"

Karl frowned and didn't speak. He turned his head to look at the sea beside him, as if something was about to emerge. He wondered if it was because they had been docked for too long, or if they had been discovered.

Wasn't it said that Hancock's ship could scare away Sea Kings? Seriously...

"Pfft~"

A behemoth that looked Move Move Like a cow broke through the sea 500 meters away, roaring as it swam toward the warship.

Nelson shouted with a solemn expression: "It's a Sea King! Open fire! Open fire!!!"

Karl didn't change his expression. He slowly drew Shusui from his left waist. Without even looking at the Sea King, he casually swung his blade, and a massive golden flying slash flew toward the beast.

Swish~

The Sea King stopped roaring, its head slowly sliding off its body, blood staining the sea.

The surroundings fell silent instantly.