Chapter 98: Amazon Lily

Approaching nightfall.

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

Karl looked at the 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 not choose to rush through the night.

"Drop anchor right 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 wind was calm and the waves were still, and the sunlight was just right.

"Set sail!"

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

"So this is the Calm Belt! It really is completely windless. Didn't they say there are many Sea Kings here? Why haven't we seen a single one?"

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

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

After finishing, Karl pointed to the warship beneath their feet and continued, "See that? The hull is made of Seastone. It emits the same energy as the ocean, which can deceive the perception of Sea Kings."

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

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

"Look! That's Amazon Lily up 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 "Nine Snakes" were written, and above them were ferocious snake heads, which looked quite frightening at first glance.

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 overreact."

"Yes!"

A red signal flare flew into the sky, bursting open to reveal the seagull emblem, indicating their identity as the Navy.

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

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), frowned slightly. She walked quickly to the balcony and stared intensely 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 wary Amazon warriors on the port, his expression a bit solemn. The xenophobia 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 her mask, like the sharp quills of a hedgehog protecting itself; her soft heart was only open to those she loved.

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

Arrogant! Rude! Willful!

For the current Hancock, Karl could only use two words to describe her: difficult to deal with!

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

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

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

Karl took a deep breath. This reward was even more generous than he had imagined, and the generosity lay in the Haki cultivation secret technique.

Although Karl had already mastered two types of Haki, in the Navy, countless marines struggled their whole lives without awakening it; only those at the rank of Vice Admiral and above generally possessed two types of Haki.

The Amazon Lily warriors were not particularly strong, yet they all possessed two types of Haki. What did this 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, and the overall strength of the Navy would increase significantly.

Simply put, this reward was not important to Karl, but it was very important to the Navy.

At this moment, Karl's brain was running at full speed, thinking 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 weren't for Luffy, the Nika fruit user, Hancock might not have accepted the summons at all.

"Sigh~ difficult!"

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

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

The marines 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 at about 20 meters apart.

A group of strange-looking women appeared on the opposite ship, looking at Karl with glowing eyes.

"My god! Is this what a man looks like? This, this is too good-looking! Does he, does he want to go home with me!!"

"How is that possible! Empress-sama is the most beautiful and charming person in this world. He is just a stinky man."

"But he is indeed quite good-looking, hehehe, slurp~"

Karl, dressed in a black suit with a white justice cloak draped over his back, 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 Major General Karl. Boa Hancock, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, I am here to pick you up. Please come out."

A sturdy-looking woman on the opposite side said with a laugh: "What a coincidence! Empress-sama will not come out!"

"Heehahaha, 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 surface to the side, thinking 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 like a cow broke through the sea surface 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 remained calm. He slowly drew Shusui from his left waist. Without even looking at the Sea King, he casually slashed, and a huge golden flying slash flew toward the Sea King.

Swish~

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

The surroundings instantly fell silent. ===== CHAPTER 100 =====