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Boa Hancock had never imagined such a possibility could exist in this world—a male who could completely resist her charm. The concept itself seemed to violate natural law.
The Mink Tribe was also an extremely rare species across the seas, their population scattered and their numbers dwindling. Admiral Kennen remained wrapped entirely in his purple combat suit, the fabric crackling with residual electrical energy. The design made it difficult—nearly impossible—to determine what race he actually belonged to beneath the disguise.
The woman struck several more seductive poses, each one calculated to drive men to their knees through sheer visual perfection. The result? Nothing but embarrassment hanging thick in the air.
Every eye in the plaza remained fixed on Boa Hancock—citizens, warriors, visitors from Paradise Island—all watching their Empress perform what should have been an irresistible display of feminine power. The awkward atmosphere became almost tangible, a crushing weight that made even experienced fighters shift uncomfortably.
"You can resist my charm completely," Hancock finally acknowledged, her voice carrying equal parts fascination and offense. "You arouse my curiosity, Admiral. What kind of creature is hidden beneath that purple dress?"
The Empress decided to escalate. She would launch a proper attack—one that couldn't be dismissed as mere seduction.
Hancock touched her lips lightly with one delicate finger, the gesture somehow both innocent and provocative. Then she stretched that finger forward, drawing it through the air with deliberate slowness. A pink heart-shaped light formed at the tip, pulsing with dangerous energy.
"Slave Arrow!"
In an instant, countless captive arrows materialized from the heart shape—hundreds of pink projectiles that filled the air like a deadly rain. The arrows approached Kennen's hovering position from multiple angles, cutting off escape routes with calculated precision.
Anyone who came into contact with these Slave Arrows would suffer immediate petrification—whether they were living beings or inanimate objects, whether the target felt attraction to the Empress or not. The Mero Mero no Mi (Love-Love Fruit) granted absolute authority over this particular transformation. Beauty-based petrification could be resisted, but these physical projectiles carried their curse regardless of the victim's emotional state.
Admiral Kennen had conducted thorough research on Boa Hancock's Devil Fruit abilities before embarking on this mission. He understood that the Slave Arrow technique couldn't be resisted through head-on confrontation. Once petrified, only someone with specialized abilities—or Hancock herself—could reverse the transformation.
Blue electrical discharge intensified around Kennen's small frame, voltage climbing to lethal levels. His body flickered, then transformed completely into crackling lightning—the Goro Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit) granting him Logia intangibility.
The sphere of electrical energy moved at tremendous angles through the air, zigzagging with impossible speed and precision. The Slave Arrows couldn't track Admiral Raizumi's movements at all. After several sharp directional changes, the projectiles lost their targeting completely. The ability of the Love-Love Fruit reached its effective limit and the arrows dissipated harmlessly into the atmosphere.
As the second-fastest individual in the entire Marine organization—surpassed in pure speed only by Admiral Borsalino himself—Kennen possessed velocity that few could match.
When the moment arrived for his counterattack, dense blue arcs of electricity flashed continuously across his transformed body. A sphere of concentrated lightning formed in his outstretched palm, growing from thumbnail-sized to the diameter of a cannonball in seconds.
"Thunder Punishment!"
The instant the lightning sphere left his hand, it expanded catastrophically. The thumb-sized ball became a pillar of electrical fury several meters wide, roaring through the air toward Boa Hancock's position like divine judgment made manifest.
Everyone who witnessed this attack changed color—faces draining of blood as they recognized the lethal voltage contained within that brilliant blue column.
The Empress possessed sufficient reaction speed to dodge directly. Her Observation Haki had already predicted the attack's trajectory. But the people standing behind her lacked this supernatural perception. Civilians who'd been too slow or too stubborn to retreat stood frozen in terror as the lightning pillar bore down on their position.
Kennen had deliberately seized this tactical weakness—this pain point that every leader carried. He was using the lives of other human females as a calculated test, evaluating whether Boa Hancock was truly qualified to serve as the ruler of a nation.
Would she protect her people? Or save herself?
Boa Hancock couldn't suppress the curse that escaped her lips. The flashing blue light of the Thunder Punishment pillar completely engulfed her position, brilliant illumination washing out all color and shadow.
Until the very last moment, she did not choose to dodge.
As the monarch of a country, she bore absolute responsibility to protect the citizens under her rule from external harm—even if that protection cost her everything.
Part of the Thunder Punishment struck the ground behind where Hancock had been standing, causing tremendous damage and raising clouds of dust and pulverized stone. The impact crater steamed with superheated air.
Kennen understood the principle well—where there was smoke, damage was often minimal. His experienced eye told him immediately that his attack had not struck any solid target, had not petrified or incinerated the Empress as it should have.
When the dust cleared, a magnificent figure with a perfectly toned body stood directly in front of Boa Hancock. A large circular shield held high absorbed the full force of the lightning attack.
The electrical assault—tens of millions of volts channeled into a focused beam—had been completely blocked by this mysterious woman. Her appearance showed no signs whatsoever of being burned by such catastrophic voltage. No scorched flesh, no damaged hair, not even singed clothing.
She was another powerful warrior who absolutely should not be underestimated.
Diana, who'd arrived at precisely the critical moment, smiled with supreme confidence as she addressed her friend. "Since Nine Snake Island has been visited by such an uninvited guest, as your friend I could never stand idly by while you face danger alone." The shield lowered slightly, revealing Diana's classical features. "Let us deal with this Marine together, Hancock."
"Yes," the Empress agreed immediately, relief and gratitude warming her voice. "That was exactly what I was hoping you'd say."
Boa Hancock and Diana stood side by side—two beauties representing completely different aesthetic styles, yet both radiating tremendous power and absolute confidence. If the opponent had been of any other species besides Mink, this scene would definitely have aroused inappropriate lust. Two of the world's most beautiful women, allies in combat, bodies positioned for battle...
The citizens of Nine Snake Island and the visiting warriors from Paradise Island demonstrated remarkable understanding of their own limitations. They recognized they weren't strong enough to spectate safely at this level of combat. With admirable discipline, they retreated in orderly fashion toward the island's interior.
Not causing trouble for the two strongest warriors of their respective nations was the wisest choice these weaker individuals could make.
The mysterious woman who'd suddenly appeared clearly specialized in close-quarters combat. According to Marine intelligence reports, no such individual existed on Nine Snake Island's roster. Admiral Kennen couldn't properly assess Diana's specific strength level without more data.
More concerning was the tactical situation. If this escalated into a prolonged one-versus-two battle, Kennen couldn't guarantee he'd successfully suppress the other two consciousnesses inhabiting his body for an extended period.
The dissociation is already weakening, he thought, feeling the familiar pressure building at the edges of his awareness. If this drags on, my body risks falling completely out of my control. And I cannot predict what extraordinary—what catastrophic—things might happen afterward.
The lightning wreathing his small frame gradually diminished. Admiral Kennen deliberately reduced his hostile aura to the absolute minimum, electrical discharge fading to occasional sparks.
After fully internalizing the spirit and vision of Fleet Admiral Artoria Pendragon—after truly understanding what the New Marine was being built to accomplish—he was prepared to offer the second solution.
"The Shichibukai title absolutely cannot be retained," Kennen announced, his high-pitched voice carrying across the plaza with crackling clarity. "The World Government's system is being dismantled entirely. However..." He paused, ensuring both women were listening. "We can make certain adjustments. Boa Hancock, with your considerable strength and your people's survival needs, the Marine can transform your Nine Snakes Pirates into something new—an Adventure Group, in a different sense than traditional piracy."
Hancock's eyes narrowed, suspicion warring with curiosity.
"The so-called Adventure Group belongs to a whitelist compiled by the Marine," Kennen continued, his tone shifting toward something almost diplomatic. "Pirate crews that enter this designation receive two primary benefits."
He raised one small hand, electrical energy dancing between his fingers for emphasis.
"First: you will not be hunted down by Marine forces at sea. Your ships can travel freely without fear of immediate military engagement.
"Second: you gain access to the Mission Hall through your Adventure Group registration. You can accept subjugation missions of varying difficulty—treasure hunting, locating missing persons at sea, providing intelligence, annihilating hostile pirate crews, and more."
Kennen's other hand rose, both palms now crackling with controlled voltage.
"The difficulty of missions scales appropriately. Higher difficulty missions provide richer rewards—monetary compensation, rare weapons, advanced combat techniques, and yes... even Devil Fruits. As long as the task proves challenging enough, the Marine can satisfy any Adventure Group's appetite for compensation."
He let the implications settle for a moment, watching Hancock's expression carefully.
"Nine Snake Island's force has been relatively mild across these seas. You don't deliberately commit evil for its own sake. You lead your people to raid passing ships, yes—but only to meet survival needs within your isolated kingdom."
It was a fair assessment, and Hancock couldn't deny it without lying.
"After all," Kennen continued with almost sympathetic understanding, "there are so many mouths to feed the moment citizens wake each morning. Nine Snake Island's arable land is simply insufficient to feed your growing population. The only way this nation survives is by obtaining supplies from outside sources and providing affordable food subsidies to your people."
Boa Hancock couldn't help but roll her eyes after processing this entire speech. The exasperation in that gesture was almost comical.
"Isn't the Adventure Group just the Seven Warlords of the Sea with a different name attached?" she demanded, crossing her arms beneath her chest. "Don't you Marines feel exhausted playing these semantic games?"
From her understanding, the New Marine simply wanted to bypass the World Government entirely and control more pirates across the seas directly. This would reduce the operational and administrative costs of maintaining order while increasing the Marine's effective reach.
In the previous system, there could only be seven Warlords at any given time—a strict numerical limit enforced by treaty. But now? This new structure had no such constraint. Adventure Groups could be distributed on a massive scale across all the seas, allowing pirate crews worth recruiting to serve Marine interests without the political complications of the old Shichibukai system.
Most of the generous rewards for subjugation missions would be concentrated on one category: annihilating other pirate crews. The Marine desperately wanted to see pirates depleting each other's strength through proxy conflicts. After all, problems that could be solved with money weren't truly problems—and this approach would free the New Marine to accomplish larger strategic objectives.
Sensing the woman's skepticism, Kennen decided to strike while the iron was hot. He needed to resolve this situation definitively, one way or another.
"Not every Shichibukai qualifies for this opportunity," he said carefully, electrical energy pulsing with each word. "Boa Hancock, as long as you join the Adventure Group system, the Marine can provide everything the World Government once gave you—and more besides. Better protection, fairer compensation, actual strategic support rather than political manipulation."
His eyes—barely visible within the crackling energy—fixed on her with surprising intensity for such a small figure.
"Why do Sea Knight Jinbe and you receive two completely opposite treatments?" Kennen asked rhetorically. "After all, fish-men and humans are two different species entirely. Admiral Hoshigaki Kisame needs to prove his worth by offering loyalty and demonstrating value over time. But you, Empress—you and your people are human. That makes negotiation simpler."
The racial element hung in the air, undeniable and uncomfortable.
Admiral Kennen believed in the philosophy of balance—the careful equilibrium between force and diplomacy, between punishment and opportunity. He could switch seamlessly between capturing the Empress through violence and persuading her through rational incentives.
Moreover, Boa Hancock possessed more immediate strategic value than Sea Knight Jinbe in one critical respect: she was human. Her integration into the Marine's broader vision would face fewer obstacles, fewer prejudices to overcome.
The New Marine was building something unprecedented—twelve Admirals from every major species, united against threats that transcended factional boundaries. But that vision still had to navigate the reality of human prejudice.
For now, at least, being human remained an advantage in negotiations.