Chapter 56: The Amazon Empress, Filled with Resentment and Fear

The next day, in the Calm Belt, a small vessel blazed at the stern, shooting across the sea like a reckless missile.

Waves roared and surged, thundering with a primordial fury as a colossal creature broke the surface.

"Screech... roar..."

At the prow, leading the way, a golden monkey clutched a telescope in one hand, occasionally taking a bite of a banana, its face twisted in boastful pride.

Behind it stood a figure with long black hair, bangs fluttering, a purple ribbon trailing in the breeze. Eyes half-open, shimmering like stars, she exuded an aura that swept outward in a storm.

"Begone..." An overwhelming will, regal and oppressive, radiated forth. The thousand-meter-long sea king trembled, then vanished into the depths in terror.

"Screech... what a coward," the monkey croaked, disgruntled.

"Just eat your banana and keep us on course," the divine eyes regarded the monkey coolly.

"Screech... as if I need you to say it."

With a blast of flame like a dragon’s tail, the vessel streaked forward.

Hours later...

"Screech... pirate ship spotted."

"Destroy it," Xuan Ye intoned from the stern, eyes closed. From the moment he arrived in this world, he understood only the strong had a voice. Kindness and mercy were privileges reserved for one’s own.

"Screech... give me one minute, wait here," the monkey chirped, vanishing in a flash of golden lightning, leaving Xuan Ye alone on the vessel.

The waves swelled; a massive pirate ship approached, slicing through the water, heading straight for the Calm Belt.

From above, one would see that this pirate crew was boldly entering the forbidden zone.

"Report... a small yacht ahead, stern ablaze, heading straight for us at high speed!"

On the lookout, the massive pirate crew grew wary.

"What’s going on? Who dares target us, the Nine Serpents Pirates?" On the deck, a stunning woman in her forties or fifties, mature and elegant with wavy white hair and a flower tucked behind her left ear, called out haughtily.

"No idea, Captain. There are no markings—neither Navy nor pirate," came the response. The deck was crowded with women—this was a pirate crew of women alone.

"Your Majesty, what should we do?" asked a blue-haired pirate, lowering her telescope.

"Destroy them. Anyone who blocks our way home deserves their fate." The captain’s eyes glinted with cold disdain. To captain a great pirate crew in this world of survival of the fittest was to grow ruthless, especially when a nation awaited their cargo.

"Yes, ma’am! Prepare to fire!"

At her command, the crew sprang into action.

Just then, a golden flash appeared at the prow.

"Screech..."

"A... monkey?" The crew gaped in disbelief.

Suddenly, the monkey raised its fist, darkness surging around it, an aura of destruction rolling forth.

"Stop it! That monkey’s going to destroy our ship!"

No one wondered now why there was a monkey here, nor why it wielded Armament Haki and threatened their vessel.

"Vile beast," the captain snarled. She stepped forward, eyes flashing, unleashing an invisible wave of Conqueror’s Haki.

"Screech... Conqueror’s Haki?" The monkey dropped its fist, dancing on the spot, unaffected.

"Impossible! The monkey resisted Her Majesty’s Conqueror’s Haki!"

They did not know Xuan Ye had used the monkey as a sparring partner for his own Conqueror’s Haki time and again over the past year. From collapsing at first, to resisting, to eventually ignoring it, the monkey had grown nearly immune.

On the sea, Xuan Ye’s eyes snapped open, sensing a kingly will.

"Interesting..." His figure flickered, and a flame shot skyward.

"What kind of beast is this, resisting even my Conqueror’s Haki?" the captain wondered, eyeing the golden monkey with growing fascination.

"Screech..." The monkey flashed before her, fist black as ink, crashing toward her.

"Armament Haki? This monkey can use Armament Haki!" The captain’s eyes widened in shock.

She twisted aside, her own fist shrouded in hardening Haki as she struck back.

The great ship shuddered, the sea erupted, and the golden monkey somersaulted through the air.

The captain, too, was forced back a step, her expression strange.

"Excellent. I could use a pet—you’ll do nicely," she declared, eyes shining.

"Just you?" The voice was cold as death. A man with disheveled hair, expressionless, appeared at the prow. The woman’s instincts screamed—before her stood a primordial beast, ready to devour.

"Who are you?" she demanded, tensing, on guard against the man and the monkey—especially the man.

"Nine Serpents Pirates? Amazon? The Isle of Women?" Xuan Ye glanced at the pirate insignia, a wicked smile curling his lips.

"You’re the Amazon Empress?"

"I am indeed the current Empress," the woman replied warily, mind racing to guess his identity.

"What’s your name?" Xuan Ye’s mind flashed to the old crone of his last life—Granny Za.

"Gloriosa," she answered, almost involuntarily.

Xuan Ye stared at her in silence, his heart twisting. "Who’d have thought that a few years later, the petite, wrinkled Granny Za would once have looked like this?"

"And who are you?"

"You don’t need to know. Today, the Nine Serpents Pirates will sink to the bottom of the sea." His tone was icy, offering no sympathy.

"You’re too arrogant!" As a Conqueror’s Haki user, the Empress would not bear such insult. Her will surged forth, a tidal wave of force crashing toward Xuan Ye.

He snorted coldly, his eyes darkening. An equally domineering aura blanketed the sea, as if an abyss enveloped all.

Seawater froze, clouds shattered, and the sky grew thick with destructive lightning.

One by one, the pirates behind the Empress collapsed, eyes rolling back in unconsciousness.

"Conqueror’s Haki..." The Empress shuddered, cold sweat breaking out—she knew she’d met a true monster.

"Infinite Arrows."

With those chilling words, the sea boiled. Nearly five thousand blazing spears, swords, and halberds hung suspended in the sky.

"You—you’re the missing admiral—Heavenly Bird Xuan Ye Tang!" Seeing the inferno above, the Empress finally remembered. In the past year, the Navy’s three monsters—Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru—had shaken the seas, but one monster of equal repute had vanished: Heavenly Bird Xuan Ye Tang. Rumor had it he surpassed the other three, but had disappeared this past year.

Xuan Ye said nothing. He simply pointed, and countless burning blades rained down from above.

"Armament Haki—now!"

Sweating, the Empress vanished, knocking away fiery blades, but there were simply too many.

In moments, the entire pirate ship was ablaze, screams rising everywhere. The Empress’s heart ached as her crew burned.

"High-Heat Golden Crow Step."

Raising his right foot, now transformed into a claw and wreathed in fire, Xuan Ye stomped down.

With a roar, flames erupted, and the great ship was torn apart, swallowed by a sea of fire.

"This time, I’m in a hurry. I’ll spare your life—next time, keep a low profile. He’s my brother, not your pet." With a sidelong glance, ignoring the bloodshot eyes of the Empress, Xuan Ye vanished into the inferno.

Glaring after him with hatred, the Empress finally dropped her guard and desperately tended to her people.

Moments later, on a floating plank, a dozen pale-faced pirate women wept in despair.

"This is all my fault." Eyes brimming with tears, the Empress surveyed the scene. Of the five hundred she’d brought, barely a dozen survived. How could she face her nation now?

"Heavenly Bird Xuan Ye Tang!"

Hatred and dread warred within her as she screamed his name, wishing she could kill him then and there.

...