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"Hancock, why are you following me?" Ikki raised his eyebrows, looking at Hancock and then at her two sisters standing on the Kuja pirate ship.
"I wanted to see you, so I came here," Hancock replied simply. "Ikki, is Doflamingo trying to cause trouble for you? Tell me, and I'll help you deal with him."
As she spoke, Hancock waved her hand and positioned herself protectively in front of Ikki. Her beautiful eyes fixed on Doflamingo with an intimidating stare, as if saying that anyone who wanted to deal with Ikki would have to go through her first.
This situation made Doflamingo frown suddenly. He never thought that the cold Empress Hancock would treat a man so attentively, even willing to confront another Shichibukai for his sake.
Not only Doflamingo, but Smoker and the others were equally surprised.
"Ikki, how did you meet this woman?" Smoker asked with a confused frown. "And why is she... a little too enthusiastic about you?"
In his heart, Smoker felt somewhat unhappy that Ikki was so close to a pirate, even if she was one recognized by the World Government.
Smoker's tone aroused Hancock's displeasure. She turned her head, ready to use her ability to petrify him.
"Hold on, Hancock," Ikki quickly said, grasping her hand. "This guy can be considered my friend. For my sake, let it go."
"Since it's your request, I'll let him off for now," Hancock said, giving Smoker a cold look before turning to Ikki with a warm smile.
Such a scene surprised not only Smoker and the others, but also Marigold and Sandersonia on the Kuja pirate ship. However, when they remembered Shakky's earlier comment about Hancock being attracted to Ikki before they caught up with the Explorer, the two sisters felt surprised but also somewhat understanding.
"I did her a favor before – she's probably just grateful to me," Ikki explained casually to Smoker and the others.
Regarding his previous experience with Hancock, he felt it was better not to share too many details with outsiders.
Seeing Hancock's expression, Ikki could probably understand what she was thinking. In this case, there was a high probability she was attracted to him.
What Ikki didn't understand was why Hancock had fallen for him when he hadn't even punched any Celestial Dragons. Logically speaking, simply removing the Celestial Dragon slave seals shouldn't accomplish this.
What he didn't know was that although he hadn't used his fists directly against the Celestial Dragons like Luffy would, using Conqueror's Haki to attack them had made Hancock quite smitten after Rayleigh told her about it.
"I didn't expect to meet another Shichibukai here," came a new voice. "Just in time – you should come with me to Marine Headquarters to attend the Shichibukai meeting."
Marine Vice Admiral Onigumo, who had been staying on another Marine warship, approached and addressed Hancock.
"Huh? When did I say I was going to attend any Shichibukai meeting?" Hancock replied dismissively.
"I'm sorry, Empress Hancock, but this time it's mandatory recruitment. You must go."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Then your Shichibukai position might be revoked," Onigumo said with a calm expression.
On the side, Doflamingo had a smile on his face again, looking at Hancock and the others as if watching an entertaining show.
"Hancock, you seem to have some connection with Ikki," Onigumo continued. "Should I remind you – he's a bounty hunter. If your position as Shichibukai is revoked, you'll return to being a pirate with a bounty on your head."
"You mean Ikki will arrest me then?"
"Whether he captures you or not is his own business. I just want to remind you that if a pirate with a bounty frequently associates with Ikki, his rating with the Marines will be lowered. Currently, the Marines are working with Mr. Ikki. I think you don't want to have a bad influence on him."
Hearing this, Hancock's brows immediately furrowed. She looked at Ikki and asked, "Ikki, would I affect you negatively?"
"Well, if you lose your position as Shichibukai, it would have some impact on me," Ikki admitted.
"I understand. In that case, I'll just go to the Shichibukai meeting."
Onigumo glanced at Ikki in surprise. He had just spoken casually, but the result was unexpectedly good. The Empress Shichibukai, who could be said to have the most difficult personality, was actually influenced by a man and agreed to participate in the Shichibukai meeting.
At this moment, Vice Admiral Onigumo was quite curious about the relationship between Ikki and Empress Hancock, but he didn't bother to ask right now.
"Tsk, how boring!" Doflamingo complained. "Marines, please arrange a separate room for me. I don't want to be watched by a crazy woman all the time."
Doflamingo passed by Onigumo and jumped to another Marine warship. Seeing the various characters appearing around Ikki, he no longer had the interest to continue causing trouble.
"Well then, you all carry on," Onigumo said. "When it's over, I hope you, Hancock, will come to my ship."
He returned to his Marine warship, leaving space for Ikki, Hina, and the others.
"Back to the topic, Ikki," Hina said, deciding to ignore Hancock for the time being. "In order to speed up the progress of awakening the Innate Demon Slayer Mark, do Hina and Tashigi need to have partner seals like Vice Admiral Gion?"
"Partner seals – yes, in order to speed up your learning progress, they naturally need to be engraved," Ikki confirmed.
"In that case, please engrave one on me," Hina said, stretching out her hand to Ikki.
Tashigi did the same.
Seeing this, Ikki simply engraved partner seals on both of them. The next moment, two attribute panels appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Hina]
[Age: 32 years old]
[Weapon: None]
[Life Force: 3,956, C-level]
[Sword Realm: Entry Level]
[Sword School: Fire Breathing]
[Ability: Cage-Cage Fruit, Beginner Armament Haki]
[Name: Tashigi]
[Age: 21 years old]
[Weapon: None]
[Life Force: 3,230, C-level]
[Sword Realm: Sky-Cutting Realm]
[Sword Schools: Water Breathing, Tashigi One-Sword Style]
[Ability: Beginner Armament Haki]
'Unexpectedly, Tashigi's progress is quite fast. She's already caught up with Hina, who's a Marine Commodore,' Ikki thought, glancing at Tashigi with surprise.
"Tashigi, you're only 21 years old right now," he said aloud. "Even if you awaken the Demon Slayer Mark, you'll still have 4 years before it affects your lifespan. You can awaken the mark by yourself now, and I'll use a special method to help you convert it later. This way, it'll be faster for you to activate your Innate Demon Slayer Mark. Don't worry about the lifespan issue – I'll take care of it."
He turned to look at Hina and continued, "As for you, Hina... because you're 32 years old, if you want to master the Demon Slayer Mark quickly, you may need to stay in the hot springs on my ship for an extended period. Can you handle that?"