The fleeing pirates froze as if someone had hit a pause button, each one rigid in place.
However, their sudden stillness wasn't due to fear of Orion, as most pirates present didn't recognize the Fleet Admiral.
The reason for their abrupt silence was the sight of Hancock standing beside Orion!
After a brief hush, the crowd erupted.
"Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock?!"
"It's the world's most beautiful woman! Am I dreaming?!"
"Lady Empress!!"
In an instant, the pirates seemed injected with adrenaline, completely forgetting the terror of nearly dying by Mihawk's blade or Yamato's club.
Instead, their eyes turned to hearts, their faces wore foolish grins, their heartbeats drummed like war drums, and some even uncontrollably bled from their noses.
Fear? Death?
What did those matter in the face of the Pirate Empress's peerless beauty!
Hancock's elegant brows furrowed slightly as her icy gaze swept over these reckless small fries.
"How dare you gaze upon me with such filthy eyes?" Hancock took a step forward, her voice cold and devoid of warmth.
"You all deserve to die!"
With those words, her red lips parted slightly. She touched her fingertip to them and then gracefully extended it outward.
"Mellow-Mellow Mero!"
A pink heart-shaped beam rippled outward, instantly enveloping the entire street.
The highly excited pirates didn't even think of resisting.
Instead, they spread their arms wide, faces brimming with ecstatic joy, and eagerly welcomed the deadly pink light.
"Ah! I've been struck by the Empress's love!"
"It's worth dying for!"
"Crack... crackle..."
Crisp petrification sounds rang out one after another.
The hundreds of pirates who had flooded the street were instantly transformed into lifelike stone statues.
They remained frozen in their final poses before petrification, faces etched with infatuation and fervor, the large hearts in their eyes clearly visible.
At the same time, Orion took a step forward, and Conqueror's Haki swept out from him.
The hundreds of human-shaped statues blocking the street shattered into clouds of dust under the impact, scattering across the ground.
...
Meanwhile.
At the central square before the skull-shaped castle on Hachinosu Island.
"Super—I'm here!"
With a signature battle cry, a laser beam tore through the air and blasted toward the elite pirates gathered before the castle gates.
Immediately after, Franky's massive cyborg frame descended from above, crashing heavily at the edge of the plaza.
He crossed his arms, striking what he considered a cool pose.
"Yohohoho! Looks like the party's started here!"
The surprise laser attack instantly cleared a vacuum zone through the pirate formation.
"Franky, watch your aim! Don't hit Ace and the others by mistake!"
A crimson figure followed closely behind, Sanji's right leg blazing with high-temperature flames, tracing a brilliant arc through the air.
He spotted a pirate captain preparing to ambush Trafalgar Law. In a flash, he appeared before the man.
"Get lost!"
Before the captain could react, two figures attacked simultaneously from left and right.
Zoro, wielding two swords with the power to sever everything, transformed into a massive tornado, bringing his blades down upon the captain's head!
"Dragon Claw!"
Sabo formed his fingers into a claw, dark Armament Haki coiling around it as a sharp gust tore through the air!
"Stop them!"
Two fierce pirate captains roared as they charged out from behind Wang Zhi, their swords and blades intercepting the attacks from Zoro and Sabo.
"Yohohohoho!"
Brook's signature laughter rang out as he landed gracefully in a corner of the square, dressed in his proper suit.
"Still as energetic as ever, I see. In that case, I suppose I shouldn't hold back either."
Before his words faded, he vanished, becoming a black lightning bolt as his cane sword silently thrust toward the captain who had blocked Sabo.
"A skeleton?"
Sylvia, who had been calmly standing beside Wang Zhi, narrowed her eyes slightly.
The next instant, her long sword flashed from its sheath, parrying Brook's attack in the blink of an eye.
However, Brook didn't stop there.
Seizing the momentum, he launched an even more fierce and incredibly fast assault.
"Clang clang clang—"
Both moved at extreme speeds, their figures flickering and crossing repeatedly across the square, the dense sounds of clashing blades merging into a continuous stream.
In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of blows.
"Clang!"
With one final crisp sound, the two separated, standing ten meters apart.
Sylvia was the first to look up at Brook.
"To keep up with my speed, you..."
Before she could finish, her pupils suddenly contracted sharply, and she looked down in disbelief.
As she lowered her head, a mist of blood sprayed from her chest.
A thin, precise bloodline had appeared over her heart without her noticing.
"Impossible... you're not... a trainee!"
Sylvia's body went limp as she collapsed.
...
Meanwhile,
On the other side, Hawkins faced the frenzied coordinated attacks of two pirate captains.
One after another, his voodoo doll substitutes were destroyed.
"Heh, kid, running out of substitutes?" one captain grinned, his giant axe cutting through the air with a malicious gust, splitting another of Hawkins' straw clones in half.
"Given a few more years, you might actually have had a chance to defeat us," the other captain mocked.
"But unfortunately, you're out of time!"
As he spoke, the captain flashed forward like lightning, his blade aimed directly at Hawkins' head!
This time, Hawkins didn't use his substitution ability.
He retreated explosively in the nick of time, creating distance between them, then slowly raised his right hand, his voice deep.
"Alright, warm-up's over."
As his words fell, the straw on his hand surged violently, shooting skyward.
Amidst a vast, chilling aura of death, a straw giant—larger and more ferocious than any previous clone—materialized above him!
"Let us begin the game with this 'Strawman Card'!" Hawkins' voice was icy and indifferent.
The colossal strawman overhead raised its arms as Hawkins spoke, drawing two enormous tarot cards.
The moment the card faces appeared, Hawkins instantly analyzed the two captains' attacks, strength, and even their innermost thoughts.
Immediately after, a Pursuit Card materialized in the giant strawman's grasp.
No sooner had the Pursuit Card been drawn than the massive strawman unleashed a silent roar.
Charging forth with a sinister aura, it brought its nail-studded palms crashing down upon the two captains' heads!
"Damn it!"
Alarm bells rang in the captains' minds. Not daring to block directly, they frantically leaped backward.
Yet the moment they moved, the giant strawman shadowed them relentlessly, its palms striking again with such speed they barely evaded.
Watching the two pirate captains retreat in disarray, a cold glint flashed in Hawkins' eyes as he spoke with his usual detachment.
"You're now facing the Pursuit Card. The strawman will never cease its chase... until you die!"