I'm Not Interested in Devil Fruits

The Snake Princess sighed before she spoke, "Be good, don't make trouble."

"Please don't kill him…" Hancock sat up, looking up at Snake Princess with tearful, pleading eyes, her tears falling like a string of pearls. "I'm begging you…"

Snake Princess raised her voice, "Begging won't work. He must be killed!"

Wiping her tearful eyes, Hancock frantically signaled to Liam to get away, mouthing, 'Hurry up and fly away!'

"Care for another round?" Liam smirked at Snake Princess, raising his left fist. "I still have one more hand!"

Snake Princess returned his smile, then swung her fist!

Liam's left fist hardened with 'Tekkai', covered in armor and reinforced with 'Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)', ready to meet her strike head-on.

"Sky-Shattering— Blast!" He roared.

'Boom!'

Their fists collided once again, generating a shockwave that surpassed anything before.

'Crackling…'

Red and black lightning-like energy crackled violently at the impact point as the two clashed. The audience gasped in awe! None of the Kuja warriors, not even Suzuran, had imagined that someone could withstand Snake Princess's strength to this extent.

What a powerful man!

Gritting his teeth, Liam held his ground, his left arm swelling with muscle, and his sleeve tearing from the strain. Even with 'Tekkai' and 'Busoshoku Haki' combined, he was beginning to falter against Snake Princess's punch.

'Bang!'

Finally, Snake Princess sent Liam flying with a powerful blow.

As he tumbled backward, both of Liam's arms hung limp, swinging uselessly.

'Wow,' He thought in awe, 'That gap in power really is huge…'

For the first time, he fully grasped the terrifying strength that defined the top fighters in this pirate world.

Liam landed in a deep pit outside the arena's edge, pierced through by spikes, but he transformed into a cloud of vapor, slipping out between the spikes and rising back into the air.

Awaiting him were three wooden arrows strung on a bow.

"Did you think you could escape?"

Somehow, Snake Princess had drawn her snake bow, aiming a fully drawn shot at the hovering Liam.

"…"

Liam glanced around. In the front row surrounding the arena, the Kuja female warriors stood with their snake bows fully drawn, their faces determined. Now understanding his strength, they were taking no chances.

Each wooden arrow was wrapped in 'Busoshoku Haki', all pointed directly at Liam. He didn't need 'Kenbunshoku Haki' to sense it—just one look told him there was no dodging this.

He could only imagine one outcome: a body riddled with arrows…

But maybe if he let B.I.B. shield him, it would absorb the "pain" instead of the actual "injury," right?

Liam, hovering midair, debated briefly if he should just take one for his brother.

"Are you regretting it now?" Snake Princess taunted.

"It's a bit early to ask that, isn't it?" Liam dispersed himself even more, expanding into a thicker gas cloud that loomed over the entire arena. His voice rumbled like thunder, "Kill me, then you'll get your answer!"

Snake Princess smiled faintly. "The dead don't speak."

Liam's laughter rumbled from the cloud, "So, isn't the answer obvious?"

The Snake Princess's smile deepened as she drew her snake bow even tighter— when she suddenly noticed a flower petal floating in the air.

Then, a hand formed of flower petals sprouted from her snake bow, grabbing hold of the arrows.

"Aah!" 

"Huh!" 

"What's this?!"

The Kuja warriors around the ring experienced the same thing—petal-covered arms emerged from their snake bows, each holding down the arrows they'd drawn.

It was Jolyne… Hancock realized, scanning the area. Not seeing Robin anywhere, she understood: Robin must be hiding within that bug.

In the corner of the arena, perfectly camouflaged with its surroundings, one of the Den Den Mushi's eyes opened, revealing a small opening. From within, Robin's eyes shimmered with tears, her mouth firmly set and her arms crossed as she maintained her powers.

"What is that!?" Suzuran squinted her eyes from the high throne, vaguely seeing what was happening. "Oh, right, it's the one the Den Den Mushi overheard— Kujou Jolyne…"

...

Robin leaped out from within the Den Den Mushi fortress. Instantly, hands bloomed on the backs of the Kuja warriors' necks, growing arms that wrapped around their throats from behind and tightened their grip.

"Ugh…" The warriors found themselves restrained, as the flowered hands on their snake bows yanked away the arrows and tossed them aside. Immobilized, the warriors were taken aback: 'These strange hands are even using Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)?!'

'She still managed to come out…'

In the shifting clouds above, Liam quickly reformed his body. As he descended, he kicked off the air with Geppo and charged towards Robin. 'Better switch to Shiro Shiro no Mi (Castle-Castle Fruit) and retreat…' Liam thought, but then he heard Robin cry out in pain.

He glanced back to see Snake Princess on the arena, slowly prying off the flowered arm coiled around her neck. Unable to bear the pain, Robin withdrew her arms, leaving a few petals to drift down, resting on Snake Princess's smooth, white neck, right above her defined collarbone.

The Snake Princess plucked a petal from her collarbone, silently observing the flowered arm on her snake bow. With Robin's strength, she obviously couldn't pull the arrow from Snake Princess's grip.

"Snake Princess, let me help you!" Hancock exclaimed, rushing over and aiming a kick at Snake Princess's head.

Seeing that Snake Princess had no intention of dodging or defending, Hancock panicked and withdrew her kick, landing instead like a fledgling clinging to Snake Princess's shoulder.

Snake Princess ignored her and the flowered arm on her bow, calmly drawing the bowstring once more.

"Don't do it! I'm begging you!" Hancock pleaded, hugging Snake Princess's neck and pouting.

But Snake Princess remained unmoved, pulling the bowstring taut and aiming it at Liam, who was outside the ring. Then she adjusted her aim, pointing it at the young Captain girl.

"Kuujou Jolyne," Snake Princess spoke calmly, her gaze fixed on Robin, "Answer me one question."

Robin, still clutching her sore arm, looked up from below, meeting Snake Princess's piercing stare. Though she couldn't match her in strength, Robin continued to summon flowered arms onto the snake bow, struggling to grip the arrow.

"Tell me… your power… is it…" The Snake Princess tightened her grip on the snake bow, paused, and asked, "Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi)?"

For a moment, Robin was bewildered, not understanding why she would ask that, but she nodded.

"I see…"

To everyone's shock, Snake Princess lowered her bow.

Hancock, hanging on her shoulder, was utterly confused, staring at Snake Princess's face, where a rare, complex expression had appeared as she murmured, "Thank goodness…"

Suddenly, Liam realized something…

Perhaps Snake Princess, using Hancock as bait, had never intended just to lure him out. Her true target all along… seemed to be Robin.

(End Of The Chapter)

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