38- "Battle on the Trap Island"
"Sister, we can't keep going like this. The ship's repairs won't last much longer," Sandersonia said, looking at her sister pleadingly.
"Fine. You all go back, I'll go alone," Hancock replied quickly as she looked at the island where Kara was supposed to have fallen.
"But sister, it's very suspicious," Marigold said quickly.
"Go," Hancock ordered before jumping toward the shore.
Meanwhile, the Kuja pirates knew how their captain was, so they obeyed and left to repair their ship as fast as possible.
—---------------
On the deserted island, Kara was calmly picking some fruit from a tree when she felt something approaching her.
"You do know you walked straight into a trap, right?" Kara said without stopping her task.
"I don't care if it's a trap. They didn't lie to me; you really are here," Hancock responded, staring at her, her battle instincts flaring.
Kara sighed.
"This is… what? The fifth time we've run into each other? You should just give up already," she said tiredly while storing her provisions.
"Not until I make you beg," Hancock declared, taking a fighting stance.
Kara sighed again.
"Why do the crazy ones always chase me? I mean, it's not like I don't like them… No, to be exact, I love crazy women," she murmured, starting a monologue while Hancock was about to attack. Her anger rose with each word, feeling like Kara was ignoring her.
"I don't care what you say. This time, I'll defeat you and lock you up to whip you until you're exhausted!" Hancock exclaimed before launching herself at Kara with a kick.
"Don't try to tempt me to lose. It won't work," Kara replied with an excited smile.
During the fight, the difference in strength was evident. Even without using her Crash, Kara easily dodged Hancock's attacks while landing a smack on her backside, fueling her fury exponentially.
After several minutes of teasing, Hancock finally managed to get close enough to attack at point-blank range.
"Pistol Kiss!"
Kara was surprised to feel the impact on her chest and noticed how it slowly began to turn to stone.
"Finally got you," Hancock said with an arrogant smile.
"Not at all," Kara responded. At that moment, Hancock's ability crumbled, and her chest returned to normal. "Easy," she added with a grin.
"You… how did you do that?" Hancock asked quickly.
Kara stared at her.
"Sorry, but I can destroy everything. Even magi— ahem, abilities," Kara corrected herself at the last second. "Your ability worked on me from the start. It's just that I'm stronger."
Before Hancock could react, Kara appeared right in front of her, taking her by surprise. Then, with a light tap on Hancock's forehead, she made the Kuja Empress tilt her upper body backward.
At that moment, a bullet passed exactly where Hancock's head had been and kept going, destroying all the trees in its path. It wasn't an ordinary bullet; it was imbued with Armament Haki.
"Looks like they've finally arrived. I thought I'd have to sexually harass the queen all day," Kara said, glancing in the direction of the new arrivals.
"Then, I must apologize for my rudeness in making such beautiful ladies wait," a man said as he emerged from the trees.
He was dressed in camouflage-style attire, with numerous weapons hanging from belts around his body. His face was hidden behind a balaclava. He looked more like a heavily armed soldier than an ordinary assassin. Guns, grenades, even landmines adorned his gear.
"That outfit is quite eccentric, honestly… Though it does feel a bit familiar," Kara commented, watching him closely as she sensed more people approaching.
"Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Asel, also known as the greatest assassin of the underworld. A pleasure, beautiful girl," the man said in a chivalrous tone, though his gaze, filled with killing intent, did nothing to ease the tension.
"Stupid assassin! Stop being so eccentric, kill her already, and help us capture the pirate woman!" another man growled as he jumped from the trees, glaring at Asel in annoyance.
"If I'm going to kill someone, I have to introduce myself to pay my respects to my victims in hell. Pin," Asel said to the man standing on a branch, staring at Hancock with a disgusting smile.
The man was dressed like a vagrant, with tangled hair and tattered clothes. His brown, neglected teeth only worsened his appearance.
"Well, I thought they'd just send someone after me," Kara said, slightly surprised. She knew there was a bounty on her head in the underworld. In reality, she was on this island waiting for them to come after her so she could deal with them once and for all.
"Well, that's the problem with being so beautiful. If a World Noble sees you, even on a wanted poster, he'll spend all his money to find you," Pin said while looking at Kara. Then, he realized she was also quite attractive and started drooling while staring at both women. "I doubt he'd mind if we tried them first, right, Asel?" he said, looking at his partner.
"My job is only to kill Kara, the Marine genius. I don't care about anything else," Asel replied, indifferent to his companion's behavior.
"Well, no matter. Her corpse will do just fine," Pin said, while Hancock and Kara showed clear expressions of disgust and repulsion.
"Mero Mero Mellow!" Hancock exclaimed, angrily launching her ability at both men, but they quickly dodged it with ease.
Hancock wasted no time and fired heart-shaped arrows, trying to hit them, but it didn't seem like it would be easy.
"Hahaha! I love it when they try to fight, but too bad—I'm the strongest," Pin said as he punched a tree, ripping it from its roots and sending it flying toward Hancock at high speed.
It was so fast that even Hancock found it difficult to react, so she could only raise her arms, bracing herself for impact.
"Crash!"
Kara appeared in front of her and reduced the tree to rubble.
"Tsk. Looks like more are coming," Kara muttered as she sensed several ships surrounding the island.
Meanwhile, Asel raised his weapon, aiming directly at Kara's forehead. He waited for the exact moment she showed an opening and pulled the trigger.
Kara dodged the shot without even looking and then turned toward Asel.
"Well, my Armament Haki isn't the best… but my Observation Haki is, so a simple weapon won't do much," Kara said.
"Obviously, I already knew that. I always study my targets," Asel replied as he pulled out a remote with a button in the center. Without hesitation, he pressed it.
Kara reacted instantly, rushing toward Hancock and grabbing her before jumping into the sky using Sky Walk to hover a few meters above the ground. In that instant, the ground where they had just been standing exploded.
It was clear that from the start, both men had been leading them to that exact spot. A well-planned strategy that caught Kara off guard, especially because even being in the air seemed to be part of the plan. As she looked around, she saw hundreds of people aiming directly at her and immediately opening fire.
"Tsk. Tactical types are annoying… Why can't they just fight with their fists?" Kara muttered while dodging bullets mid-air, holding Hancock princess-style as if she were dancing.
"Let me go!" Hancock demanded.
"Not the time, queen. Let's call a truce," Kara said quickly, knowing that if Hancock struggled too much, things would get complicated.
"Then let go of my hands so I can attack!" Hancock snapped, glaring at Kara's grip.
"Oh, right," Kara said, loosening her hold so Hancock could free her hands.
Now with full mobility, Hancock formed a heart with her hands and fired it toward the men shooting at them, turning many of them to stone. Thanks to that, Kara could finally take a breath.
They couldn't land since Kara's Observation Haki warned her that the ground was full of traps. Then, she noticed Asel had vanished from sight, scattering mines all over the area.
Kara considered escaping through the sky with Sky Walk, but suddenly, she saw Pin using the same technique to close in on them.
"Too bad for you, girl… I can do this too," he said, appearing right in front of Kara at even greater speed and throwing a punch straight at Hancock's chest.
Kara reacted quickly, twisting her body while using magic energy to shield her back, but she was still sent crashing toward the ground.
Before impact, she used Crash Magic to shatter the terrain, revealing that the spot where they had aimed her was filled with mines and bombs.
"Tsk… This is going to be harder than I thought," Kara muttered as she stood up, her clothes partially torn. Hancock, beside her, shared the same furious expression.
—
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