"Great Perfume Femur!"
Hancock attacked in a strange posture, with her hands on the ground, her slender, beautiful legs containing immense power.
"Gear Three!"
Cannon blasts, each a meter in diameter, erupted from the twin guns. In less than a second, four beams shot towards Hancock almost simultaneously.
The intense sense of threat caused her Observation Haki to issue a frantic warning.
Dodging the attack awkwardly, Hancock was forced to stop, and Hathaway took the opportunity to widen the distance further.
"Slave Arrow!"
A giant pink heart materialized from Hancock's lips, and she clutched one corner of it, as if drawing a bow.
The next moment, the heart transformed into countless arrows, assailing Hathaway. A single hit would be enough to petrify her.
If petrification could delay Hathaway's steps for even an instant, Hancock could seize that gap to take Hathaway down.
The next instant, the familiar cannon blasts struck again. The sky-blue Haki cannon blasts swept through the myriad arrows, annihilating them in mid-air.
Hancock's face darkened. This unreasonable, saturation-style attack left her speechless. How was she supposed to fight?
Standing far away made her a live target; trying to get close made her a close-range live target.
Her moves were simple, but her power was overwhelming, and her opponent wasn't a fixed turret; her footwork was also quite nimble.
In this situation, there was only one option left: a war of attrition.
The opponent was releasing Haki so recklessly; she surely couldn't last long. But the problem was that time was of the essence right now.
'What should I do? Should I gather others to attack together?'
Hancock moved around while contemplating tactics. After dodging another cannon blast, she quickly dismissed the idea.
'No, more people would be useless. It would only ensure the opponent's attacks don't miss, merely increasing casualties.'
Her mind raced, but facing such a shameless attack, Hancock rejected every possible solution she could think of.
"You're too bothersome! Are you really that afraid of me getting close?"
After failing to close the distance again, Hancock deflected one unavoidable cannon blast and taunted.
Trash talk is the most effective taunting skill in this world, where tempers easily flare.
For example, a phrase like: "Your dad is much stronger than your adoptive father; your adoptive father is a failure!"
Such childish insults, not even worthy of being written in Zou An kindergarten textbooks, would be enough to make a fleeing person turn back for another round.
But Hathaway had seen much of the world, and there were countless scoundrels of all sorts on her journeys. Such words couldn't sway her in the slightest.
Hathaway lowered her gun... Hancock succeeded... "..."
A king must not be insulted. As the emperor's personal head maid, Hathaway naturally had no obvious weaknesses.
The word 'afraid' was an insult to Hathaway's professional ethics. If even a maid was afraid, how could she protect her master at the first moment?
So, it was reasonable that Hathaway fell for it. It was truly Hancock unintentionally igniting Hathaway's maid's pride... Alright, I can't make this up anymore.
Hathaway, with her gun lowered, shook her wrist, signaling Hancock to approach.
Hancock was also baffled; did her opponent really fall for that?
But opportunity knocks only once.
Without any hesitation, Hancock's steps created a sonic boom.
If it was a close-quarters one-on-one fight, even if Hathaway wasn't weak, from the observations of the previous battle, she was confident she could take her down.
How should she negotiate when Nero arrived? Hancock's thoughts drifted for a moment.
"Great Perfume Femur!"
The moment Hancock approached, Miss Hathaway's eyes lit up, and she raised her gun again.
Accompanied by the word 'idiot,' endless sky-blue cannon blasts filled Hancock's eyes.
Hancock's pupils constricted sharply, caught off guard by Hathaway's disregard for martial ethics.
The powerful core strength in her waist allowed her to successfully brake, but it was too rushed, and several cannon blasts still struck her delicate body.
"You're too despicable! Demon/Devil Child Hathaway!!!" Hancock endured the pain and roared.
Miss Hathaway remained silent, only accelerating her pace.
Blue flames erupted from the muzzles of her guns; the rate of fire from her two pistols was no slower than two machine guns.
A cross-shaped vein bulged on her forehead, and Hancock's face darkened further: "You, who are a well-known pirate of the seas, actually stoop to such despicable deception against me?"
Hathaway's hands didn't stop, and she finally replied: "Firstly, I haven't been a pirate for many years. The World Government's bounty has already been revoked."
"Who cares about you!"
Concentrating all her Haki in her feet, Hancock suddenly quickened her pace, no longer constantly dodging, choosing instead to deflect Hathaway's attacks.
"Gear Five!"
The speed was the same, but the cannon blasts Hathaway fired were not only overwhelming but also much more powerful.
"Secondly, I never promised you anything. Did I say I would engage you in close combat?"
Her voice was unhurried, Hathaway's words like a report.
"You clearly... despicable!"
Hancock, forced to retreat into the dodging cycle once more, spoke halfway before remembering Hathaway's previous actions, and in the end, could only curse weakly.
Seeing Hancock forced back, Hathaway's attack frequency stabilized. She opened her mouth and said faintly: "Finally, is there anything wrong with being despicable to pirates?"
"You..." Hancock was speechless, revealing a tear-streaked face, and said pitifully: "Then... can't you just let me win?"
Hathaway was also speechless. Is the current sea so wild? Is this... a honey trap?
"Sorry, I don't have that kind of preference. Besides, my Empress is arguably the world's most beautiful woman, and most importantly, the Haki completely blocks my vision, so even if you try to act pitiful, I can't see it."
Hancock instantly retracted her tearful face, returning to an expressionless state. What an unyielding person.
After some busybody ranked Nero as the world's most beautiful woman, they also placed her second.
They say people only remember the first place, but beauty rankings are clearly an exception, and Hancock's beauty was equally renowned.
However, Hathaway, who was with Nero all the time, had exceptionally high standards, and not being affected was within Hancock's expectations.
Thus, the battle entered a war of attrition as initially predicted. Hancock stopped conversing with Hathaway, and her dodging amplitude decreased.
Sometimes, she didn't even care about the cannon blasts that grazed her, leaving streaks of blood on her body.
The endpoint of a war of attrition is a battle of will, so every bit of stamina was crucial now.
She no longer held the idea that she could quickly defeat Hathaway.
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