“Hmph!” On the deck of the Kuja Pirates, Snake Princess looked coldly at the Das Pirates being engulfed by cannon fire, a scornful arc at the corner of her lips.

“These small fries, they dare to snatch things from me?” she murmured.

Her right hand gently caressed the fiery giant snake coiled around her arm, the burning wreckage on the sea reflected in its snake eyes.

Suddenly, she frowned slightly, sensing a faint, almost imperceptible gaze.

The feeling was like a sharp blade lightly grazing her skin, making her instinctively tense up.

“Who is it?” She turned her head abruptly, her gaze like lightning, sweeping towards the distant merchant ship.

However, that aura vanished as suddenly as an illusion, as if it had never existed.

“An illusion…?” Tuoli Tuoma narrowed her eyes, a hint of wariness rising in her heart.

Just then— “Splash!”

Waves surged, and the giant swimming snake, which had been sailing smoothly, suddenly trembled violently, emitting a low hiss.

The warriors of the Kuja Pirates became alert, their longbows drawn, blades unsheathed, their gazes uniformly directed towards the bow of the ship.

They saw that atop the head of the usually ferocious swimming snake, a figure had appeared at some point.

Black hair fluttered in the wind, the sleeves of his black shirt were slightly rolled up, revealing muscular arms.

The man sat cross-legged, his posture lazy, yet carrying an undeniable sense of oppression.

What shocked them even more was that the swimming snake, capable of tearing apart an ordinary Marine warship,

was now trembling all over, as if encountering a natural predator, not daring to move!

“If you were to rob that merchant ship…”

Gern slowly raised his eyes, his dark pupils meeting Tuoli Tuoma’s gaze in mid-air, “I would be very troubled, you know.”

“Ladies, the female warriors of Nine Snake Island.” His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone’s ears, as if directly striking their hearts.

Watching this scene, Snake Princess’s heart skipped a beat.

That unique vibration frequency… that lazy yet dangerous aura…

It couldn’t be wrong…

Her fingertips unconsciously tightened, making the fiery giant snake hiss and flick its tongue.

But her expression remained as cold and arrogant as frost, yet her heart pounded wildly in her chest, almost bursting through her ribs.

Blood roared in her eardrums, making it hard for her to even hear the reports from the surrounding warriors.

Calm down, Tuoli Tuoma! You are the “Snake Princess” of Nine Snake!

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to regain her dignified posture.

However, when he noticed Gern looking at her,

her world froze.

Black hair, black shirt, and the black blade wrapped in greyish-white bandages at his waist.

The man sitting cross-legged atop the swimming snake’s head looked up and smiled lazily at her.

Especially that line, “If you were to rob that merchant ship… I would be very troubled, you know.”

His voice brushed past her ears like a sea breeze, leaving her mind blank.

“It’s really him!!! His voice is so gentle!”

Snake Princess’s nails dug deep into her palms, using the pain to maintain her outward composure.

But her cheeks flushed uncontrollably, even her earlobes were as red as if dyed by the evening glow.

Calm down! Calm down! You are in front of your subordinates right now!

Aside from Snake Princess’s internal drama, the reality was…

The warriors of Nine Snake were on high alert, bows and long blades aimed at Gern, yet no one dared to act rashly.

“Snake Princess-sama, this man is…”

“Indeed, this man is Marine Vice Admiral…” Her red lips parted slightly, her voice clear and authoritative, enunciating his identity word by word,

“‘Heaven Tremor’ Gern Reginald Sigma.”

Oh my god, I actually called out his name! Will he think I’m weird?!

“Oh my!” Gern raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly surprised: “I didn’t expect my reputation to be known even by the future Empress candidate of Nine Snake, what an honor.”

He smiled at me!!! Ahhh!

Tuoli Tuoma felt her knees weaken.

She clutched the hilt of her blade tightly, her body leaning steadily against the snake, afraid she might lose her balance and fall to her knees.

“The Ni-Kuja Pirates and the Marine have no past grievances.” She struggled to maintain her dignity, almost biting her tongue.

“Our sinking of that pirate ship was merely to clear away bothersome insects.

As for the merchant ship… we have no interest.”

What am I saying?! It sounds so stupid!

“No interest? Snake Princess-sama?!” Hearing their leader’s words, the Amazonian female warriors momentarily wore expressions of utter confusion.

“Weren’t you the one shouting the most fiercely just now? My Snake Princess-sama!!”

“Is that so?” Hearing Snake Princess’s words, Gern tilted his head, thinking his reputation had awed the other party, and continued to smile,

“That’s truly excellent, after all, I also don’t wish to lay hands on beautiful ladies.”

“He called me beautiful!!!” Tuoli Tuoma’s face flushed “boom!”

She felt her head was about to smoke, and could only stubbornly keep her head down, not letting anyone see her wildly upturned lips.

“Impudent!” An uncomprehending warrior roared, and an arrow shot through the air.

Tuoli Tuoma suddenly looked up, her pupils contracting: “Stop!”

But it was already too late.

Gern didn’t even lift an eyelid; the arrow suddenly stopped half a meter from him,

as if it had hit an invisible wall, then “crack” it broke into two.

“Haoshoku release… no, it’s Heaven Quake!” Tuoli Tuoma looked at the scene curiously, but quickly became worried again.

No, no, that’s not important now, what’s important is… he won’t be angry, will he? Will he hate me now?!

Tuoli Tuoma’s eyes reddened with anxiety, and she was about to explain, when she saw Gern gently pat the swimming snake’s head.

The ferocious giant snake obediently lowered its head, steadily delivering him to the deck.

“Don’t be nervous.” Gern had his hands in his pockets, his gaze sweeping around, finally landing on Snake Princess.

“He’s looking over! He’s walking towards me!” Tuoli Tuoma felt her breathing about to stop.

“No need to be so nervous…” Gern’s tone paused, a slight curve forming at the corner of his lips,

“I just came to say hello, and incidentally…”

Tuoli Tuoma’s brain instantly exploded with countless pink bubbles.

He wants to talk to me! He wants to be alone with me!!! He wants to have children with me!!!

“I do!” The words burst from her mouth without thought, so loud that even she was startled.

The next second, she realized what she had said, and her entire face instantly turned crimson.

Under everyone’s shocked gaze, the dignified and ruthless “Snake Princess” of the Kuja Pirates,

like a felled redwood tree, plunged straight forward.

“Tuoli Tuoma-sama?!”

“Damn it! This Marine used Haoshoku to stun Snake Princess-sama!”

“Snake Princess-sama has been kidnapped?!”

“Is this the legendary ‘Heaven Quake’? Just one glance and…”

The female warriors were in a chaotic mess, bows and sharp arrows uniformly aimed at Gern.

“Huh?!” Gern caught the falling Snake Princess with a bewildered expression, blinking.

“What in the world is going on? Did I just release Haoshoku?”

He looked down at Tuoli Tuoma in his arms, and immediately showed a disgusted expression,

because this was the first time in his life he had seen such a perfectly “obsessed woman’s smile” on a woman’s face.

Even worse, this woman, even in her unconsciousness, didn’t forget to touch his chest muscles with one hand; she was even preparing to grab…