One Piece: I am the Empress, and the more sycophants I have, the stronger I become.

Bonnie walked over with a carefree attitude.

Hancock was not angry at all; on the contrary, she found it very amusing.

It's rare to find someone who can still focus so purely on food under her now terrifyingly charismatic influence.

Even Arya behind her, and Hawkins who had just surrendered.

They all subtly changed their expressions because of Bonnie's "disrespectful" behavior.

"Oh? You want these?"

Hancock gently nudged the almost untouched fruit plate with her fingertips, her tone tinged with amusement.

"Of course! It looks delicious!"

Bonnie pulled out a chair and sat down without any hesitation.

He reached out and picked up a glistening grape, popped it into his mouth, and squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

"Hmm! Not bad, not bad! You're beautiful, and you have good taste too!"

Her overly familiar attitude made Arya frown and couldn't help but whisper.

"How rude! In front of Lady Snake Princess..."

Hancock raised her hand to stop Arya, watching Bonnie devour her food with great interest.

She could sense that Bonnie wasn't deliberately ignoring her charm, but rather something more fundamental.

For example, an extreme focus on food, or a unique personality.

This gave her extremely high resistance to conventional charm attacks.

That's quite rare.

"As long as you like it."

Hancock leaned back lazily in her chair, watching Bonnie's whirlwind of emotions.

"I have rarely seen such a straightforward girl as you."

"Frank? Haha, you mean I have an unseemly way of eating?"

Bonnie nonchalantly grabbed another delicate pastry and stuffed it into her mouth, mumbling indistinctly.

"Who cares, being full is the most important thing! You're that Shichibukai Empress, right? I've heard you're very powerful, but you don't seem like the type to mistreat food, which I like!"

Hawkins stood silently to the side, watching Bonnie's actions, and began shuffling and drawing cards with a blank expression.

He seemed to be trying to understand this interaction, which was beyond his rational comprehension, through divination.

The Fool (upright) and The Star (reversed).

He twitched his brow almost imperceptibly, then silently put the cards away.

Hawkins.

Hancock suddenly spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Hawkins immediately stepped forward.

"Pour the wine."

"Yes."

Without the slightest hesitation, Hawkins picked up the wine jug on the table.

With meticulous movements, he refilled Hancock's empty glass with fruit wine until it was seven-tenths full, and then poured some into Bonnie's previously empty glass as well.

His submissive and respectful demeanor was completely different from the calm and divination-savvy supernova he had been before.

Arya watched Hawkins serve the Empress, her lips slightly pursed, a barely perceptible hint of...jealousy flashing in her eyes?

She considered herself to be the Empress's most loyal protector and follower.

How could this eccentric man get so close to the Empress and even pour her wine?

Bonnie watched Hawkins' actions, then glanced at Hancock and blinked.

"Hey, your underling's pretty obedient, huh? 'The Magician' Hawkins, right? I heard you're really good at fortune telling, how come you're acting like a lackey?"

Hawkins remained expressionless, as if he hadn't heard.

Hancock chuckled lightly, offering no explanation.

She could sense that the system seemed to be reacting subtly because she had accepted Hawkins.

"Ding! Detected that the host has successfully recruited Basil Hawkins, a [Intermediate Simp] (Rational Obedience Type). His 'fate connection' and 'obedience' to the host are stable. Reward: Special one-time item: [Divination Treasure Box]. Allows you to perform one targeted divination to obtain a vague hint about a specific future event."

A phantom image of an antique bamboo fortune-telling stick container appeared in her system space.

nice one!

It might come in very handy at a crucial moment.

Bonnie didn't care that Hancock didn't answer, and continued drinking and eating snacks while muttering to herself.

"Speaking of which, Sabaody Archipelago is getting more and more lively lately. Those annoying Celestial Dragons seem to be up to something big..."

Hancock's heart skipped a beat, and she asked in response to her question.

"Oh? Celestial Dragons? What tricks are they up to now?"

"What else could it be?"

Bonnie pouted, a hint of disgust on her face.

"Isn't that disgusting human auction? I heard they recently held some kind of super auction week, bringing in a bunch of rare items that attracted a lot of rich and powerful guys, even some nobles from member states came. What a bunch of scum!"

Human auction... Celestial Dragons... Hancock's eyes instantly turned cold.

These two words always easily evoked the deepest murderous intent in her heart and that unbearable memory.

The dragon's hoof on her back seemed to be aching slightly as well.

Bonnie didn't notice the change in Hancock's eyes and continued talking to herself.

"If it weren't for... ugh, anyway, places like that just look infuriating!"

She seemed to have thought of something, her mood became somewhat low, and she took a big bite of the dried meat in her hand.

Hancock looked at Bonnie and suddenly remembered her background.

If I remember correctly, Bonnie is very likely a former princess of the Kingdom of Sorbet.

And her father... is the current Shichibukai who voluntarily underwent complete modification, losing all human memories and emotions.

Tyrant, Bartholomew Bear!

The thought of the bear stirred up a complex mix of emotions in Hancock's heart.

That taciturn man became the prototype of the pacifist.

His sacrifice and choices were filled with tragedy and helplessness.

She remembered that at this point in time, the bear should have already begun to undergo Vegapunk's modifications, but had not yet completely lost consciousness.

Luffy may have just set sail, but he's certainly not far from the starting point of his destiny.

"It's really infuriating."

Hancock suppressed her murderous intent and her tone returned to calm, but the icy coldness in her eyes did not melt away.

"Entertainment built on the suffering of others should not exist in the first place."

Bonney glanced at Hancock with some surprise, seemingly not expecting that this Shichibukai, known for her arrogance and beauty, would also express disgust at the Celestial Dragons' behavior.

She muttered, "At least you have some sense of justice."

Just then, Hawkins suddenly spoke again, his voice still calm.

But the content made both Hancock and Bonnie look at him.

"According to the divination just now, 'Judgment' and 'The Tower' appeared in the spread related to the auction. A huge upheaval and reckoning is about to take place there. The probability... is as high as 78.5%."

A glint of light flashed in Hancock's eyes.

Hawkins' divination, Bonney's information, and her own hatred for the Celestial Dragons...

It seems that this so-called "Super Auction Week" will be an excellent stage.

A stage for her to make a name for herself and at the same time to severely punish the arrogance of those world nobles!

She gently swirled the amber liquid in her glass, watching the bubbles rise and burst within the wine.

A bold and crazy plan began to take shape in her mind.