The 'Magnet Demon' Steel Devil was assembled by Kid, its fist pointing straight at Hera.
Hera didn't move at all; just as the fist was about to strike her, Kuina, having transformed into her spirit dress, blocked the punch.
Kid tried to control the other fist to strike, but Reiju appeared in her Raid Suit and blocked the blow.
Feeling Kid's Haoshoku, Hera said indifferently, "The qualities of a king? That's not a power unique to you."
Her own Haoshoku gushed out, suppressing Kid's Haoshoku back into his body. Hera shook her head in disappointment: "In the end, you're just an inferior pirate."
Shanks' parting strike flashed through Hera's mind. She compressed her Haoshoku into Saikū, but due to insufficient mastery, it was only coated in a layer of red Haki.
"I'll end your journey with this single strike—'Gods Punishment'." Hera charged at Kid, her Haoshoku-compressed blade slashing toward him, easily cleaving through Kid's Armament Haki and cutting him in half at the waist.
The severed Kid could no longer resist the encroachment of the City of Devouring Time, slowly sinking into it. His final thought was: "There really are so many monsters on the sea."
After Kid and Killer were cut down by Hera in turn, the Kid Pirates were completely wiped out. The remaining pirates, poisoned by the toxins released by Reiju and the Slime, were dragged into the City of Devouring Time.
By now, a newly risen Supernova was no longer a match for Hera. She estimated her own strength: if she possessed the City of Devouring Time, she could at least hold her own against Marco.
Kid was devoured by the City of Devouring Time, and a special devil fruit—looking like a black tadpole wrapped in yellow coils—was generated within. Hera took the fruit out.
"Alright, now I have a meeting gift. Next is to find the Straw Hat. Nami, full speed ahead toward the Alabasta Kingdom."
Nami nodded and turned into a flash of lightning, returning to the argo. Perona rode her hollow, Ain relied on the Float-Float Fruit's power, and Kuina sat upon her throne, all flying toward the argo in the sky.
Reiju flapped her wings in the air and reached out to Hera: "Captain, to you want me to take you up?" It was only then that Hera suddenly realized that, for some reason, everyone except her seemed to know how to fly.
Just as Hera was about to use Moonwalk to fly into the sky, Reiju scooped her up, her arms supporting Hera's upper body and knees, carrying her in a princess carry as she took flight.
Hera tried to struggle, but felt Reiju apply a bit more pressure: "Don't struggle, Captain. Moving around while flying in the air is very dangerous."
Hera hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but Reiju had already brought her onto the argo. Looking at the dazed Hera in her arms, she said, "We've arrived. Aren't you going to get down?"
Hera finally snapped out of it and jumped down from Reiju's embrace. "Don't do that next time! If you carry me like that, what will happen to my dignity as Captain?"
Reiju smiled. "Don't worry, weren't we in the sky? No one else would have noticed."
Ain also added, "Don't worry, Captain, that strike just now was very cool."
Hera felt a bit depressed, sensing that these crew members who had been with her for a long time all saw her as a child. Especially since Killer had recognized her by her height, it only added to her resentment about her stature.
A voice seemed to echo in her mind from the void: "Stop struggling. Even if you transcend in the future, your fate is to be 157cm. This is a truth of the universe."
Hera quickly shook her head, as if trying to shake the filth out of her mind.
Seeing Hera shake her head inexplicably, Ain patted her head and asked, "What's wrong? Did that strike just now have some side effect on you?"
Hera slapped Ain's hand away: "It's nothing. It just felt like some filth was talking in my head."
She continued, "It must be you guys. Always patting my head is why I can't grow tall."
Perona squatted down and looked at Hera: "What's so bad about it? You look so cute."
Looking at Perona, who was almost the same height as her while squatted, Hera muttered, "How is it good? I originally wanted to cut off Kid's head, but it was just more convenient to cut him at the waist."
"And looking at you like this, you're definitely treating me like a child."
Nami said naturally, "You are a child. How can you not be a child at only sixteen?"
Then, thinking of something, she licked her lips and teased, "Oh, I see. The Captain wants us to treat her like an adult and do some... adult things?"
Ain also teased, "It seems that because we didn't look for the Captain after that time, the Captain is feeling a bit lonely."
How could Hera not tell that these women were teasing her? "Honestly, you bunch of female hooligans." After saying that, she sat on a deck chair in a huff and started drinking milk.
Soon, the argo sailed to the Alabasta Kingdom. A giant Sea Cat emerged from the sea. The Sea Cat extended a paw, looking as cute as a beckoning cat, except for the scales on its belly.
Hera had no resistance to such cute things. With a leap, she landed on the Sea Cat's head and stroked its large ears.
While stroking it, she said, "This guy is so cute. Can we keep one?"
Ain stopped Hera: "That won't work. In Alabasta, Sea Cats are sacred animals. Besides, it's so big, how would we keep it?"
Disappointed, Hera got off the Sea Cat, but she took some food out of the City of Devouring Time and gave it to the creature.
The startled Sea Cat dove into the seabed with the large fish Hera gave it, seemingly relieved.
After this little interlude, Hera and the others soon saw the port, although the port city of the Alabasta Kingdom, Nanohana, was a bit noisy.
Hera's Observation Haki reached toward the noisy area, and she discovered two familiar characters: "Oh, these two met so soon."
Ace and Luffy were eating in a restaurant. Luffy, who was starving from his time on the ship, was only focused on devouring food, completely unaware that the person he had been longing to see, Ace, was right beside him.
It was Ace who noticed Luffy first and called out, "Luffy!"
Luffy, who was eating meat, looked up toward the source of the voice. Seeing it was Ace, he shouted excitedly, "Ace!"
The two embraced.
At this time, Luffy's companions also sensed the commotion and came over one after another.
Hera's Observation Haki detected the situation there. She swung Saikū against the air, and a portal appeared in the middle of the restaurant.
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