"How could this happen? Hancock is an idiot! She must not have followed my instructions—what a fool!"
After reading the newspaper, the granny was flustered and at a complete loss. The Nine Snake Pirates, made up of the most elite warriors from Amazon Lily, had been utterly wiped out near Alabasta.
Boa Hancock, the strongest among them, was also defeated.
Daughter Island had been half-destroyed in a bombing. The elite warriors were either dead or wounded, and the Amazon Lily Empress had been captured. It was no exaggeration to say the nation had fallen.
And the worst part? It was Boa Hancock herself who had delivered everything into the enemy's hands.
The granny was filled with deep regret. She wished she could travel back in time—even a few days—to stop Hancock, even if it cost her life.
No, she thought, better to go back a few months and prevent Hancock from ever setting sail, or from trying to steal from the Kain Chamber of Commerce.
But regret was useless now. What mattered was fixing things.
"Grandma, what do we do now?" Plantagenet asked in a panic. News of the Empress's defeat and the destruction of the Nine Snake Pirates had thrown the entire island into chaos.
The granny forced herself to remain calm. She immediately gave orders:
"Take out all the treasures from the treasury and load them onto a ship. Gather the remaining warriors—we're heading to Alabasta to negotiate with them. And get me pen and paper. I need to write a letter to the Sabaody Archipelago."
At this point, foreign aid was the only hope. Daughter Island was known across the world, but they no longer had the strength to stand alone. Without powerful allies, going to Alabasta would be like offering themselves as a sacrifice.
While the granny prepared to use the Amazon Lily Kingdom's entire fortune to ransom Boa Hancock, far away in Alabasta, Hancock sat silently in the Kain Chamber of Commerce's detention room—broken and stripped of her dignity.
Although she had always claimed that even if her country were destroyed because of her, her beauty would earn forgiveness, it had all been a lie.
She was not a hero who had defeated a monster. There was no curse on her back—only the brand of a slave.
Hancock had used lies and charm to cover up her past. She seemed strong, with her beauty, Devil Fruit powers, and Conqueror's Haki—but the truth of her slave years was her deepest vulnerability. And for that lie, she had deceived everyone.
The door to the detention room was wide open. There were no seastone handcuffs, no guards. And yet Hancock did not leave. She clutched a photo of the Celestial Dragon's hoof brand—slave's mark—too terrified to step outside.
Now, there was no Nika to give her courage to face the past. And Kain, the capitalist, had taken away what little courage she had left.
That brand was what she feared most.
If it was exposed, what would happen? Would the Celestial Dragons send a Marine Admiral to take her back? Would she become a slave again? Would the entire world learn the truth—that the Empress of Amazon Lily had once been a Celestial Dragon's slave?
As she sat lost in thought, Kain entered the underground detention room once more. He didn't have much free time. Between managing Baby-5's training and overseeing the transformation of the biochemical machine warriors, his schedule was packed.
You see, many special alloys had to be fused using the power of the Munch-Munch Fruit. Even if you had the right alloy ratios, without that Devil Fruit's power, you couldn't create such powerful metals.
It was a rare thing for Kain to find time to visit Hancock at all.
"You are very obedient. It seems we may continue to communicate. Heh, the hatred in your eyes is quite something. You are a Shichibukai, after all. Don't you know the saying, 'The winner takes all and the loser loses it all?'"
Kain said to Hancock with a smile on his face, but Hancock didn't appreciate it at all. She still glared at him with hatred in her eyes.
The only thing Hancock was concerned about now was the photo in Kain's hand. If it was determined that Kain no longer had the photo, she would probably launch an immediate Perfume Femur kick straight to his head.
"Let's play a game. This may be the only way you can get rid of me. It's not too difficult. If you complete all of the challenges, I'll give you the photo, and no one else will ever know about this."
"But, if you fail, you'll have to accept a little punishment. Of course, during this time, you can try to use any means to attack me. If you succeed, you can take the photo as well. What do you say? Want to give it a try?"
Kain handed Hancock the game rules, which outlined the rewards and punishments.
Hancock was somewhat moved after reading it. She believed she could complete all the tasks flawlessly. She was sure she could find a way to sneak up on him and would definitely land a perfect kick to his head.
But there was one thing that confused Hancock—what were these "mouth balls," "jumping balls," and "cat tails"? Why did she have to wear them?
"How about it? This is your only chance. If you win, no one will ever know about the Serpent's Hoof imprint from that day."
Kain's words pushed Hancock into a decision, as if they had shoved her off a cliff.
Hancock gritted her teeth in hatred and declared, "I agree, my king."
"The first thing in the women's training course is when you refer to yourself, you must say 'maid.' You're not even close to my maids in this regard. I'll give you a little time to adapt."
"Starting tomorrow, yes, you can shoot me. But if you harm anyone from the Kain Chamber of Commerce, I'll randomly pick ten people from the Kuja Pirates and kill them. Get your own clothes, find a place to stay, and familiarize yourself with the surroundings. This all starts tomorrow."
With that, Kain stood up and left without another word.
Hancock, thinking she saw a glimmer of hope, would soon realize it was a rope leading to the abyss. The next phase was to slowly dismantle the armor around Hancock's pride, so she wouldn't be so high and mighty that her nostrils were turned upward.
Meanwhile, the granny still awaited the support she hoped for—the former king Shaoyao of Amazon Lily and Pluton Rayleigh, the deputy captain of the Roger Pirates.
It was because of Shaoyao's influence that Rayleigh could be invited; otherwise, without the help of the Snake, the granny and the others wouldn't even be able to set sail.
This was the Calm Belt. The only ship in Amazon Lily capable of navigating it had been destroyed in Alabasta. Without the snake pulling the boat, it would take the granny and her people a long time to reach Alabasta.
They had only learned about the events there through the World Economic News and hoped that the enemy wouldn't attack Boa Hancock.
In addition to this, the Naval Headquarters had their own embarrassing situation. The Blackbeard Pirates had captured a major pirate and successfully had him appointed as a Shichibukai. However, this pirate was none other than Ace, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
There were secrets known by some Marines, but not all. They saw this as a perfect opportunity to strike against Whitebeard, and Garp and Sengoku, being in Marine uniforms, couldn't speak on behalf of a pirate.
Thus, the Naval Headquarters quickly made the decision to execute Ace and convened a meeting to discuss their attack on the Whitebeard Pirates.
Taking down one of the Four Emperors would not only showcase Marine strength but also expand Marine influence in the New World. At present, only about a quarter of Marine forces remained in the first half of the Grand Line. The rest were focused on developing the New World.
Such an opportunity was rare, and it had the potential to change the entire course of Marine history and the age of great navigation. Even though Garp was a Marine hero, he couldn't prevent it. Ace must be executed.
…
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