"The weather's clear—perfect for traveling."
Badak carried his luggage toward Grove 13.
"Will I see Rayleigh today? Rayleigh at this time should still be at the tail end of his prime. Roger only took a year to have Ace, but I've never heard about Rayleigh having children?"
When Badak arrived at Shakky's Rip-off Bar, Shaki and the others were already waiting outside. Rayleigh was still absent—it seemed Badak wouldn't meet him this time.
"Hey, Badak, you're really not in a hurry! Why are you so late?"
Hancock had been unable to sleep since early morning, worried this trip might be in vain. What if the dwarven princess hadn't eaten the Devil Fruit yet? Would they have to wait several more years? She couldn't bear carrying that mark for even a moment longer.
Her restlessness kept her sisters awake too, leaving them with dark circles under their eyes. Fortunately, Shaki, having weathered many storms, was energetic and in high spirits.
"Young Badak, would you like to come in for breakfast?"
"Sorry, sorry, I overslept. I've already had breakfast. Are we leaving now?"
"Yes, right now."
"Then, Handsome Monkey King, set sail!" Badak boarded the small ship, stowed his luggage, and used the Somersault Cloud to lift the Handsome Monkey King, waiting for Hancock to say her goodbyes.
"Sister, stay safe on your journey. There must be more than one way to remove the mark—just do your best."
"Yes, sister, take care of yourself."
"Hancock, if you encounter difficulties, you can always come back. Old Ray may be retired, but he still has some skills left."
"I will. Senior Shaki, please take care of Sandersonia and Marigold. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."The Handsome Monkey King soared upward on the clouds, soon disappearing from the sight of the three.
"What a convenient ability! Alright, you two, focus on resting and recovering now. I promised your sister I'd get you both back in top shape. When she returns, I can't have you looking as haggard as you do now."
"Senior Shaki, we want to become stronger!"
"If you want to grow stronger, you must first recover your health. Right now, replenishing your body's deficiencies is the most important thing."
"Why wasn't our sister affected as much? She suffered just as much as we did."
"On these seas, some people are born with the traits of the strong—greater resilience, faster growth. Hancock is one such person. Of course, you two are exceptional as well. With more effort, you too can carve out your place on the ocean."
...
Badak piloted the flying ship while Hancock sat quietly, gazing at the sky and sea. The silence between them grew awkward.
In truth, the two had only met yesterday and weren't very familiar with each other. In Badak's mind, Hancock was the proud, thorny, and domineering "Pirate Empress" from the anime. But the Hancock before him was still a resilient young girl who had just escaped suffering.
From Hancock's perspective, though Badak had accidentally knocked her unconscious, he had also helped them escape danger and sent the three sisters to Senior Shaki's care. He seemed like a kind person. The reason she had agreed to set out with him now was her desperate need to break free from the nightmare of the past three years—and because Shaki had vouched for Badak's character.
"The Red Line is coming up. The ship will start climbing soon."
At the mention of the Red Line, Hancock began trembling. Yet she steeled herself, staring resolutely at the approaching landmass until the Handsome Monkey King soared past it.
Badak deliberately flew far from Mary Geoise. With the recent incident involving Fisher Tiger, he worried that getting too close might alert the powerful figures stationed there.
From a distance, he noticed extensive construction work across Mary Geoise—evidence of the heavy damage caused by Tiger's fire.
Taking out the Eternal Pose for Dressrosa, Badak adjusted their altitude to around 1,000 meters after confirming their direction. The earlier flight at over 10,000 meters had nearly left him breathless.
"Hancock, this is getting dull. How about we practice Conqueror's Haki? If our Haki clashes, we might both improve our control."
"Won't that drain your energy? You must already be exhausted from flying the ship."
"No problem. We'll stop once either of us is halfway depleted. I'm a Zoan user—I recover quickly. After drifting on the sea for a bit and eating something, I'll be back at full strength!"
"Alright then, I'll give it a try. Hmph!"
Hancock's Conqueror's Haki surged outward, and Badak immediately responded with his own.
Both were still novices in Conqueror's Haki, unable to control it precisely—only capable of unleashing it indiscriminately. Their strength wasn't yet high enough to damage their surroundings.
Like two balloons pressing against each other, the air between them seemed to tremble. Had they possessed the Conqueror's Haki of an Emperor, the sky itself would have split apart.Badak had awakened his Conqueror's Haki a month ago. Though he had practiced frequently during this period, the sensation had never been as pronounced as it was now. As he focused his will, his Haki gradually condensed, shifting from dispersing in all directions to concentrating forward. His control over its intensity was becoming more natural.
Indeed, Conqueror's Haki improves best through combat!
Hancock was starting to struggle. She had only recently awakened this power, and the fact that she could actively use it already spoke volumes about her extraordinary talent.
Badak adjusted his Haki's intensity to match Hancock's, and the two continued their sparring as they advanced until Hancock signaled to stop.
"Let's eat something. I'll lower the ship."
"Sure, I'm getting hungry too."
...
Amidst the blue sea and sky, a ship sailed forward. At full capacity, it could carry about 100 people, flying a black flag emblazoned with a skull—the most common sight for pirate ships in the New World.
"Captain, there's a ship ahead. Strange, it's just a small boat."
"What? Let me see... Hah! It really is a tiny boat—just a boy and a girl. Hehahaha! Could this be some runaway lovers' drama? Bring us closer!"
Badak was busy eating when he noticed Hancock looking into the distance. He focused his gaze and saw pirates approaching. Quickly, he dashed into the cabin and retrieved his new weapon: a high-quality musket. This musket was his trophy, taken from a pirate sniper with a 12 million berry bounty. Badak adored it and had even bought special ammunition for it, though he hadn't had the chance to use it yet.
In the New World, Badak's strength was nothing remarkable, but anyone daring to venture here would naturally have multiple contingency plans.
His current strategy was the "kite" tactic—using his sharp dynamic vision to snipe opponents while maintaining distance with the Somersault Cloud's control over the ship's movement. This made it impossible for enemies to catch up or shake him off, which was incredibly frustrating for them.
Of course, if the opponent proved too strong and sniping was ineffective, Badak would retreat immediately.
"Hold off for now. Let me test their strength," Badak said to Hancock before firing a shot aimed straight at the enemy captain. After barely a second's pause, he fired again and calmly observed.
The opposing captain had some skill, but not much. He dodged the first shot but took the second in the shoulder. Though Badak had intended to hit his chest, the injury was enough to confirm that they could be dealt with.
"We can take them. Let's kite them."