Chapter 477: The Dragon's Hoof, and an Absurd World
Boa Hancock was utterly paralyzed. She never imagined that the legendary restaurant Silvers Rayleigh had spoken of was actually here. More than that, she never dreamed that the benefactor who had saved her and her sisters all those years ago was standing right before her.
"You... You..." Hancock stammered, her voice trembling with disbelief. "Impossible! Rayleigh said you were around twenty years old back then. How can you still look so young after all this time?!"
Nami leaned in and whispered, trying to soften the blow, "Because one day in this restaurant is roughly equivalent to a month in our world..."
The words struck Hancock like a physical force. She froze, her mind struggling to process the information. "Does... does such a place truly exist?" she asked, her voice barely a breath. A sudden, sharp realization cut through her confusion. "Wait... you just said 'our world'?"
Nami nodded, a sad smile on her face. "Yes... we're from the same sea. We ran into a Marine blockade on the Sabaody Archipelago and were... separated. Blasted away by Kuma of the Shichibukai. Now everyone is scattered."
"Bartholomew Kuma?!" Hancock's eyes widened.
"Yes..."
A flicker of suspicion crossed Hancock's face, her regal bearing returning slightly. "Why would a Warlord and the Marines attack you? What did you do? Who was leading the Marine forces?!"
"We saw Admiral Kizaru..." Nami's voice was tight with remembered fear. "If it weren't for the Dark King Rayleigh, we might have all been captured..."
"An Admiral?!" Hancock's voice rose in alarm. "What in the world did you do to draw that kind of attention?!"
Nami gritted her teeth, a mixture of shame and defiance warring in her expression. "Our captain... to avenge his friend... he punched a Celestial Dragon." She trailed off, the weight of the act still heavy. "He didn't kill him, but..."
"You hit a Celestial Dragon?!"
Nami gave a small, firm nod.
Hancock's shocked expression slowly melted away, replaced by a cold, sharp fury. She clenched her fists, her knuckles white. "Good," she hissed through gritted teeth. "He deserved it."
Ren tilted his head, a curious look on his face. "Celestial Dragons... Ah, right. Those petulant children who dress like they want to be astronauts. Why didn't Luffy just kill him? Surely he didn't think a simple punch would be enough to teach a lesson."
Hancock stared at Ren, aghast. "Those are the World Nobles! How can you say that? You... you actually wanted their captain to kill a Celestial Dragon?"
"It's hardly unusual for pirates to kill people," Ren replied with a casual shrug. "Let alone someone like a Celestial Dragon. Besides, I seem to recall... your sisters were..."
"Don't say it!" Hancock lunged forward, clapping a hand over Ren's mouth with surprising speed.
Yakumo Yukari watched the exchange with amusement, a fan hiding her smile. "Celestial Dragons? What on earth are those? Some kind of monster? Little dragon-men?"
Nami sighed and began to slowly explain the grim reality of the World Nobles. Throughout her explanation, Hancock kept her hand pressed firmly against Ren's mouth, her head bowed, refusing to speak.
The others listened, their expressions growing strange. Lucifer, in particular, looked utterly unimpressed. "Are all of these Celestial Dragons powerful fighters?" she asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"Powerful? Not at all," Nami admitted. "Most of them are so weak they couldn't even defeat an ordinary citizen in a fair fight..."
Lucifer let out a derisive sigh. "Then what is the issue? Just kill them and be done with it. Where do such pathetic creatures find the audacity to act so high and mighty?"
Yakumo Yukari fanned herself gently. "I find the Marines to be even more ridiculous. To protect such beings and call it 'justice'? What a curious world."
Aoandon added with a touch of exasperation, "In our lands, a ruling class like that would have been overthrown by rebellion centuries ago. Or, more likely, some great youkai with a strong sense of justice would have sought them out for a... reckoning."
Hancock was stunned. She slowly lowered her hand from Ren's mouth and looked around at the assembly of women casually discussing the assassination of the world's most untouchable figures. "Um..." she began, her voice small and lost. "Aren't any of you afraid of the Celestial Dragons?"
"Why would we be afraid?" Lucifer shot back impatiently. "First, they can't find this place. Second, even if they did, they couldn't possibly defeat us."
Hancock swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. "But the Marines..."
Lucifer cut her off with an irritable wave of her hand. "Don't even start with your Admirals and Fleet Admirals. This room is filled with youkai and devils. A gaggle of humans and human-like beings should learn to keep quiet."
"Youkai?! Devils?!"
"Allow me to introduce myself," Lucifer said, her tone dripping with condescension. "I am Lucifer, Queen of Hell. A devil. This is my attendant, Pandemonica. Also a devil." Her crimson eyes narrowed. "Now, I suggest you unhand Ren."
Hancock froze, glanced at the perfectly calm Ren, and snatched her hand back as if burned. Yakumo Yukari and Aoandon gave her small, polite waves, wordlessly confirming they were, in fact, youkai.
Hancock's mind went completely blank. The world seemed to tilt on its axis. What is this place? she thought hysterically. Is there not a single normal human in this entire room?!
Ren raised a hand slightly. "A minor correction. I'm still human," he said calmly. "But as for my combat strength... you've seen a glimpse of it."
Hancock swallowed again, the implications of Hell and monsters and other worlds crashing down on her all at once. "Hell... youkai..."
"Don't be so nervous," Ren said, his voice even. "Nami was just as surprised when she first arrived. She's much better now."
Nami forced a weak smile. "It's not like I had a choice..."
Hancock pressed her fingers to her temples. "So this really is another world? The legendary restaurant Rayleigh spoke of... it's in another dimension? And the door is in my private chambers?!" She shook her head, trying to clear it. "And there are devils and youkai... My head is starting to hurt."
"You'll get used to it," Ren assured her. "Now, the reason you stopped me from speaking earlier... it was because of that mark on your back, wasn't it?"
Her blood ran cold. "How did you know?!" The words escaped her before she remembered. "Oh, right... you're one of my benefactors. You would know... Yes. It's because of that... that ugly brand."
"The Hoof of the Soaring Dragon," Ren said, his voice quiet.
Boa Hancock gritted her teeth and fell silent. The name alone was enough to reopen a wound deep in her soul, an eternal, festering pain. Even after gaining her freedom, even after becoming an Empress feared by all, she could still feel the phantom weight of that shackle. Whenever the brand was mentioned, her arrogant facade would crumble, leaving only raw pain and terror in its place.
Nami gasped, the pieces suddenly clicking into place. She stared at Hancock, her eyes wide with horror. "No... it can't be!"
Hancock kept her head down, her shoulders trembling slightly. Lucifer and the others immediately understood. The proud Pirate Empress and her sisters had once been slaves of the Celestial Dragons.
Ren tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "Why look so pained? I was merely going to ask you a question. If that mark is the source of your suffering, do you want to remove it?"
Hancock looked up, stunned. "Remove it?" she repeated in disbelief. "The Hoof of the Soaring Dragon cannot be removed! It can only be covered up! But... but I will never let anyone see that brand! It serves as a constant reminder... a reminder to never forget the humiliation!"
"It's just a brand, isn't it?" Ren's tone was matter-of-fact, almost clinical. "Your world's logic is truly strange. Must everything be so tangled up in your psychological state? I'm not asking about humiliation or reminders. I'm asking a simple question: do you want it gone, yes or no?"
Nami bit her lip. "Even if it's not a tattoo, removing a brand without leaving a scar is impossible, right... Wait, it's a brand...?"
Hancock nodded, all the fight gone from her, her previous arrogance replaced by a crushing vulnerability.
"So I'm asking you again," Ren said, his voice cutting through her turmoil. "Do you want to remove it?"
The question hung in the air.
"That mark..."
"I'm asking if you want to," Ren pressed, his gaze steady. "Nothing else."
A choked sob escaped Hancock's lips. "Of course I do!" The confession was torn from her, raw and desperate. "I dream of the day that mark disappears! But... I will absolutely not let anyone see it!"
Ren nodded slowly, as if he had his answer. "I see." He turned his head towards the Queen of Hell. "Lucifer, can you fix it?"
Lucifer glanced at Hancock with an air of deep boredom. "Eh? Something made by humans? It's probably just some minor, primitive technology. How hard could it be?" She gestured dismissively at her attendant. "Pandemonica, you handle it. Thanks to someone," she said, shooting Ren a pointed look, "I can't use my magic freely. If I do, we'll definitely be discovered."
Pandemonica, who had been quietly observing, straightened up slightly. "Huh? Oh... very well."
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