Too late.
By the time the bewitched soldiers rushed forward—
Darkness had already descended.
From beneath Xiao's feet, shadows surged like a living ocean.
They rose—
Twisted—
And formed massive dark tentacles.
Each tentacle was lined with jagged teeth, like the circular maw of a lamprey.
One sweep—
Bodies split cleanly in half.
One graze—
Flesh shredded into fragments.
Some unlucky souls were seized outright.
The tentacles opened wide, swallowing them whole into spiraling black vortices.
What made it worse—
The dark tendrils multiplied.
The more people charged, the more darkness responded.
Endless.
Hungry.
Unforgiving.
Screams were swallowed along with bodies.
Blood evaporated into shadow.
Hancock's charm—
Failed.
Because no matter how powerful seduction was—
Fear was older.
More primitive.
And the deepest human fear—
Was darkness.
Within seconds, the battlefield cleared.
The bewitched marines and pirates lay scattered, mutilated or devoured.
The dark tentacles slowly retracted, dissolving back into the vortex beneath Xiao's boots.
He raised his head lazily.
"What did you say?"
His voice drifted toward the execution platform.
"I didn't quite hear you."
The disdain in his eyes was blatant.
He looked at Sengoku as if the Fleet Admiral were merely a noisy bystander.
Sengoku's veins bulged.
Sweat gathered at his temple.
Yet he restrained himself.
"Blackbeard," he said evenly, forcing calm into his voice.
"Release Hancock first. Whatever the conflict is, this is not the time. We are facing Whitebeard. Endure it for now. After this war, you will receive a satisfactory explanation."
Xiao's expression darkened.
"Blind?"
"Did you go blind, Sengoku?"
He shook Hancock casually in his grip like discarded cloth.
"She attacked me first. Or did justice suddenly become selective?"
Wronged?
He, wronged?
Impossible.
He would never endure humiliation for anyone.
"Bastard!"
Sengoku's patience snapped.
He crushed the Den Den Mushi loudspeaker in his palm.
For a brief moment—
The Golden Buddha nearly emerged.
But he stopped.
If Blackbeard turned now—
The battlefield would collapse.
This man's strength… and his talent for chaos…
Were too dangerous.
Xiao sneered.
"Looks like no one is coming to save you."
He lifted Hancock higher.
Her body trembled violently.
Not from pain—
From memory.
Chains.
Branding.
Celestial Dragons.
Cages.
Her breathing grew erratic.
Then—
Xiao revealed it.
A slave collar.
Not an ordinary one.
A reinforced Celestial Dragon model—
Designed to prevent internal Armament Haki destruction.
Hancock's face drained of blood.
"No—!"
"Please don't— I'll obey! I'll be obedient!"
Her voice broke.
Gone was the Pirate Empress.
Gone was the tyrannical queen.
All that remained—
Was the terrified slave girl from years ago.
The Celestial Dragons' conditioning had never left her.
Trauma never truly fades.
"Thief hahaha…"
Xiao did not hesitate.
The collar snapped shut around her neck.
The metallic click echoed louder than cannon fire.
Then—
He threw her into his dimensional space.
Before doing so, however—
His hand slipped briefly into the hollow between her breasts.
Searching.
He retrieved a small key.
A very specific key.
As it surfaced—
Dark clouds gathered overhead.
Lightning flickered within the clouds.
Fate shifted.
[King] stirred again.
Xiao tossed the key toward Sengoku.
It landed at his feet.
"I'm giving you face, Sengoku."
The key to Ace's Seastone cuffs.
For a second—
Silence.
Then—
CRACK.
Sengoku crushed it underfoot.
"Pirates truly cannot be trusted!"
His gaze burned.
The implication was obvious.
Hancock had stolen the key.
She had betrayed the World Government.
Sengoku stepped forward.
His voice rang across the battlefield.
"In the name of the Fleet Admiral of the Navy—"
"I hereby declare!"
"Boa Hancock has committed treason by stealing the key capable of freeing Portgas D. Ace!"
"From this moment onward—"
"Her status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea is revoked!"
"The Nine Snakes Pirates are reinstated on the World Government's wanted list!"
The battlefield erupted.
Shock.
Murmurs.
Confusion.
What they thought was internal conflict—
Was now official betrayal.
Blackbeard's reputation soared instantly within the navy ranks.
He had exposed a traitor.
He had protected justice.
He looked almost… heroic.
Xiao smiled faintly.
Sengoku wasn't foolish.
This move achieved multiple goals:
Punished Hancock.
• Warned the other Warlords.
• Redirected public anger.
• Elevated Blackbeard's standing—while binding him tighter.
Then Sengoku turned his gaze to Xiao.
"Hancock is yours to handle."
"As for Amazon Lily—"
"I leave that to you as well."
"On behalf of the World Government, I formally recognize any actions you take."
A trap within a gift.
Punishment wrapped in permission.
If Xiao attacked Amazon Lily—
The Warlords would tremble.
If he didn't—
He would appear weak.
Cruel.
Decisive.
Political.
"How ruthless, Marshal Sengoku…"
Xiao's voice was almost admiring.
He understood perfectly.
This was not only revenge.
It was a public demonstration.
Even the Seven Warlords—
Were disposable.
Then—
A pale green blade of light sliced through the air.
It skimmed just beneath the execution platform—
And tore apart the distant frozen tsunami iceberg.
The sound hummed like a razor against glass.
Dracule Mihawk.
On the surface—
He aimed at Luffy.
In reality—
He was signaling dissatisfaction.
Sengoku did not need to dismiss Hancock publicly.
This was humiliation.
And humiliation of one Warlord—
Was humiliation of them all.
It was not loyalty to Hancock.
It was about position.
Authority.
Balance.
The war had not yet reached its climax—
But politics had already drawn blood.
And above it all—
Xiao stood smiling.
Chaos had only just begun.
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