Elder Nyon looked gently at the three girls crying their hearts out and thought, 'Go ahead and cry… After this, perhaps the three of you will finally be able to escape the nightmare in your hearts.'
If that happened…
They might finally be able to sleep peacefully.
Meanwhile, Jin looked at Hancock, who was crying loudly, and asked in confusion, "What is she…"
He had only killed Celestial Dragons. Why was she so shaken?
'Wait…'
A shocking thought suddenly appeared in Jin's mind.
Could it be…
Had she once been captured by the Celestial Dragons too?!
If that was the case, then her reaction made sense.
"Hancock, tell him," Elder Nyon said with a long sigh. "If it's him… it'll be fine."
This man had both decent character and had killed those high-and-mighty Celestial Dragons!
So…
There was no problem telling him the truth.
Once Hancock said everything aloud, perhaps the heavy burden in her heart would finally ease.
Then, after Jin removed the mark from her back, they might truly be able to break free from the past.
"I…"
Hearing Elder Nyon's words, Hancock wiped the tears from her face and tried hard to stabilize her emotions.
Then she looked at Jin and said, "Very well. I shall tell you the secret behind this mark."
Jin opened his mouth.
In truth, whether she told him or not did not matter much. After all… he was not especially interested in other people's secrets.
His main purpose in coming here was still to obtain the Eternal Pose.
But looking at Hancock's pitiful appearance, Jin swallowed his words.
No matter what, saying something like that was not suitable in this situation.
His mental state might be a little unhinged, but that did not mean he did not understand basic human sensitivity.
Seeing that Jin had silently agreed, Hancock turned around and exposed the mark on her back, allowing him to see it clearly.
"A hoof-shaped mark…" Jin frowned. "What exactly does it mean?"
"This is the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon…" Hancock bit her lip and said. "It is the crest of the Celestial Dragons!"
"A crest?"
"Yes…"
"This is a mark branded onto the people kept by the World Nobles… proof of slavery that cannot be erased for a lifetime…"
At this point, Hancock's body began trembling violently. Her right hand unconsciously grabbed her left arm, digging into it so hard that she tore the skin.
But Hancock did not notice at all.
It was as if…
She could not feel pain.
Or perhaps…
She was using this method to lessen the agony in her heart.
Then, trembling, she spoke of that nightmare-like experience.
"The three of us… were once slaves of the Celestial Dragons…"
"Slaves of the Celestial Dragons…"
Looking at the three sisters' pained expressions, Jin opened his mouth, but for a moment, he did not know what to say.
Judging from their reactions, they had likely experienced hell.
'So this is why they were unwilling to let anyone see their backs,' Jin thought silently.
Now he finally understood why they cared so much about that mark.
If this were exposed, it might even attract a siege from the World Government.
At that time…
The entire Amazon Lily might suffer disaster.
"Nineteen years ago, the three of us went out to sea with the Kuja Pirates to experience… the life of pirates," Hancock said with her head lowered. "But our luck was poor. Human traffickers kidnapped us from the ship."
"After that, the three of us were taken to the Sabaody Archipelago, sold off, and eventually became slaves of the Celestial Dragons…"
"After that, all that remained was a nightmare."
"In those miserable days, there was not the slightest trace of hope. Every day, all we could think about was how to die…"
As if recalling the past, Hancock's face turned pale.
Sandersonia clutched her head and screamed, collapsing to the floor and wailing in agony as if she had completely broken down.
"Sister Sandersonia!"
Marigold looked at Sandersonia and tried hard to say something comforting, but with tears covering her own face, she could not speak such words at all.
Because right now, her heart was also filled with pain.
"Don't force yourself." Jin glanced at Sandersonia, then looked at Hancock. "For you, those memories…"
"Jin," Hancock interrupted him. "Memories will awaken sooner or later."
Jin froze slightly after being interrupted.
Even though it was this painful…
She still wanted to say it?
Seeing that Jin no longer spoke, Hancock continued recounting the past.
"At first, we thought we might have to stay in that hell for the rest of our lives."
"Until… four years later, an incident that shocked the world occurred!"
"A man climbed the Red Line with his bare hands and reached Mary Geoise," Hancock said. "To save his fellow Fish-Men, he charged into the Celestial Dragons' territory alone and successfully freed a large number of slaves!"
At this point, Hancock paused, then continued, "The Fish-Men deeply hated humans, but that man did not care about such things. He released thousands of people from all kinds of races."
"It was because of that… that we were able to escape."
"And that Fish-Man was named Fisher Tiger!"
If not for that man back then, they would never have had the chance to escape from the Celestial Dragons' territory.
After all…
That was the World Government's domain!
"There was actually such a hero?" Jin said. "I really would have liked to meet him."
A man who dared to charge alone into the Celestial Dragons' territory…
Such a man deserved a thumbs-up from him.
'Hancock said he went to Mary Geoise to save his fellow Fish-Men…' Jin thought. 'Does that mean he's on Fish-Man Island now?'
If so, then after going to Fish-Man Island, he definitely had to meet him.
"That is impossible now."
"Eh?"
Jin froze as his thoughts were interrupted, then asked in confusion, "Why?"
"Because Fisher Tiger is already dead."
"Already… dead…"
Hearing Hancock say that, Jin's expression became somewhat complicated.
In that case, the World Government must have launched a frenzied retaliation afterward.
"Yes. After that incident, that man gathered his Fish-Man comrades and formed the Sun Pirates on the sea to resist the pursuers that might come," Hancock said. "After that… they suffered the World Government's merciless retaliation."
"In the end, that man died."
She did not know what exactly happened back then, nor did she know what kind of force the World Government had sent to encircle them.
The only thing she knew was that the Sun Pirates had encountered an enemy they could not resist, and in the end…
Fisher Tiger died in battle.
And she had only learned this information from the newspaper.
Thinking of this, Hancock silently sighed.
"I see…" Jin said with a complicated expression. "No matter what, Fisher Tiger was a hero worthy of praise."
Unfortunately, that man's life had not been very long.
Thinking of this, Jin sighed.
After suppressing that thought, Jin said, "The Sun Pirates… Come to think of it, one of my friends has a sun mark on his forehead."
Jin recalled Hatchan's appearance.
When that guy had made takoyaki for them, he had not been covering that spot on his forehead.
So Jin had seen the mark clearly. At the time, he had been a little curious about it, wondering whether it was a unique feature of Fish-Men, like a tattoo.
Now that he thought about it…
That might have been the pirate crew's symbol.
"Is he a Fish-Man?"
"Mm, yes." Jin nodded. "He's an octopus Fish-Man."
After saying that, Jin paused, then asked, "Was he… once a slave too?"
"That isn't certain." Sandersonia, who had calmed down, lay on the ground and looked at Jin. "That symbol was branded on purpose so people could not distinguish between former slaves and ordinary people."
"As for whether he was a slave or not… we don't know."
"But at the very least, we can confirm that he was a member of the Sun Pirates."
They did not know whether the Celestial Dragon mark existed beneath that Sun Pirates mark.
"I see…" Jin said. "I didn't expect Hatchan to have such a past…"
Thinking about it carefully, Uncle Rayleigh seemed to have mentioned that Hatchan later joined the Sun Pirates.
"The friend you know should come from one of the Fish-Man pirate crews."
"Fish-Man pirate crews?"
Jin looked at Elder Nyon in confusion.
How did this involve Fish-Man pirate crews now?
"Mm. After Fisher Tiger died, the Sun Pirates split into several Fish-Man pirate crews," Elder Nyon explained. "Your friend should come from one of them."
Hearing Elder Nyon's words, Jin fell into thought.
'Fish-Man pirate crews…'
Thinking carefully, Arlong, who had once tormented Nami's hometown in the East Blue, had been the captain of a Fish-Man pirate crew.
In other words, in the past, they had also been members of the Sun Pirates?
As former subordinates of Fisher Tiger, yet they had done such things…
Perhaps that was also part of the reason why the Sun Pirates had split.
'Fish-Men who deeply hate humans, huh…'
Forget it. There was no need to think about that guy.
In any case, he had already been dealt with by the Marines.
After shaking that thought away, Jin said, "I roughly understand the situation now. Next, I will help you… help all of you remove the marks on your backs."
Although the agreed number had changed from one person to three…
For Jin, there was not much difference.
"Mm."
"Thank you…" Hancock said. "This way, we will no longer have to keep deceiving this country with that curse story."
"Curse?"
Jin froze.
What strange thing was this now?
"Yes, a curse…" Sandersonia sighed. "Because we have this thing on our backs, we cannot let anyone see our backs."
"So Sister came up with a method."
"What method?"
"She fabricated a story," Sandersonia said. "That the three of us sisters once killed the monster Gorgon at sea, but before dying, that monster cursed us and left eyes on our backs. Anyone nearby who saw our backs would be petrified."
It was precisely because of this fabricated story that the three sisters had been able to live safely in this country until now.
"Petrified…"
Jin immediately looked at Hancock.
Her Devil Fruit ability was capable of petrifying others.
In other words…
She had relied on that Devil Fruit ability to make the lie convincing.
"That's right, petrified." Hancock laughed at herself. "And the irony is that this power also came from the Celestial Dragons."
"Back then, to amuse themselves, they forcibly made us eat the Love-Love Fruit and the Snake-Snake Fruits…"
"And it was precisely by relying on this power that we were able to deceive this country and protect this secret."
At this point, Hancock's body began trembling again, and tears flowed uncontrollably down her face.
"If the marks on our backs were discovered, we would no longer be able to remain in this country."
"So… even if we had to deceive the entire nation, we did not want anyone to know our past!"
By the end, Hancock hugged her knees and cried, tears streaming down without stopping.
The feeling of constantly guarding against others was far too terrifying.
Even when sleeping, she did not dare sleep too deeply, afraid that someone might see the mark on her back.
After all…
Once it was seen, it would mean her life was completely over.
And that kind of life had lasted for more than ten years!
Thinking of this, Hancock cried even harder.
"Sister…"
Marigold and Sandersonia looked at Hancock with tears in their eyes.
In the end, the three sisters cried together.
No one knew how much pain they had endured over the years.
'Trapped by this nightmare for more than ten years…' Jin thought silently.
That made sense.
Even though they had fabricated such a lie, they could never be certain whether someone might secretly try to see the truth, so they had to remain alert at every moment.
But living that way was extremely painful.
Just like…
The way he had once lived.
Back then, he had also been afraid others would discover that he was of mixed Uchiha and Senju blood, so he had never dared to casually expose the fact that he possessed the Sharingan, afraid that old bastard Danzo would target him.
That feeling…
Was truly terrible.
Now, he could understand how these three women felt.
After the three women's emotions gradually stabilized, Elder Nyon walked forward with a smile.
"It has truly been a long time since I saw Snake Princess show her truest emotions."
"I thought Lady Snake Princess had completely become cold as ice~"
The moment these words came out, Hancock's face instantly flushed red.
Why say something like that at a time like this?
Did she not need dignity?
Thinking this, Hancock immediately stood up and glared at Elder Nyon in embarrassment.
"Shut your mouth, you traitor who betrayed the country!"
"The one who should shut up is you!" Elder Nyon climbed to a higher place with her snake cane until she was level with Hancock, glaring at her. "You little girl, have you forgotten how you returned to Amazon Lily back then?"
"If I hadn't been living overseas at the time, would you three desperate little girls have been able to return to Amazon Lily?"
"And now you dare say something like that to me?"
Hancock: "…"
Looking at Elder Nyon glaring at her, Hancock felt awkward for a moment.
But asking her to lower her head was obviously impossible.
So Hancock turned her head away, snorted, and said, "Hmph. Flaunting such a tiny favor."
Elder Nyon: "???"
"What did you say?"
Elder Nyon immediately became unhappy. She jumped up and tried to grab Hancock while shouting, "I have always cared for you girls like a mother, and now you call it a tiny favor?"
"Snake Princess, you rotten girl!"
"Hey, Sandersonia, Marigold, let go of me!" Elder Nyon glanced at the two girls holding her back. "I'm going to teach this rotten girl a lesson."
"Elder Nyon, please don't stoop to Sister's level," Sandersonia said helplessly.
It was not as if Sister's personality had only been like this for a day or two.
Marigold also looked a little embarrassed.
Sister really was…
"Hmph, that rotten girl."
Elder Nyon snorted, but she did not continue struggling and allowed the two girls to hold her.
Hancock ignored the commotion behind her and returned to her previous position.
Then, without turning her head, she said, "Xi… Jin…"
"Yeah?"
"Will you… look down on me because I was once a slave?"
As she spoke, Hancock's face was filled with unease, and her body began trembling slightly beyond her control.
If she could not hear the answer she wanted…
What should she do?
Elder Nyon also looked at Jin's back.
She wanted to know how Jin would answer.
"Don't worry. I won't look at you differently, and I won't look down on you."
After saying that, Jin paused, then continued, "After all… this wasn't your fault."
"In the end, this is the fault of the Celestial Dragons. Those bastards are the ones who deserve to die!"
As he spoke, a cold light flashed through Jin's eyes.
If he had the chance, he would not mind killing a few more Celestial Dragons.
That kind of scum…
Death was too good for them!
"I… see…"
Hearing this answer, Hancock's body stopped trembling, and color gradually returned to her face.
No…
Rather, it became even redder, like a shy young girl.
"Phew…"
Elder Nyon let out a long breath.
This boy…
Sure enough, he had not disappointed her.
After this, those three girls should finally be able to put down the burden in their hearts.
Thinking this, Elder Nyon smiled.
"All right, you don't need to care too much about this," Jin said with a smile. "I'll help remove the marks on your backs. Once that's done, you won't need to live in fear anymore."
"Thank you!"
Sandersonia and Marigold covered their faces and cried. "Thank you…"
Once the marks were gone, they could finally sleep peacefully.
"It's fine. No need to be polite," Jin said with a smile.
At that moment, Jin noticed Hancock turning her head.
And…
This woman's expression looked a little strange, almost like a shy young girl.
Jin: "???"
Wait, was this really the same cold and glamorous empress from earlier?
Wasn't this contrast a little too extreme?
"You want the Eternal Pose to Marine Headquarters, right?" Hancock wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said. "I shall bring it to you now."
After saying that, Hancock turned without hesitation and walked toward the cabinet to the side, beginning to search through it.
A moment later, Hancock took out a box.
After removing the Eternal Pose from inside, Hancock walked to Jin's side.
"Here~" Hancock looked at Jin with a smile in her eyes. "This is the Eternal Pose to Marine Headquarters!"
"With this, you'll be able to find Marine Headquarters!"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/ZoroTL442