The city center of Loguetown—the square, and behind the execution platform set there, a lavish white hotel spread out like a wall.
Among its rooms, the special suite combining the central fourth and fifth floors was where Hancock sat on a sofa, looking down at the execution platform beneath the window.
Behind her stood two people holding large trays piled with dishes, and a young woman in a neat dress.
"This suite is reserved for distinguished guests like royalty from the East Blue. It's the pride of the hotel our family runs."
"It's an honor to host you here, Your Majesty!"
"I'll say this again: no one may enter here without my permission."
"If you disobey me... you know what will happen, don't you?"
"Y-yes, of course! I'll handle everything myself, from serving the food to cleaning!"
"I have plenty of money. If you want, I can pay in advance."
"The money is fine, but... if it's not too much trouble, could you perhaps bring me the thing I asked for earlier?"
"...It can't be helped. Bring it here."
"Understood! Hurry up and get ready, girls!"
Under the glittering chandelier, Boa Hancock rose from the sofa and turned around.
The young woman stepped up beside Hancock, and the two of them faced forward with the sunlit window at their backs.
Click!
One of the two maids took a picture of the woman and Hancock with the camera in her hand.
A photo of the two smiling women emerged from the narrow slit at the bottom of the camera, and the woman rushed over to check it.
"Kyaaaah! It came out perfectly!"
"Congratulations, miss!"
"The miss is beautiful too, but Your Majesty is just too gorgeous!"
"Of course! How could I compare to Your Majesty!"
"Are you satisfied now?"
"C-could you maybe take one with the girls here too...?"
"Get out right now!"
"I'm sorry!"
Bang!
At Hancock's shout, the women hurriedly fled the room.
"Your Majesty getting angry is so cool!"
"We're already so happy just to have seen that!"
"This photo is my favorite treasure now!"
Compared to what had just happened, the women's reactions were wildly contradictory, proof that Hancock's beauty transcended gender.
Left alone, Hancock ignored the commotion outside the door and sat back down on the sofa, looking out at the execution platform again.
"One week. If Luffy really did leave his hometown, that should be enough time for him to get here."
"If what I heard is true, Luffy is heading toward Reverse Mountain now. Then he has to pass through this island."
"If he doesn't come by then... I'll have to go back, just as I promised my subordinates."
Day 2
The young woman who had taken a photo with her spoke from the side.
"Should I keep bringing the same kind of tea?"
Hancock on the sofa did not answer.
With that silent assent, another day passed.
Day 3
"Maybe today... Should I try a different hairstyle?"
She spent the time in front of the mirror, gazing at her own face—one she never grew tired of looking at.
Day 4
"What if something happened to him?!"
Worrying about Luffy made the hours pass faster than the day before.
Day 5
"I can't tell whether the food is going into my nose or my ears."
Seeing Hancock expressionlessly bring a piece of meat to her mouth, the young woman spoke from the side.
"Your Majesty, if the food doesn't suit your taste..."
"Having you beside me ruins the taste."
"I'm sorry!"
Day 6
"Why! Why! Why aren't you coming!"
"Do you hate me that much?! Is that why you're not coming?!"
On the bed, Hancock hugged a pillow to her chest and shouted like that.
"You didn't have to say that much to me back then!"
"And you say that like you even know what love is!"
Right after shouting, Hancock turned her body downward and buried her face in the pillow.
"I miss you... I really do."
Day 7
"So today is the last day..."
Wearing a dress with a unified top and bottom, bright scarlet with gold patterns embroidered all over it, Hancock muttered that in front of a full-length mirror.
Starting from her slender neckline, the exposed skin extended down to her deeply cut cleavage, and since the dress had no sleeves, all the bare skin from her shoulders and side breasts down to her fingertips was on display.
The fabric below her waist split and flowed front and back, leaving her smooth legs—starting from her thighs and ending in high heels—almost completely exposed as well.
Even in that state, Hancock was still beautiful, but the light in her eyes, like winter sunlight, had faded compared to before.
"Who is pushing you and me apart?"
"Is it your grandfather, who hates me? Or your annoying master...? Or is it the whole world, all of it together?"
Hancock sat down on the sofa.
She grew even more despondent, feeling as though the overcast sky outside reflected her own heart.
"Or is it... your heart?"
Looking up at the cloudy sky, Hancock lowered her head and stared blankly into space with lifeless eyes.
"A splendid execution has been decided!!!"
"What was that?"
At that moment, Buggy's shout from outside drew Hancock's attention.
"I forgot about you again, Hancock."
"No... you probably tried to forget on purpose."
"My name... and that voice...!"
Hancock heard her name from the sofa.
What Luffy said outside was not as loud as before, but it was enough for her to catch the faint sound of her own name and the familiar voice.
"Luffy...!"
She strapped on two pointed swords at her waist, placed both hands on the window, and looked down.
There, the one she had been waiting for was bound to a massive chain atop the execution platform.
"Who the hell dared do that to you...!"
"My friends and subordinates died because of me, but I unconsciously admired the strength of Kaido, the man who did it."
"While I was struggling to endure the contradiction and humiliation of that situation, I hurt you when you appeared before me..."
"This is from back then..."
"The reason I haven't thought about you until recently... was probably because I didn't want to admit what I did to you."
"Because that would've been like admitting that what Kaido did to me was my fault."
"When I think about how you, with your painful past, decided to move forward... I feel so pathetic."
She had been so excited she looked ready to leap straight out the window, but now she stopped with both swords in hand.
Then, without taking her eyes off the execution platform, she brought her face close to the window and listened to Luffy's words.
"Remembering this moment, when I heard you thank me for helping you, I became certain."
"What I wanted was... to create a world where innocent people could live without suffering."
"Because I realized that, I've been able to live again and give it my all."
"So I'm truly grateful to you..."
"Luffy..."
As she listened, Hancock's eyes were already brimming with life again.
"I'm sorry I hurt you."
"Thank you, Luffy."
"Every moment I spent waiting for you until now wasn't wasted at all."
"Because now I know our hearts have reached each other."
A tiny smile appeared at the corner of Hancock's lips after hearing Luffy's words.
Meanwhile, Luffy was pulling on the giant chain while kicking the base of the execution platform, beginning to smash it apart.
"If you want freedom... you have to take responsibility."
"But when you get caught up in the way the world works... sometimes you can't bear that responsibility and collapse."
"But I've made up my mind now... I'm going to keep moving forward without giving up."
"From now on, I...!"
As Hancock heard those words, the pointed swords in her hands had already transformed into blades that looked three times longer than her own height.
"I don't want to lose to this rotten world...!"
As Hancock swung her sword left and right, the window shattered into pieces.
At the same time, she leapt toward Luffy on the execution platform.
"Yes, that's the kind of man who deserves to be my husband!"
Boom!
Fragments of the execution platform and the giant chain Hancock had sliced apart crashed to the ground, sending dust billowing everywhere.
Buggy's subordinates freed Zoro and Sanji from their restraints and withdrew from the scene, while Sanji and Zoro kept a little farther back than they did.
As the dust settled, two figures stood within it.
"You've gotten a lot taller, Luffy."
"Hancock... you're still beautiful."
In front of the small mound formed by the piled-up wreckage of the execution platform, Hancock had her chin resting on Luffy's shoulder as she hugged him, two long, needle-like swords hanging at her waist.
Luffy, who had grown taller since the last time they met, now stood at the same eye level as Hancock, who was about 180 centimeters tall and wearing 10-centimeter high heels.
"Luffy, you told me this back then."
"That the feelings I thought were love between lovers were just the result of me misinterpreting your kindness."
"I was so confused after hearing that, so I couldn't hold onto you then."
"Just as you said, back then I had never received proper love except from my family, and I had never truly loved anyone else either."
"So after that, I kept thinking about it—whether my feelings really were just a misunderstanding."
She lifted her head from Luffy's shoulder and met his eyes.
"Even when you weren't in front of me, I missed you. I wanted to be by your side all the time, just like before."
"I lived in the past, wearing a mask to hide my wounds. I was too afraid to trust anyone."
"Now I know for certain: I don't love you because of some fleeting kindness you showed me."
"I love the gentle you who can forgive someone twisted by pain."
"No matter how painful or difficult it gets, you never give up on becoming a better person, and you keep doing your best to live."
"I'm in love with you as a person... with all of you."
Hancock looked at Luffy with eyes that no longer wavered, unlike on that day in the past.
"Hancock..."
"But listen."
Smack!
Hancock swung her arm wide and slapped Luffy across the face with her palm.
"Guh...!"
"Eeeeeeh?!"
With that full-force blow, Luffy's upper body bent sharply and he collapsed to the ground, shocking Zoro, Nami, Buggy's subordinates, and even Nami and Usopp, who were watching from afar.
The reason was that this was a completely different kind of action from the one where she had just been hugging Luffy moments ago, and Luffy lay on the ground with his head turned aside.
"Ugh..."
"I can understand why you rejected me. Just as you said, back then I wasn't really thinking deeply about you."
"But that doesn't mean you can trample on a woman's feelings like that!"
Hancock leaned her waist back and pointed at the fallen Luffy with a finger.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Luffy. I am Boa Hancock, Pirate Empress!"
"I'm no longer some weak little girl who couldn't escape her childhood! I won't be shaken by a moment's emotion!"
"Only I know my own heart! You don't get to define it however you want!"
"Even if it's you, the one who saved me, I won't accept that!"
After Hancock said that, a brief silence fell, and then Luffy, still lying down, lifted his head.
"I was wrong, Hancock... I'm sorry I said that to you back then."
"...Good. As long as you know."
Hancock bent at the waist and reached out her hand toward Luffy.
Taking her hand, Luffy was pulled back to his feet, and Hancock met his eyes again with a look of affection.
"But when did you get here? Are your subordinates on this island too?"
"I sent my subordinates away. From now on, I'll be with you."
"...What?"
"Didn't I permit it before? Being by your side, I mean."
"What about Amazon Lily? And you're the ruler..."
"I've stepped down. My sisters are there, so it will be fine."
"No, there's a process for everything..."
"You said I could before, and now you're saying I can't?! You liar!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing!!!"
The voice came from within the wreckage.
Luffy and Hancock looked that way, and there they saw Buggy poking his head out from the debris.
A splinter of wood was lodged in one of his eyes, and while the other eye wasn't badly injured, blood from his head kept streaming down over it.
"Jango! What are you idiots doing, not killing them?! Do you think they'll just leave you alone?!"
"...!"
Buggy's subordinates had already gathered in the center, bracing themselves with chains wrapped around their arms.
Their faces were flushed red, and they were breathing heavily with excitement, while Jango, who was with them, looked around in confusion.
"Don't charge in, you fools! They're not opponents you can handle...!"
"Boa Hancock... the most beautiful woman in the world, the one I only saw on a wanted poster... in the flesh...!"
"S-so beautiful!"
"She's mine! That woman is mine!"
By then, Usopp and Nami had come up from behind and joined the group of Luffy's companions. Among them, Sanji seemed just as excited as Buggy's subordinates.
"B-Boa Hancock~! The most beautiful woman in the world is heeeere!!!"
"I'll save you, so pleeease wai—!"
"Don't get in the way, you pervert cook."
"Don't stop me, Marimo! You want the Empress too, don't you?!"
"Get a grip. Have you already forgotten the sword that woman swung just now?"
"If you go now... you'll definitely get caught up in it!"
As Zoro blocked Sanji, most of Buggy's subordinates lost their reason and hurled their chains at Hancock.
Seeing this, she stepped forward and raised a sword in one hand.
"Pathetic things..."
Swish-swish-swish!
Luffy watched as the blade, which had been curled up like a drill, unfurled and flowed down like paper.
Hancock flicked her wrist lightly, and the chains flying toward her were cut apart.
"Hancock's Mero Mero Fruit in the original work turned those who fell for her into stone."
"But here, instead of turning them to stone, it makes both body and heart go limp along with their infatuation, and the same goes for inanimate objects."
"The reason she usually carries her flexible sword in a drill-like shape for wider attack range is also a result of using that power."
Before long, Hancock had two flexible swords in her hands, and she rushed forward, swinging them at the opponent in front.
With a single swing, the flexible sword carved through the man's body in multiple places, and his body was chopped into several pieces along with the chain he was holding.
"How dare you look down on me!"
"M-my body... all at once...!"
"Aaaagh!"
At the same time, the filthy desire they had held toward Hancock turned into fear.
Starting with one man, the bodies of those around him were sliced apart by Hancock's swinging swords.
"The flexible swords Hancock swings flutter, but their strength remains the same."
"In the brief instant when the blade makes contact, she releases and reapplies her power, creating a rebound force that transfers Hancock's strength directly and cuts the opponent down."
"On top of that, the power that makes the target go limp also applies to anyone touched by the whip-like blade, so the body part struck by the blade loses its strength or becomes completely zero, going limp and getting cut apart at the same time."
While Luffy was thinking that, only Jango remained in front of Hancock after she finished off the rest of the subordinates.
He looked up at Hancock and shook the ring tied to a cord left and right.
"Hehehehe, before I die, please allow this humble one to show you a little magic."
"Magic...? So it really exists?"
"That's right. Now~ you will fall asleep when I say one, two, Jango..."
Boom!
At that moment, Jango's head was struck by a golden bullet fired by Luffy.
Thud!
"Once is one thing, but twice won't work."
In the past, it had only been enough to distort his face, but now his head was gone entirely, with not even fragments left behind.
"He's a hypnotist, Hancock. If you get hypnotized, you'll fall asleep."
"If you fell asleep, they'd probably hold a knife to your throat and try something like a hostage situation."
"So that was your plan... Luffy!"
"I know."
As Hancock shouted, Luffy casually swung his hand to the side.
In his hand was Buggy's severed hand, still holding a dagger as it flew off.
Crack...!
"Gyaaaaaah!!!"
Luffy clenched both hands around Buggy's hand and the dagger, beginning to crush them.
"Now it's really over, Buggy."
With the sound of bones and flesh being crushed, blood soaked through Luffy's fingers.
He dropped Buggy's hand, now stripped of its original shape, to the ground and looked down at Buggy, whose body was still separated by his power.
"Straw Hat... your dream is a pretty grand one."
"Big dreams are good. Even if you can't make it all the way, you can still be satisfied if you get a decent result somewhere in the middle."
"I... gave up on dreams a long time ago."
"Shanks, who was always by my side, was too promising. I thought that someone like him, as Captain Roger's direct successor, would naturally become the next Pirate King."
"Helping him from the sidelines even a little was the kind of result I could be satisfied with in the middle."
"But Shanks... never tried to become Pirate King."