You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/marvel6395
Hancock was engrossed in the newspaper, her eyes darting over the text and images.
''The Fish-Man Fisher Tiger, who liberated the slaves of the Holy Land, Mariejois...''
Slaves?
That word hadn't crossed her mind in ages, yet it was etched deeply into her memory. She could never forget how close she had once been to that fate. If not for Giorno's hypnosis, compelling her to fight, she would have been poisoned by slave traders and sold to the Celestial Dragons.
If she hadn't repeatedly read Giorno's book, 'The Room', she might not have been wary of those vile traders, and the outcome would have been unimaginable…
Now, Hancock understood that the book 'The Room' she had read was crafted by Giorno using the power of the Shiro Shiro no Mi (Castle-Castle Fruit).
In other words, if Hancock wished to read it now, the book no longer existed.
But if her memory served her right, in the plot of that book… the protagonist "Hancock" was imprisoned by the Celestial Dragons in a room and forced into slavery. "Hancock" endured years of captivity and even bore the Celestial Dragons' child, "Luffy."
At the story's climax, "Hancock" devised a plan to help "Luffy" escape, and with the aid of a kind passerby named "Tiger," they rushed to rescue her, only to find "Hancock" had been slain in a fit of rage by the cruel Celestial Dragons…
It was such a grim tale that Hancock couldn't help but recall it vividly. But now, comparing it with the news in the paper and her own past…
In the story, "Hancock" was abducted by human traffickers, and in reality, she, Hancock, had endured the same fate.
In the story, "Tiger" was a noble soul, and now, in reality, there was the Fish-Man hero Fisher Tiger, who single-handedly liberated slaves.
What a striking coincidence!
Hancock flipped through the news again, holding back her urge to ask Giorno beside her, but when she looked up, she saw him frowning, lost in thought, and the words on her lips faded away.
Hancock closed her eyes, recalling the details of the book. After a moment, she felt a touch on her arm.
"Stop it!" She swatted her arm, brushing away the playful hand.
"Huh?" Giorno's voice was filled with confusion. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean, what's wrong?" Hancock shot back, even more puzzled. "I told you not to touch me! I'm trying to think!"
"Who touched you?" Liam chimed in, annoyed.
Hancock's eyes turned icy as she glanced to the side— she had assumed it was Bonney, but the top of the city wall was empty, with no one in sight.
Then she remembered that Bonney was still at the foot of the city wall and hadn't been brought up yet.
"Maybe it was a pesky bug; you must have mistaken it," Liam said casually.
Hancock couldn't take it anymore and began searching her body, but after a moment, she found no insect. She glared at Liam angrily, only to find him lost in thought, clearly not paying her any mind.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm wondering… has my Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) leveled up?" Liam mused. "Foreseeing the future or something— being a protagonist with a bit of an edge, it's only natural to master it, right?"
He glanced at B.I.B., who looked back at him, utterly clueless.
It was an automatic Stand, and it couldn't share senses with the main body in real time; it had no idea what "illusion" Liam had just experienced.
Hancock didn't quite grasp the latter part of his rambling, but Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) leveling up?
Liam explained, "There are those on the seas whose Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) has been honed to the point where they can even glimpse brief flashes of the future…"
"So?"
"Just now, I think I saw something…" Liam pointed to his eyes, then gestured to the air in front of him. "I saw Jolyne, worn out from training in the woods…"
Hancock fell silent.
Liam turned around, taking in the scenery of Kuja within the city walls. Robin's usual training ground was on the opposite side, in the woods behind the palace, outside the city walls.
Wrapping his arm around Hancock's slender waist, Liam took a few steps forward and leaped down from the city walls.
Using Geppo to hover in the air, he landed lightly.
Hancock turned around and spotted Bonney, squatting in a horse stance at the foot of the city wall, still holding her high heels in her mouth.
Liam was no stranger to such scenes; he had witnessed even more extreme ones… It could only be said that Hancock, with her natural Haki, seemed to have awakened a knack for tormenting others. And with her beauty and charm, no matter how extreme her actions, no one could bear to blame her— not even Bonney herself.
Bonney had endured humiliation beside her for several months, and even if she harbored thoughts of resentment, she was still captivated by Hancock's allure and forgave her.
"Come here," Hancock commanded coldly to Bonney.
Bonney felt a wave of relief.
For someone with endurance fit for the pirate world, squatting in a horse stance was not particularly taxing. If Liam wanted to, he could squat for days without breaking a sweat.
Although Bonney wasn't a martial arts expert, she was a Devil Fruit user, and her stamina surpassed that of ordinary folk. Even after squatting for half a Pegasus stance, she didn't feel overly fatigued.
Watching Hancock, who seemed to radiate a goddess-like aura, Bonney slowly knelt and offered the high heels she had been holding in her mouth to Hancock's feet.
Gazing at the pair of feet, smooth and lustrous as jade, resting on the grass, Bonney felt a lump rise in her throat and swallowed hard…
Hancock accepted the heels, slipping her foot into them before returning to Kuja City with Liam.
"I'm going to find Jolyne over there. What about you?" Liam asked.
"To verify your so-called foresight?" Hancock shook her head. "That was just your imagination! Even if Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) has evolved, foreseeing the future doesn't seem like a natural extension of its abilities..."
Hancock was well-acquainted with Giorno's Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), which specialized in discerning different auras and their strengths. What did that have to do with foreseeing the future?
"And I've heard that the evolution of ordinary people's Haki often comes from the pressure of real life-and-death battles," Hancock pondered for a moment. "Giorno, you haven't had any intense battles recently, have you?"
Liam nodded. He was used to letting B.I.B. roam for a while, intentionally creating a slight strength gap between it and his main body. Then, after a period, he would engage in a vigorous battle with a Stand of different strengths to sharpen his own abilities.
The three returned to the city and encountered Sonia, Sonia, and Mari Grude, who were walking hand in hand, seemingly just returning from the training ground.
They had joined the pirate crew, and during non-sailing times, although they occasionally assisted the national warriors with tasks, they generally spent their time training and mentoring the younger warriors at the training ground.
Sonia and Mari were chatting when they spotted the three approaching, waving and smiling, "Elder sister, Giorno, Bonney!"
Liam asked, "What's got you all so cheerful?"
"Do we really look that happy?" Sonia shook her head. "More like it's quite puzzling..."
Mari said seriously, "Just now, both my second sister and I experienced an illusion!"
Sonia nodded, contemplating, "I wonder if it's because we've seen Princess Jolyne too little lately, that we even saw her in front of us and could touch her..."
A question mark slowly appeared above Hancock, Bonney, and Liam's heads.
Especially Liam and Hancock, who exchanged serious glances.
"It seems I can't foresee the future," Liam said.
"It seems that my being touched was not just my imagination," Hancock added simultaneously. Hancock's mind raced as she processed the implications of their conversation.
The eerie coincidences between her past and the story she had read were unsettling. She felt a strange connection to the events unfolding around her as if the lines between fiction and reality were blurring.
(End Of This Chapter)