Link and Teach dominating the headlines of the World Economic Journal for days, ranking as joint No. 1 of the Worst Generation, were all matters for a later time.
The time returns to a few days ago, just when the Summit War had ended.
Seeing the appearance of the Red-Haired Pirates, Mihawk left the scene early.
When Sengoku announced the end of the war, Bartholomew Kuma also teleported away immediately, his destination unknown.
Only Doflamingo and Hancock remained on the battlefield. The former stayed behind, perhaps to watch the show, not yet having recovered from his shock and worry.
It was no wonder Doflamingo's feelings were so complicated; that guy Link was too good at hiding things.
Who would have known that a young brat was hiding such strength.
With that kind of power, why stay in the weakest sea and Paradise instead of competing for supremacy in the New World?
If I had known he had such strength, how would I have dared to speak to him like that?
Forget Bellamy and the tribute; if Link were willing to be friends and act as his protector, Doflamingo would feel that ten billion, even a hundred billion, would be worth it.
Now, having offended a guy who seemed to have an immense hatred for pirates and showed no mercy, Doflamingo might not sleep soundly for a long time to come.
No, I must go find Kaido.
The protection of the Beasts Pirates is a must. Otherwise, if I get killed, not only will the supply of artificial Devil Fruits be cut off, but there will be no one to help the Beasts Pirates sell weapons and Seastone.
With that, Doflamingo used his Sky Road to fly away from Marineford Island.
As for Hancock, while the three forces were cleaning up the battlefield, she used her charm to captivate a group of Marines, had them commandeer a warship that hadn't been swallowed by the sea, and left Marineford Island directly.
As the warship sailed a good distance past the Gates of Justice, heading towards the Calm Belt, a Marine soldier on lookout duty suddenly spotted a figure standing on the sea ahead.
"Empress-sama, someone has been spotted ahead!"
"They have no ship or crew, they're standing on the... sea..."
Before the soldier could finish his report, the figure on the sea vanished.
Immediately after, a black-haired young man in a white robe appeared before him.
"Thank you for your hard work. I've been waiting for a long time."
Link patted the soldier's shoulder, and an invisible wave of pressure immediately erupted from his body, enveloping the entire warship in the blink of an eye.
The soldiers inside and outside the warship immediately fainted, their eyes rolling back.
Bang—
The wooden door of the cabin suddenly shattered, and a delicate shout came from within.
"Slave Arrow!"
Hundreds of pink arrowheads, with rainbow-like special effects, flew out from the cabin.
These arrowheads were very cute, full of a girly style, like arrows shot by Cupid.
But such cute arrows were incredibly deadly.
Regardless of whether the target was living or non-living, and whether they were attracted to Hancock or not, anyone hit by these arrows would be instantly petrified.
Besides Hancock, even the next user of the Paramecia-type Mero Mero no Mi would be unable to undo the petrification.
Hancock didn't confront Link directly but launched a sneak attack.
Unfortunately for her, Link was already on guard against her fruit's ability.
Facing the rain of arrows, Link vanished with an instantaneous movement.
Immediately, a giant whirlpool appeared in the sea where the warship was located.
The current spun the warship around. The unconscious soldiers and all the items in the cabin tilted with the ship's rotation, and the sound of crashing and falling echoed instantly.
The sudden rotation caught even Hancock off guard, causing her to lose her balance.
The next second, her Kenbunshoku Haki seemed to predict or foresee something. Her beautiful face finally changed in shock, and her deep blue eyes widened. "Impossible..."
BOOM----
Hancock's following words never had a chance to be spoken as a huge explosion reached her ears.
And then... Hancock lost consciousness!
Outside, the whirlpool, after spinning and gathering force, suddenly shot out a massive pillar of water, just like the Knock Up Stream of Jaya Island.
However, this water pillar didn't push the warship into the sky like the Knock Up Stream.
It directly shattered the warship from below, carrying the broken vessel and everyone on board into the sky, transforming into a giant water dragon.
Warships are generally large vessels, but the water dragon easily swallowed it, showing the sheer scale of its size.
The water dragon swayed in the air, circled a few times, and then plunged into the sea below.
Boom—
Another massive pillar of water shot into the sky.
When the pillar of water disappeared, the sea was littered with the wreckage of the warship and numerous floating bodies.
The name of the technique—Water Style: Water Dragon Biting Explosion!
Using water-style attacks against a Devil Fruit user on the open sea was even more unfair than using Seastone weapons.
Neither Teach nor Hancock could escape the fate of being defeated in an instant.
Against a non-user, Link would only need to add a sneak attack with Wood Style to instantly capture the enemy in the water and rapidly drain their stamina.
This was the reason why Link, despite having captured so many Devil Fruits, had no intention of becoming a user himself. Becoming a user would mean losing his greatest advantage.
Appearing in a flash next to a floating body, Link crouched down, reached out, and grabbed the back of Hancock's cheongsam, tearing an opening to reveal the Hoof of the Celestial Dragon underneath.
Immediately, Link formed a hand seal with one hand. Numerous branches extended from his arm, quickly forming a small boat on the sea.
Lifting Hancock, Link flickered onto the boat. While using Water Style to control the boat's rapid departure, he simultaneously used Medical Ninjutsu to treat her.
During this time, Link also used a Chakra Scalpel to scrape off the skin of the Hoof of the Celestial Dragon, using Yang Release to repair the necrotic cells.
Hancock's delicate back quickly returned to being as smooth as jade, fair and flawless.
Before long, Hancock also regained consciousness.
As she opened her hazy eyes, a demonic whisper suddenly reached her ears, awakening the most terrifying memories in her mind.
"You are not the famous Pirate Empress, nor the world's most beautiful woman. You are a slave of the Celestial Dragons."
That one sentence was more effective than adrenaline. It instantly cleared Hancock's mind. She stared at Link before her, about to use her ability to attack and eliminate the man who knew her secret.
But in the next second, Hancock found that she couldn't use her fruit's ability.
Not only was her stamina depleted, but she had also lost control of her body.
Before Hancock could struggle desperately or put on a pitiful expression to try and captivate Link, her face suddenly became dazed. She stared blankly at the object in Link's hand, her voice trembling as she asked, "...What is that... in your hand?"
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