Under the ice staircase.
Hancock sat on her pet Salome's coiled body, her brows furrowed with unresolved hesitation.
Even now, she still hadn't made up her mind about whether to ask Reddy to lift Amazon Lily into the sky, avoiding the hidden dangers brought by the Calm Belt losing its deterrent power.
The nearby Marine soldiers' eyes had turned into little hearts, completely intoxicated by her beauty.
At that moment, a door suddenly opened in the air.
Two clones expressionlessly rushed out of the door, charging into the Marine formation like tanks, instantly causing chaos.
Not a single Marine soldier had expected that someone would attack them while the battle on the island above was still ongoing.
After scattering the formation, slow-motion beams shot out wildly.
Any Marine hit by the beams immediately turned sluggish, their terrified expressions frozen on their faces.
Another clone, solely responsible for opening doors, was also busy.
Even as a tool, his genetic rating had reached LV12. Facing these elite Marines, he knocked them out one by one like child's play, tossing them unconscious into the door.
"He... really won?"
Hancock stood up, watching the two clones efficiently capture prisoners, a flash of astonishment in her eyes.
After meeting with Reddy, she had left the island, but she had also seen Kaido descending from the sky and the overpowered "Ocean Sovereignty."
Initially, she thought Reddy would either lose the war or at least end up in a stalemate.
However, the energetic performance of the two clones completely exceeded her expectations.
This meant Reddy had indisputably won the war.
"It's time for me to act."
Thinking of the promise Reddy had made to her, Hancock stopped hesitating.
"Mero Mero!"
Heart-shaped light swept out, and any Marine caught in it was instantly petrified.
"Pirate Empress Hancock, what are you doing?"
A Marine Rear Admiral angrily charged at Hancock.
The two clones were efficient at capturing prisoners, but Hancock's "Mero Mero Mellow" could petrify entire groups at once, making her efficiency overwhelming.
"Anything I do will be forgiven, because I am too beautiful!"
Hancock raised her chin arrogantly, touched her lips with a finger, and pulled out a giant pink heart. She drew it back like a bowstring before releasing it.
Countless "Slave Arrows" rained down on the Rear Admiral and the Marines behind him.
Anyone hit by the arrows was instantly petrified.
Including the Rear Admiral.
Within moments, thousands of stone statues stood frozen on the ice.
"Follow me!"
Another Marine Captain, seeing Hancock turn countless comrades into statues, grew desperate and led a charge against her.
The nearby Marines immediately rallied behind him, trying to stop Hancock.
Facing the overwhelming number of Marines rushing at her, Hancock remained cold-faced and spun into their ranks like a whirlwind.
Her long, shapely legs petrified anyone they struck.
By the time Hancock broke through the crowd, a forest of stone statues stood behind her.
"Pirate Empress Hancock... is too strong!"
The remaining Marines felt as if they had been doused with cold water, their morale crumbling.
How could they fight this?
Where was Admiral Akainu?
Where were Vice Admirals like Kuzan?
Had they all been defeated by Dr. Reddy?
"I became a Warlord because of my strength!"
Hancock coldly reminded the nearby Marines not to resist pointlessly and to surrender quietly.
Though she didn't know what kind of future Reddy would provide for Amazon Lily, since he needed prisoners, she would give them to him.
"Mero Mero!"
Another wave of "Mero Mero Mellow" petrified a large group of Marines who, despite being enemies, couldn't help but be enchanted by Hancock's beauty.
"Perfume Femur!"
Another group of Marines suppressed their infatuation and tried to stop her, only to be turned into statues by Hancock's kicks.
"Slave Arrow!"
The Marines were elites. Even knowing they couldn't win, they wouldn't seek death. Under another Captain's lead, they fled toward their warships, only for Hancock to fire a volley of "Slave Arrows" at their backs.
Another wave of Marines turned to stone.
When the remaining Marines desperately boarded their ships, nearly 5,000 statues stood on the ice.
Hancock didn't pursue them onto the ships.
As soon as she stopped, she heard that man's voice praising her.
"As expected of the Pirate Empress. Impressive."
Reddy stood on the ice staircase with his hands in his pockets, a look of admiration on his face.
Hancock was indeed formidable in every sense.
Especially those long legs—even kicking people was a sight to behold.
Hancock glanced around but didn't see the two clones from earlier, realizing Reddy must have sent them elsewhere to capture prisoners.
Salome slithered over and coiled up again.
Hancock sat on it, her expression cold. "These prisoners are yours. Now, can you give me your answer?"
Reddy smiled without speaking, pulling three test tubes from his pocket and tossing them to her.
Hancock frowned but stood up again, catching the tubes before they could hit the ice.
"What is this?"
Reddy was a genius scientist in the field of Bloodline Factors. Hancock wasn't sure what the liquid inside the tubes was.
"It will solve your biggest problem."
Hearing this, Hancock first furrowed her brows before her expression abruptly shifted to shock. She glared at Reddy, her voice icy. "How do you know..."
Reddy shrugged.
It wasn't like he could say he knew from reading the original story.
On the surface, Hancock was cold and unfeeling toward everyone, but anyone who knew the original story understood she deeply cared for her people.
The reason for her persona was the "Celestial Dragon's Hoof" mark on her back.
This brand, symbolizing her past as a slave to the Celestial Dragons, was a source of lifelong shame she could never escape.
The "Celestial Dragon's Hoof" mark couldn't be removed. Once branded, it remained forever.
But for Reddy, it was simple.
An unremovable mark... was essentially rooted in genetics.
As long as she lived, even if the skin was cut away, the mark would reappear as cells regenerated.
Earlier, Hancock had been forced to provide a blood sample.
Seeing her work so hard to complete the task he assigned, Reddy had prepared these three vials as an extra reward.
This serum was a modified version of his genetic enhancement formula.
The difference was that while the genetic enhancer used retroviral reverse transcriptase to embed genetic fragments, this serum used reverse transcriptase to remove harmful genetic fragments.
In this case, the harmful fragment was the "Celestial Dragon's Hoof" mark.
Apart from removing the mark, this serum had no other effects—it was highly specialized.
"Come find me later. Goodbye."
A door opened in the air behind Reddy, and he stepped into it.
Hancock watched him leave, her mind slightly dazed.
Could the problem that had tormented her for so many years really be solved so easily?
At this moment, she felt Reddy wasn't so detestable after all.
Only when shouts came from the sea did she snap back to reality.
Turning around, she smiled for the first time.
The warships on the sea were slowly rising into the air. The Marines on board panicked, clinging to anything fixed to avoid falling into the water.
Not just this ship.
The warships farther away were also ascending.
The remaining 30,000+ Marines were all elites. Even if they were just pigs, Reddy had fewer than 20 combat-ready clones at his disposal—there was no way to capture them all.
No matter how efficient they were, how could they compare to taking everything away in one go?
After the clones herded the Marines onto the warships, Pyo, who had secretly tampered with them earlier, activated his ability to lift the ships into the air.
Reddy watched the rising warships, the corners of his lips curling up.
Four hunting targets escaped, but 50,000 laborers were captured.
This battle wasn't a loss!