Betrayal—this was a hurdle World could never get over. Everything from thirty years ago was still vivid in his mind.
Back then, in order to eliminate World as quickly as possible, the World Government dispatched agents to infiltrate his pirate crew and delivered a fatal blow at a critical moment.
World was defeated. Byojack, in order to preserve the lives of the remaining crew members, had no choice but to order everyone to scatter and flee. But that incident became a thorn in World's heart.
[As acting captain, I order you all to retreat immediately. From now on, there is only one goal: Survive!!]
This was the last thing Byojack said in World's memory. At that time, World's consciousness was already becoming blurry from excessive blood loss. In his mind, this was betrayal.
The betrayed World no longer believed in comrades. Everything he did now was for revenge, for venting his fury upon the world.
That giant cannon was the tool in which he had placed his hope for revenge. Yet now, he could only watch helplessly as the tool collapsed before his eyes.
This cannon had undergone test-firing before. Even without the enhancement of Devil Fruit powers, World had witnessed its strength and quality.
As for how World tested the cannon's quality…
It was the same method Kaido uses to determine the authenticity of a plate: by punching it with appropriate force.
That barrel could withstand his punch. How could it suddenly break down for no reason? It had definitely been sabotaged.
Unlike the furious World, Hancock already understood the reason behind the inexplicable breakdown of the barrel.
[Go fight without worries, I'll handle the other issues.]
That was the last thing Olga said before disappearing. Now Hancock fully understood what she had meant.
"Ah, Sister Olga really is reliable. If only... No, now's not the time to think about that."
Slapping her own face, Hancock refocused her thoughts on the battle.
"Perfume Femur!"
Hancock kicked at World's chin. If it had been the earlier World, with the help of the More-More Fruit, he could've reacted in time.
Although the effect of the More-More Fruit was to enhance his speed, with dozens of times the acceleration, even if his Observation Haki's prediction fell short, as long as the gap wasn't too large, he could still rely on his physical reflexes to compensate.
But this time, he was caught completely off guard. If not for his habitual use of full-body Armament Haki in battle, the damage from Hancock's kick would've gone far beyond just physical impact.
Perfume Femur's petrifying power wasn't dependent on romantic feelings. If part of the brain were petrified, even World would lose on the spot.
"You are getting distracted while fighting me? Do you think it's still thirty years ago?!"
In truth, Hancock wasn't qualified to say that, since she too had been distracted; her reason even more outrageous. But the fact remained that she snapped back to focus faster than World, and in this way, she seized the opportunity.
"Get lost! I'll deal with you later!"
World raised his arm to block Hancock's attack, then stomped the deck, creating a large hole in it.
Right below was the cannon control room. If he didn't get to the bottom of this, he would never have peace of mind and couldn't continue fighting Hancock properly.
So he ignored Hancock and jumped straight down.
Seeing World try to leave like that, Hancock didn't even consider whether it was a trap; she simply followed after him and vanished from the deck.
"Ahem, Nightin, what's going on with this thing?"
At this moment, Byojack was experimentally pressing some control buttons, but no matter what he pressed, there was no response. Left with no choice, he could only turn to Nightin beside him for answers.
The cannon had come from the Beasts Pirates. The transaction had been handled by Nightin.
If Nightin had custom-ordered this weapon before leaving the Beasts Pirates, the cannon could've been even cheaper.
But by the time the cannon was custom-made, Nightin had already left the Beasts Pirates, though she still managed to get an internal member's price.
Back then, Byojack had been pleased about that. No matter what the item, good quality at a low price was always appealing.
"I don't know either."
"This thing was bought by you, and you lived there for so long."
"I was not part of the tech department. This wasn't within my responsibilities. You'd be better off asking Gairam. Where did he and Sebastian go?"
Nightin also couldn't figure out what had gone wrong with the cannon. The combat officers of the Beasts Pirates knew that the weapons they sold had hidden mechanisms, but since she had never officially joined and wasn't responsible for front-line combat, of course she knew nothing about it.
"A Shichibukai ship showed up behind us too—it's Buggy the Clown. Gairam and Sebastian went to deal with him. They also wanted to do something for World.
You're not good at direct combat, so we didn't tell you."
At that moment, the wall above them was suddenly smashed apart, and World appeared in front of Nightin and Byojack.
"Heh, so that means the two of you were the only ones here just now, right?"
"World? Cough cough... Weren't you in the middle of a battle?"
"If I had kept fighting, who knows what the two of you would've done? Machines don't just break down for no reason. Gairam and Sebastian aren't here.
And this cannon was brought in by you, Nightin. You must understand its structure better. The one who destroyed it was you, wasn't it?"
"World?! Cough cough cough cough! Do you know what you're saying?! You're actually suspecting your own comrade?!"
Before Nightin could say anything, Byojack was the first to voice his indignation on her behalf. How many thirty-year spans does a person get in a lifetime? They had persisted in their goal for World for thirty years, only to now be met with suspicion from him.
"I didn't say it was you, why are you so worked up? Or is it that the two of you really did this together? Then again, you've been against this plan since I first proposed it. That really is disappointing, Big Brother."
"Cough cough... World, you..."
In that instant, Byojack felt his legs lose all strength, not because he had betrayed World, nor because he was intimidated by World's presence. It was simply due to World's lack of trust.
Those words had almost drained all of Byojack's strength. But even so, he had still underestimated World's resolve. Several broken stones were now in World's hand, and he was about to throw them at Nightin and Byojack.
"Stop right there!"
Hancock's voice rang out from behind World, and a flying kick interrupted his attack.
"Meddling again... You people are suspicious, after all."
"Shut up! Ruthless ba*tard, I don't care what you do to your big brother. But I won't allow you to hurt that lady, because that lady is my mother!"
Hancock struck a disdainful* pose, but her disdain was so exaggerated that it ended up looking more like a peculiar form looking up. At this moment, she pointed a single finger at World and uttered an astonishing, unbelievable statement. [TN: Disdainful can also mean looking down on someone.]
Clatter! A pile of stuff in the corner scattered all over the ground. In a previously ignored spot, Olga slipped and knocked over the miscellaneous items stacked nearby.
"Elizabeth, help me up. What did she just say?! Since when did she and Aunt Nightin have that kind of relationship?!"
Olga had completed countless missions—from infiltrating Marine branches to fish out Kaido, to tricking Red-Hair with a ship—but this was the first time something so unexpected had happened.
"I think she misunderstood the relationship between you two. Acier's concern wasn't unfounded."
"What's there to misunderstand about a normal best-friend relationship?"
"Tch, human emotions... I'm just a lizard, say whatever you like."
Not only had Olga not recovered, even Byojack, World, and Nightin herself were all shocked by Hancock's words.
"Cough cough... The Pirate Empress should be around 30 this year... Cough... Nightin, don't tell me... she's your daughter?"
The IV stand in Byojack's hand fell to the side, but he didn't rush to pick it up. Instead, he started counting on his fingers, calculating her age based on intel.
"When did I have a daughter that old?! And why don't I know about it myself?! Hey! Empress, explain what you mean!"
"Ah, sorry, I guess it's a bit too early to be saying that."
Hancock suddenly shifted into the demeanor of a bashful young girl, even showing a shy expression. If one listened closely, it seemed she was muttering something about marriage.
If someone here had a Devil Fruit that could peek on dreams and illusions, they would've seen a slightly bizarre wedding scene.
Like a ceremony with wedding gowns, Marigold and Sandersonia as bridesmaids, and even Kaido officiating the ceremony.
But none of this had much to do with World. Because of Hancock's wild imagination, World completely misunderstood the situation.
"So that's it, you want to betray me because of an illegitimate daughter?! No matter the reason, that's an unforgivable sin. The lot of you... should just die together!"
"Looks like you didn't take my words seriously at all. When I say no, I mean no!"
A sudden gale burst forth within the enclosed cabin. With Hancock at the center, waves of Conqueror's Haki radiated outward. Her combat strength also fluctuated within a certain range, typically depending on how much she cared about the people involved.
"Perfume Femur Magna!"
"More-More Thirtyfold Speed!"
World reentered combat mode, but instead of blocking Hancock's attack, he used his speed to break away from her.
"Brat, I admit I underestimated you. Defeating you will take some effort. But if I don't want to fight you, there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
"Feel that powerlessness! I'm going to kill the one you cherish most, right in front of you!"
World twisted his body and swung his fist at Nightin.
This was the troublesome part about the More-More Fruit. Just like World said, if he focused solely on destruction, stopping him would be extremely difficult.
But at that moment, a dark purple energy wave had already enveloped the entire ship. It didn't seem like anything had happened, yet World's punch veered off course.
"Honestly... Sorry, Aunt Nightin. I didn't want to show up, but your captain is even crazier than I thought."
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