Hancock didn't understand the term "kite," but she grasped Badak's intent—to whittle down the enemy with ranged attacks. She too went into the cabin and retrieved her weapon: a bow.
Badak raised an eyebrow, puzzled as to why she wasn't using her Devil Fruit abilities to attack. But now wasn't the time for questions.
"First, eliminate anyone with ranged attacks. Then we'll pick off the rest slowly."
"Hmph, I don't need you to tell me that."
Badak and Hancock continued their assault, and the enemy gradually buckled under the pressure. They could only watch helplessly as their comrades fell one by one, unable to even get close to their attackers.
"Quick, get inside the cabin!"
"If we hide in the cabin, they won't see us! They won't be able to hit us!"The captain thought of a passive strategy—the turtle tactic. By using the ship's cabins to block the enemy's line of sight, they could avoid being sniped and drag things out until the opponents gave up. Unless they dared to board the ship, heh, then it would be time for their counterattack. Just two brats—killing so many of their men.
"Bring the ship closer."
Hancock continued her attacks while directing Badak. Each of her arrows pierced through the ship's planks, followed by a scream.
"You've already mastered Observation Haki and Armament Haki?"
"What's the big deal? On Amazon Lily, we start training from childhood. I awakened Haki at the age of 12."
"Oh, any tips? I've been following Shanks' guidance for a month now, but I haven't felt anything yet."
Hancock even paused her attacks to stare at Badak. "Listen to yourself. Expecting to awaken Haki after just a month? Who do you think you are? I trained for years since childhood before achieving it. You need to be more down-to-earth."
"Fine. How many enemies are left? Do you have enough Haki to spare?"
"I could shoot like this all day."
Alright then, Captain of the Kuja Pirates, Boa Hancock.
When the turtle tactic proved ineffective, the pirate captain was filled with despair. He never imagined that a casual attack would lead to such a disaster. If he had known, he would have just stayed in his hometown fishing.
"Are there pirates of this level even in the New World? They didn't even put up a decent fight in the end. I still had so many backup plans unused."
"The truly strong are few and far between. Trash like this is everywhere on the sea. Had enough rest? Let's keep sailing."
"Hold on, we haven't collected the spoils yet."
"I'm not going. Small-time pirates like this spend their Belly as soon as they get it. There's no treasure to speak of."
Hancock looked utterly disgusted, but Badak didn't mind. He boarded the pirate ship alone—whether there was treasure or not didn't matter. He simply enjoyed the thrill of looting.
As he checked cabin after cabin, Badak marveled at the power of Haki. He already possessed exceptional dynamic vision and long-range sight, but he lacked the ability to see through objects. When the pirates resorted to the turtle tactic, he couldn't continue sniping. Yet Hancock could sense the enemies' positions with Observation Haki and reinforce her arrows with Armament Haki, killing them through the ship's walls.
"One, two, three, four. The planks are like paper—piercing four layers and still lethal. One arrow, one kill."
"Found him. This must be the captain. How pitiful—five arrows stuck in him. Pah! So poor, just a handful of Belly. Whatever, let's head to the captain's quarters."
As Badak turned his back, the captain—who seemed thoroughly dead—suddenly opened his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he swung his cutlass at Badak's neck. He had been feigning death all along.
"Idiot. Should've made your move earlier." Badak had noticed the captain's act while searching him. The man was already bleeding out, probably unwilling to die without taking someone down.
Just as the blade was about to strike, a gleam of excitement flashed in the pirate captain's eyes. But in the next moment, everything stopped. An arrow pierced his skull, and then one of Badak's beastified fingers halted the sword mid-air.Embarrassment was the theme of the moment. Badak had originally intended to pull off a cool Aizen-style finger-blocking-the-blade move, seeing how weak the opponent looked. Instead, he ended up looking like a fool.
...
When Badak returned to his ship, he indeed hadn't found any treasure. However, he hadn't come back empty-handed either. From the captain's quarters, he retrieved a nautical chart of the nearby waters, an Eternal Pose pointing to the Kingdom of Prodence, and a logbook.
As the ship ascended back into the sky, Badak opened the logbook and began flipping through its pages.
"By the way, why didn't you use your Devil Fruit powers when we fought earlier?" Badak asked Hancock curiously.
"How did you know about that? I don't recall ever mentioning that I ate a Devil Fruit," Hancock's expression darkened, as if she was ready to attack if Badak didn't provide a satisfactory explanation.
"Didn't I tell you? Oda said it—Boa Hancock, the most beautiful woman in the world. He also mentioned you're the user of the Mero Mero no Mi, capable of turning people into stone."
"No, you didn't. And if I ever meet this Oda, I'll turn him into a stone that'll never speak again."
Despite her words, Hancock's expression visibly relaxed, even curling into a faint smirk. Clearly, she was quite pleased with the title of "the most beautiful woman in the world."
"So, can you really turn people into stone? Can they be turned back? If someone turns to stone, does time stop for them? Meaning, if someone is severely injured and about to die without medical treatment, but you turn them to stone and bring them to a doctor before undoing the petrification—can they be saved?..."
At first, Hancock pondered the questions thoughtfully, then began frowning, and finally cut Badak off in annoyance. "Are you done yet? If you're so curious, maybe I should turn you into stone and let you find out."
"Let's not. I still have to steer the ship. It's a shame we didn't get to test it out on all those pirates earlier."
After a brief silence, Hancock spoke again. "I hate this power. It always reminds me of... unpleasant memories from the past."
"All misfortune in this world stems from the weakness of those involved. Since you possess this power, why not use it to become stronger—strong enough to keep misfortune at bay?"
"Enough chatter. Just focus on sailing."
...
"An uninhabited island ahead. Let's stop here for today. I'm starving—time for a feast."
"I'll go hunt something, then!" Without hesitation, Hancock leaped off the ship and headed inland.
Badak anchored the ship and stretched his limbs before setting up the cooking gear and preparing the seasonings. By the time he finished, Hancock had already returned, dragging a massive brown bear behind her.
"You're in for a treat today. I'll show you my cooking skills."
After a flurry of activity, the two ate to their hearts' content and lounged in contentment.
"Hancock, can you make your Armament Haki flow?"
"Not yet, but I'm close. Why? You don't even know Armament Haki yourself."
"My beast form has strong defensive capabilities. I want to test its limits—hit me and see."
"I've never heard such a ridiculous request. Don't blame me if you get hurt."
"Deal. No complaints. Let's digest first, then we'll start."