The Red Bracelet

On the balcony of Amazon Lily, Hancock watched the words on the Sky Screen, her fingers tightening around the railing.

She said nothing.

All the earlier mad talk of wedding dresses and children had vanished. She stood there as the wind blew through her hair, staring unblinkingly at the image of her own retreating figure disappearing into the thick smoke on the Sky Screen.

"Sister," Sandersonia said softly.

"Mm."

"Are you all right?"

Hancock lowered her head, reached into the front of her clothing with her right hand, and pulled something out.

A red bracelet.

It was identical to the one shown on the Sky Screen: crudely braided, tied with several tight knots, and marked on the side with a crooked L.

"I spent three days making this bracelet."

Her voice was soft. She sounded nothing like her usual haughty self as the Empress.

"I ruined five before I made this one."

"The thread cut bloody marks into my fingers."

"I wanted to give it to him before he left for Impel Down."

"But I couldn't bring myself to."

She placed the bracelet in her palm and looked at it for a long time.

"I've never been afraid of anything in my life."

"Not the Celestial Dragons."

"Not the Marines."

"Not the World Government."

"But I couldn't bring myself to give this bracelet to a seventeen-year-old boy."

"Because I was afraid he wouldn't accept it."

"No, knowing Luffy, he definitely would."

"What I was afraid of was that after accepting it, he'd ask me what it was."

"Then I'd tell him it was a token of my love."

"He'd tilt his head and ask if a token of love was something he could eat."

At that, the corners of Hancock's mouth curved slightly.

The movement was so slight that it was impossible to tell whether it was a smile or something else.

Sandersonia and Marigold stood behind her, neither saying a word.

They had seen something they had never seen before.

Two drops of water clung to Hancock's eyelashes, sliding down her perfect face.

The Empress was crying.

The most beautiful woman in the world was crying.

She wasn't sobbing. Her tears were quiet and silent, the kind she hadn't even noticed starting.

On the Sky Screen, the system's judgment began to appear.

[Regret assessment: Boa Hancock's regret did not lie in a lack of combat strength, but in feelings that could never be conveyed]

[Her love was one of the few things in this world pure enough to ask for nothing in return. She sought neither understanding nor acceptance, only that the person she loved would live safely]

[But even such a humble wish could not be fulfilled during the Paramount War]

People around the world looked at the assessment, their emotions growing complicated.

Those who had laughed before couldn't laugh now.

Those who had found it entertaining now felt a little tightness in their chests.

In a pirate tavern, a burly man with a face full of stubble held his drink and muttered, "She's such a good girl. Why did she have to fall for that rubberhead?"

Someone beside him replied, "You can't choose who you fall for. What, do you think it's like picking out a fish at the market?"

The tavern fell silent for two seconds, and then someone raised a cup.

"To the Empress."

"What are we drinking to?"

"To her loving someone who would never look back, and still loving him for so long."

Several cups clinked together with a crisp sound.

The rewards began to appear on the Sky Screen.

[Reward recipient: Boa Hancock]

[Reward one: Love-Love Fruit ability enhancement. The duration and range of the petrification effect increase by one level. The stronger the character's emotions, the more powerful the fruit's ability]

[Reward two: Granted the passive ability "Heart Armor." When Hancock is within a hundred meters of Luffy, all her attributes increase by twenty percent]

As soon as the second reward appeared, the discussion around the world took a different turn.

"Wait, her attributes increase by twenty percent when she's close to Luffy?"

"What kind of romance buff is that?"

"So the closer she gets to the person she likes, the stronger she becomes?"

"Is the system shipping those two?"

On the balcony of Amazon Lily, tears were still on Hancock's face when she saw the second reward, but her expression had already begun to change.

"Within a hundred meters of Luffy, my attributes increase by twenty percent." She repeated the sentence three times.

Then she stood up straight and quickly wiped her tears away with her sleeve.

"That means..."

"I must stay by Luffy's side forever."

"This is heaven's will."

"This is fate."

"Luffy! I'm coming!"

Sandersonia covered her face.

"Where did our deeply devoted sister go?"

"She went back," Marigold said calmly. "She only lasted thirty seconds."

Lin Qi watched the scene in the tavern, laughing so hard he nearly slid off his chair.

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful." He said it three times, scattering the sunflower seed shells in his hand all over the floor.

"The comedy and emotional depth of the Empress's storyline are both maxed out. Global enjoyment and emotional impact are soaring at the same time."

"The perfect change of pace."

He wiped away his tears of laughter and turned his attention back to the screen.

"All right, eighth place is done."

"Time for seventh."

He looked at the list the system had recommended, swiped his finger a few times, and stopped at a name.

His smile faded.

He wasn't unhappy; another emotion had replaced his earlier ease.

"This person..." He stared at the name for several seconds.

"Honestly, one of the characters in One Piece whose fate I found hardest to accept."

"Even harder to accept than Ace's."

"Because at least someone remembered Ace's sacrifice."

"But this person—the whole world forgot."

He pressed confirm.

On the Sky Screen, Hancock's reward screen faded away, and new golden words slowly began to form in the skies all over the world.

[The ten greatest regrets: seventh place will soon be revealed]

[Hint: This regret concerns a door locked from the inside, and a person who said goodbye with a smile]