Hancock could barely contain her excitement. The nightmare that had tormented her for years was about to vanish, and "relief" hardly began to describe how she felt.
Rubick found a chair and sat down, folding his arms with a smile. "Now, can we talk?"
Hancock ordered, "You two, take them away and dispose of them."
Rubick couldn't quite stomach that. "Is that really necessary?"
"I won't risk this secret getting out," Hancock said coldly.
Rubick opened a Portal to a backstreet in Loguetown, right by the house where he had once lived.
"Send them through. No one there will know who they are."
Hancock relented, gesturing toward the Portal with her chin. Her two sisters threw the three women through.
"So," Hancock said, "what sort of cooperation do you want?"
Instead of answering, Rubick asked, "We're at Marine Headquarters in Marineford, right?"
Hancock pushed open the window. Marine warships came and went outside. To face the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marines had deployed fifty warships.
They had mobilized more than ten thousand troops as well. Anyone sent to this battlefield was formidable.
Beyond the warships were all kinds of transport vessels. Marineford was not only Marine Headquarters; it was also home to a town where Marines' families lived.
With the town about to become a battlefield, those families were being taken to the Sabaody Archipelago for safety. They would return when the war was over.
"That's right," Hancock said. "Marine Headquarters is outside."
"How much longer do you think you'll remain a Shichibukai?" Rubick asked.
Hancock snorted. "I don't care for the title of Shichibukai. I'll keep it as long as I feel like it."
Rubick shook his head. "Hancock, that's no way to rule a kingdom. Honestly, without that title, your nation would have a hard time surviving, wouldn't it?"