Doc Q managed to hold on until now thanks in large part to his Devil Fruit ability, but now, the captain is dead! Van Augur, who has the ability to teleport, has also been captured alive, and the Four Emperors are just standing by watching. He has already seen his own end!
Doc Q desperately wanted to fight, but he only had half a life left. He couldn't even fight with a full life, so with only half a life left, he could only struggle!
After being kicked in the head by Hancock, Doc Q began to petrify from his skull, which then spread throughout his body, eventually turning him into a stone statue just like Stronger Stronger —a stone statue that had lost an arm!
Perhaps one day, an artist will come to this island, discover the statues here, and see the beauty in their imperfections!
"Lord Vic! Should we smash these two statues? They'll never be able to be restored."
After Hancock dealt with Doc Q, she walked over to Vic's side. Apart from her chest heaving rapidly and her breathing being a little short, she was unharmed, and her clothes weren't even torn. This showed that there was a significant difference in strength between the two!
However, Hancock's physical fitness still needs improvement; her stamina is clearly not keeping up with her current strength. Vic plans to find some time to spar with her and test his skills in the Way of Water!
"If they aren't freed from petrification, will they never die?"
Vic didn't know much about Hancock's Devil Fruit ability, but he knew it was a rule-based ability. If developed further, it could truly become like Medusa, petrifying anyone she looked at, or even petrifying someone with a single thought, achieving true rule-based control and acting at will!
"I shouldn't die, I think. My state should remain as it was when I turned into a stone statue, but I'm not entirely sure about the specifics!"
The stone sculptures that I turned into before have either been restored or broken. There's no clear reference point. Should we leave them as a reference and come back in a few years to restore them and see how they are? Or should we bury them for now?
Hancock looked serious, even somewhat eager to dig a hole and bury Doc Q and Stronger herself. She found Vic's question very interesting; she had never thought about it before, and she vaguely felt that the answer to this question was very important to her!
"Ahem! Let's not use humans for experiments. Let's find some animals with shorter lifespans. That way, we can shorten the observation period. I think rabbits would be a very good subject!"
Rabbit: Are you being polite? You used us rabbits as tools to develop Devil Fruit abilities, and now you're eyeing us again? What have we rabbits done to you that you're so fixated on us?
No matter how much the rabbit complained, Vic's lips twitched slightly. He only now remembered that Hancock used to be a ruthless killer who would petrify and then smash people to pieces at the drop of a hat!
If even her own people are like this, then there's no need to imagine what others are like. She's only gentle and adoring towards Vic, and she does whatever he says, which makes Vic think she's an obedient little woman!
A single sentence has exposed her ruthlessness and indifference to life. This must be changed; she needs to understand the preciousness of life!
However, long-held beliefs are hard to change. Vic felt that only by letting her give birth to a life of her own could her beliefs be changed. If giving birth to one child wasn't enough, then he would have to increase the effort!
"Then let's raise a bunch of rabbits from now on. They can be used as food and for experiments, so nothing will go to waste!"
Rabbit: You two are real devils! Don't you think rabbit life matters? All you do is eat! All you do is eat! We need to mate! Mating! Mating!
Hancock readily accepted Vic's suggestion and used the rabbit as the test subject. It wasn't a whim; she genuinely felt that the result was important to her. It was a kind of unseen guidance, but she already considered it Vic's guidance, since it was Vic who had raised the question!
"Suit yourself, let's deal with the recent issues first, Olvia! Go look in that ship by the sea, there should be rubbings of the Road Poneglyph. It's better than nothing for us, and we'll see where Laugh Tale is. If we're in the mood, we'll go take a look!"
The ship Vic was referring to was not Blackbeard's pirate ship, but Law's submarine. The two pirate crews chased each other, and their pirate ships eventually docked at the beach.
Bepo had escaped with Law earlier and didn't have time to pay attention to the pirate ship, even though he saw Vic's arrival!
Law was already seriously injured and unconscious. Bepo no longer trusted anyone and dared not trust anyone. Law's pirate ship was severely damaged and could not dive at all, so Bepo simply gave up!
Vic figured that given the time rush, Law's rubbing should still be on his ship. If it wasn't, then Law must have carried it with him. Going to find Bepo now would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!
"Good!"
Olvia excitedly ran towards the beach. Although she had said long ago that she had given up on studying the history of the Void Century, she still couldn't help but want to know what the Poneglyph said when she actually came across them, even if they were just road signs that had nothing to do with history!
Vic could tell that Olvia would be overjoyed whenever she saw Ancient Script!
Olvia returned with a haul. She hadn't brought Luo's three rubbings of the road signs with her, as it was indeed inconvenient to carry them. Now they all benefited Vic, who became the ultimate beneficiary. Yet, he was the one least interested in the One Piece. Indeed, what is sought is often hard to find, while what is not sought is often easy to obtain!
After taking Van Augur into his Dimensional Space, Vic led the two women toward the other side of the coast. This was the landing point Vic had chosen to avoid alerting Blackbeard, and he did indeed manage to subdue Van Augur unexpectedly, blocking Blackbeard's escape route.
"Are we just going to leave Blackbeard's body there and leave it alone?"
Halfway through their journey, Olvia suddenly spoke up, saying, "This woman is still too kind. Even after experiencing such an inhumane event Buster Call Ohara, it still hasn't erased the kindness in her heart!"
She knew Blackbeard was a villain, but he was already dead. Once a Blackbeard is dead, the past is gone. She still couldn't bear to leave Blackbeard's Blackbeard exposed in the wilderness and felt that they should build him a grave. This was something that the three of them could easily do!
"Don't worry about him, wild animals will help him return to nature... wait..."
"Something's not right! Something's not right! He's too composed! A man as ambitious as Blackbeard couldn't accept death so calmly. He's different from Luffy; they're opposites. He doesn't have that kind of superb acting skill! Something's fishy, there's definitely something fishy going on here! Could it be...?"