Free Web NovelChapter 307: 306: Sanji and Sora — Hancock’s Sickness
May 11, 1504, Age of the Sea Circle
In one of the main rooms of Germa 66’s castle, a small boy was finishing the preparation of a lunchbox for his mother, into which he had poured all of his affection and limited culinary knowledge.
"Perfect! The fish heads give it a nice texture. Mom is definitely going to like them," said the blond boy, smiling cheerfully as he imagined the expression on his mother’s face when she tasted the lunch he had prepared especially for her.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Sanji saw that it was almost time for his mother’s lunch, so he needed to hurry and bring her the meal. Otherwise, the servants who looked after her would convince her to eat something else, just as they had done on previous occasions.
His mother Sora’s health was in very poor condition, and with each passing day it continued to worsen. As a result, she remained bedridden in a forgotten section of the great floating castle of Germa 66, and her daily routine was entirely managed by the servants whom his father had assigned to care for her.
These servants did not have a favorable opinion of the lunches Sanji brought to Sora every day, so whenever they had the opportunity, they tried to prevent him from delivering the lunchbox one way or another.
It was not that these people were bad by any means. Rather, they were worried about Sora’s health and feared that the garbage Sanji cooked for her and brought every day would only make her condition even worse.
Even the main maid responsible for Sora’s care had been trying to recruit a cook capable of preparing medicinal meals for the Queen of Germa 66, following Judge’s orders.
Truthfully, Judge had very little interest in his official wife and the mother of his children, as he devoted all of his time to scientific research and to his plans for expanding his power and conquering the North Blue.
Perhaps at one point he had felt affection for his wife Sora, but in any case that was now a thing of the past. After she fell ill during her pregnancy many years ago, the relationship between them had completely broken down.
Now, Sora was under the care of a group of subordinates whom Judge had assigned to handle the matter, and the leader of the Vinsmoke family no longer had any interest in her, with years having passed since the last time they had seen each other in person.
It could be said that Judge had no time to think about his official wife Sora because he was preoccupied with matters he considered far more important. He felt neither negative emotions toward her nor positive ones. The only thing that remained was indifference born from disinterest.
Likewise, Sora was completely disappointed in her husband, whom she no longer considered the same man she had married years ago. Perhaps she truly had tried to love him once, but that affection had long since faded away, just as her vitality diminished a little more with every passing day.
In any case, Judge paid absolutely no attention to the events surrounding his wife Sora and had assigned a group of subordinates to care for her until the day of her imminent death.
These subordinates were responsible for organizing every aspect of the Queen of Germa 66’s life and only had to report to Judge in the event of something particularly important, which among the servants was simply a euphemistic way of saying that they only needed to contact him when she finally died.
Naturally, little Sanji knew very little about these complicated matters between his parents. He simply enjoyed visiting his sick mother and bringing her a lunch prepared with his own hands, because whenever she ate something he had cooked, she showed him the gentlest smile he had ever seen, giving him a bit of the affection he so desperately needed in his difficult life.
Because of his mother Sora’s condition—bedridden and confined to a bed in the remote mansion where she lived within the floating island of Germa—Sanji had grown up primarily in the company of his father and brothers, who not only showed him no affection whatsoever but also made his life a living hell on a daily basis.
With a broad smile on his face, Sanji left his room and ran off carrying the lunchbox toward the mansion where his mother lived. Before he could reach it, however, he was intercepted by the people he least wanted to see at that moment.
"Oi, Sanji, what’ve you got there?" said Ichiji with a mocking grin as he slowly approached, cracking his knuckles.
"Don’t tell me you’ve been cooking again. Don’t you know that’s the kind of thing commoners do?" Niji said in a taunting and aggressive tone.
"You should be training so you won’t be so pathetic, hehehe," said Yonji, pulling out a stick he had hidden behind his back while wearing a sadistic smile.
Although Judge often boasted that these three sons were his greatest creations and that they lacked the useless emotions that imposed pointless moral restraints, they were in fact quite sadistic and took great pleasure in beating Sanji on a daily basis. It could hardly be said that they were emotionless like robots; rather, they were psychopaths devoid of empathy.
"What do you want?" Sanji said as he took a fearful step backward, knowing perfectly well why his brothers had appeared in front of him.
"Just playing around with our brother a little!" Yonji said, suddenly accelerating and appearing beside Sanji before ruthlessly striking him in the stomach with the stick he was carrying.
Sanji felt his internal organs scream in pain from the powerful impact, and he fell to his knees on the ground, refusing to let go of the lunch he had prepared with so much effort for his mother, Sora.
"Let’s see if your stamina has improved at all. How long do you think you’ll last today before passing out?" Niji said, violently punching his brother in the face.
"As your older brother, it’s my duty to correct your bad behavior," Ichiji said with a wide smile as he grabbed Sanji by the hair and forced him to look him in the eyes.
"Leave me alone..." Sanji said through gritted teeth while tightly hugging the lunchbox he had prepared for his mother, but his brothers obviously had no intention of listening to him.
"First let me destroy that thing you’re holding!" Yonji said, striking Sanji’s hands with the stick in an attempt to make him release the box he was clutching.
However, Sanji refused to let go of the lunch he had prepared for Sora. Throwing himself to the ground, he covered the precious lunchbox with his own body as though it were a treasure, causing Ichiji to end up with a handful of blond hair in his hand, since Sanji’s sudden movement had torn it out.
"It seems you’re not going to learn the easy way," Ichiji said, violently kicking Sanji in the back.
The other two brothers joined their older brother and began mercilessly beating Sanji, just as they were accustomed to doing every day. They were incapable of feeling any empathy whatsoever, and someone as weak as Sanji was like a natural victim placed there for their amusement.
From a nearby corner, their older sister Reiju watched uncomfortably as Sanji was mercilessly beaten by the other three children. She knew it was wrong, but she did not dare do anything to stop it, because she did not want to become a target of her monstrous brothers’ violence herself... or of her father’s.
Nearly half an hour later, Sanji’s psychopathic brothers finally grew tired of beating him and cheerfully left the area, ready to begin their afternoon training.
Meanwhile, Sanji had lost consciousness from the beating and lay sprawled on the ground, filthy and covered in blood.
Seeing that her brothers had finally left, Reiju came out of hiding and approached Sanji, waking him up and treating his injuries as best she could. However, the young cook was not particularly concerned about his physical condition and could only think about the state of the lunch he had prepared for Sora, which had been mercilessly crushed by his brothers.
After receiving some treatment for his injuries from his sister, Sanji rose from the ground unsteadily. With tears filling his eyes, he picked up the food that had spilled across the ground from the ruined lunchbox, feeling profound sadness at the thought that he would no longer be able to give the fruits of his effort to his mother.
Even so, Sanji did not want to miss his lunchtime visit with his mother, because it was the only moment in his daily routine when he felt happy. He knew that his mother was probably waiting for him, refusing to eat the meals prepared by the servants until the very last possible moment, so at the very least he had to go see her and show her that he had not missed their visit because he lacked the desire to come or because he did not want to spend time with her.
For that reason, Sanji began walking with difficulty toward the mansion where his mother lived, carrying the battered lunchbox in his arms.
"Sanji, where are you going? Afternoon training is about to begin! If you’re late, you’ll be punished again," Reiju said, looking at him with concern.
However, Sanji paid no attention to his sister’s words and continued walking until he disappeared into the distance, while she could only sigh and return to Germa 66’s central barracks, where military training would begin in just a few minutes.
With great difficulty, Sanji finally arrived at the mansion where Sora lived. Under the surprised gazes of the servants—who did not dare approach one of the princes too abruptly for fear of being executed—he made his way to his mother’s room, where she was waiting for him with a gentle smile.
"Sanji~ What delicious things did you bring me today?" Sora asked.
Sanji approached the bed, hiding the battered lunchbox behind his back, unable to bring himself to show her the terrible condition of the meal he had worked so hard to prepare.
"Come on, don’t be shy. Show me!" Sora insisted with a smile, and Sanji finally extended the ruined lunchbox toward her, hanging his head.
"I tripped on the way and dropped it..." Sanji said quietly, lying about what had happened because he did not want his mother to worry.
He had previously spoken with his mother’s doctor, who had told him that it was not good for Sora to experience distress, since it could negatively affect her health.
From that day onward, Sanji tried not to tell his mother anything negative, even when he arrived covered in bandages and bruises from the beatings his brothers gave him. He always tried to wear a bright smile for his mother so that she would not worry unnecessarily.
Despite being only five years old, Sanji was a very mature and very kind child.
"It doesn’t matter! Something prepared by my sweet Sanji has to be delicious, even if it suffered a little accident on the way!" Sora said cheerfully, and taking the half-destroyed lunch box, she began eating the meal her beloved son had prepared.
In only a few moments, she finished all the food inside the box, under the disgusted gaze of the maid who was present in the room.
After all, the taste and appearance of Sanji’s food were already revolting to begin with, since he had absolutely no understanding of cooking and simply mixed ingredients together at random. When combined with the fact that the lunch box had been thrown onto the ground and crushed by Ichiji and the others, the final condition of the food inside was something no normal human being could possibly enjoy.
Sanji’s eyes lit up as he watched his beloved mother eating the food he had prepared so enthusiastically, and his expression became radiant with happiness. However, he soon had to restrain the joy he was feeling when the sound of a horn echoed in the distance.
"Ah, I have to go to afternoon training. I’ll come visit you earlier tomorrow, Mom," Sanji said before giving Sora a brief hug and hurrying out of the room with difficulty.
It didn’t matter that he possessed none of the talent for war and combat that his brothers had; he could not miss training, because otherwise he would be punished by his father, and they would probably forbid him from seeing his mother for a while, just as had happened in the past.
Sora watched her little son run out of the room, and the beautiful smile she had been showing vanished without a trace while her eyes filled with tears.
Biting her lips in frustration until they bled, Sora clenched the bedsheets tightly. This bed was a prison that prevented her from doing anything to help Sanji. She knew very well the kind of suffering her beloved son had to be enduring while living in a place like Germa 66, yet she could do nothing about it, which made her feel so useless and frustrated.
She had managed to ensure that Sanji was born as a normal child with emotions, unlike her other three sons, because she had risked her life by taking a special medicine meant to undo the modifications Judge had performed on their children while they were still fetuses in her womb.
Just as the three brothers without empathy were Judge’s greatest achievement, Sanji was Sora’s greatest achievement, the child she had managed to save from becoming a monster devoid of emotions. Even so, she knew that this had forced Sanji to live as a normal child within a daily routine designed to train an emotionless warrior with overwhelming physical abilities, so it was obvious that he would suffer greatly because of it.
Furthermore, she was not foolish, and she knew that Sanji was being continuously abused by his three brothers, yet she could do nothing to help her beloved son and could only limit herself to showing him her warmest smile every time he came to visit her during his brief daily visits to bring her food.
Many times, Sora had wished that Sanji would simply escape from Germa 66, even if it meant she would never be able to see him again, because it pained her to watch him suffer in silence while she remained powerless to do anything.
If only she could rise from the bed that had become her eternal prison and protect her son, she would give everything she had without hesitation, but her condition was impossible to cure, even with Germa 66’s advanced technology.
Perhaps if Judge decided to devote all his energy to finding a cure for his wife instead of focusing on his ambition to conquer the North Blue, he might have found a way to heal her body, but that was an impossible fantasy, because the king of the Vinsmoke family did not care enough about his wife to place her above his ambition.
Crying bitterly in silence, Sora struggled to remain strong, knowing that she could not allow her negative emotions to further affect her fragile health. She needed to be in the best condition possible for tomorrow, when her beloved Sanji would once again appear carrying a lunch box.
...
Meanwhile, Sanji was running toward the training grounds as fast as he could, knowing he would arrive late and mentally preparing himself for his father’s punishment.
However, just as he was crossing one of the bridges connecting Germa 66’s main castle to the rest of the floating nation’s residential district, Sanji noticed a ship arriving at the artificial island’s harbor area.
"Ah, today was the day the new low-level recruits were supposed to arrive, right?" Sanji said thoughtfully, before adding with a smile,
"I wonder if a new cook came this time."
The lives of both Sanji and his mother Sora were about to change dramatically, because a cook had indeed arrived at the landless nation of Germa 66 on this occasion, and that cook would not remain idle in the face of the tragic situation of the mother and son.
...
Meanwhile, on an island within the Calm Belt where no man was permitted to set foot, a commotion was taking place in one of the central areas near the royal palace.
"Elder Nyon! Our big sister suddenly collapsed!"
"Help us, Elder Nyon! Something’s wrong with our sister!"
Sandersonia and Marigold suddenly burst into the restaurant where Gloriosa had been peacefully enjoying an afternoon snack, completely ruining the atmosphere she had been enjoying.
However, Gloriosa did not worry too much about having her peaceful moment interrupted, because she was far more concerned by the words of the two young women.
"She collapsed all of a sudden? Take me to her immediately!" Gloriosa said, moving with surprising speed despite her decrepit appearance.
The two girls hurried back at full speed toward the house where the three sisters lived, bringing Elder Nyon along with them. She was the one who had helped them return to Amazon Lily years earlier after Orion had freed them from their captivity in Mary Geoise.
They had formed a rather close relationship with the eccentric old woman who had spent years living in exile, and they trusted both her and her vast knowledge of the world quite a bit, even though their older sister Hancock usually argued with the old woman whenever the two happened to be in the same room.
Gloriosa arrived at the room where Hancock was resting and found her lying on a soft bed, her face completely flushed and one hand pressed against her chest, as though she were trying to stop the violent pounding of her heart through sheer force of will.
"This... Could she possibly—?" Gloriosa saw Hancock’s condition and immediately recognized the symptoms, although her mind refused to accept it, because if her suspicion was correct, Boa Hancock’s situation would only continue to worsen as time went on.
"What’s wrong with our big sister, Elder Nyon?" Sandersonia asked worriedly.
Just as the old woman was about to answer and deliver the fateful diagnosis, Hancock suddenly recovered completely from her symptoms. Rising from the bed, she flicked her long, silky hair back with a casual motion of her hand.
"Old woman, what are you doing in my room? Have you come to admire my overwhelming beauty?" Hancock said as she struck a pose, displaying the extraordinary beauty that everyone on the island considered almost miraculous.
"You... How do you feel? Does your heart feel like it’s beating faster than usual?" Gloriosa asked, trying to understand the beautiful young woman’s condition.
"Nonsense. My heart beats at the perfect rhythm. After all, I am perfect. It’s about time you learned your place in this world, old woman!" Hancock replied, pointing a finger at Gloriosa before throwing her head back into the exaggerated pose she always used when looking down on others with contempt.
"Bah! I worried for nothing over an ungrateful brat like you!" Gloriosa snapped irritably before leaving the sisters’ house without another glance.
However, once she had put enough distance between herself and the Boa sisters’ residence, the expression on the old woman’s face once again revealed deep concern.
"Those symptoms... There’s no way I could be mistaken about them... But if that’s the case, Hancock’s situation is extremely dangerous...
She’s only showing very mild symptoms right now, but if things continue like this, her condition could deteriorate rapidly in the future...
And she’s still so young! Who could have stolen her heart so soon? Was it during her time in Mary Geoise? Impossible! Those disgusting Celestial Dragons could never win her love."
Gloriosa recalled the conversations she had previously had with the Boa sisters about their time in Mary Geoise and how they had escaped thanks to the help of an unexpected benefactor.
"I think his name was... Orion," the old woman murmured thoughtfully.
The butterfly effect of Orion’s actions upon the world continued to ripple through distant corners of the seas without his knowledge. Yet in the not-so-distant future, he would be forced to pay attention to this particular situation on the island of women within the Calm Belt, because the life of the most beautiful woman in the world would soon be in danger.
