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**Chapter Interlude・Fun Facts・Tips**
The stories in the chapter preludes don't necessarily align with the main timeline of the current chapter. The time spans may not match the events of the main story, as seen before in "Do You Believe in Gravity?"... Well, I mainly want to craft a prelude series called "Laboon's Fantastical Voyage," and the time span might cover several decades, maybe even twenty years).
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"Devil Fruit…" Hancock muttered as she stealthily snuck into Snake Princess's palace. Robin, sitting at the portal in Hancock's collarbone, used her Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi) ability to grow eyes and ears throughout the palace, scouting the area and warning Hancock of any danger to avoid detection.
Not that it would matter much if Hancock was discovered…
Still, Hancock enjoyed sneaking around, using her Shiro Shiro no Mi (Castle-Castle Fruit) powers, combined with Jolyne's strange abilities, to move like a small shadow through Snake Princess's palace.
As for Liam…
He remained in Hancock's snake-like castle, training with his Stand, clad in dark armor. After all, he had little interest in reading books.
…
In a side chamber of the palace, Snake Princess was discussing matters with the elderly Suzuran, some of the national guards, and a few Kuja pirate warriors.
From the corner of the ceiling, petals floated gently down, forming a green iris and a pale, red-tinted ear.
"The next voyage isn't far off. While I'm away from the nation, you must protect the citizens well…" Snake Princess said, reminding the guards as she always did before setting sail with the Kuja Pirates.
The guards nodded and replied, "Yes, Snake Princess."
"Suzuran, prepare a list of supplies we need," Snake Princess continued.
The elder Suzuran agreed.
When the Kuja pirate ship departs from the Calm Belt, they either sail straight into the first half of the Grand Line or head toward the South Blue on the other side. Many pirates and merchant ships flee at the sight of their flag, abandoning their ships and allowing the Kuja to loot freely. However, not all supplies can be gathered this way.
For example…
Many items used by women can't be found on most pirate ships.
Additionally, Snake Princess has a habit of collecting newspapers. Every time she sets sail, she gathers all the past editions and reads them in one sitting while aboard the ship.
After dismissing the others, Snake Princess slowly walked to the window, gazing at the calm sea in the distance. Petals silently fell from the ceiling.
…
Hancock continued to sneak through the palace and finally found Snake Princess's library. Inside the vast room, a wall-sized bookshelf was packed with countless books.
Hancock muttered, "Why didn't I notice there were so many books here before... Hey, Jolyne, how do you want to handle this? Should we take some books with us, or do you want to come out and read them here?"
Since no one was around, Hancock jumped onto the desk, looking up at the massive bookshelf.
When Jolyne didn't respond for a while, Hancock focused her attention inward, forming her avatar inside the castle within her body.
Giorno, ever the dull one, was still training alone in the corner.
As for that strange black-armored figure, Hancock hadn't seen him again after he left the castle, and she hadn't given it much thought.
Hancock walked up behind Jolyne and suddenly tapped her shoulder, startling her.
"What are you doing?" Hancock asked.
Robin sighed and explained, "When we passed by one of the side chambers, I overheard your Snake Princess discussing her next voyage with the others…"
"Voyage?" Hancock's eyes lit up. "They're sailing again? When?"
"I didn't hear the exact timing, but it should be in the next few days..." Robin said. "Are you thinking of…?"
Hancock didn't answer. Instead, she patted Robin's shoulder and pointed at the nearby "portal"— the opening in her collarbone that led back outside, giving a view of the towering bookshelf.
"Now that you've found what you were looking for, what's next?" Hancock asked.
"Thanks." Robin nodded and called out, "Giorno…"
"Hmm?" Liam, who was training with B.I.B., heard Robin's voice, turned his head slightly, and quickly understood. "Got it. A-B, go take a look around."
He removed the faceplate from the Stand in front of him and tossed it toward the portal behind Robin and Hancock. The faceplate flew right between the two, slipping out through the opening in Hancock's collarbone.
Once outside, it caught the wind and instantly expanded to its original size, floating in the air, wrapped in the dark energy of the Stand.
The faceplate rotated, its glowing eyes locking directly with Hancock's real body, meeting her clear gaze.
"I get it now…"
Hancock's real body stared at the faceplate, while the clone inside the City Castle carefully used **Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki)** to focus on the figure across from Giorno, spotting a blurry black shadow.
Both the large and small versions of Hancock, inside and outside, had identical expressions of realization as they murmured to themselves.
Liam commented, "You get it again."
He continued sparring with B.I.B. Since he had now mastered **Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki)**, even without the faceplate, the headless B.I.B. could still act as his training partner.
Pointing at them, Hancock exclaimed, "So it was you that day! The strange shadow that appeared in the city, that was you, wasn't it? No wonder you were so skilled, managing to escape even with so many warriors chasing after you…"
Even her **Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki)** and **Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)** couldn't do anything against that black shadow at the time.
"But that's impossible! How could you have dodged the arrows that Snake Princess fired that day?" Hancock bit her finger, frowning deeply in confusion. "You're not even that much stronger than me…"
Back then, when Snake Princess had fired those three arrows from an incredible distance in the city, Hancock herself wouldn't have been confident in escaping. Yet Liam and that black shadow not only dodged them but emerged completely unscathed.
Thinking back to the massive, terrifying monsters they had taken down on Rusukaina Island, Hancock started to seriously suspect that Giorno had been holding back during their training.
"Hancock!"
Robin's voice broke Hancock's thoughts.
"Just take any book, as long as you flip through every page in front of you. The speed doesn't matter, just make sure you see each page," Robin instructed.
Hancock was puzzled. "That's it?"
Robin nodded. "That's it."
Hancock thought for a moment, deciding to put aside the earlier matter and discuss it with Giorno and Jolyne later.
Outside, Hancock's real body pulled a book from the bookshelf and rapidly flipped through the pages. As she was about to start over, her **Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki)** sensed that the black shadow floating near the book nodded slightly, as if signaling her to grab the next one.
"..." Hancock didn't know what to say. She put the book back and pulled out another one.
Flip-flip-flip— two seconds per book, two seconds per book.
Flip-flip-flip…
Flip-flip-flip…
Inside the City Castle, Robin continued watching Liam train; outside, Hancock's real body was growing bored, mechanically repeating the process of pulling books, flipping through them, and putting them back.
Flip-flip-flip…
Hancock pulled another book, flipped through it in front of the dark faceplate, and was about to put it back when a sheet of paper fluttered out, gently landing on the floor.
"Huh?" Hancock looked down. "What's this?"
She crouched to pick it up, the dark faceplate hovering by her cheek, both of them examining the strange "doodles" on the paper.
They were ancient texts.
And B.I.B. recognized it.
(End Of Chapter)