Neirona Ian Saint.
The name, like a thunderclap from the abyss, exploded in Hancock's mind.
The shackles of memory shattered, dragging her back to those unbearable years... the cold sea, the stench of the ship's hold, the crude curses of the human traffickers.
Hancock, barely twelve years old, and her two younger sisters, were crammed into cages like cargo, transferred from place to place, and finally sold into the hands of the World Nobles—the Celestial Dragons.
When they were branded with cold slave collars and stepped onto Holy Land Mary Geoise, Hancock saw for the first time what 'God' truly meant.
Those 'Gods' in ridiculous astronaut-like suits, with snot dripping from their nostrils, who treated humans as mounts and playthings, filled her with physiological disgust and a soul-deep tremor.
The one who bought the three sisters was a Celestial Dragon as corpulent as a mountain of flesh; he looked at them as if they were three curious new toys.
Just as Hancock thought she and her sisters were about to plunge into eternal hell, a purer 'evil' descended.
The Celestial Dragon who had bought the three sisters was preparing to return to his mansion.
A small procession appeared on the automatic walkway ahead.
All the surrounding Celestial Dragons, whether arrogant or foolish, instantly stopped, respectfully retreating to the sides, not daring to even breathe.
At the very front of the procession was a boy who appeared to be only four or five years old.
He was not wearing that ridiculous hood; a face so handsome it seemed otherworldly bore a maturity and indifference utterly unsuited to his age.
There were no CP0 agents beside him, but two figures followed.
One was tall and upright, with a distinctive crescent-shaped hairstyle and eyes so sharp they seemed to pierce the soul. This was, as Hancock would later learn, Figarland Gringo, the Supreme Commander of the God's Knights, who held the power to judge Celestial Dragons.
The other was an old man with a handlebar mustache, leaning on a cane, none other than one of the Gorosei, the highest authority of the World Government—Jaygarcia Saturn!
Even the Gorosei and the Commander of the God's Knights followed diligently behind a mere child.
According to the whispers of the Celestial Dragons present at the time, she learned the child's name and identity: the young master of the Nerona Family, Neirona Ian Saint.
Just as Hancock was stunned by Neirona Ian Saint's identity and status, Neirona Ian Saint, who was walking at the very front, also stopped, his gaze falling directly on her.
Before Hancock could react, Ian suddenly raised his hand and pointed at her, declaring with an authoritative and overbearing tone: "This slave, This Young Master wants her!"
"This... this is mine..." The slave owner who bought her still tried to contend.
Ian made no movement, but Gringo behind him brazenly drew his sword.
"Thud!"
The Celestial Dragon who bought the three Hancock sisters went weak in the knees, collapsing directly to the ground, a deep, bone-visible wound left on his body.
Just like that, Hancock, like an object, was passed from one master's hands to another's.
Her two sisters were taken away, while she was led into one of the Nerona Family's most luxurious mansions.
That was not hell, for hell still has an end.
It was an amusement park where one's dignity and soul were toyed with at will.
And she was the only toy.
Ian, only four or five years old, subjected her to various forms of mental and physical torture.
When Saint Ian bathed, she had to kneel beside him and serve him.
When Saint Ian ate, she had to personally feed him, sometimes even mouth-to-mouth.
Each time, looking at his innocent face and malicious smile, Hancock felt her soul being slowly tortured.
When he slept, she had to warm the bed with her own body beforehand. If he felt it wasn't warm enough, what awaited her was not a beating or scolding, but a more humiliating punishment.
He would take out pre-prepared goose feathers and tickle the soles of her feet until she cried tears of laughter, convulsing and begging for mercy.
Later, Ian found a heart-shaped Devil Fruit covered in spiral patterns from somewhere.
"Eat it," he commanded.
She dared not disobey, and with tears in her eyes, swallowed the utterly unpalatable Devil Fruit.
When she first, in a panic, used her ability to turn a servant who had accidentally broken a vase into stone, a faint glimmer of hope ignited in her heart.
She mustered her courage and aimed "Mero Mero Mellow" at the boy who was leisurely reading a book.
The pink heart-shaped beam struck him.
Then, nothing happened.
Ian didn't even look up; he merely turned a page of his book and said indifferently, "So useless."
At that moment, Hancock completely despaired.
She realized that in Saint Ian's eyes, she wasn't even considered a 'person' capable of eliciting any emotional fluctuation from him.
She was just a plaything; her beauty, her abilities, were merely insignificant embellishments on this plaything.
Until that day, when fire and thick smoke engulfed Mary Geoise.
The Fishman Fisher Tiger climbed the Red Line with his bare hands, burning Pangu City to free the slaves.
Chaos became her only hope.
Taking advantage of the guards in the mansion being dispatched to quell the riot, Hancock exerted all her strength, escaping for the first time from the magnificent cage that had imprisoned her for four years.
She ran frantically through the smoke and flames, fortunately finding her two sisters who had also escaped.
The three embraced, crying, and then fled in one direction.
However, when they turned a corner, all hope instantly vanished.
At the end of the alley, the figure she thought she would never want to see again in this life stood silently.
Ian, now eight or nine years old, still had Gringo and Saturn by his side. The three of them stood against the backdrop of towering flames and chaos, as if they belonged to another world.
"Hancock," Ian smiled, his voice clearly reaching her ears amidst the din, "You are This Young Master's plaything. As long as This Young Master doesn't allow it, you can't go anywhere."
"Bang."
Hancock felt all her strength drain away, and she collapsed to the ground in despair.
But just then, Ian lazily yawned, waved his hand casually, "Move aside, let them go."
Saturn was slightly taken aback: "Young Master, are you really letting her leave? She is your favorite toy."
Gringo, however, smiled: "Is it a cat and mouse game? Interesting!"
A path to freedom thus opened before Hancock.
She couldn't believe it, trembling, she helped up her equally stunned sisters, and step by step, carefully walked past those three demon-like figures.
Every step felt like treading on knife blades.
It wasn't until she and her sisters were about to disappear at the end of the alley that the devil's voice came from afar.
"Go, Hancock, when you become the Empress of Amazon Lily, we will meet again."
...The tide of memories receded, and Hancock suddenly snapped back to reality, drenched in cold sweat.
She was still sitting on that high throne, but her body was trembling violently, uncontrollably.
He came!
That man kept his promise and came for her!
—