Chapter 522 is titled "Fatal Illness".
Cover Page
CP9's Independent Report Vol. 28: "We Won't Let You Disturb Our Home".
The arrest is met with violent opposition. The CP9 members' silhouettes represent their animal themes.
Short Summary
Hancock promises Luffy a ship and decides to let him join the Kujas at a banquet. Luffy behaves as his usual self and parties with them as the Kuja marvel at Luffy's rubber body. As he eats they start poking and stretching him, angrily telling them he is not a side attraction and they give chase to him and Luffy runs away and escapes with Marguerite, who then thanks Luffy for saving her and her friends. They both arrive at Nyon's house where Luffy discovers Hancock's title of Warlord of the Sea, the war with the Whitebeard Pirates, and his brother's execution. Luffy asks for a way to save him and Nyon says only a Marine ship can make it to the prison he is at on time, Impel Down, and Hancock would have to use her title to make it. Luffy makes the tough decision to save his brother rather than to reunite with his crew. Nyon and Luffy see Hancock, who is revealed to have gotten sick and Nyon says she knows the sickness and tells her Luffy wishes to see her and Hancock does despite her illness. Luffy asks if she can board the Marine ship to save Ace, much to her sister's fury, thinking he is taking advantage of her. However, Hancock surprisingly agrees, much to her family's shock as Nyon says her disease is called "Love Sickness" and Hancock has fallen in love with Luffy.
Long Summary
After telling Luffy all about her past, Hancock agrees to give him a ride to Sabaody Archipelago with her Perfume Yuda. She also invites Luffy to their banquet tonight and to rest inside. As Luffy parties, several Kuja's start poking him due to his rubber body and their interest in a man. Several more girls are interested in Luffy and want to touch him and he runs away despite them seemingly being attracted by his rubber body. He escapes with Marguerite to Elder Nyon's house.
At her house Luffy discovers that Hancock is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and admits his surprise. Nyon states that Hancock at 18 years old became the empress of the Kuja and quickly gained a notorious reputation, catching the attention of the Marines and even the World Government, who were frightened of her potential, as she had earned a large bounty of 
80 million after only one campaign. Hancock later opted to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea in order to protect her fellow Kuja, by forming a treaty to protect their homeland, which prevented the World Government from entering the island. Nyon then reads on the paper about the war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines and surprising Luffy further with Nyon commenting on his lack of knowledge and then reads off the prisoner on death row, his brother Portgas D. Ace is about to be taken to his execution. Luffy then is horrified by reading this as he listens that Blackbeard was the one who put Ace in prison and cuts Nyon off revealing he is Ace's brother, shocking Nyon. Luffy asks if Ace really is going to be executed and Nyon says he will and wonders when. She says it is in five days and that a trip to get back to Sabaody would take a week, and Luffy says it will be too late by the time he reunites with his crew, so he asks for a faster way. Nyon tells him that Ace is being held at Impel Down, the maximum security prison. Luffy decides to go rescue Ace before reuniting with his crew. He says sorry to his comrades after deciding to rescue Ace at Impel Down, and asks Elder Nyon how he can rescue Ace. She says that if Whitebeard wins the war, he might be saved. Nyon, however, points out that Luffy's plan to rescue his older brother is reckless as he is facing a full-fledged war, and since Ace is the most important prisoner there, and that Whitebeard will not let his men be killed without a fight, the Marines are preparing for a real battle, meaning that they are going to have both the admirals (Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu) and the other Warlords there as well. She claims that Luffy will be like a leaf whipped about by a storm, yet Luffy refuses to leave behind his own brother, claiming that he would never live with himself if he lost Ace. Elder Nyon tells him that there is only one other way to make it to his brother in time, by asking Hancock to accept the call of the Marines as a Marine battle ship can make it in time and Luffy goes to ask her with Nyon.
As Luffy and Nyon arrive to ask her, one of her subjects arrives and reveals that Hancock has contracted a fatal illness. Hancock has caught an unknown disease and feels in great pain for some reason. As Nyon deduces her illness, she says she knows the illness and when Hancock asks if she will die, Nyon says she will, much to Sonia's and Mary's anger telling her not to joke and she says she is not. She tells Hancock her illness is what killed her previous predecessors and that Luffy is here to see her and surprisingly, Hancock says she will see him, much to everyone's shock that she stood up, especially Nyon who wonders if Luffy really was able to change Hancock so much. On the balcony, Luffy sees her and asks if she is alright and she says no illness will get to her. Luffy tells her about his brother and his desire to save her and begs her to take him to Impel Down and answer the call to war. Sonia and Mary yell in anger claiming Luffy is using her and forcing her to relive her horrors as a slave to go to such a place and that this is why they hate men and refuse to let him use their sister like this. However, despite all this, Hancock, while blushing heavily, says she will happily answer the call and go wherever Luffy wishes, to which Luffy thanks her and now can make it to Ace on time. Her family is shocked by such a thing and her sisters asks what is happening and Nyon says that her sickness is called "Love Sickness" and that Hancock has fallen in love with Luffy and all the previous empresses died from being away from their loved ones and goes on to say that "love is like a hurricane".
Quick Reference
Chapter Notes
- The CP9 agents face off against the Marines.
- Hancock became empress and obtained the position of Warlord of the Sea eleven years prior to the current events.
- Her former bounty is revealed to be
80,000,000. - Luffy finds out that not only the Whitebeard Pirates are going to war with the Marines at Marineford, but that his brother Portgas D. Ace is sentenced to be executed there in six days.
- Elder Nyon explains a current that connects the three central government institutions: Marineford, Enies Lobby, and Impel Down together via the Gates of Justice and a giant whirlpool.
- Luffy decides to delay his search for his crew and decides to go to Impel Down to rescue Ace before he is sent to Marineford.
- Boa Hancock get stricken down by a "disease" that had killed her predecessors.
- The disease turns out to be Love Sickness, and that Hancock has fallen in love with Luffy.
Characters
| Pirates | Kuja | World Government | |
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Author Comment
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| English translation by Greg Werner. For comprehensive translation credits, see here. | |