Saturn slowly raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.
His eyes, which had seen through all the world's myriad forms, now gleamed with a dangerous light: "Issue an order, have CP0 immediately proceed to Elegia."
He paused, his fingertip lightly tracing over Uta's photograph, "If that girl is unwilling to cooperate... then let that place become a second Ohara."
The command was swiftly relayed via encrypted Den Den Mushi.
In the underground base at Mary Geoise, a team of CP0 agents wearing white masks were making their final preparations before departure.
They silently checked their weapons, Sea Stone bullets were loaded one by one into the magazines, and specially made Devil Fruit ability suppressors gleamed coldly under the light.
"Remember," the CP0 leader's voice was as cold as a machine, "Prioritize capturing the target alive. If it's not possible..." He made a throat-slitting gesture, "Ensure not even ashes are left behind."
At the same time, on Elegia's coastline, Uta was strolling barefoot on the beach.
The waves gently caressed her ankles, but she suddenly shivered, unconsciously hugging her arms, and on the distant horizon, an ominous dark cloud seemed to be gathering.
"This feeling is..."
Uta looked confusedly into the distance, her red and white hair gently fluttering in the sea breeze.
Unbeknownst to her, three warships carrying CP0 were currently speeding towards her island.
.....
The next morning, Elegia's coastline was still shrouded in thin mist.
The Red Hair Pirates' Red Force slowly sailed into the harbor, its hull cutting through the calm sea, stirring up fine spray.
Shanks stood at the bow, his red coat flapping in the morning wind, his gaze fixed on the familiar concert hall on the island, his heart pounding violently in his chest.
"It's been over ten years..." he murmured softly, his knuckles unconsciously tightening around the gryphon's sword hilt.
The crew maintained a tacit silence, even Lucky Roux, usually the most boisterous, uncharacteristically didn't gnaw on his chicken leg.
Benn Beckman lit a cigar, smoke rising in spirals in the morning light: "Don't have too high hopes, Captain. Some scars aren't that easy to heal."
Shanks just nodded silently, being the first to jump down the gangway.
The fine sand on the beach made a slight crunching sound under his feet, each step like treading on fragments of memory.
He remembered the last time he left, Uta was still a little girl with pigtails, crying and chasing him to the sea...
The concert hall door creaked open, and a white-haired old man walked out; he was Gordon, a survivor of the Elegia tragedy back then, who had been quietly raising Uta all these years.
"Red Hair..." Gordon's voice was hoarse and complex, "You've finally come."
Shanks took off his scarf and pressed it to his chest: "Mr. Gordon, I..."
"She doesn't want to see you." Gordon directly interrupted Shanks, his wrinkled face full of fatigue, "When I told her about your arrival, the child threw her teacup directly." The old man turned sideways to let Shanks see the broken porcelain on the ground, "She said... for you to leave immediately."
A commotion arose on the deck.
Yasopp couldn't help but shout: "At least let us explain what happened back then!"
Just then, a window on the second floor was suddenly pushed open.
Uta's red and white hair was particularly striking in the morning light, her hands gripping the window frame tightly, her knuckles turning pale.
"Get out!" Her voice trembled with anger, "You pirates are all liars! You said you'd take me out to sea, and what happened?"
Tears welled up in her eyes, "You left me here alone for over ten years, and now you suddenly show up?"
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