In a certain area of the Calm Belt in the first half of the Grand Line, an island stood there.
It resembled a giant flower, with its bud protecting the island, giving it a delicate and unique feeling.
The island was rich in vegetation, lush and green, giving a vibrant and lively sensation, and the green plants complemented the flower-shaped island structure perfectly, together creating a world as beautiful as a fairy tale.
The only thing that felt somewhat regrettable was the many broken buildings on the island, as if they were telling the story of a terrible battle that had once occurred there.
On one of the higher, dilapidated buildings, a group of people had gathered, all looking in the same direction.
A few miles away from where their gazes were fixed, a little girl was sitting on a patch of grassland, staring ahead while softly humming an unknown tune.
She had red and white hair in a yin-yang style, braided into two long pigtails, each with two circles braided into the ends, and these circles sat on top of her head, looking just like a rabbit's two ears.
Her eyes were a special, bright purple, very beautiful.
Her name was Uta, and the island she was on was Elegia, a place once known as the Music Country.
With that, the identities of the group peeking from afar naturally became clear.
It was the crew of the Red-Haired Pirates.
With their strength, standing on high ground, a distance of a few miles was nothing to them, and they could clearly see Uta.
Everyone was silent, no one speaking for a while, until Shanks finally broke the silence:
"Let's go, heading back! We'll come see Uta again next time!"
After saying this, he turned, his body leaping up, constantly rising and falling between the buildings as he left the island behind.
As for the others, they remained where they were, and among them, Lucky Roux, holding meat in one hand, watched Shanks's retreating back, took a big bite of his meat, and said while chewing:
"That boss of ours, he obviously misses Uta a lot, but he just won't say anything!"
As soon as he said this, Yasopp, with his curly hair beside him, glanced at him and said calmly:
"Just the boss misses her? Don't you miss her too?!"
...
The scene fell silent instantly; no one spoke.
Uta had been raised by all of them. Although theoretically Uta was Shanks's daughter, wasn't she also their daughter in a way?
They had already come to see Uta as their own daughter long ago.
Shanks missed Uta terribly, but didn't they miss her just as much?
But missing her was useless; they couldn't meet Uta, and could only occasionally come to see her like this.
If they were to meet Uta, all the efforts they had made before would be wasted. To protect Uta, they could only silently watch her grow from afar.
"Let's go!"
The crew's second-in-command, Benn Beckman, spoke, and then he leaped, also disappearing into the distance in a few bounds.
Seeing their number one and number two leave, the others no longer hesitated and followed behind them.
Soon, everyone was back on the ship.
"Let's go! Back to the New World!"
Shanks announced. He needed to return to the New World to continue his adventures; this trip was just to see Uta.
He deeply understood how important strength was in this world. Without enough strength, there was no chance of succeeding in anything he wanted to do.
Thinking about this, he felt a bit of a headache.
That Devil Fruit he had been searching for all this time had been eaten by a Marine. What was he supposed to do about that?
He knew very well what that fruit symbolized. Could a Marine... ever awaken that fruit?
That fruit hadn't awakened once in eight hundred years, showing just how difficult it was. Now that a Marine had eaten it, awakening seemed even more impossible.
Sigh.
If only that child he had bet on had eaten that fruit instead!
Thinking this, Shanks couldn't help but look toward his left arm. Where his arm used to be, there was now nothing but empty space.
Losing this left arm wasn't an accident for him; it was intentional.
Saving that child was one aspect, but the real reason was that he wanted to use an external force to lose this left arm.
Otherwise, the restrictions placed on him by that 'contract' were far too great!
He definitely didn't want his life, his death, or his thoughts to be controlled by anyone else.
Especially by Him!!
"Boss, what are you thinking about? So deeply?"
Suddenly, a voice came from the side, pulling Shanks back from his thoughts. Turning to look, he saw Lucky Roux holding a large roasted leg in each hand. He was eating one himself, and he offered the other to Shanks.
"Nothing much!"
A smile touched Shanks's lips as he took the roasted leg and began to eat heartily.
Leaning against the ship's mast, Lucky Roux asked again:
"By the way, boss, which Emperor's territory are we planning to attack when we get to the New World this time?"
They had already planned it. This time, returning to the New World, they would start competing with those Emperors for territory, step by step, building their reputation until they became the new Emperors of the sea!
The main reason for this decision was that their strength had now reached a certain level. Although they still weren't a match for those Emperor crews, they were qualified to clash with them now.
"Come to think of it, we have that battle four years ago to thank for our strength increasing so fast!"
Yasopp suddenly spoke up at this point.
As soon as he said this, everyone fell silent, a strange light flickering in each of their eyes.
That battle four years ago...
They had been in a very sorry state!
Their ship was blown to pieces, and they had to flee into the sea in disgrace, holding their breath underwater, not daring to stick their heads out.
Afraid that if they surfaced, that old codger Garp would come down with a Bone Impact the next second.
Being beaten by that old codger Garp was one thing, after all, he was a veteran from the older generation, a man who had once chased the Pirate King Roger all over the world.
It was normal for him to run them ragged!
But what had that brat Kyle done to deserve it?!
To have such ridiculous strength at that age, especially that purple lightning ability, the damage was insane. Even though they had mastered Armament Haki at the time, they were still paralyzed by the electricity and couldn't even swim smoothly in the sea.
Later, from the newspapers, they learned that the kid's strength was growing at an astonishing rate. He had defeated Moria, and not long ago, he had even defeated the old era's great pirates, Wang Zhi and Golden Lion.
Shanks knew better than anyone just how strong Golden Lion was.
Over a decade ago, he was a powerful pirate who could fight on equal terms with his captain, the Pirate King Roger. Even if his strength had declined over the years, he was still not to be underestimated.
It was precisely because Kyle's strength was increasing so rapidly that they had also been spurred to work hard, constantly fighting others to improve their own strength through combat, and never daring to slack off in their daily training.
Because they worked so hard, their strength could increase this fast!
Thinking about this, Shanks couldn't help but say:
"Hmph! I wonder when I'll run into that Kyle again. I've been wanting to get my revenge for a long time!!"
...
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