Inside Shakky's Rip-Off Bar on Sabaody, the lights were dim.
Rayleigh, who had just returned, and Shakky were staring at each other in silence.
The awkward deadlock was all because of Uta, who was sitting on a little round stool in the corner.
"So why does Uta-chan call you so politely, but when it comes to me, I'm suddenly grandpa?" Rayleigh took a sip from his glass, sounding a little unwilling to accept it.
"Isn't it because your pirate crew always treated Shanks like a child?" Shakky leaned against the bar, a cigarette between her fingers, and replied calmly.
"By seniority, you really are supposed to be Uta's grandpa. You watched Shanks grow up, what's strange about his daughter calling you grandpa?"
"Seriously, in the end it's still Shanks's fault." Rayleigh curled his lips and lightly set his glass on the bar with a crisp clink.
Then he turned to Cain, who had been sitting silently in the corner the whole time, and asked curiously, "And you're Cain, right?"
Cain had a headache.
Ever since Rayleigh came in, Cain had kept talking about Ace—from how the Marines captured him to how he would soon be publicly executed.
Every word was urgent.
But to his surprise, Rayleigh barely seemed to care and instead got hung up on something as pointless as titles and seniority.
Cain suddenly shot to his feet, rushed over, grabbed Rayleigh by the collar, and shouted.
"I ALREADY TOLD YOU—ACE IS YOUR CAPTAIN ROGER'S SON! HE'S LOCKED UP IN IMPEL DOWN RIGHT NOW, AND SOON HE'LL BE TAKEN TO MARINEFORD FOR EXECUTION. HOW CAN YOU STILL SIT HERE JOKING AROUND?!"
"That's because…" Rayleigh started to explain, his expression turning complicated.
But Cain didn't give him the chance. In a moment of heat, he blurted it out.
"Don't tell me it's because Roger tried to steal Shakky from you back then, so now you want revenge on him? Ace has nothing to do with Roger!!"
The words came out on instinct, without any thought.
Only after shouting did Cain realize he had let something slip.
His heart jumped, and he awkwardly let go of Rayleigh's collar, mumbling quietly, "Sorry."
Rayleigh froze for a moment.
The hand holding his glass stopped halfway in the air.
A hint of shock flashed through his eyes, followed by a trace of nostalgia.
Even Shakky forgot to tap the ash from her cigarette. A long strip of ash had already formed and swayed lightly at the end.
She looked up at Rayleigh, the corner of her mouth lifting into a faint smile, but said nothing.
Cain quickly picked up a large bottle of beer from the table, twisted off the cap, and gulped down several mouthfuls to ease the dryness in his throat.
Then he hurriedly said, "Ahem... Gramps always tells me old stories about the Roger Pirates. When he drinks, he loves rambling about old gossip like that. And since I liked reading ever since I was little, I went through a lot of books about pirate history. So it makes sense that I'd know these things, right?"
As Cain spoke, he secretly watched Rayleigh and Shakky's expressions, his palms damp with sweat.
Both of them looked somewhat nostalgic, with no sign of pressing the matter further.
Only then did Cain quietly relax.
Shakky flicked away the ash and stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray.
"That Garp curses Roger as a bastard with his mouth," she said lightly, "but he still remembers plenty of old stories in his heart."
Rayleigh, meanwhile, looked at Cain with a meaningful gaze and slowly said, "Sometimes, it's better not to know too much about history."
"Ah, Cain, so Grandpa Rayleigh and Pirate King Roger really…" Uta sat to the side with both hands on the table, looking up at Rayleigh curiously.
Cain shook his head and quickly seized the chance to change the subject.
He smiled at Uta and said, "Oh right, Uta—about your dream... maybe you should ask Shakky... nee-san for some advice. Back then, she was a very famous member of the idol-like Kuja Pirates. Her fame spread across the whole sea, and she had fans everywhere she went."
The subject suddenly landing on her made Shakky cough lightly, breaking the short silence.
"Ahem. Yes, well, it was more or less like Cain said. But that was a long time ago now. It's hardly worth mentioning anymore. Though if Uta-chan is interested, I can tell you about it."
Seeing the two of them start chatting warmly, Rayleigh silently set down his glass, looked at Cain, and got up to walk outside the bar.
Cain immediately followed.
He knew Rayleigh was finally ready to talk about the real issue.
The two said nothing extra as they walked.
After some time, they reached a shoreline in the lawless zone of the Sabaody Archipelago.
Rayleigh stopped with his back facing Cain.
The sea breeze lifted the edge of his coat as he spoke in a deep voice:
"I heard everything you said about Ace. But being impatient won't save him, besides, even I can't save him right now."
"Even though I've retired and no longer involve myself in pirate conflicts, as long as I'm still a member of the Roger Pirates, I can't make a move lightly. The moment I act, the Marines will use it as an excuse to blow the whole matter out of proportion. When that happens, it won't be just Ace who suffers."
He slowly turned around, his gaze steady and his tone unwavering.
"Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates and became Whitebeard's son. The Whitebeard Pirates are his backing. Everything should be handled by the Whitebeard Pirates. People from the Roger Pirates cannot interfere in another pirate crew's affairs. Even Shanks can't do that now, the most he can do is meet Whitebeard and try to persuade him."
Cain had never heard of such a rule among pirates.
He asked in disbelief, "So you're just going to stand by and watch something happen to him? Watch him end up on the same execution platform as his father?"
His voice was full of urgency, confusion, and unwillingness.
"So this is the freedom Shanks described to Luffy? What kind of freedom is that? If you can't even protect the people you care about, then what freedom are you talking about?"
Rayleigh looked at how agitated he was, but didn't argue.
He calmly said, "But the problem is—you came, didn't you? Garp putting you here wasn't an accident. Shanks also specifically asked me to train you before. He said you and Ace were as close as brothers. You have more reason than anyone to save him, old men like us have too many concerns and can't interfere, but you—as his brother—can."
As he spoke, Rayleigh raised a hand and waved it toward the sea.
A huge bubble slowly rose up from the water in front of them.
Inside the transparent bubble was a small wooden boat. It looked a little old, but it had been kept clean and well cared for.
"You're a Devil Fruit user now, so you can't just swim across the sea with me. I'll take you somewhere first."
Rayleigh stepped into the bubble and turned back to Cain.
"Let me see your strength. If you want to save Ace, determination alone isn't enough! You need power to match it. Determination without power is nothing but empty talk in front of absolute strength."
Cain followed him into the bubble, his feet landing on the solid deck.
He looked around curiously.
"I made this as a copy," Rayleigh said, gazing at the boat.
He uncorked his flask and raised it to his lips.
His eyes softened with nostalgia. "A long time ago, when Roger and I first went out to sea, this was the kind of boat we sailed on. Ah, I still remember it. Back then my house had just burned down, I had nothing left, and I was lying alone on a boat drinking my sorrows away. Then I met that guy…"
Cain showed an "I knew it" sort of expression.
Thinking of the guess he had just made earlier, he couldn't help raising a hand and asking the question on his mind.
"Um... is there any chance Roger was the one who burned down your house?"
"Pfft—"
Rayleigh nearly spat out the drink in his mouth.
He stared at Cain in disbelief, then shook his head.
As he recalled the scene of his first meeting with Roger, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes relaxed, and a faint smile appeared.
"You brat, you really dare to think of anything! But in a way, it's not far off. That guy was a born troublemaker. No matter where he went, he couldn't stay out of chaos. Still, thanks to him, I set foot on a journey I'll never forget—a journey worthy of being written into history."
...
The boat slowly drifted away from shore, heading toward a distant island.
The island was not large.
Dense woods surrounded it on all sides, while the center held an open clearing. Faint traces of past battles could still be seen on the ground.
Rayleigh jumped ashore first and walked toward the middle of the clearing.
Cain followed, gripping the long staff he carried, his expression turning serious.
"Come on, Cain. Show me every move you have right now." Rayleigh turned around and stood in the middle of the clearing, arms folded across his chest.
"Don't hold back. Let me see what Garp's grandson can really do! Let me see whether you're qualified to storm Marineford!"
"Alright."
Cain nodded, took a deep breath, gripped his staff tightly, and moved.
His foot slammed into the ground, and he shot toward Rayleigh with enough speed to stir up a fierce gust of wind.
"Eighty!"
With a low shout, the tip of his staff was coated in a layer of jet-black Armament Haki as he swung it down hard.
"A smashing strike coated in Armament Haki? Not bad."
Rayleigh's eyes sharpened. He quickly stepped back half a pace and easily avoided the blow.
"Your use of Armament Haki is fairly skilled, but the force can still be more focused. Only by concentrating your power into a single point can you bring out its greatest destructive force."
Cain didn't pause.
The moment the attack missed, he immediately adjusted his stance, pushed off with his toes, and leapt high into the sky.
Thunderclouds gradually gathered overhead.
Threads of electricity crackled through the air and struck Cain's staff, instantly wrapping it in dense arcs of lightning.
"Lightning Defibrillation!"
He swung the staff again, sending lightning roaring toward Rayleigh along with the force of the blow, crackling violently.
"Your Devil Fruit ability?"
Rayleigh's expression shifted.
He sidestepped the lightning's direct path, then raised his right leg coated in Armament Haki to block the staff. A
numb sensation spread through his body.
"A Logia? No... a Mythical Zoan? Interesting. You can actually control lightning."
The lightning struck the ground with a sizzling noise, leaving behind a scorched black mark.
Taking advantage of the instant Rayleigh blocked the staff, Cain withdrew it, clenched his fist, coated his arm in Armament Haki as well, and punched toward Rayleigh's chest.
"Fist Bone Impact!"
Right after that, his other fist smashed down from above with crushing force.
"Fist Bone Drop!"
"Garp's moves?"
Rayleigh jumped back sharply, avoiding both punches.
After landing, he commented, "The forms are fairly standard, but the power is nowhere near his level. You still lack enough tempering."
Cain wasn't discouraged.
His body suddenly expanded, transforming into his human-dragon form. His frame grew larger, and he gripped the staff with both hands.
Lightning coiled around it, giving off a terrifying aura as he swung it down at Rayleigh.
"Elbaf Spear — Ikoku!"
"Hey, hey, you're not serious, are you?"
Rayleigh looked genuinely surprised.
He tilted away from the pressure wave, and the fierce force scraped across his cheek.
"That should be a Giant technique, right? To think you learned a move that normally requires a massive body to support it—that really does make me see you in a new light."
After unleashing several techniques in a row, Cain's breathing grew a little heavier, but his eyes only shone brighter and brighter.
His fighting spirit kept rising.
He took a deep breath. The Haki inside his body surged wildly, and the corner of his lips curled up.
He had practiced this move for a long time in Uta's world.
"Divine Departure—!"
"What the fuck?"
Rayleigh was dumbfounded.
He had never expected Cain to use a move like that!
He hurriedly drew the sword at his waist to block it.
Only then did he realize that this Divine Departure wasn't coated with Conqueror's Haki—but the stance, the technique, and the way the power was used were unmistakably that of Divine Departure.