Only three days remained until Ace's execution.
"Phew, we finally shook them off. I have to hand it to those guys, they really kept chasing for ages." Cain turned his head and glanced around.
"Huh? Where's Doflamingo?"
He looked toward Katakuri, but the man merely shook his head.
Katakuri had been at the helm the whole way, steering the Queen Mama Chanter and directing it away from their pursuers, while Cain had taken opportunities to counterattack and hold the enemy back.
The one watching Doflamingo right now was Yamato.
"CAIN! HURRY, SAVE HIM! HE'S COUGHING UP BLOOD AGAIN!"
Yamato rushed over with tears in her voice.
Cain quickly sidestepped her, then looked over at Doflamingo. In his heart, only a sigh remained.
He really was miserable.
His injuries had not even healed, yet they had carried him off and kidnapped him, leaving him to bleed the entire way.
Even if people in the One Piece world could practically sit back up from anything, torturing someone to this extent was still a little too cruel.
At that moment, Katakuri took several bags of blood from the refrigerated storage.
They had taken them earlier from Doflamingo's sickroom, and they happened to match his blood type. Katakuri handed them straight to Cain.
Cain had no choice but to step forward.
First, he barely managed to stop Doflamingo's bleeding, then began transfusing blood to keep him alive.
The man only had one last breath left in him now.
Whether he survived or not was up to fate.
Cain could only hope he would hold on until the war at Marineford.
'Don't just die like this.'
'You're the famous Joker, damn it.'
"In any case, we still need to find him a doctor," Cain said in a heavy voice after finishing what he could.
If there was truly no other option, even throwing him into a Marine hospital would do.
As long as they kept him alive, that was enough.
Cain stayed nearby, keeping a close eye on Doflamingo's condition, while Katakuri went to the bow to check their course.
Only Yamato was left to the side.
She looked down at her clothes, which were covered in blood and filth, and felt deeply uncomfortable.
So she found a rope, tied it around her waist to secure herself, created a sheet of ice over the sea, and jumped down to wash her clothes.
The ship continued sailing in the direction of Fish-Man Island.
Yamato was focused on washing when her Observation Haki detected danger.
Just as she was about to make a move, she realized her kanabo was still lying on the deck.
She tried to turn back and grab it, but it was already too late.
A massive shark slammed over and crashed violently into the side of the Queen Mama Chanter!
Fortunately, Yamato reacted extremely quickly.
She leaped away just in time, narrowly avoiding the impact. Only when she landed did she realize that the shark was mechanical.
Cain and Katakuri instantly rushed to the ship's rail and looked out.
Behind the mechanical shark, a Marine warship was following close behind.
...
A few minutes earlier.
"This is amazing! I've watched sea voyages through Punk Records before, but experiencing it in person is completely different!"
Lilith stood on the deck of the warship, shouting freely as she gazed out over the endless blue sea.
Suddenly, Vegapunk's voice came through her earpiece.
"Remember, Lilith," Vegapunk warned her, "you only managed to leave by borrowing the identity of a researcher transporting Pacifistas. Don't forget the real purpose of your trip."
"There are always Marines stationed around Egghead, but this war has drawn away a great deal of manpower. Those Marines also don't know the details about our Satellites, which is why you were able to slip out so easily. While you're outside, make absolutely sure you don't expose anything."
Lilith curled her lip and answered carelessly,
"Yeah, yeah, I know. We're all Vegapunk, after all."
Then she asked in a probing tone,
"But speaking of that, why do we have to find Cain? With his current strength, even if he fell into the sea, he'd probably be fine, right, Stella?"
In truth, Lilith did not want to meet Cain at all.
After all, the things she had done to him were…
Vegapunk's tone remained calm as he slowly explained.
"It's normal that you wouldn't think of this. That falls within York's domain, which is to say, my desire. Even if Cain is a failure, he still carries the results of our research."
"If he sank into the sea and no one salvaged him, he would remain buried on the seabed forever. How could this old man allow his creation to be buried like that? That's why you must find him. Consider it a small personal attachment of mine."
"In that case, I'll have to take my time exploring the outside world. Maybe buy some new clothes too~"
Lilith grinned as she spoke.
Vegapunk hurriedly reminded her, "HEY, HEY, DON'T FORGET THE ACTUAL JOB!"
Lilith gave a light laugh.
"But deep down, you're thinking the same thing, aren't you, Stella? You want to use this bit of free time to properly explore the world… and after all, I'm the one who represents your 'Evil.'"
Vegapunk sighed softly, a hint of relief hidden in his voice.
"That's true… I really have had enough of being watched by those World Government people all this time."
"Well, don't worry." Lilith waved a hand. "Everything I experience this time will be recorded into Punk Records as usual, so everyone will be able to feel it together."
After ending the communication, Lilith turned her gaze toward the mechanical shark pulling the warship ahead of her.
It was a smaller model, not nearly as gigantic as the one on Egghead.
"Now then, according to the route Kuma mentioned, the target should be in that direction. All right, onward! Of course, going a little slower is fine too. I don't want to find Cain that quickly!"
Lilith pulled out a strangely shaped pistol and pulled the trigger at the deck of the warship.
In an instant, a layer of transparent bubbles wrapped securely around the entire vessel, producing an effect exactly like the coating pirates used when traveling to Fish-Man Island.
After receiving Lilith's command, the mechanical shark immediately dragged the coated warship down into the sea.
Then, as though it had smelled something, it suddenly charged in a particular direction.
The warship did not slow down at all.
Instead, its speed became astonishingly fast, greatly shortening their travel time.
"HEY, HEY, HEY! DON'T GO THAT FAST!" Lilith shouted loudly.
Clearly, she had already realized something was wrong with the mechanical shark.
These mechanical sharks, like the Pacifistas—or even Kuma himself—had been created by gradually modifying their original organic bodies into machinery.
Because of that, under special conditions, they still retained a beast's instincts.
After smelling the scent of Doflamingo's blood dripping along the way, the mechanical shark instantly grew agitated.
Unable to restrain itself, it charged straight toward Yamato and slammed hard into the side of the Queen Mama Chanter.
Although the ship was made from sweets, it was still the flagship of one of the Four Emperors.
There was no way it would be damaged so easily.
Cain and Katakuri immediately stepped forward and, with only a few strikes, brought the mechanical shark down.
Yamato also landed steadily back on the ice she had created.
But at that very moment, several lasers tore through the air, shooting straight toward the two of them!
Naturally, Cain and the others had also seen the Marine warship loaded with Pacifistas.
"The ultimate weapon developed by the Marines, huh? I had heard rumors, but I didn't expect them to be modeled after one of the Seven Warlords."
Katakuri muttered in a low voice.
Mochi suddenly extended beneath his feet as he launched himself toward the group of Pacifistas.
Cain also leaped into their midst, joining him in battle.
Only Yamato was ignored. Since the Marines had no data on her, she was not attacked at all.
The Pacifistas showed no mercy.
They immediately opened their mouths, cannons charging as they prepared to fire mouth beams.
"STOP!"
At the critical moment, Lilith suddenly rushed out and shouted sharply.
The instant she recognized Cain, she immediately used her authority to order all the Pacifistas to cease fire.
"You're Lilith?"
Cain looked at the figure who had suddenly appeared and spoke in surprise.
He knew exactly who she was.
She was one of Vegapunk's Satellites.
Back when he had called Vegapunk before, the first person to answer the Den Den Mushi had been "her."
Although she had caused Cain quite a bit of trouble, fortunately, as long as this person was here, Doflamingo finally would not die.
"Eh? L-Lilith? Who's Lilith? I don't know anyone like that!"
Lilith immediately stammered, her heart sinking with a thud.
She had almost forgotten that Cain knew she was one of Vegapunk's Satellites.
And besides, the things she had done to Cain back then were truly…
Lilith hurriedly looked away, avoiding Cain's gaze again and again. She could only pray that he would not reveal her identity in front of everyone.
"You still dare to play dumb?"
Cain rushed right up to her and viciously grabbed her cheeks, pulling them as he snapped.
"You really think I wouldn't recognize you just because I've never seen your face before? Lilith! The Punk-02 on your chest is way too obvious!"
"You were the first one to answer my call back then, and now you want to pretend you don't know me? You're the one who gave me all those problems to solve, and you're the one who kept causing trouble everywhere…"
Cain was extremely polite when dealing with Vegapunk's Stella, but when it came to Lilith, he found her genuinely unbearable.
As expected of the Satellite representing Vegapunk's evil, she had managed to cause him all kinds of trouble with just a Den Den Mushi.
"D-Don't… don't say anymore."
"Hah? What kind of trick are you trying to pull this time? Before, you said you'd give me 'your' communication channel number, but then you forced me to solve problems for an entire month. My brain was almost fried, do you know that? And when I finally solved it, the answer turned out to be a picture of your laughing face. Do you know how devastated I was?"
"Stop talking… I'm sorry…"
"You old bastard, there's something I've been wanting to ask for ages. What kind of weird fetish do you have, making a female Satellite like this? That's seriously perverted."
"DON'T BE RUDE! I'M VEGA— I'M THE REPRESENTATIVE OF 'EVIL'!"
"Evil? More like the representative of being hungry. What, did the World Government let you out? What are you trying to scheme this time?"
Cain looked at Lilith's cheeks, which he had pulled until they were flushed red.
She was on the verge of tears, so he finally loosened his grip at an appropriate time and shook his head.
"Forget it. I don't have time to care about all that. Come with me…"
Cain immediately hoisted Lilith up with one arm and used Moonwalk to rush toward the cabin where Doflamingo was.
No amount of talking mattered right now. Treating Doflamingo came first.
Katakuri looked up at Cain as he rose into the air, his gaze falling on the woman who had suddenly appeared.
Suspicion filled his eyes.
Someone capable of escorting this batch of ultimate Marine weapons was definitely connected to the World Government, and there was a strong chance she belonged to the Marines' science division.
Yet Cain did not hesitate at all. He simply carried her off and flew back onto the ship.
'Tsk, tsk…'
'Now that was a proper pirate's way of doing things.'
'Heh. The child had grown up good after all.'
The corner of Katakuri's mouth lifted slightly, and he could not help giving a low chuckle.
Clearly, he had misunderstood something.
If Cain knew what Katakuri was thinking, goosebumps would crawl all over his body.
After all, beneath Lilith's appearance was the mind of an old man.
…
Once they reached the cabin where Doflamingo was being kept, Cain did not make things difficult for Lilith.
He directly told her to hurry up and treat Doflamingo.
"Why did things turn out like this…? My vacation is completely ruined!"
Lilith wiped her tears while frantically busying herself with treatment.
"Stop complaining already. I know it wasn't easy for you to get out here. Although you did trick me quite a lot, you really did give me the communication channel after I solved your problems, and now you're helping me with something this important. Once this is all over, I'll take you around properly."
Cain hurriedly comforted her from the side.
"Really?!"
"Yeah. But speaking of that, what happened to the report I brought up to your Stella before?"
"Ah, that was supposed to be published ages ago, but Morgans disappeared for a while. Fortunately, we finally managed to contact him. It's already being printed now."
"That's good. Have it released in the next few days."
"Don't think you can order me around. I'm the Satellite of Evil…"
Lilith protested, then muttered softly,
"I've been dragged into a conflict between Marines and pirates against my will. Whatever happens, absolutely do not expose Vegapunk's name! And absolutely don't drag me into this."
"Yes, yes, Satellite of Hunger. Don't worry. I already thought of a perfect plan."
Cain nodded as he spoke.
…
Cain, Katakuri, and Lilith all changed into Marine uniforms.
Yamato, also dressed in a Marine uniform, followed along beside them as they sailed the warship at high speed toward the Red Line.
With a gloomy face, Lilith contacted Vegapunk and the other Satellites.
"STELLA, I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED. HELP!!"