Seeing what was happening over there, Law's usually expressionless face finally showed the faintest hint of a smile.
After briefly exchanging a few words with Cain, he raised a hand in farewell and turned to leave.
Cain nodded, thinking that Law had helped Ace by retrieving Whitebeard's body this time.
He would mention it to Luffy later, at least enough to let him know that Traffy had helped save Ace.
As for Doflamingo, he might look panicked, innocent, and even a little pathetic right now, but the Marines' investigation probably would not lead anywhere.
Doflamingo could easily rely on his former Celestial Dragon privileges and have the World Government step in to send him safely back.
That outcome was also within Cain's expectations.
After all, things would only become easier if Doflamingo returned to Dressrosa.
The Devil Fruit that would now be reborn somewhere on the sea was no longer the Flame-Flame Fruit, but the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
And if events followed the same strange, almost fated logic as the original course of history, then once the Tremor-Tremor Fruit reappeared…
Doflamingo, as the underworld's "Joker," would absolutely get his hands on it.
But within the Donquixote Family, there was no one worthy of wielding a power capable of overturning the world.
If he really set up a tournament the way he had in the original timeline, that would undoubtedly stir up another bloody storm.
Ace and the others would never sit back and ignore it.
They would definitely take action.
While Cain was thinking this over, he suddenly noticed Garp walking toward him with a mountain pile of food in his arms.
The amount of food was practically enough to feed an ordinary ship for several days.
As Garp came closer, he pulled out a huge chunk of meat from the bag and handed it to Cain with a hearty laugh.
"Here, Cain! Look at all this. Let's eat!"
"Wait, Old—Grandpa, the Marines shouldn't even be serving meals yet, right? Where did you get all this food?"
Cain accepted the meat Garp offered, took a bite, and looked at him in confusion.
"Hmph! Took it from that Red-Hair brat's ship! He's the one who led Luffy astray, so what's wrong with this old man collecting a little interest?"
"That's…"
"Relax, I left some for them."
Garp leaned closer to Cain and lowered his voice.
"Speaking of which, Cain, did Ace mention what he plans to do next? Now that Whitebeard is gone, things won't be easy for him going forward. In this old man's opinion, why not have him join the Marines directly?"
Cain shook his head after hearing that.
"How is that possible? Ace even turned down an invitation to become one of the Seven Warlords. There's no way he'd agree to join the Marines… Wait. The Warlords!"
Cain suddenly realized something and hurriedly said,
"Right, Grandpa. No matter what happens, when the Marines recruit new Warlords, absolutely do not let the guy who cut off Zephyr's arm join!"
"You mean Edward Weevil?" Garp asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah."
Cain nodded, his expression turning serious.
"Now that Whitebeard has died, Ace and the others are probably about to be buried under trouble. That guy who calls himself Whitebeard's son will probably take the chance to act too… But what I'm most worried about is…"
"Zephyr!"
Garp's voice sank, and his expression immediately turned serious.
"No wonder you brought this up. That guy really does have the strength to become a Warlord. If the Marines choose him when picking new Warlords, then Zephyr…"
"Zephyr-sensei is still hunting pirates out at sea."
Cain took over, slowly revealing the future he already knew.
"If the Marines can accept a pirate who slaughtered an entire ship of Zephyr-sensei students and cut off his arm, he'll lose faith in the entire Marines. Maybe even in the whole world."
"When that happens, no one can say what kind of madness he'll fall into. And that would be far more dangerous than some ordinary pirate."
"Is that so? This old man understands."
Garp immediately shoved the bag of food into Cain's arms.
"You eat first! I'm going to talk to Sengoku right now!"
With that, Garp turned and hurried off in another direction.
Unfortunately, at that exact moment, a commotion suddenly broke out around Ace and Yamato.
A group of people instantly started arguing.
The reason, as it turned out, was that while everyone was helping prepare Whitebeard's body, Yamato had instinctively referred to herself as Kozuki Oden.
Kozuki Oden had died at Kaido's hands.
And Yamato was Kaido's daughter.
There was no way the Whitebeard Pirates could accept that so easily. One person after another began arguing with her.
Even Sabo, standing nearby, was pushed to the side by the shouting crowd and could not get a word in.
Cain saw the chaos and shook his head helplessly. He put the bag of food down on the ground and quickly walked forward, raising his voice toward the arguing crowd.
"ENOUGH, ALL OF YOU! YAMATO, STOP GOING AROUND SAYING YOU'RE KOZUKI ODEN! AND THE REST OF YOU, STOP YELLING ABOUT WHO HAS MORE RIGHT TO SPEAK FOR ODEN'S FAMILY!"
"IN MY OPINION, KOZUKI ODEN WAS AN IDIOT!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Everyone turned toward him at once, their faces filled with disbelief.
Even Ace widened his eyes in shock and blurted out, "Cain, you…!"
Ace's voice was full of disbelief.
His connection with Kozuki Oden had only come through their positions in the Whitebeard Pirates.
He had only heard stories of Oden's life, yet even that had already filled him with respect.
He never imagined Cain would speak so bluntly, even calling Oden an idiot outright.
The Whitebeard Pirates around them were even more furious.
One by one, they clenched their fists and surged forward, shouting that they were going to teach Cain a painful lesson.
Even Yamato, standing nearby, was angered by the insult and instinctively moved to attack Cain.
"Don't you dare say that about him!"
Seeing this, Cain moved lightly through the restless pirates, dodging between them with ease.
At the same time, he struck back with a rapid series of crisp slaps.
Pap! Pap! Pap!
The sound rang especially clearly amid the chaos.
Thus descended the bitch slap!
Wherever his hand flashed, the pirates at the front were slapped flying one after another.
They stumbled and crashed to the ground, unable to get back up for a while.
Just as Yamato's attack was about to land, Cain shifted his footwork and suddenly hid behind Ace.
Without hesitation, he kicked Ace straight toward Yamato.
Seeing Ace flying directly at her, Yamato was caught off guard. She instinctively stopped her attack, but she could not fully control her momentum.
The two collided and inevitably tumbled to the ground, with Yamato landing directly on top of Ace.
Cain saw this and instinctively took two steps back, his eyes glinting with the smug look of someone enjoying the show.
Yamato was straddling Ace.
Their noses were almost touching, their breaths mingling, the distance between them shockingly close.
Even Yamato, who usually referred to herself as a man, could not help flushing slightly when she ended up this close to Ace.
This situation seemed to be because Ace was…
Cain cleared his throat, breaking the strange awkwardness.
"Yamato, there's nothing wrong with admiring Oden or looking up to him."
"But you have to remember this at all times. You are Yamato, not Kozuki Oden."
"Just like right now. With you and Ace this close together, who do you think he's seeing? The living, one-of-a-kind person in front of him, or Kozuki Oden, the shogun of Wano who exists only in stories?"
"And from now on, what are the rest of us supposed to call you? Kozuki Oden, or Yamato?"
Those words fell over them like a bucket of cold water, snapping both of them out of their embarrassment.
Their cheeks flushed red.
Their eyes darted away, neither daring to meet the other's gaze. They hurriedly pushed themselves apart, moving as if they had been burned.
Yamato lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously poking at each other.
She stole a glance at Ace beside her, whose face was just as red, and her voice became as thin as a mosquito's hum.
"I…"
Cain completely ignored the blush and awkwardness still lingering on their faces and continued.
"Yamato, you need to understand something. Inheriting someone's spirit has never meant turning yourself into that person."
"Take Luffy, for example. He runs around every day shouting that he's going to become the Pirate King, but has he ever once called himself Roger?"
"And Ace, you're the same. Even if you inherit Whitebeard's will, you'll never become the next Whitebeard. You are Portgas D. Ace, and there is no one else like you."
His tone shifted, and his gaze settled on Ace with a pointed edge.
"Ace, I remember your old dream was to make your name known across the world and surpass the Pirate King, wasn't it? But don't forget, Kozuki Oden was also a member of Roger's crew."
"If you respect Oden this much, then what about Roger, the man who was able to bring Oden under his flag?"
"How are you supposed to face that man—the one who truly stood at the top of all pirates—and then surpass him?"
Each word struck the heart of the matter like a hammer blow, crashing into both of them.
Yamato lowered her head, her restless fingers finally going still.
Ace furrowed his brows. His mouth opened as though he wanted to argue, but every word caught in his throat.
In the end, all he managed was a dry, helpless sound.
"I…"
The two of them fell completely silent.
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