The New World, Sphinx Island.
This was Whitebeard's homeland—and his final resting place.
At the moment, drunken Marines and pirates lay sprawled across the island in every direction, while the air was so thick with alcohol that it almost felt soaked in it.
At the front of the wreckage, a Visual Den Den Mushi was broadcasting the concert live.
"Bwahahahaha! That brat Cain did a pretty good job! I never thought he'd use that Devil Fruit for something like this! If Kaido saw it, he'd probably start crying! Hahahaha!"
Garp laughed uproariously, holding an overflowing cup in one hand while repeatedly slapping Shanks on the shoulder with the other.
He released an earth-shaking belch, then shouted again,
"Burp! Hey, Red-Hair, why'd you stop drinking? Wake up! Tch, this pathetic tolerance isn't even close to Roger's back in the day!"
The moment he finished speaking, Shanks—who had been swaying under the force of Garp's slaps—fell stiffly onto the ground.
Garp glanced at him, pushed him aside with one foot, then hugged his cup and continued watching the performance with great interest.
Before long, his head tilted to one side, and he fell completely asleep while still clutching the wine.
Only after Garp's snoring settled into a steady rhythm did the Red Hair Pirates lying around him begin climbing back to their feet.
Hongo cautiously approached Garp and poked him before sighing with lingering fear.
"Good thing I added enough sedative to his drink beforehand. At the rate he was going, we might've been stuck drinking with him until Luffy set sail again!"
"Hongo, move!"
Shanks' voice suddenly rang out.
He flashed forward, drew Gryphon, and planted himself in front of Hongo.
Garp, who had appeared to be sleeping deeply, abruptly sprang upright and hurled an iron fist straight toward Hongo!
"Boss, what the hell?!"
"He can attack while he's asleep?!"
"That's even more ridiculous than Lucky Roux eating meat in his sleep!"
The crew cried out in alarm.
Shanks caught the punch steadily and stared at Garp, who remained standing perfectly straight despite still having his eyes closed and snoring loudly.
"It's combat instinct carved into his bones."
Shanks slowly returned Gryphon to its sheath and lowered his voice.
"Keep quiet. Let's get out of here as quickly as possible."
The entire crew held their breath and slowly backed away.
Once they were sure they had not disturbed Garp, they immediately turned and fled the area.
On the way, they happened to run into Marco bringing more alcohol.
Hongo hurriedly stopped him and warned,
"Don't go over there! Something's seriously wrong with that old man Garp. According to my estimate, he won't wake up for at least another half hour."
"We need to use this chance to leave. We're handing everyone here over to you."
The moment he finished speaking, the Red Hair Pirates disappeared from sight.
Only after returning to the Red Force did they finally breathe a collective sigh of relief.
One crew member connected the ship's Visual Den Den Mushi and switched to Uta's channel before turning toward Shanks, who stood at the bow.
"Whew, we finally escaped that old monster. Boss, where are we heading next?"
Shanks watched Uta smiling brightly on the screen.
He raised a hand into the sea breeze and gazed toward the distant horizon.
"We're going to the place where all of this began…"
"The East Blue."
…
The Red Line, Mary Geoise.
The Manmayer Family estate, inside Gunko's private quarters.
Uta's concert was playing inside the room.
Gunko pressed one hand against the headphones covering her ears.
Instead of listening to the broadcast, she was playing another song that had recently become popular in the Lower World.
Supposedly, the singer was a skeleton who called himself the Soul King.
She knew very little about the story behind his music, yet for some reason, she genuinely liked it.
The only reason Uta's concert was being shown in the room was because of the person sitting before her.
Gunko looked toward Shamrock, who was seated upright on the sofa opposite her, and finally could not resist asking.
"Commander, why did you come all the way to my home just to watch this?"
Seeing that Gunko continued holding her headphones in place without taking them off, Shamrock shook his head and lowered the volume of the Visual Den Den Mushi.
He then raised his own voice slightly to ensure she could hear him.
"This is a necessary investigation."
"Have you seen Saint Killingham or Saint Somers recently? Both of them have disappeared."
"The Five Elders claim they were dispatched on a secret mission, yet they reassigned members of the God's Knights without obtaining approval from me, their commander. That alone is highly suspicious."
"They erased most of the evidence, but I still managed to uncover a few clues."
After listening to Shamrock's explanation, Gunko shook her head.
"I haven't seen them. But Commander, is this woman the clue you mentioned?"
"Yes."
Shamrock's gaze settled on Uta as she sang freely across the screen.
His voice held unexpected mockery, along with another emotion that was harder to define.
"I never imagined that foolish younger brother of mine would leave behind a child in the outside world."
"What surprises me even more is that such a flower could bloom in a filthy place like the Lower World."
"She's his child?"
Gunko looked startled, then cautiously asked,
"Commander, are you considering bringing her back to the Holy Land?"
"No."
Shamrock shook his head, his tone remaining calm.
"Perhaps she is like her father. Rather than the noble Holy Land, she may prefer that filthy world below."
"Bringing her here would only create unnecessary trouble."
Shanks had already set the precedent.
Even the greatest fool would hesitate to bring someone so deeply connected to him back to Mary Geoise.
"However, the child's identity must never become public," Shamrock continued. "This is merely the result of my private investigation. If the information spreads, it will only create needless unrest within the Holy Land."
With that, Shamrock slowly stood.
He casually picked up Gunko's spare pair of headphones and concluded in the same indifferent tone,
"Since you have no other information, I won't disturb you any longer."
"Oh, and I'm taking these headphones."
…
Above the enormous artificial concert island off the coast of Water 7.
Cain flew in the form of a massive dragon, radiating overwhelming pressure.
His brief appearance during the opening performance had sent the entire audience into a frenzy, but Cain understood that the natural presence of a dragon would only grow heavier the longer he remained nearby.
Even without deliberately releasing it, the pressure would eventually make it difficult for ordinary spectators to breathe.
To avoid interfering with Uta's concert, he had flown higher into the sky and begun circling the island's outer perimeter.
Although the great distance prevented him from seeing the stage clearly, Uta's bright, passionate voice still pierced through the layers of wind and reached his ears without difficulty.
Cain spread his Observation Haki to its absolute limit, locking firmly onto the stage.
He could clearly sense Uta's every movement, along with the relentless waves of cheers and excitement surging throughout the venue.
At that moment, Cain's dragon eyes remained fixed on the distant horizon.
Immense power churned beneath his massive body, gathering strength as he waited for his target to appear.
"Come and get me, Akainu."
---------
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