"Do we really have to go this far?"
Shanks' red hair had been combed until it practically gleamed, and he had been dressed in an entirely new outfit.
He stared down at the extravagantly luxurious clothes covering his body, then suddenly raised his voice.
"More importantly, where the hell did you find this outfit?!"
The clothing was certainly lavish enough to suit one of the Four Emperors, but it was not something an ordinary person could ever have obtained.
It was the exact outfit Shanks had worn when he left the Holy Land of Mary Geoise all those years ago!
He clearly remembered secretly hiding it—
"Under the boards beneath your bed, of course!"
Although Uta found the outfit strangely familiar, she had no idea of the history behind it. She simply wanted to dress Shanks properly for once.
Her father was one of the Four Emperors, yet he normally looked far too untidy. Compared with all the refined grandeur she had witnessed in Totto Land, his usual appearance was hopeless.
After searching everywhere, this was the only outfit she found that seemed worthy of his current status.
Uta planted her hands on her hips and declared confidently,
"Besides, you're meeting Makino! You can't show up looking like some unwashed mess!"
Once Hongo had suggested the idea earlier, everyone aboard the ship had immediately erupted into excitement.
The crew began shouting over one another as they tried to find Shanks a suitable woman.
In the end, every suggestion pointed toward the exact same person.
Makino.
Uta had no objections. In fact, she found the idea extremely interesting.
She was already together with Cain, while Shanks had remained alone all these years. Staying single forever was hardly a solution.
After hearing Uta's reasoning, Shanks thought for a moment before finally smiling and nodding. He straightened the hem of the outfit and genuinely agreed to wear it.
At the same time, as he lowered his gaze, he silently thought,
'Shamrock, if you really are behind this, seeing me dressed like this should draw you out quickly enough.'
As expected, Shanks was far more concerned about Shamrock—the supposed attacker who had struck Cain the previous night—than his own romantic prospects.
At that exact moment, inside Shangrila, the temple of the God's Knights in the Domain of the Gods at Mary Geoise, two sudden sneezes echoed through the halls.
"Achoo! Achoo!"
…
The crew shoved Shanks along until he stiffly began walking toward Makino's bar.
However, so many people crowded around him along the way that Shanks could barely move his arms and legs.
Seeing how uncomfortable he looked, Uta immediately turned around, spread her arms, and planted herself protectively in front of him.
"Everyone, stop!"
Uta frowned and shouted at the noisy crew behind her.
"Back off! Can't you see Shanks is uncomfortable?!"
The pirates laughingly retreated a couple of steps, then immediately began arguing among themselves.
Some insisted that a larger crowd made everything more lively and created the perfect atmosphere.
Others told them to stop interfering, since romance worked best when the two people involved were allowed some privacy.
Before long, the argument turned into playful shoving and wrestling, leaving the scene chaotic but full of life.
Warmth entered Shanks' eyes.
He placed his hand on top of Uta's head and gently ruffled her hair.
"Our Uta really is the most thoughtful."
"Shanks?"
Uta looked up at him in mild surprise.
At that moment, Cain returned from gathering flowers across several mountains for Shanks' date.
The instant he reached the skies above Windmill Village, he saw the Red Hair Pirates wrestling with one another while wearing bizarre expressions.
Standing ahead of them was a man dressed in mysterious, aristocratic clothing, with a face identical to Shanks'.
And that man had one hand resting on Uta's head.
Cain had no idea that Shanks had styled his hair and changed his clothes.
His pupils contracted sharply.
'What the hell is happening?'
"Shamrock? Why is that bastard here?!"
Cain vividly remembered the colors and design of that outfit. He had seen similar clothing on members of the God's Knights only recently.
Combined with a face completely identical to Shanks', the sight instantly ignited Cain's fury. His teeth ground together violently.
The memory of Doflamingo threatening him with Uta was still painfully fresh.
And now the exact same kind of situation was unfolding again.
Uta was even standing protectively in front of the man.
'Did he threaten her?'
'Is that why the Red Hair Pirates are being forced to fight one another?'
After what had happened with Doflamingo and the God's Knights targeting Uta, Cain's immediate reaction to seeing Shanks dressed this way was completely understandable.
"Damn it! He actually followed us all the way to Windmill Village!"
Cain quickly swept his gaze across the area.
"Where's Shanks? What happened to him?"
There was no time to think further.
He immediately turned toward the weapon on his back and shouted,
"Bella! That red-haired man down there isn't your grandpa!"
"Go all out this time. Freeze him, no matter what it takes. We only need to hold him for one second!"
"Understood!"
Bella answered without hesitation and immediately activated Mirage, disguising Cain's body as a faint cloud of mist.
(Note: Mirage becomes extremely easy to disrupt in cold environments or places with heavy moisture, such as a steamy bathroom. Under those conditions, it cannot provide true invisibility.)
Cain tightened his grip on his weapon.
He kicked off with explosive force and shot downward like an arrow, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, he activated Human Path, directly interfering with the man's Observation Haki below.
Cain aimed his weapon firmly at the target's head and gathered every ounce of strength.
They were directly above the entrance to Windmill Village, so Cain did not use Conqueror's Haki for fear of harming innocent people.
He coated only his weapon in Armament Haki.
Under the combined effects of his abilities, the target's Observation Haki perceived attacks surging from every direction.
All that remained within his vision was a distorted blur of cloud and mist, preventing him from locating Cain's true body.
The concealment and sensory interference completely sealed off his awareness.
That was the moment Cain had been waiting for.
Only a few meters remained when he finally saw the target's full figure clearly.
And then he noticed the familiar missing left arm.
Cain's movements abruptly faltered.
His mind went blank.
The violent dive also caused Mirage to collapse, exposing him completely before everyone.
"Cain, what are you—"
Uta began to speak, only to notice the terrifyingly strange expression on his face.
"Oh, Cain. You're back."
Shanks greeted him naturally, although a hint of caution remained in his expression.
Cain's earlier approach had clearly been aimed directly at him.
'Could Cain truly have been placed under Shamrock's control?'
Meanwhile, Cain had already noticed the faint wariness in Shanks' expression.
To Cain, that reaction only became even stronger proof that the man before him was Shamrock in disguise.
He quickly found an explanation for the missing arm as well.
The God's Knights were immortal.
Shamrock could simply cut off one arm and shorten his hair to imitate Shanks. At a glance, almost no one would notice anything unusual.
However…
Cain glared at Shanks' carefully trimmed red hair and luxurious outfit.
His anger instantly surged again.
In front of everyone, he roared,
"How long are you planning to keep pretending?!"
"This disguise is pathetic!"
"Shanks' hair is always a complete mess! It has never been this shiny and perfectly combed!"
"And those clothes—Shanks would never wear anything like that!"
Before anyone could respond, Cain poured even more strength into his arms and swung his weapon straight down toward Shanks' head.