"Yeah… After that, you started coming to us every few days, but none of us listened to a word of your advice."
Shanks continued, his gaze growing distant.
"You became more and more impulsive. I can't say whether that was good or bad, but the way you charged headfirst into everything certainly made you look more like a pirate!"
"It wasn't until Luffy ate the Gum-Gum Fruit—until I lost this arm and entrusted him with the straw hat—that I finally felt as though the weight pressing on my heart had lifted."
"That was when I told you that if you wanted to find Uta, you needed to become stronger first. Remember?"
"Yeah."
Cain sighed softly.
"After that, training became ingrained in my bones. All I could think about was becoming strong enough to beat the hell out of you someday…"
"I suppose something good came out of it. I gradually regained my composure. Even though I started weighing every decision carefully, I no longer hesitated over everything like I used to."
He paused, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Once I finally reunited with Uta, we agreed that we'd give you a proper beating together."
"So when that day comes, make sure you don't fight back."
"Huh?"
Shanks stared at him and waved his hand repeatedly.
"I thought we agreed on a duel! When did this become me standing there while both of you beat me up?"
"Haha."
Cain gave him a sly grin.
"That depends entirely on how Uta feels about you by then."
Shanks nodded thoughtfully and unconsciously looked up at the sky.
"Uta probably won't hit me too hard… right?"
"After all, I could never bring myself to attack her."
The instant he finished speaking, a hailstone the size of a washbasin came screaming down and struck him squarely on the head.
"Huh?!"
Both men froze.
The sky was perfectly clear, so why had a giant hailstone suddenly appeared?
More importantly, why had it aimed for Shanks with such incredible accuracy?
They quickly surveyed the surroundings and immediately noticed something unusual.
Countless glowing musical notes floated through the air, dancing around them.
Had Uta already arrived?
No, wait—
Shanks abruptly looked toward the sky.
"Uta, come out. You've probably been hiding nearby and watching us for quite a while, haven't you?"
"That's right~"
The clouds suddenly shifted.
Uta was lying on Bella's back high above them, her bare feet swinging idly through the air.
With her chin resting in both hands, she smiled brightly down at the two men.
"I heard everything you said!"
"This place is…"
Cain looked around before blurting out,
"Uta World?"
Neither of them had heard Uta singing, yet their surroundings had changed, and she had managed to conceal herself from both of them.
They could only be inside Uta World.
But…
"When did we enter?"
"Back when we were still in the bar, of course~"
Uta swayed her head proudly.
"Everyone is sleeping soundly inside the bar right now, so naturally, they were all brought in here too."
Bella slowly descended.
Uta flipped over and lay upside down across her cloud body, her head hanging beneath it as her sparkling eyes stared directly at Cain.
"Besides, those attacks you two were using were obviously powerful enough to flatten another mountain."
"I couldn't exactly let you demolish Windmill Village, could I?"
'What an unreasonable ability.'
Even when someone knew how it worked, they could still be pulled inside without realizing it.
As long as the sound reached their ears while they were unprepared, there was almost no way to resist.
It truly was terrifying!
Shanks, meanwhile, immediately caught the most important part.
"Everyone is here?"
He looked up again.
"That's right!"
Beckman's voice came from above.
"And Shanks, you take far too long telling a story. You didn't even finish it properly, so we had to fill Uta in on what happened afterward."
Beckman, Dadan, and the others emerged from the neighboring clouds, casually descending a staircase made from musical notes.
Uta shook her head vigorously, then flipped upright on Bella's back again.
She rubbed both cheeks, bit her lower lip, and stared at Cain.
Only then did Cain notice that the corners of her eyes were slightly red.
Uta pretended not to care and looked directly into his eyes.
"I never knew Cain had thought so much about me when I wasn't there."
"I'm so touched… and so happy!"
"Uta wants to hear more! Lots and lots more!"
"Bella wants to hear too!" the ice cloud immediately agreed.
Cain looked at them, then slowly turned toward Shanks.
The man's face had turned completely black, and his back teeth were grinding loudly.
'Damn it!'
Shanks had only brought up Cain's first use of Conqueror's Haki to help the brat focus on his training.
How had it somehow become a story that made Uta like him even more?!
Cain hurriedly retreated under his murderous glare and desperately searched for a way to change the subject.
Then his gaze fell upon Uta's bare feet hanging in the air.
Thinking he had found an escape, he immediately asked,
"Uta, why aren't you wearing shoes?"
He regretted the question almost instantly.
Uta was still overwhelmed by how much Cain had done for her, but now embarrassment suddenly took over.
She sat upright and, in front of everyone, stretched one foot toward Cain while nervously wiggling her toes.
"Th-that's because…"
"I remembered you saying you were pretty interested in my feet…"
"And when we were together in the bath…"
"You seemed to enjoy yourself."
"I can't exactly walk around barefoot in the real world, so I thought that while we were here… I could try it…"
The moment Uta finished, she covered her face with both hands.
A deep blush spread across her cheeks, and clouds of steam began rising from the top of her head.
Although Cain was delighted to see Uta so embarrassed, he hurriedly waved his hands.
"I didn't! That isn't what happened! You were clearly the one who—"
He froze halfway through the sentence.
No matter how quietly Uta spoke, Shanks and his crew could hear every word perfectly.
'It's over.'
Cain fell into despair.
"Feet… interested… enjoyed himself… bath…"
Shanks' broken voice drifted over, each word forced through tightly clenched teeth.
Cain shuddered.
"So…"
"You've already seen everything you should and shouldn't have seen?"
"Uh… um… well…"
Cain could not force out an answer.
Shanks' eyes darkened with understanding.
"So it really did happen."
At that moment, dark auras rose from every member of the Red Hair Pirates.
"You played with Uta's feet?!"
They drew their weapons and advanced toward Cain one slow step at a time, their looming shadows swallowing him whole.
"This is the world Uta created, right?" one pirate asked sinisterly while licking the edge of his blade.
"We should be able to attack with everything we've got. No one can actually die here!"
"Exactly! We can finally beat the hell out of this rotten brat!"
"I've been holding back for far too long!"
"Hey, hey! None of you need to get involved!"
Cain retreated as the black auras surrounding them grew thicker.
"We don't need to?"
The pirates exchanged glances before turning toward him in perfect unison.
"What do you think?"
Cain's mouth twitched.
He hurriedly glanced toward Dadan.
Right.
Even if no one could die inside Uta World, the mountain bandits could not possibly stop the Red Hair Pirates.
He turned desperately toward Uta.
Unfortunately, she was still lost in her earlier happiness and embarrassment.
Her cheeks remained bright red, her eyes drifting aimlessly as she failed to notice the danger around him.
The circle closed tighter and tighter.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Cain's screams echoed endlessly through Uta World.
"Stop it, all of you!"
Uta finally snapped back to reality and shouted.
A moment later, the Red Hair Pirates' screams joined Cain's.
Luffy's demonic singing began looping inside their ears again, viciously contaminating their minds!
"You're not allowed to treat Cain like that!"
Uta immediately pulled Cain's head against her chest and held him protectively.
The moment she did so, however, she realized that she had just publicly staked her claim on him in front of everyone.
Her cheeks became unbearably hot.
She instinctively covered her face, yet continued peeking at Cain through the gaps between her fingers.
Cain nestled into Uta's embrace, surrounded by her warmth and faint familiar scent.
He closed his eyes.
All the hardship and waiting he had endured flashed through his mind—the days he had gritted his teeth and kept going, and the lonely nights spent traveling toward a reunion that had once seemed impossibly distant.
At that moment, all of it transformed into an unprecedented sense of peace and happiness.
Cain unconsciously snuggled closer.
An irrepressible smile formed on his lips as he silently told her,
'Having you beside me for the rest of my life… really is wonderful.'
The tender scene moved even Dadan and the mountain bandits to tears.
However—
The moment itself might have been heartwarming, but the final smile on Cain's face looked completely different to every member of the Red Hair Pirates.
It was irritating beyond words.
And unbearably smug.
"Damn it…"
Everyone turned toward Shanks in unison.
Under their collective stare, Shanks grew visibly uncomfortable.
He could only nod along with them while silently thinking,
'Sooner or later, I'm going to beat this brat properly.'
'Enjoy this little taste of happiness while it lasts. This is the final kindness you'll receive.'
'Because what comes next is your demonic, hellish, terrifying, despair-inducing, deathly, abyssal, dark, ultimate, invincible super-training course!'