Cain emerged from Uta World and slowly opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.
He felt completely refreshed.
Every trace of exhaustion had vanished after that sleep.
Sitting up, he looked toward the person hiding her head beneath the blankets.
Uta cautiously peeked out, her cheeks burning red and her voice barely louder than a whisper.
"Um… sorry to trouble you with this…"
Cain looked at her tenderly, then glanced at the enormous wet patch on the sheets and failed to suppress a laugh.
"It's no trouble. But… how is there so much?"
"You're still talking about it?!"
Uta kicked him squarely in the face and sent him tumbling off the bed.
The movement immediately sent a tingling sensation through her entire body, and a soft cry escaped her lips.
"Kyaah…♡"
Her body was not particularly tired, but everything that happened inside Uta World had apparently left her nerves far more sensitive than usual. Even the slightest stimulation was difficult to bear.
Breathing heavily, Uta glared at Cain.
"This is all your fault! You insisted on putting it ins—"
"Okay, okay! I won't say anything else."
Cain slowly sat up.
Remembering some of the things he had done while "resisting" Uta earlier, he unconsciously licked his lips, only to meet her mortified, furious stare.
"Uh… I'll find some spare bedding."
He turned toward a nearby cupboard, rummaged through it, and pulled out a clean set of sheets and blankets.
Then he looked back at Uta, who remained curled up on the bed.
"Should I pick you up while I change them?"
Uta stared at him warily.
"Do you promise you won't touch me anywhere weird?"
"I promise."
After hesitating, she held out both arms.
Cain approached as carefully as possible, but the moment his hand brushed her lower leg—
"Don't touch there!"
Uta recoiled as though she had been electrocuted, reacting even more violently than she had inside Uta World.
Cain immediately released her and stood there helplessly.
"C-can you move by yourself?"
Uta tried, then shook her head miserably.
"I can't…"
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
They stared at each other.
Cain suddenly remembered something.
"Where's Bella? Could she support you?"
Uta's eyes brightened.
"I think she's with Shanks and the others…"
"I'll go find her."
Cain reacted as though he had been granted a pardon. He shakily opened the door, then looked back over his shoulder.
"Stay here and wait for me."
"Come back quickly…"
Uta gazed pitifully after him.
Cain closed the door, took a deep breath, and headed toward the bar's main room.
Shanks and the others were indeed still drinking.
The tables were covered in a complete mess, but Bella was nowhere to be seen.
"Cain! Perfect timing!"
Shanks raised his glass.
"Want a drink?"
Cain waved him off.
"Have you seen Bella?"
"Bella?"
Beckman exhaled a ring of smoke and thought for a moment.
"She ate all the ice in the bar, so Makino and Dadan went out to buy more. But Shanks and these idiots couldn't wait, so they started asking Bella to chill the alcohol for them."
"Exactly!"
One of the crew leaned over.
"That little girl's control over ice is incredible! She only has to stand beside a barrel and—whoosh!—the whole thing is perfectly chilled!"
Shanks nodded with a grin.
"The taste of properly chilled alcohol is absolutely—"
"What happened afterward?" Cain interrupted.
"Afterward…"
Beckman frowned, trying to remember.
"I think she went over to the barrels."
A terrible feeling rose in Cain's chest.
"Which barrel?"
"The large one in the backyard…"
Cain immediately turned and sprinted outside.
Shanks and Beckman exchanged a look before following him.
"What's—"
The words caught in Shanks' throat the moment he entered the backyard.
Inside an open wine barrel, Bella's entire cloud body was submerged in alcohol.
Her normally pale surface had turned an unnatural pink, and she was unconsciously blowing bubbles.
"Hic~"
Bella let out a tiny drunken burp.
With trembling hands, Cain lifted her from the barrel.
Bella opened her eyes dazedly. When she saw him, she broke into a wide smile.
"Papa… so many Papas…"
Then she sneezed.
Whoosh!
A wave of freezing air instantly turned Cain into an ice statue.
"C-Cain?" Shanks called tentatively.
Crack.
The ice shattered.
Cain slowly turned around, his gaze colder than a polar blizzard.
"SHANKS!"
"Wait!"
Shanks hurriedly backed away.
"Let me explain!"
"Explain what?"
Cain advanced one step at a time.
"You made a child chill your alcohol?"
"We only asked her to cool it a little…"
"And she ended up inside the barrel?"
"She must have fallen in by accident—"
"By accident?"
Cain raised the drunken Bella in his arms.
"You call this an accident?"
Shanks fell silent.
Beckman extinguished his cigar and, in a rare display, lowered his head.
"This… was definitely our mistake."
"A mistake?"
Cain sneered.
"She's barely a month old, and you let her near alcohol?"
"We never gave her any!" one crew member hurriedly protested. "She fell in by herself!"
"Then why was she beside the barrel in the first place?" Cain shot back. "When you asked her to chill the alcohol, did any of you remember that she's still a child?"
The crew exchanged uncomfortable glances, guilt gradually appearing in their eyes.
Shanks rubbed his nose.
"You're right. We were wrong…"
"You think admitting it is enough? Cain, beat them up."
Everyone spun around.
No one was there.
Uta was still lying in bed, but she had heard everything happening outside and was now shouting furiously through a megaphone.
"They dared let Bella drink alcohol," Uta said, emphasizing every word. "Cain, send them flying."
Shanks opened his mouth.
"Uta, actually—"
"I order all of you," Uta interrupted, "to form a line!"
Something bizarre happened.
The crew members who had been exchanging uncertain looks reacted before their minds could catch up.
Nearly tripping over one another, they rushed toward the doorway and arranged themselves in a perfectly straight line.
Cain gently placed Bella on a nearby chair and rolled his wrists.
"So you all like drinking, huh?"
He raised his weapon.
"Then go drink as much seawater as you want!"
"Thunder Bagua!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several graceful arcs streaked through the sky before plunging into the sea one after another.
Cain swung with tremendous enthusiasm, launching one pirate with every strike.
When Beckman's turn arrived, he drew deeply from his cigar and sighed.
"This really was our fault. Go ahead."
Cain showed no mercy and sent him flying with one blow.
Before long, only Shanks and Monster remained in line.
Shanks immediately shielded Monster behind him.
"Wait! Monster is a monkey! He doesn't drink alcohol!"
Cain tilted his head and lowered his weapon.
"Oh. I almost forgot."
Shanks sighed in relief.
After all, they truly had been in the wrong.
Earlier, when they beat Cain and he refused to fight back, they had been justified because of Uta.
Now Cain had every reason to beat them because of Bella, and they could not retaliate.
What went around truly did come around.
"In that case, you can take his punishment too."
Cain sneered and pushed Monster into Shanks' arms.
"You're Bella's grandpa, yet you let your crew behave like this?"
Shanks was so guilty that he simply closed his eyes.
"Fine, fine. Hit me."
"Don't worry."
Cain raised his fists.
"I won't use Thunder Bagua this time. I'll try another technique."
"It isn't as powerful as the original version, of course, and I'll control the force so I don't damage the bar."
"However, you'll also need to demonstrate how to defend yourself with Conqueror's Haki."
"Be careful not to let the impact reach the building."
Shanks cautiously opened one eye.
"What technique?"
"Infinite Fist Bone! Oraoraoraora!"
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Shanks immediately took flight, sailed across the backyard, and landed with perfect accuracy in the sea.
At that moment, the Windmill Village mayor, who was preparing to rest, noticed the countless glowing streaks crossing the distant sky.
"How strange," he muttered. "There have been an awful lot of shooting stars lately."
…
"Yes! Operation successful!"
Cain and Uta high-fived in celebration.
They had finally gotten rid of Shanks and the others.
After all, they needed some way to deal with the huge wet patch on the sheets without anyone noticing.
Bella also needed cleaning up after getting that drunk.
Cain and Uta had understood each other's intentions in an instant and used the situation as an excuse to solve both problems at once.
Makino was away, and the two of them were now alone in the bar.
They could finally take care of everything without worrying about being discovered.
"Still…"
Cain looked down at Uta, who was clinging to his back.
"Is Bella really going to be okay like this?"
Uta had wrapped herself around his arm from behind.
Her two small hands covered his larger ones, guiding him as he gripped both ends of Bella's cloud body.
The pale pink cloud twisted and stretched between Cain's hands like a wet cloth being wrung dry, while alcohol dripped steadily onto the ground.
"She'll be fine," Uta explained while directing his movements. "She did the same thing when I gave her fruit juice before. As long as she doesn't freeze the liquid inside herself, we can just wring it out."
Cain allowed her to move his hands and muttered,
"You seem strangely experienced at this…"
"Of course."
"Uuu…"
Bella let out a dazed, muffled complaint.
"Mama… Papa… don't squeeze so hard…"
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