"Shanks, are you listening?"
Luffy leaned right up to the microphone and shouted into it.
Cain immediately smacked him on the head.
"Idiot, this is a recording. Just talk into the microphone normally."
"Oh. Like this?"
Luffy blinked, scratched his head, then leaned toward the microphone again with an unusually serious expression.
He took a deep breath.
"Shanks! I heard you're getting married, and it's to Big Sis Makino!
"Cain told me getting married means two people have a huge banquet and then stay together forever!
"So you and Big Sis Makino better stay happy forever, eat lots of meat, and drink lots of booze!
"I really want to rush over and join the banquet too, but I still have to keep the promise I made with you. I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King!
"When I become the greatest pirate ever, I'll come back to see you. And when I do, I'm eating the biggest wedding cake you can find to make up for missing this one!
"So make sure you're both happy!"
After Luffy finished the long speech, Cain could only rub his forehead.
He had spent ages explaining marriage to this idiot, and Luffy had finally managed to understand the basic idea.
Naturally, his attention had still ended up focused almost entirely on the banquet and the food.
Still, the blessing itself was completely sincere.
And very, very Luffy.
"Is that good enough, Cain?"
Luffy lowered the microphone and turned toward him with a serious expression.
Cain nodded with a smile.
"Yeah. That'll do."
He glanced at the time.
"I should get going."
"That soon?"
Luffy looked surprised.
"It's not that urgent," Cain explained. "I just want to leave early in case something goes wrong."
"I still need to bring Uncle Rayleigh with me, and we have to swing by the Sabaody Archipelago to pick up Big Sis Shakky."
Rayleigh immediately complained from the side.
"Hey, hey! Why did you suddenly stop calling me Master again?"
Cain completely ignored him.
Luffy did not try to stop them either.
"Then I'll see you in two years!"
He waved enthusiastically.
"And remember to bring the Merry with you when you come back!"
"I'll show you how strong I've become after two years. I'm definitely not losing next time!"
Cain grinned and deliberately provoked him.
"Then you'd better train hard."
"Don't embarrass yourself by getting knocked out with one hit again."
"That won't happen!"
Luffy shouted back while waving both arms.
Cain and Rayleigh exchanged a brief nod before turning and leaving the island.
…
High in the sky, Cain had already transformed into a massive dragon.
One claw was carrying Rayleigh.
Rayleigh had been complaining nonstop about the humiliating method of transportation ever since they took off.
Cain ignored most of it.
"So we're heading to Sabaody now?"
"Did you contact Big Sis Shakky?"
Rayleigh pushed his glasses up.
"Shakky can leave whenever."
Then he glanced at the landscape rushing past beneath them.
"But your speed has improved quite a bit, hasn't it?"
"Yeah. I'm getting more comfortable with the ability."
Cain's voice rumbled from his dragon form.
"I'm about twice as fast as before."
"Otherwise, there's no way I could've reached that island so quickly."
"Why?"
Rayleigh's mouth curved upward.
"That's good enough."
"Then come with me somewhere first."
"If Shanks is getting married, there's one person we absolutely can't forget."
His smile became increasingly mysterious.
"That guy is extremely important to Shanks."
"If he misses the wedding, we'll lose half the fun."
Cain lowered his enormous dragon head and gave Rayleigh a sideways look.
Even with a dragon's face, his expression somehow managed to look deeply suspicious.
…
Late that night, in the New World.
Karai Bari Island.
Territory belonging to one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—
Buggy the Star Clown.
Buggy's organization was still in its early stages.
He had not yet developed enough courage to establish himself deep inside another Emperor's sphere of influence, so for the time being, he had remained relatively close to the first half of the Grand Line while slowly expanding his business.
That also meant he was not particularly far from the Red Line.
A voyage that normally would have taken one or two days had taken Cain and Rayleigh only half a day thanks to Rayleigh's precise directions and Cain flying there in a straight line.
They arrived quietly in the middle of the night without alerting anyone below.
Cain returned to human form and stood atop a flame cloud, staring at the enormous tent in the distance with its gigantic clown emblem.
"So it really is Buggy…"
He looked toward Rayleigh.
"Don't tell me you actually think of him as a clown and want him performing at the wedding."
"Is that the 'fun' you were talking about?"
"Or do you just want to watch him and Shanks start arguing on the spot?"
Cain frowned.
"Is that guy even reliable?"
"Are you sure he won't run his mouth and tell everyone?"
Rayleigh smiled and shook his head.
"He won't."
"His relationship with Shanks may look terrible, but they were brothers who once trusted each other with their lives."
"He wouldn't do something that dishonorable."
"Besides, they grew up together."
"There are very few people in this world around whom Shanks can genuinely drop his guard and speak from the heart."
Cain immediately slapped a hand over Rayleigh's mouth.
"Please stop talking!"
"Keep going and you're going to summon half the damn sea here."
While complaining aloud, Cain thought about it.
As far as friends went, Buggy definitely counted.
Even if that friendship occasionally seemed rather one-sided from Shanks' perspective.
Of course, Shanks also had a certain World's Strongest Swordsman as a friend.
Cain had absolutely no desire to waste even more time searching for Mihawk.
For one thing, he had no idea which part of the sea Mihawk was currently drifting through.
Finding him would take far too long.
Forget it.
One person after another…
No wonder proper weddings usually involved sending formal invitations well in advance, just like they did in Totto Land.
Unfortunately, Shanks' situation was far too complicated.
His background involved the Celestial Dragons and the Figarland family.
There was no way they could hold a grand public ceremony.
Cain sighed and looked down toward the island.
Well, they were already here.
They might as well take Buggy with them.
Rayleigh was right about one thing.
No matter how awful Buggy and Shanks' relationship looked on the surface, they had still spent years together aboard the same ship.
That was exactly why Buggy remained such an important person to Shanks.
Back then, Shanks had sincerely invited Buggy to sail with him.
Buggy had refused.
And Shanks had never completely forgotten that.
Buggy had said things like—
"I can't stand you!"
"There's no way I'm sailing with you!"
But Shanks understood.
Buggy's mouth might be vicious, yet deep down he had never truly been able to let go of the past or of the Roger Pirates.
That was why Shanks continued thinking about him, worrying about him, and occasionally feeling helpless about the whole thing.
If Shanks saw Buggy, one of his oldest friends, attending his wedding…
he would undoubtedly be happy.
And with Rayleigh personally vouching for him, Buggy probably would not leak anything either.
Rayleigh originally wanted to go down and speak to Buggy properly.
Cain immediately rejected the idea.
They had already spent half a day getting here.
Cain was counting every hour left before the wedding.
He had no time for a long explanation.
Much easier to kidnap Buggy first.
They could explain everything on the way.
So Cain abandoned Rayleigh in the sky and dove straight toward the island.
Less than three minutes later—
A gigantic dragon shot back into the night sky.
Buggy, who had been sleeping peacefully inside his tent, never even had time to understand what was happening before Cain's dragon claw grabbed him by the back of his collar and lifted him into the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
"WHY ARE YOU HERE AGAIN, YOU DAMN BRAT?!"
"YOU BASTARD!!!"
Buggy's screams tore through the night.
He struggled wildly, kicking his legs through the air, but Cain's claw did not move an inch.
Cain casually scooped Rayleigh out of the sky with his other claw.
Buggy never even noticed him.
"GUYS! SAVE ME!!!"
He shouted desperately toward the island below.
A moment later, Buggy suddenly clamped both hands over his own mouth.
No.
Shouting for help like that was far too damaging to his dignity.
Still, he continued desperately yelling instructions.
"Attack this brat!"
"Fire the cannons!"
"Shoot him!"
"Where are the guns?!"
Unfortunately, his followers below interpreted the scene very differently.
"So Lord Buggy is that close with Pink Beast Cain?!"
"They're playing together in the sky!"
"Listen to how loudly he's shouting!"
"He must be having the time of his life!"
"Exactly!"
"I can't believe Lord Buggy prepared such an incredible surprise for us this late at night!"
"To casually touch a monster like the one who fought Kaido—what courage!"
"That's our captain!"
The entire island erupted in cheers and thunderous applause.
"LONG LIVE LORD BUGGY!"
"LORD BUGGY IS AMAZING!"
Even Cain was rendered speechless.
As expected of Buggy.
The imagination of his followers was truly terrifying.
Buggy himself went completely blank.
He stared down at the cheering crowd.
His mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
'How does this look like I'm playing?!'
'I'm obviously being kidnapped!'
'ARE ALL OF YOU BLIND?!'
Buggy twisted desperately in Cain's grip while screaming down at them.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MORONS BABBLING ABOUT?!"
"SHOOT HIM ALREADY!"
"ONCE WE GET TOO HIGH, I'LL BE OUT OF RANGE!"
"IT'LL BE TOO LATE!"
But the night wind tore his words apart before they reached the island.
By the time the fragments reached his followers and passed through their collective imagination, the message had somehow transformed into—
"Lord Buggy says he wants to fly even higher!"
"And don't let the applause stop too soon!"
"AS EXPECTED OF LORD BUGGY!"
The cheering became even louder.