At this point, the only reason Cain could still stay airborne at all was because he was desperately combining his flame clouds with Geppo.
Transform into a dragon?
Absolutely not.
Not with Gryphon in Shanks' hand and that look in his eyes—the kind that said he wanted to carve Cain into bite-sized pieces.
If Cain showed even the slightest sign of transforming, he had a horrible feeling Shanks would cut him in half before the transformation was complete.
Cain barely slipped past another slash.
Then Shanks used Bella herself as a foothold and launched straight at him.
Gryphon went directly for Cain's neck.
He was genuinely trying to take his head off.
Cain had no choice but to block.
The problem was, Shanks apparently had no respect whatsoever for proper swordsmanship.
Fine, he used a sword.
Cain could accept the slashing.
But why the hell was he also kicking Cain in the face every chance he got?!
Cain could defend himself for a while, but there was no way he could keep it up forever.
Before long, his face was covered in bruises. Blood ran from his nose to his chin, and the swelling had gotten so bad that he was barely recognizable.
Shanks gave him absolutely no room to breathe.
Slash after slash.
Kick after kick.
Cain was driven backward again and again until there was nowhere left to retreat.
Bella watched anxiously.
"Papa, are you okay?"
Cain forced himself to give her a reassuring look.
"Don't worry, Bella…"
"Papa's just playing with Grandpa—"
He didn't even get to finish.
Shanks slashed again.
This one didn't come downward.
It didn't sweep from side to side either.
It came upward.
Straight from below.
And the tip of Gryphon was aimed directly between Cain's legs.
There was a murderous determination behind it that made the intended outcome very clear.
Shanks had heard Bella call this bastard Papa.
Then he remembered what Cain had supposedly "done" to Uta earlier.
What right did this little bastard have to be called that?!
Shanks gritted his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
Each word came out through clenched jaws.
"You."
"Don't."
"Deserve."
"It."
"BELLA, CLOSE YOUR EYES!!!"
Gryphon had already sliced through the fabric at Cain's crotch.
At that moment, only one thought remained in Cain's mind.
'It's over.'
'It's really over.'
Cain hadn't felt this close to death in a very long time.
But in that split second, just before his dignity as a man was about to leave this world forever—
whether it was an explosion of survival instinct or some buried potential finally being cornered hard enough to awaken—
his Haki moved on its own.
The world slowed.
Shanks' sword slowed.
The wind slowed.
Even the waves below seemed to move in slow motion.
Cain could suddenly perceive every path his Haki took through his body, every place it gathered, every current flowing through him.
Realization struck.
'Of course!'
'A life-or-death crisis always comes with an opportunity!'
Wild joy erupted inside him.
He almost started grinning.
'Here it comes!'
'This is my breakthrough!'
'I'm making a comeback!'
BANG!
CLANG!
BOOM—!
Then Shanks knocked him straight into the sea.
Beckman, who had been watching the entire fight, narrowed his eyes when he saw what Cain had just done.
"That was…"
He actually looked surprised.
"Didn't expect him to learn it this quickly."
Rockstar stared blankly.
"Learn what?"
Lucky Roux explained from beside him.
"Defensive Conqueror's Haki."
"Using Conqueror's Haki like a shield."
He whistled.
"The kid's got talent. He only trained with the boss for a few days and he can already use it."
Hongo immediately cut him off.
"Is now really the time to praise him?"
"Go stop the boss! He's about to use something big!"
Everyone looked up.
And—
Oh, hell.
The sky, which had been clear before Cain and Shanks began clashing, had already grown dark.
Clouds had gathered overhead and were now twisting together into a massive vortex, as though someone were stirring the entire sky.
At the very center of that vortex—
was Shanks.
He came crashing downward from the air, straight toward Cain in the sea.
Gryphon was glowing with an intense red light.
The killing intent rolling off Shanks was so vicious that even veteran members of his crew felt chills run down their backs.
Their hair stood on end.
If they didn't stop him now, Cain was genuinely going to die.
In an instant, the entire Red Hair crew moved.
Those who could jump, jumped.
Those who could run, ran.
Those who could roll—
rolled.
Everyone rushed toward Shanks at once.
But Shanks had already poured both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki into his blade.
By the time the crew's voices finally cut through the wind—
"BOSS! STOP!!!"
—the slash had already begun.
Shanks hesitated for the tiniest instant.
But the attack was already released.
Once something like that was unleashed, there was no simply pulling it back.
Everyone's faces went pale.
"Cain's dead."
Then—
A burst of Conqueror's Haki exploded upward from the sea.
It wrapped itself around Shanks from a distance.
The technique was still crude.
Its range was nowhere near Shanks' level.
But it worked.
At that moment, almost all of Shanks' Conqueror's Haki was concentrated into his blade, leaving very little around his body as protection.
And with the entire Red Hair crew suddenly charging at him at once, his concentration slipped for the briefest instant.
His head buzzed.
His sword path shifted.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The slash tore into the sea.
A wave thousands of meters high erupted upward.
The ocean itself split apart.
Water surged violently to both sides, exposing reefs on the seabed below.
The sea did not fully settle for nearly three minutes.
Cain floated in the water, gasping desperately for air.
He had almost died.
Seriously.
If he hadn't awakened ranged Conqueror's Haki at the last possible second…
If Shanks' defensive Haki hadn't left that tiny opening…
If the Red Hair Pirates hadn't shouted and bought him those few fractions of a second…
and if Cain hadn't managed to unleash Human Path Pro Max to disrupt Shanks' aim—
he would currently be a corpse floating on the surface.
Cain lowered his head and let the churning seawater wash over him.
'That was way too damn close.'
He never wanted to experience another mid-battle breakthrough like that for as long as he lived.
He really needed to keep more trump cards in reserve.
Because relying on breakthroughs that only happened while dancing on the edge of death…
Cain looked down at the massive tear in the crotch of his pants.
His mouth twitched violently.
If he had been even a fraction of a second slower—
his and Uta's future happiness might have been permanently destroyed right here.
…
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
By the time Cain was dragged out of the sea, his head was already covered in lumps.
He was hauled back to the bar and immediately bowed toward the stone-faced Shanks.
"I'M SORRY!"
"Boss, don't just keep going after Cain."
The crew tried to mediate from the side.
"This whole thing is… kind of complicated to explain."
After hearing his men explain that it had all been a misunderstanding, Shanks rubbed his forehead.
After all—
for a while there, he really had intended to kill Cain.
Now that he had calmed down, all those little inconsistencies in Uta's performance—the things his enraged brain had unconsciously ignored—suddenly made perfect sense.
Shanks rubbed his temples, stood up, and looked at Cain.
"Even if it was just a misunderstanding, there was a lot about this that seriously pissed me off."
"Don't ever do something like this again."
"Otherwise…"
He picked up a fruit knife from nearby and casually flicked his wrist.
The banana in Monster's hand was instantly sliced lengthwise into eight perfect pieces.
Shanks stared at Cain.
"You'll end up like this banana."
Cain shuddered instinctively.
"And you lot."
Shanks turned toward his crew next.
He walked down the line and gave every single one of them a hard knock on the head.
"Hmph!"
"It's bad enough that Uta and Cain were screwing around."
"Why were all of you encouraging them?!"
"Even if Uta was the one who asked…"
He shook his head.
"Seriously."
"Well…"
Beckman spoke from the side.
"Maybe this was what Uta meant earlier when she said she wanted to test you as a father."
Shanks froze.
That landed hard.
Uta really had said she wanted to see whether he was qualified to be a proper father.
The anger inside him immediately dropped by more than half.
Then, strangely enough, he started feeling a little sorry for Cain.
The kid had practically risked his life helping Uta conduct her test.
Cain stared at the sudden look of sympathy on Shanks' face and became deeply uncomfortable.
'What the hell is that expression supposed to mean?!'
After silently pitying Cain for a moment, Shanks finally asked why they had gone through all this trouble in the first place.
The Red Hair Pirates immediately began explaining.
"We missed you, boss!"
"You haven't touched alcohol in days. We were worried something was wrong with you!"
"Exactly! Drinking just isn't the same without the captain!"
"And Uta ordered us to do all this!"
"We couldn't exactly refuse her!"
'So this was all because you wanted to drink?!'
Cain turned toward the crewmen standing there with equally huge lumps on their heads.
'You guys actually came up with an excuse that stupid?'
'There's no way Shanks is buying this.'
Beckman caught Cain's suspicious expression.
He merely gave him a wicked little smile.
Then—
Shanks actually thought about it.
And sighed.
"Yeah…"
"It has been a while since I drank."
He glanced outside.
"Makino's out shopping with Uta anyway, and apparently she's staying over at Dadan's tonight…"
"So…"
Having successfully justified it to himself, Shanks took the bottle from beside Beckman.
He poured himself a full glass.
Then drank it in one go.
A second later—
Plop.
Shanks collapsed flat on the floor.
Cain stared.
The Red Hair Pirates immediately crowded around him.
They looked toward Cain with the smug expressions of experienced veterans teaching a clueless youngster.
"You're still too young, kid."
"What was wrong with that excuse?"
"We never said we could guarantee he'd forgive us."
"But we could guarantee he'd drink."
Hongo raised an empty medicine bottle and gave it a little shake.
"So I added something beforehand."
"With that dosage, he'll sleep straight through until tomorrow morning."
Cain's mouth twitched violently.
"You guys…"
"You really know Shanks way too well."