"Ugh… what the hell was that dream? That was way too disturbing."
Cain frowned as he muttered to himself, still trying to shake the bizarre images from his head.
Then he suddenly felt something tighten around his waist.
Looking down, he found Uta lying on her side beside him, one arm wrapped securely around his body as she slept peacefully.
Cain glanced around the room. A basin of water and folded towels had been neatly placed beside the bedding, along with the bandages she had removed from him and hadn't yet had time to clean up.
It was obvious who had been taking care of him these past several days.
"You've had a rough few days too, Uta. Sorry for making you worry."
Cain lowered his voice and gently ran a hand over her hair, intending to simply lie there and watch her sleep for a while.
Perhaps the movement disturbed her, or maybe it was because Ace's screaming next door had finally stopped, but Uta slowly opened her eyes.
The moment she saw Cain looking back at her, a flash of happiness appeared in her gaze. Her arm tightened around him as she spoke in the drowsy, slightly clingy voice of someone who had just woken up.
"You're awake, Cain."
"Sorry. I was wiping you down last night, but I got so tired that I ended up squeezing into bed with you."
Cain settled back down until they were lying face-to-face.
"Idiot."
He smiled softly.
"If it's you, you can squeeze in here for as long as you want. I've never minded."
For a while, neither said anything.
They simply lay on their sides, quietly looking at one another.
"Still sleepy?"
"A little."
"Then let's sleep together."
Cain relaxed again.
"I only woke up because of the noise next door anyway, and now…"
Ace's surgery had finally begun, which meant the residence had become unusually quiet.
Uta gently took Cain's hand, closed her eyes again, and smiled faintly.
"Mm. Let's sleep."
…
They drifted off again.
By the time they woke for the second time, the sun was already leaning toward the western horizon.
Somehow, noon had quietly turned into afternoon.
Neither of them felt remotely motivated to get out of bed, so they simply remained curled around each other.
Uta filled Cain in on everything that had happened over the past few days while he listened quietly, one arm around her waist and the other idly twirling a strand of her hair around his finger.
At first, Cain's recently awakened mind had started wandering in a less innocent direction, but when he noticed Uta repeatedly hiding small yawns between sentences, that impulse quickly dissolved into concern.
He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, then pulled her closer.
"How are you feeling now?" Uta asked, tilting her face up toward him.
"Pretty good."
Cain answered with complete seriousness.
"I could get out of bed and beat someone up right now."
Uta laughed.
"Then once everything here is settled, we'll head to Elbaf."
Her smile softened.
"We still need to settle things with Shanks."
"Yeah."
Cain rested his chin on top of her head and thought for a moment.
"Looking at the situation now, the biggest problem left is probably getting Kaido out from the bottom of the sea."
"We can't exactly leave him down there forever."
"True."
…
They finally dragged themselves out of bed only after their stomachs started growling.
By the time they left the room, Ace's surgery had already ended.
He was still unconscious and wouldn't wake for a while, but even in his sleep, he continued muttering complaints under his breath.
Cain leaned closer and listened for a moment.
It was almost entirely grumbling.
He smiled and shook his head.
Honestly, it was understandable.
If childbirth somehow happened to a man, complaining was probably the least anyone could expect.
Cain gave Ace a sympathetic look and, for once, resisted the temptation to make fun of him.
Instead, he turned to Yamato and brought up the more important issue.
Kaido.
Yamato nodded.
It really was time to decide what to do with him.
As for whether Kaido would resist—
probably not.
He had personally handed the Beasts Pirates over to Yamato. For someone like Kaido to say those words at all meant he had genuinely let go.
"By the way, where are Grandpa and Sengoku?"
Cain asked.
"We should probably discuss this with them too."
"They went to Tokage Port," Yamato replied. "They should still be arranging the prisoner transports."
…
At Tokage Port, Garp and Sengoku were overseeing the transfer of the Beasts Pirates who had been identified as unwilling to cooperate with Yamato's reforms.
Additional warships had been called in from Sphinx specifically for the operation, and even then, they only barely had enough room for the number of prisoners.
"So these are all Beasts Pirates?"
The Marine officer responsible for the convoy gave a crisp salute.
"Understood! We'll transport them discreetly and make absolutely sure no information leaks to the outside world!"
Sengoku looked over the Marines who had come from Sphinx and nodded.
"We'll leave it to you."
Then something occurred to him.
"Oh, right. One more thing."
"The warships we originally arrived on still have the Marine uniforms we changed out of stored in their holds."
"There's a chance some pirates might grab those uniforms and try to disguise themselves, so inspect everyone carefully."
Sengoku's expression became serious.
"Anyone wearing Seastone restraints is a prisoner, regardless of whether they happen to be wearing a Marine uniform."
"Make absolutely sure they're locked up."
"Understood."
The officer carefully noted the instruction.
He was also originally from Wano, though unlike many of the others, he preferred serving with the Marines rather than remaining in his homeland. The transport operation had therefore been placed entirely under his command.
Garp and Sengoku stood at the harbor and watched the ships slowly depart, long white wakes trailing behind them.
Garp initially waved with a broad smile.
Then the smile stiffened.
Slowly, his entire face collapsed.
He crouched down on the ground, held his head in both hands, and started drawing circles in the dirt.
He had finally remembered what he had forgotten.
Aramaki.
Aramaki was still inside the sack.
Then Garp thought about it again.
Ryokugyu was an Admiral now.
Surely an Admiral could figure out how to escape on his own.
Probably.
…
Meanwhile, along the transport route toward Impel Down—
the Marine officer in charge was personally inspecting each prisoner.
Just as Sengoku had warned, quite a few pirates had picked up Marine uniforms scattered around the storage hold and attempted to pass themselves off as soldiers.
Unfortunately for them, Seastone shackles were rather difficult to hide.
Every single one was exposed.
Partway through the inspection, the officer discovered an unconscious man wedged inside an enormous, bloated body.
The man was wearing an Admiral's coat.
The officer approached and looked him over with open contempt.
"I've heard about Marine Admirals, but I've spent all this time serving under Vice Admiral Garp and never actually met one in person."
He studied the coat.
"So that's what an Admiral's uniform looks like."
Then he looked at Aramaki himself.
The man's upper body was half-exposed, the coat was draped around him improperly, Seastone restraints covered his body, and the enormous shell surrounding him bore clear markings belonging to the Beasts Pirates.
The officer snorted.
"Yeah, no chance."
"This idiot is obviously just some Beasts Pirate with the nerve to impersonate an Admiral."
He turned toward the other Marines.
"This one's with the Beasts Pirates too, and his offense is even worse."
"He actually tried impersonating an Admiral."
"Add another charge."
The officer glanced at Aramaki's unconscious face.
"Looks like he passed out from hunger."
"For now, give him water but no food."
"All right, next prisoner!"
Without access to his Devil Fruit, Aramaki's strength had already been almost completely drained by the Seastone restraints.
Combined with days of barely eating, merely remaining alive was becoming an accomplishment.
And so, in a state bordering on starvation—
Admiral Ryokugyu was sent to Impel Down for the second time.