—New World, on an island within Whitebeard's territory.
A matter of great importance had arisen, and Whitebeard had summoned all the pirates under his command and influence. The first division commander, Marco, had delivered the news.
Upon hearing it, Diamante returned to the anchored Numancia Flamingo, a troubled expression on his face.
"I'm back. Anything happen?"
"Nothin's gonna happen in such a short time, beheheheh!"
"…Are you drinking again, Trebol? Get a hold of yourself already."
"Shut up! It's my business!!"
Diamante sighed and looked at the executives gathered around the table, which was cluttered with liquor bottles. Trebol had been drinking and grumbling constantly lately. Pica was sitting quietly, ready to listen to what Diamante had to report, but the faces of the other executives were grim.
Can't be helped, he thought.
They had lost their hard-won status in an instant, and their captain, the one they rallied behind, was in that state. Trebol, the self-proclaimed strategist, had taken to binge drinking, and to top it all off, a betrayal had come from within their own ranks. The crew's morale had plummeted, with many subordinates likely thinking the family was on its last legs.
Their past actions of selling food and medicine to Whitebeard as a form of insurance had paid off, but at this rate, there would be no way for them to make a comeback.
"Diamante, never mind Trebol. What was the summons about?" Pica asked.
Pulling his thoughts back from their dark trajectory, Diamante gave a single nod in response to Pica's words.
"Yeah. It's war between Whitebeard and Twilight—or to be more precise, it's apparently going to be a one-on-one duel between Whitebeard and the Witch."
"What!?"
A clash between an Emperor and a Warlord was an abnormal situation in itself, but a one-on-one duel between captains instead of a war between their crews was unheard of. There were games like the Davy Back Fight that could culminate in a captain's duel, but this was different.
Though they weren't a subordinate crew, the Donquixote Family had their ship in his territory; this was not news they could simply ignore. The other executives' eyes widened, urging Diamante to continue.
"So, what did Whitebeard say?"
"He said, 'I don't plan on losing, but there's always a chance. Think about what you'll do.' That's what he said."
When they were told that the losing pirate crew, including its subordinates, would be absorbed by the victor's, the subordinate crews had protested. They had sworn allegiance to Newgate, and to him alone. They had no intention of serving under anyone else, and some had even shouted that they would rather fight an all-out war than let that happen.
Kanata and Newgate were on bad terms. There was no guarantee of fair treatment, and more importantly, they couldn't let their 'Pops,' with whom they had shared a cup of sake, fight alone. Even Newgate couldn't dismiss their pleas.
However, if one were to ask which scenario had the higher chance of victory, Diamante would say it was the duel.
"Whitebeard's forces, even including his subordinates, are only about twenty thousand strong… The number of people under Twilight's influence is easily ten times that. Most are just crew on merchant ships scattered around, but their main combat force is large enough that it doesn't matter if they're spread out. On top of that, she has monsters under her command who don't even flinch at skirmishes with Kaido's or Big Mom's subordinates."
Even the twenty thousand figure for Whitebeard's forces included non-combatants. Information control was strict, and even Diamante and his crew didn't know the exact numbers for Twilight, but they guessed that a force with influence all over the world couldn't possibly have fewer than twenty thousand combatants. Having been dealt a bitter defeat by them, Diamante's crew had been trying to gather intelligence, but it wasn't easy to get inside information.
Strictly speaking, no one seemed to know the exact number, and even when they questioned the merchants who were supposed to be affiliated with her, they only received conflicting answers. She was likely intentionally spreading misinformation, and since they couldn't obtain any evidence to see through it, their intelligence gathering had been extremely difficult.
"After we finally shook our pursuers by fleeing here, are you saying this place is now going to become Twilight's territory? Just how far do we have to run before we can feel safe?"
"Who knows…"
Diamante couldn't answer Jora, who looked exhausted and terribly aged. His head throbbed at the thought that after being expelled from the Warlords, chased by the Navy, and forced to abandon their country, they would now be pursued by Twilight. The Donquixote Family had many enemies. Twilight had pursued them in the beginning, but perhaps due to other priorities, things had reached a lull, both with them and the Navy.
They wanted to rebuild somehow while they had the chance, but the executives all looked worn out. At the very least, Diamante couldn't think of a way to turn the tables from here. With Vergo gone, they couldn't even conduct covert operations within the Navy.
"Fuffuffuffuffuff. Things are getting interesting, aren't they?"
"!"
The door leading from the cabin where Diamante and the others were talking opened, and Sugar emerged with a clown-like puppet wearing sunglasses.
He had no memory of it—but Diamante knew. This was the true captain of the Donquixote Family.
"Doffy! I was going to talk to you later. Were you listening… what do we do? Are we just going to be hunted down?"
"Don't make such a gloomy face, Diamante."
"But, this time—"
The puppet silenced Diamante with a gesture and looked around at the assembled executives. There had been betrayals and espionage, enough to make one's blood boil, but while the puppet's mouth moved, its expression was unreadable.
How much anger?
How much hatred?
Diamante could not fathom it, but hearing the puppet's laugh sent a chill down his spine.
"The Navy, Twilight… they're all a bunch of infuriating bastards… Oi, Trebol. Stop drowning your sorrows in booze. Make a call."
"Nn? A call? To who?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
He had no grudge against Whitebeard, but he would make full use of him. The Navy, Twilight—to the puppet, they were all targets for destruction. He would use anything and everything he could. When you wanted to crush an opponent you couldn't beat with force, the best way was through strategy.
"Tell them. Tell Kaido and the Navy. The Navy's attention should be drawn over there for a while. It'll make it much easier for Kaido to move."
He was no longer in a position to sense the changing tides as he had been as a Warlord, but he could still get some information from the newspapers. Enies Lobby had been annihilated by a rookie pirate crew, and both the Navy and the World Government were in an uproar. With Red-Hair in Paradise, and manpower diverted to keep an eye on him, the New World was left with fewer guards. A duel between Twilight and Whitebeard was something neither the Navy nor the World Government could ignore. The surveillance on Kaido and Linlin would inevitably weaken.
"Tell Kaido… and have him crash the duel?"
"That's one idea… but since we have the chance, let's guide things so they become even more interesting."
"More interesting?"
"Yes. Fuffuffuffuffuff. It seems I won't be bored for a while."
The puppet let out an eerie laugh and sat down on the throne where the master of this ship was meant to sit.
…
—Alabasta Kingdom, the eastern port.
Beside a giant stage set up by the Twilight Pirates, Uta was having a long-awaited reunion with Shanks.
At first, they had called out each other's names and run towards one another—and then, Shanks had been met with a dropkick from Uta.
"YOU BASTARD, SHANKS!!!"
"""EEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!?"""
The Red Hair Pirates cried out in unison at the unexpected assault, but Uta wasn't finished. She straddled Shanks and grabbed him by the collar. Of course, while they were surprised, Shanks himself was unharmed, and he could only look up with wide eyes at the tearful Uta.
"Uta—"
"…Why did you leave me?"
"......I'm sorry."
"If you're going to apologize, then explain everything from the beginning, you idiot."
Uta already knew about the incident where Shanks and his crew had left her behind. It was true that it had been too much for her to handle at the time, and because Shanks had taken the blame, she had never had a bounty placed on her head. But even so, Uta had never wanted to resent Shanks and the others. Even if there were circumstances and they had no choice, was that kind of farewell not too cruel?
Shanks, knowing this all too well, couldn't bring himself to be harsh with Uta as she held his collar.
"Uta, don't be too hard on the chief."
"That's right, Uta. We all decided on it back then. If anyone's to blame, it's all of us."
"…I know. But Kanata-san said I had the right to punch him at least once."
"That woman again…"
"She said Benn is especially soft on Shanks, so I should scold him too."
"Me too…?" Benn let his shoulders slump with a conflicted expression as a stray bullet hit him.
Benn had only met Kanata a few times, but being looked at by those red eyes made him feel as if she could see right through him, so to be honest, he wasn't fond of her. She was beautiful, and as a womanizer, Benn wasn't entirely without the desire to get closer to her, but as the first mate of the Red Hair Pirates, he was wary of Kanata's unfathomable eeriness. Because Shanks treated her like an older sister or a mother, most of the Red Hair Pirates had let their guard down, but Benn remained cautious. That attitude was likely why he was seen as being "soft on Shanks."
"Have you been drinking too much? Have you been causing trouble for your subordinate crews? Have you caught a cold?"
"Are you my mom?"
"Kanata-san told me everything. She said Shanks is a weak drinker but drinks too much and is always complaining about headaches, he's always causing trouble for his subordinates and allies, and the other day on a winter island, he got drunk and fell asleep in thin clothes and caught a cold."
"How does she know so much about me!?"
Even Shanks was a little put off. It was probably one of his crewmates or subordinates who had leaked the information. He glanced at Rockstar, who had gone to Kanata's place during their last transaction, and Rockstar looked away, whistling poorly. He's the culprit, Shanks was sure of it.
Just as he was thinking he'd have to scold him later, Uta let go of his collar and stroked his left arm.
There was no feeling. Of course. Shanks's left arm was long gone, and what he had now was a prosthetic that was functional enough for daily life.
"…I met Luffy. I heard about your left arm too."
"…I see."
"Luffy has become a fine man."
"…I see. I want to see Luffy too."
"You will. Eventually."
"I hope so."
It was because he believed they would meet again someday that Shanks had entrusted his straw hat to Luffy. According to a recent newspaper, he had caused another huge incident, and his bounty was now over 100 million Berries. The memory of celebrating with a drink and then being down with a hangover was still fresh.
Uta stood up and waited for Shanks to get to his feet, then looked up so as not to show her tears and grinned.
"I'm being treated as the new songstress of Twilight now."
"Yeah, I heard. That's not something just anyone can do. You worked hard."
"Yeah… yeah. I worked so hard."
She had been left behind by Shanks and his crew, taken care of by Gordon, educated, and had even written songs. There were times she had wanted to complain, but now that she had met him, those feelings had vanished. In the end, Uta had been sad and hurt to be left behind by Shanks and his crew, but she was overjoyed to be able to see them again like this.
"Today is my first stage performance. I've prepared special seats for you, so make sure you listen properly."
"Of course. You are… my daughter, after all."
Having overcome the incident in Elegia, Uta had grown. Shanks was surprised at how well she had grown up, and he was grateful to Gordon. The only thing he didn't know was the circumstances under which she had met Kanata. He could surmise that the reason she had told him about Uta now was probably because Uta was mentally prepared… but Shanks gave a wry smile at Kanata's habit of being stingy with information.
It was almost time, so Uta moved away, and Shanks and the others quietly saw her off.
"Well then, shall we go too?"
"Yeah. We can't cause too much trouble for the civilians."
Shanks was one of the Four Emperors. He was not a pirate who would normally show his face in a place like this, and of course, he was not someone the Navy would let run wild. Several warships were docked at the port, but he assumed the fact that they were only monitoring was due to Kanata's influence.
Inviting Shanks to a concert meant to support Alabasta, which had suffered from pirate attacks, was like telling him to protect it as his territory, but when he had casually asked, it seemed Kanata had no such intention. She had stated clearly that she had invited him simply because Uta had wished for it, and that there was no deeper meaning.
Shanks and his crew were led in a group to the special seats in the venue and waited for the show to begin.
…
'Ladiiiies, aaaaaand, gentlemen!!!'
The performance, which began with those words, started just as it began to grow dark. The show opened with brilliant lights and fireworks, and on the stage set in the center of the venue, several singers known as songstresses stood, each performing their own songs. As the likes of Songstress Ann, Carina, and Tesoro livened up the stage, Shanks waited for Uta to appear.
Each of them was a first-class entertainer. He had been a little worried if Uta would really be okay among them—but seeing Uta appear confidently after being introduced by Tesoro, he was convinced that she would be fine.
'Now, the party is in full swing… and at this time, I would like to introduce our new songstress!! A supernova who will carve out a new era, Uta!!'
'Everyone, it's Uta!! Nice to meet you!!!'
As the venue erupted in cheers, Uta waved happily to the crowd.
'To be honest, I had thought we would wait for a better time, but with a concert of this scale, I thought we needed a proper surprise.'
As a self-proclaimed first-class entertainer, Tesoro had apparently wanted to prepare at least one surprise for a concert of this size. After Uta's introduction, Tesoro said that before she shared the stage with Ann and Carina, he wanted everyone to hear a song of her own. Both Ann and Carina were well-known songstresses. It seemed he wanted everyone to first see Uta's skill, which was on par with theirs.
'I'm nervous! But when I think about everyone hearing my song, the excitement wins out!!'
'That's reassuring!! I'm sure everyone will be surprised when they hear your song!'
'You think so? I'll do my best not to disappoint you!!'
'Yes, I'm counting on you, Uta.'
With that, Tesoro and the others left the stage, leaving Uta alone.
In the dim light, the lights temporarily went out, and Uta's figure disappeared. As Shanks and his crew watched in silence, the music began to play, and at the same time, a spotlight was shone on Uta.
'Alright then, please listen. My "divine song"—"New Genesis"!!!'