Hearing Uta deny it so frantically, Makino only smiled.
"I haven't even accused you of anything yet. Are you sure this really has nothing to do with you?"
"I-It doesn't! I sleep like a rock every night! I don't know anything!"
Uta immediately ducked her head and muttered the denial.
Unfortunately, the moment she looked down, her eyes landed directly on Cain's face as he lay with his head resting in her lap.
Her cheeks turned bright red all the way to the tips of her ears.
Makino seemed to understand something, but she chose not to expose her.
After all, Uta and Cain were very different from her and Shanks. She and Shanks had missed an entire stage of their lives together, only to circle back and make up for it much later.
These two, on the other hand…
Judging by the way things were going, there was still going to be plenty of entertainment ahead.
So Makino stopped pressing the subject and naturally moved the conversation elsewhere.
…
Once they started chatting, time slipped away without anyone noticing.
By the time Cain and Shanks finally finished their fight, it was already close to afternoon.
As for who won?
No one knew.
The only thing anyone could say for certain was that when Shanks woke up, his face was so dark that he looked like someone owed him eight million Berries.
That aside, Cain had undeniably reached a point where even Shanks genuinely regarded him as a powerful fighter.
With the hour getting late, Cain and Uta ate lunch at Makino's place before packing their belongings.
Cain also brought out the wedding portrait he and Uta had spent the past few days carefully finishing and formally handed it over to Shanks.
After making their final preparations, everyone headed toward the harbor.
The villagers gathered at the docks to see them off, and even Dadan and her people had come down from the mountain.
"Goodbye, everyone!"
Standing aboard the Going Merry, Cain and Uta turned toward the shore and waved vigorously.
"We'll come back!"
"Just don't cause trouble out there and come crawling home afterward!" Mayor Woop Slap shouted back.
"I know, Mayor! I won't cause trouble for everyone!"
Cain grinned.
"See you!"
The people onshore gradually shrank into the distance.
Only then did Cain drop onto the deck and glance toward the other side of the ship.
Maintaining the Uta World for most of the day had exhausted Uta.
She was currently half reclining against Bella while lazily flipping through a nautical chart and confirming their route.
With Bella beside her, the summer heat was kept comfortably under control, while Bella absorbed any excess cold herself.
What a good kid.
Useful, well-behaved, and practically multifunctional.
Cain had just begun appreciating how convenient his daughter was when a sudden noise came from the storage area.
His senses immediately sharpened.
He walked over and peeked inside—
only to see a penguin waddling proudly out of the storeroom.
"Camel?!"
Cain's eyes widened.
"What are you doing here?"
"Did Kuzan seriously leave without taking you?"
The instant the words left his mouth, he remembered something important.
Camel couldn't talk.
Uta came over as well, looking equally surprised.
"I haven't seen him this whole time. I thought Kuzan took him when he left."
"So he's been hiding on our ship the entire time?"
She hesitated.
"Should we… take him back?"
Cain thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"…Forget it."
"Kuzan will catch up with us sooner or later."
He looked at Camel.
"We'll keep him as emergency rations until then."
Camel: "…"
…
Back on the shore of Windmill Village—
after seeing Cain and Uta off, the villagers lingered for a little while longer before reluctantly dispersing.
Only Dadan and Makino remained, looking out over the sea.
Shanks seemed to sense something.
He suddenly reached out and lifted Makino into his arm.
Technically, he was holding her with one hand almost the way someone might carry a child.
Unfortunately, Makino was very much not child-sized.
Which meant the position of Shanks' hand ended up looking rather questionable.
Still, in a way, it completely disproved Cain and the others' earlier assumption that Shanks wouldn't be able to carry Makino properly with one arm.
Feeling Shanks' hand supporting her from beneath, Makino's face turned faintly red.
She had just opened her mouth to say something when Shanks took off running with her.
A moment later, both of them vanished into the village.
"HEY!"
Dadan roared after them.
"What the hell are you doing, you damn brat?!"
"Don't think you can start acting shameless just because Cain left!"
There was no response.
Shanks was already gone.
As Dadan continued grumbling, the faint ringing of a bicycle bell reached her ears.
She turned around.
Kuzan was pedaling across the surface of the sea toward shore.
Apparently, he was the reason Shanks had suddenly disappeared.
Former Admiral or not, Kuzan was still connected to the Marines.
It was probably better if Shanks didn't let his whereabouts become obvious.
The moment Kuzan reached land, he immediately asked where Cain had gone.
"What?"
His eyebrows twitched.
"They already left?"
His face collapsed.
Then he squatted down with a heavy thump and howled in despair.
"MY CAMEL!"
"MY LUGGAGE!"
"MY MONEY!"
"MY ENTIRE LIFE'S POSSESSIONS!"
"HOW COULD THEY LEAVE WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING?!"
It had only been a few days!
All Kuzan had done was figure out what to do with that stupid Roger statue.
How the hell could these people travel this fast?!
His entire fortune was still aboard Cain's ship.
For the last several days, he had been sleeping outdoors, barely eating properly, and getting almost no decent rest.
He had finally managed to drag himself all the way back—
and everyone was gone.
"These bastards…"
Kuzan groaned resentfully.
Then he slammed one foot down on the bicycle pedal and shot back across the sea, leaving behind a narrow trail of ice.
"WAIT FOR MEEEEEE!!!"
…
Meanwhile, in Loguetown—
Bartolomeo was crouched in front of the execution platform with an aggrieved expression.
There was now a new attraction beneath the platform.
A statue of Pirate King Roger stood there with one finger shoved firmly up his nose, available for public viewing.
"Hey!"
Bartolomeo was picking his own nose in exactly the same pose as Luffy while staring at the statue.
"When the hell did Loguetown get something like this?"
His underlings stared at Roger and shook their heads.
"No idea!"
"It just appeared out of nowhere!"
"We don't even know who made it!"
"And that smile is creepy as hell!"
"Whatever! Who cares about this thing?"
Bartolomeo shot to his feet.
"Listen up, you bastards!"
"One day, I'm putting a statue of Luffy-senpai right here!"
"Luffy-senpai's statue?!"
"That's right!"
Bartolomeo's eyes shone.
"Solid gold!"
"Ten times bigger than this piece of crap!"
His fists clenched as his whole body trembled with excitement.
"When Luffy-senpai becomes the Pirate King, people from all over the world are going to come here and worship him!"
"I, Bartolomeo, swear it!"
One of his men hesitated.
"But boss…"
"This is the execution platform where the previous Pirate King died."
"Putting Luffy-senpai's statue here feels kind of unlucky."
He paused.
"But I support you!"
"ME TOO!"
Bartolomeo raised a notebook dramatically over his head.
"What are you waiting for, boys?!"
"We're setting sail!"
"And don't forget our sacred teachings of Luffy-senpai!"
"We must always remember everything Luffy-senpai taught us!"
The notebook almost seemed to radiate holy light.
His followers appeared to receive a divine revelation and immediately bowed.
"OOOOOOH!!!" × N
Two guards stationed beside the statue watched the entire scene and sighed.
"Senpai… should we stop them?"
"Don't bother."
The older guard shook his head.
"One look tells you they're idiots."
"We just need to guard the statue."
Because of Loguetown's unique historical significance, Kuzan had chosen to leave Roger's statue here.
Not only could it attract tourists and stimulate the local economy, it could also supposedly remind the public of the danger Roger had brought to the seas.
And to prevent anyone from doing something reckless to it, Kuzan had shamelessly called in a few old favors from his time as an Admiral.
After all, he had resigned.
He hadn't been dishonorably discharged.
He still had plenty of connections.
So the local Marines had been ordered to keep guards posted around the statue at all times.
No vandalism.
No throwing garbage.
No rotten fruit.
Nothing.
The younger guard stared at the statue again and looked increasingly uncomfortable.
"Senpai, I get what you're saying, but why exactly are we guarding a statue of Roger with his finger shoved up his nose?"
"This thing is seriously unsettling."
"Orders are orders. Stop complaining."
The older guard glanced around, then lowered his voice.
"You hear what happened when the new Fleet Admiral found out about this?"
"What happened?"
"He nearly burned down the new Marine Headquarters!"
…
Somewhere far away—
Sakazuki was probably screaming inside his own head.
'I took responsibility for your mess!'
'I stood up to the Five Elders for you!'
'I deliberately let you leave so you could pursue your own justice!'
'AND YOU WENT OUT THERE TO DEVELOP THE TOURISM INDUSTRY?!'
'YOU USELESS BASTARD!!!'
Even Sengoku had gotten a headache looking at Sakazuki afterward.
The Marines had apparently chosen a living volcano as their new Fleet Admiral.
Still…
When Sengoku looked at the photograph of Roger's ridiculous statue, his expression slowly softened.
Roger's era had already come to an end.
And the first sprouts of a new era had already appeared.
Even now, they were steadily growing.
Waiting for the day those tiny sprouts would finally become towering trees.
---------
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