"This is delicious..."
"This one's tasty too..."
"And that one..."
Imu strolled along, sampling various treats, until at one point she suddenly let out a loud burp.
Blushing, she turned to look at Michael, who had been silently paying for everything behind her.
"Did I... eat a bit too much?"
"...Cut the act, it's not funny," Michael said with a gentle smile, though his words carried a sharper edge.
"We both know each other too well. Back when you were queen, who was the one fetching your midnight snacks—three times a night, every time?"
"Ahem... Well, the workload was just too heavy back then! But now, eight hundred years later, every day feels so leisurely it's like I'm doing nothing at all!"
"Let me correct that last part for you—it's not like you're doing nothing. You are doing nothing!"
Michael's remark struck a nerve.
For a workaholic like her, this sudden idleness was...
Torture.
Comfortable, yet torturous.
Comfortable for the body, torturous for the mind.
She didn't know how to handle it.
Though she had been trying to adjust, it would still take time.
Michael could easily see the unease in Imu's demeanor.
In fact, he was a little surprised it had taken her this long to show it.
After all, she hadn't just moved from one island to another—she had leaped eight centuries into the future.
She wasn't Kozuki Toki, who had spent her whole life yearning for Michael's era before finally crossing time with her Devil Fruit powers.
Imu had made a bold decision and ended up with a result far beyond her expectations.
In a way, Michael was now Imu's only connection to this world, eight hundred years later.
"As much as I'd like to comfort you, I have to tell you something else... Sooner or later, when the time is right, we will overthrow the World Government—just like we did with the Ancient Kingdom." Michael shook his head with a faint smile.
"And when that happens... As the most politically experienced leader among us, you'll have your hands full."
"Oh? Then I'll be looking forward to it." Imu gave a faint smile. "...I just hope you've also steeled yourself for the hardest decision—facing Lily as an enemy, even killing her."
"Of course." Michael nodded solemnly. "Until that moment comes, I'll keep hesitating... But when it's time to act, I won't hold back."
The instant Michael learned that the so-called "Imu-sama" was actually Lily, he had already made that decision in his heart.
Killing his own daughter would be agonizing.
But...
It had to be done.
"Well then, since we're both stuck in hesitation, shouldn't we go find our teammates?" Imu arched an eyebrow.
"It's almost sunset."
Michael nodded.
His Observation Haki instantly expanded, and within moments, he pinpointed Luffy's location.
But... Uta and the other two were nowhere to be found.Luffy's movements seemed to indicate he was searching somewhat frantically.
From this behavior, which was akin to a headless fly, Michael could tell that Luffy's application of Observation Haki was still quite rudimentary—completely focused on combat.
But abilities like locking onto someone's location or sensing their condition were still entirely unfamiliar to him.
"Seems like... we've run into a bit of trouble."
...
Luffy was completely dumbfounded.
He had only been briefly distracted by some street food while Uta's trio was discussing the repair details and pricing with the sailboat repair shop.
At first, he hadn't thought much of it.
After all, how could the three of them just vanish completely in the time it took him to grab a bite?
But then...
It actually happened!
They disappeared into thin air!
Even the owner of the sailboat repair shop said he had watched the three of them walk out of his shop—ready to lead the way to the docks to start work.
But when his employee stepped outside, there was no sign of them.
Luffy instantly felt the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Though he was straightforward and single-minded by nature, he wasn't an idiot...
At least not a complete idiot.
He could still understand human speech.
For example, the fact that these three were actually the second generation of the Red Hair Pirates.
The Red Hair Pirates, aside from being the most powerful pirate crew currently, have a relationship with the Angel Alliance that is, in fact, quite intriguing.
Though they aren't officially allies, within the Angel Alliance's territories—as long as it's not a core area—even if the Red Hair Pirates are spotted, no one bothers to interfere.
First, those stationed in non-core regions are no match for even the officers on Red-Haired Shanks' ship, let alone the man himself.
At the very least, his crew's officers are on par with the Flying Six—even if they wanted to intervene, they couldn't win.
Second, the Red Hair Pirates have always been scrupulously fair and harmless toward civilians—even to the point of being overly kind.
Having been stationed in Syrup Village for six or seven years, there's never been a single report of conflict between the Red Hair Pirates and the villagers. On the contrary, their relationship has remained excellent the entire time…
In fact, some family members of the Red Hair Pirates even joined the Angel Alliance, and some were even elected by surrounding villages as heads of the Women's Federation!
All this is just to say that Luffy could understand why, even though Red Hair wasn't technically an ally, in practice, there was little difference.
So, when Red-Haired Shanks' daughter vanished inexplicably under his watch…
It was absolutely not a good thing.
If they had simply gotten lost, then it meant he had failed Uncle Michael's trust.
If they had been captured by the World Government or other pirates, then it meant he had failed to protect the family of an ally.
So, when Michael appeared in his line of sight, Luffy let out a long sigh of relief.
"Uncle Michael! Those three are gone! They just disappeared out of nowhere!"
Seeing Luffy's frantic expression, Michael nearly laughed out loud.
Uta, Usopp, and Kaya—those three troublemakers—had actually managed to push this blockhead Luffy to the point where he looked like he was about to grow a brain…
"Alright, alright, I already know… Did you find any clues?"
"…No."
"Couldn't find any? That just means you've still got a lot to learn," Michael said with a chuckle, then followed the wind into an alley next to a ship repair shop.
Luffy and Imu followed closely behind.
After winding through several turns, they arrived at a dead end.
Here, Michael glanced around, then crouched down and pinched a bit of…
Rust.
"See? Now we've got a clue."
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