In the first half of the Grand Line, Garp's warship was calmly cutting through across the sea.
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi on the table rang in a rush, its face shifting into Sengoku's stern expression.
"Hey, Garp! The meeting just ended. Where did you run off to?"
"Hah? I'm catching pirates, obviously! What, something urgent?" Garp picked his nose, his tone careless as ever.
"Get to Mock Town on Jaya Island right now! That place has gone completely insane—Cain and Doflamingo are fighting!" Sengoku's voice carried a barely contained fury.
"Hah? Cain's in danger?"
Garp's eyes widened, but the next second, he waved it off.
"It's fine, it's fine. I'll head over and save him right away!"
"Idiot! Do you even know how strong that kid is? With that fruit on top of it, Doflamingo is the one who's about to get beaten to death!" Sengoku's roar made the Den Den Mushi buzz.
"We just lost one Warlord! If another one dies, the World Government absolutely won't let this slide! And worse, this involves that person's identity!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Garp rubbed his nose, completely unfazed.
"So what if some piece of trash dies?"
"YOU STILL DARE TO TALK BACK TO ME?!"
The veins on Sengoku's forehead bulged.
"If this hits the headlines, Cain will definitely be targeted by the World Government! Garp, do you understand how serious this is or not?!"
"What did you say?!"
Garp suddenly sat upright, his gaze sharpening in an instant.
"And! The Blackbeard Pirates are there too! They're fighting Fire Fist Ace right now! Hurry the hell up and get over there!"
"NANIIIIIIIIIIII?!"
Garp exploded on the spot, roaring toward the bridge,
"Bogard! Full speed ahead! Head for Mock Town at maximum speed! Ace! Cain! You two brats better be safe, Grandpa's coming to save you!"
From the Den Den Mushi came Sengoku's despairing howl.
"Garp! You didn't listen to a single word I said! The one you need to save is Doflamingo, not Cain…"
Before Sengoku could finish, another report reached him.
"What?! The Queen Mama Chanter is nearby too… Garp, hurry! Don't let this escalate any further!"
…
Meanwhile, on the Merry, far away from the battlefield, Uta lowered her head, her fingers tightly clutching the hem of her clothes.
Her heart was full of self-blame.
"It's all my fault. I dragged Cain down…"
Sanji walked over slowly with a delicate plate of dessert and comforted her respectfully.
"Miss Uta, Cain is very strong. He'll definitely be fine, please, try this caramel pudding."
Luffy clung to the ship's rail, his eyes fixed on the direction of Mock Town.
He was so anxious he kept bouncing in place.
"Cain and Ace are still over there! I'm going back to help them!"
As he spoke, he looked ready to leap straight into the sea, but Robin and Nami held him back with all their strength.
Everyone's hearts felt heavy.
Even knowing how powerful Cain and Ace were, they still could not help but worry about them.
Just then, a sudden knocking sound broke the silence.
Knock, knock, knock.
Usopp was crouched on the deck, gritting his teeth as he struggled to patch up a large hole.
It was the hole Cain had stomped through when his power erupted earlier!
The moment everyone saw that fragile section of deck, the ship fell into a dead silence.
The topic they had deliberately pushed aside earlier now rose in everyone's mind again.
The Merry could no longer even withstand Cain's footstep when he burst into action.
And if Luffy was going to become the Pirate King, the storms he would face and the attacks this ship would have to endure would only become far more terrifying than Cain's strength.
Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp all thought of the same scene at once.
Back at the Baratie, Krieg's enormous ship had been sliced clean in half.
...
"Ma ma ma ma ma~~~~"
"This is… singing? What a strange song."
Uta's voice broke the silence.
She turned toward the sound and rose to her feet.
Then she saw a colossal ship cutting through the waves, heading straight for the Merry.
Everyone on the ship turned as well, their faces filled with shock.
Luffy instantly started drooling, his eyes almost popping out of his head.
He flailed his arms, looking ready to leap over at any second.
Because from bow to stern, that ship looked as if it had been built from cream, chocolate, and candy.
It was basically a moving dessert castle.
But as the ship drew closer, a suffocating pressure suddenly descended over them.
The ship was enormous, dozens of times larger than the Merry.
Like a towering steel beast, its shadow almost swallowed the little Merry whole.
It was the flagship of the Big Mom Pirates— The Queen Mama Chanter.
And the tall figure standing at the very front of the ship was none other than the strongest of the Big Mom Pirates' Sweet Commanders, Charlotte Katakuri.
The fact that this ship had come meant Katakuri was not acting on his own.
He represented the entire Big Mom Pirates.
In the next moment, Katakuri leapt directly from the Queen Mama Chanter and landed steadily on the Merry's deck.
His heavy step made the boards beneath him tremble.
His gaze swept over everyone before finally settling on Luffy.
Luffy, completely unaware of the oppressive pressure around him, instead leaned forward with sparkling interest.
He raised his head and asked loudly, "Hey! Is your ship made of desserts? Can I eat it?"
Usopp and Chopper had already hidden behind the sail, trembling violently.
Zoro and Sanji's expressions darkened.
One moved to Luffy's left and the other to his right, blocking him while keeping wary eyes on Katakuri, afraid he might suddenly make a move.
"Don't run your mouth, Luffy," Zoro said in a low voice. "I saw that ship's flag back when I was a pirate hunter. That's an Emperor's flag! This guy belongs to one of the Four Emperors."
"Huh? Like Ace?" Luffy tilted his head, completely confused.
At that moment, Katakuri finally spoke, his voice carrying a heavy authority.
"Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Pirate with a bounty of one hundred million berries. Straw Hat Luffy."
"Huh? One hundred million?!"
Luffy's eyes grew even wider, and he shouted in delight.
"My bounty went up? When did that happen? Why didn't I know?!"
Katakuri frowned slightly.
Clearly, he had no patience to get dragged into such pointless talk.
His eyes moved across the ship again.
After failing to find the figure he was looking for, he asked in a deep voice.
"Where is Chad Cain, the one on your ship with a bounty of ten million berries?"
"What do you want with Cain?"
Uta suddenly stepped forward, putting herself in front of everyone.
"Wait, Uta!"
Robin quickly caught her arm and softly warned her.
"Don't go over there!" Nami said anxiously.
"Hey! Big guy!"
Luffy shook off Zoro and Sanji's hands and once again stepped in front of Katakuri.
"My name is Charlotte Katakuri," he corrected, his tone still calm.
"Okay, Kakukurima!"
Luffy waved it off without a care and planted his hands on his hips.
"What do you want with Cain? If you don't tell us the truth, we're not telling you where he is!"
Katakuri stared at Luffy's serious face in silence for a few seconds.
Then he let out a quiet sigh.
"Hah… It seems this news hasn't spread through the first half of the Grand Line yet."
"Chad Cain…"
"That man is my younger brother."
"NANIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII?!"
The sentence struck the Merry's deck like a bolt of thunder.
Luffy's jaw nearly hit the floor.
He stood there blankly, muttering over and over, "Little brother? Little brother?"
Usopp nearly collapsed straight onto Chopper, his face full of disbelief.
The cigarette in Sanji's mouth fell to the deck with a soft tap, his face frozen in shock.
Even Zoro's eyes widened, his grip on his sword tightening slightly.
Even Robin, who had always been perfectly calm, showed a slight change in expression.
Yes.
Just a slight one.