Cain and Rayleigh rode the little boat straight back to the front of Shakky's Rip-Off Bar.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Cain couldn't help saying, "Hey, hey, Rayleigh gr—uh, old man… isn't this getting a little out of hand?"
The front of the bar was packed with people.
Pirates and civilians were all crammed together, surrounding the place completely, shouting themselves hoarse in support of Uta.
It was so lively it was almost ridiculous!
Shakky sat by the counter, counting money with great interest.
A small pile of beli was stacked at her side, and the corners of her mouth were curled up in a smile.
Morgans was chained up outside the bar like a watchdog. The feathers Cain had plucked off him earlier were already starting to grow back in short little stubs.
At the moment, he was enthusiastically snapping pictures of Uta, already plotting how to turn this into a huge headline.
He didn't seem to care at all that Cain had dragged him out of his newspaper office earlier, plucked him bald, and hauled him all the way to Sabaody.
Rather than not caring, it was more accurate to say that what mattered to him now was the birth of Uta as a true world-class diva!
Rayleigh glanced at Shakky and let out a quiet sigh. "Shakky's methods really haven't dulled with age."
Then he turned to look at Uta, who was singing inside the bar, and smiled in praise.
"That girl really did a remarkable job."
Uta also noticed Cain returning.
She lifted a hand and waved at him, and Cain waved back, sincerely happy for her.
Shakky's Rip-Off Bar had a fearsome reputation across Sabaody, so no one dared cause trouble there.
And with Shakky's own strength, handling a few pests was no problem at all.
Rayleigh naturally wasn't worried about anyone stirring up trouble.
Besides, judging by the excitement in the crowd, everyone genuinely loved Uta's singing and dancing.
…
The two of them watched for quite a while, and the crowd only grew larger and larger.
Rayleigh swept his gaze over the packed crowd, then frowned instead and sighed.
"At this rate, I'm afraid there won't even be a place to sleep tonight."
Hearing that, Cain immediately asked, "Then where are we staying tonight? There weren't many rooms to begin with, and with me and Uta added in, there really isn't enough space."
Rayleigh waved a hand. "Come with me and you'll see."
With that, Rayleigh led Cain away to another area—the darkest part of Sabaody Archipelago.
Neither of them showed the slightest fear.
Eventually, Rayleigh brought Cain to an auction house.
It was rather luxurious.
Cain looked around with interest, watching Rayleigh handle the procedures over there, and couldn't help wondering whether this old man was secretly some kind of VIP here.
Once Rayleigh had finished and beckoned him over, Cain followed with curiosity.
But the moment he stepped inside, his Observation Haki showed him the future two seconds ahead—a hand holding a collar reaching toward his neck.
In the blink of an eye, Cain kicked the person emerging from the shadows away.
But in the very next second, Rayleigh made his move and firmly fastened the collar around Cain's neck.
Cain stood there dumbfounded, staring at Rayleigh as the old man leisurely walked over to a corner, sat down, and started drinking.
At some point, the exact same collar had appeared around Rayleigh's own neck too.
Then Cain lowered his head and glanced at the thing around his own neck just as the iron door behind him slammed shut with a clang.
He instantly understood.
He'd been sold by Rayleigh.
No, more accurately, the two of them had sold themselves together!
Cain snapped back to himself and nearly forgot what kind of man this old geezer really was.
Whenever Rayleigh had too much fun in the casino and lost all his money, he always pulled this trick—selling himself and then collecting the ransom.
Still, Cain couldn't help holding onto one tiny bit of hope.
'Maybe Rayleigh was doing this to help me master the flowing form of Armament Haki.'
He walked over to Rayleigh and asked gravely,
"Is this part of the training? Armament Haki training?"
"Haha, no, no." Rayleigh drank his sake and said cheerfully, "I already told you before—the training hasn't started yet. For now, just spend the night here with this old man."
Cain's face instantly fell.
'This was someone introduced by Shanks, and basically a powerful big shot—how could he be this unreliable?'
'It really was just as they said.'
'He really is a useless teacher!'
Cain looked at Rayleigh's carefree face, then simply went off to sit by himself in a corner.
He lowered his head and carefully examined the collar around his neck, then wrapped Haki around it and gripped it tightly.
Feeling the flow of Haki, Cain remembered how earlier he had only managed to use the flowing form in a state of panic.
But according to Rayleigh, the way to use Haki properly was with a calm heart.
So he tried to calm down and let the Haki circulate gradually.
From the corner of his eye, Rayleigh glanced toward Cain in the corner and smiled faintly.
…
It wasn't until deep into the night that Uta's performance finally came to an end.
The pirates all kept order on their own and also cleaning up the trash and taking it away with them.
In truth, Shakky didn't have much left to do.
She was leisurely wiping down the tables, while Uta stood nearby, helping put the chairs back in place.
Shakky glanced toward the door and casually asked, "Speaking of which, how's that guy outside doing now?"
Morgans was still chained up at the entrance.
Earlier he had been full of excitement while taking photos, but now he was so hungry he could barely lift his head and was just sprawled there groaning.
Uta slapped a hand to her forehead.
"Oh right, I almost forgot! Cain specifically told me to feed him."
Then she turned and headed straight into the kitchen.
"So hungry… big news… so hungry… big news…"
Morgans hadn't eaten anything all day.
Now that Uta's performance was over, the excitement in his heart had faded, leaving behind only overwhelming hunger.
He no longer even had the strength to raise his hand.
He was lying there in a daze when he saw Uta walk over carrying a covered plate and stop right in front of him.
Morgans instantly lit up and sat up straight, feeling delighted inside.
This little girl was pretty kind after all!
No wonder she was the world-class superstar he had his eyes on—she had taste!
In the very next second, Uta set the plate down on the ground with a thud, lifted the lid, and pulled a sinister smile across her face.
"Eat."
"TH-THIS IS—?!"
On the plate was a whole roasted bird, golden and glistening with oil, its aroma rising into the air.
Morgans was the Bird-Bird Fruit, Albatross Model user.
He normally stayed in a human-beast form.
He wasn't a real bird, but since he raised a huge flock of News Coo, he had always been particularly fond of birds.
Now he froze on the spot.
He slowly raised his head to look at Uta, his voice trembling.
"Um… can I not eat this?"
"What do you think?"
Without another word, Uta grabbed open his beak, seized the whole roast bird, and forcefully stuffed it into his mouth.
Morgans flapped his bald little wings desperately and kicked his claws around in frantic resistance, but with the chains holding him down, he couldn't move at all and could only be force-fed.
The roast bird slid down his throat.
Morgans's eyes bulged round.
The new feathers that had just started growing stood straight up. In an instant, he froze into a statue, even stopping his struggle entirely.
His mouth was full of the rich smell of roast meat, but all he felt was his heart bleeding.
His whole bird-body went numb.
He sat there with his beak hanging open, dazed, unable to react for a long time—he even forgot how to whimper.
Uta dusted the crumbs off her hands, looked at his stunned expression with satisfaction, and raised a brow.
"Now that you've eaten, stay put and behave! Cain said you're not allowed to run around causing trouble."
Shakky, who had been tidying things off to the side, found the whole thing hilarious and couldn't help but laugh.
"You little girl… you're even crueler than Cain."
Only then did Morgans recover enough to make a muffled, miserable sound in his throat.
His eyes were full of tears, but not a single word would come out from his mouth!
---
Just as you suspect, Uta gonna turn a little yandere.. And Yamato might get paired with Ace.