With Uta appearance, the Red Hair Pirates...
Began losing members even faster.
The person they were trying to protect was the mole. Uta was like a feeder in a ranked match, recklessly throwing her life away under the protection of others, all while maintaining a facade of being worried about Shanks and wanting to live or die by his side.
As for Gordon, being an unstable factor, Sherwin sent him off to watch the show shortly after he and Uta arrived.
"Stop it! She not a pirate! Don't involve her! Uta! Get out of here now!!!"
Shanks watched in agony as his comrades "died" one by one, while Uta "recklessly" tried to reach his side. He was being driven to the brink of madness.
"Sherwin, are we being a little too mean, Meow?"
Klee Meow, wearing Sakazuki face, looked at the screaming Shanks in the distance. Her heart softened slightly as she leaned toward Sherwin and whispered.
"Yeah, Sherwin. He actually really cares about Uta, unlike my bastard old man," Yamato added, currently disguised as Kuzan by Uta.
"You... you guys?"
Yasopp, who had been intentionally left for last, widened his eyes as he overheard their conversation and looked at the transformed Sherwin and the others.
With a casual strike, Sherwin sent Yasopp off to join the audience. He shot a speechless glance at the two of them they had been "killing" pirates quite happily just a moment ago, so why the sudden change of heart?
However, he could understand why. Shanks had completely abandoned his defense, choosing to tank Kaido attacks head-on just to reach Uta.
Kaido Meow wasn't the real Kaido, after all. After failing to pull a punch and hitting Shanks with his club, he immediately broke character.
After chasing and tangling with Shanks for a bit longer and realizing the man was truly acting without regard for his own life, the cat stopped his assault and turned to Sherwin with an inquiring gaze.
In other words, Shank mind was currently entirely focused on Uta otherwise, with so many flaws in the act, he would have noticed something was wrong long ago.
Sherwin thought for a moment and decided to pass the ball to Uta, letting her decide whether this play should continue.
Thus, he stood aside with the rest of the "cast," striking poses and projecting an air of victory as if saying, "You can't run away anyway," allowing Shanks to rush to Uta side.
Then...
A CP0 agent wearing a one-eyed spiral mask suddenly appeared behind Uta. Under Shank despairing gaze, a palm "pierced through" Uta chest.
Sherwin: "..."
Evidently, Uta chose to continue. While the Felyne Investigation Team stood by as spectators, she had improvised a "Obito" to push the final act of this play.
"Uta—!!!"
Shanks wailed as he caught Uta falling body. The blow seemed too great, leaving him looking dazed and sluggish. He didn't even immediately seek revenge on "Obito," allowing him to vanish after "killing" Uta.
As a side note, they had rehearsed this "death" scene many times. From the reaction after being hit, to the way her body slumped powerlessly, to Uta heartfelt "dying" confession—Sherwin had wracked his brains to teach Uta every bit of acting knowledge he remembered from his previous life.
In particular, the speech she was currently delivering to Shanks was a collaborative effort. Sherwin had combined lines from the original movie, borrowed elements from various heartwarming and heartbreaking works, and incorporated Uta own sincere feelings, refining it all through a brainstorming session with the Felynes.
During the first rehearsal, Uta had even started crying herself while speaking.
Yeah...
I should probably leave with the Felynes immediately after this scene ends.
As the "Kyoka Suigetsu Project" reached its conclusion, Sherwin, ever the fan of chaos, finally began to contemplate the problem of cleaning up—or rather, running away.
...
The real world.
The members of the Red Hair Pirates were not as sensitive as the Felynes once they regained their senses, they quickly joined the ranks of the spectators with boisterous shouts.
"Ohhh! He crying! The Captain is crying!"
"This is the first time I've ever seen the Boss shed a tear!"
"We have to get a copy of this footage! We'll be using this to make fun of him for the rest of our lives! Hahahaha!"
"It a pity we can't hear what Uta is saying to make the Captain cry like that."
"We know, meow."
Haibara Meow pulled out a piece of paper with lines written on it and handed it to them. "This is what Uta wanted to say to you all, and then we and Sherwin helped touch it up a bit, meow."
In addition to the lines Uta was currently saying to Shanks, there were also lines prepared for the others. After all, plans can't keep up with changes, so Sherwin and the others had made multiple preparations.
Indeed, it must be emphasized once again that whenever it came to pranks, Sherwin and the naughty Felynes always seemed to receive a boost to their intelligence.
"Sigh... looking back, our decision to leave Uta behind was indeed far too poorly considered..."
"Poor Uta. I was originally a bit angry with Sherwin, but now... it feels like we got what we deserved."
"We really are the worst!"
Looking at the lines on the paper, even though they knew there was a deliberate element to them, the members of the Red-Haired Pirates who had abandoned Uta with Shanks back then still felt a wave of regret.
Those specifically mentioned in the lines were so overcome with guilt that they raised their hands and slapped themselves twice.
"…Shanks, I don't want to see you, but… I really want to see you… Right, didn't you say it before? My singing has the power to make people happy…"
In the Sing-Sing Fruit world, Uta lines were gradually coming to an end. Perhaps because she was facing Shanks directly, her performance was far more genuine than during rehearsals she even changed part of the dialogue herself, reducing the deliberate sentimentality but making it feel even more sincere.
Furthermore, after finishing her lines, Uta did not lightly stroke Shank cheek and then suddenly let her hand fall powerlessly as Sherwin had designed. Instead, she continued to improvise, beginning to hum a song softly.
Tsk, tsk, tsk… No wonder there a saying back on Earth: women are born actresses.
Uta move of departing from the script was far more "lethal" than the melodramatic play cooked up by Sherwin, who was a mere amateur screenwriter.
Of course, the plot Sherwin designed didn't go to waste. As Uta singing grew lower and lower, she still followed the script and performed that classic scene of life-and-death parting seen in many literary and entertainment works.
"Sherwin brother, Uncle Shanks is very angry meow."
Sakazuki, who had a "shaved noodle" face, whispered a reminder in Klee Meow tone.
Even without the little puppet reminder, Sherwin could sense the Conqueror Haki rising steadily from Shanks, as well as a soaring killing intent.
"Are you all… prepared to die?"
Shanks gently laid Uta down, then slowly stood up, his eyes looking toward Sherwin and the others with an icy stare.
"Heh..."
Sherwin chuckled softly and, under Shank slightly puzzled gaze, stepped to the very front.
Then, he held the longsword horizontally before him...
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu!"
In the next second, Shanks watched in astonishment as everything before his eyes began to develop countless irregular cracks, just like a mirror.
And then...
It shattered with a roar.