As for the exact details of Cain's deal with Doflamingo, no one knew.
…
Just as Luffy and the others finished secretly taking the gold and were preparing to leave aboard the Going Merry—
"I'm sorry, Uta. We really have to leave this time."
Standing by the rail, Cain spoke with a trace of apology.
"Sorry. I brought you out for so long, but I still couldn't take you on a truly meaningful adventure."
"That's not true."
Uta gently shook her head.
"As long as I'm with you, whatever we do is meaningful."
Cain turned to look at Luffy and the others.
"Ahem, Luffy. Because of some sudden news, I have to leave, so this is where we say goodbye."
Luffy grinned and waved.
"Okay! See you then! Just like Ace said, we'll meet at the summit!"
As if suddenly remembering something, Cain pointed at the straw hat on Luffy's head.
"Oh, right. Give me Ace's Vivre Card first."
"Vivre Card?"
Luffy slapped his forehead and quickly pulled out a piece of paper from inside his hat.
"You mean this?"
"With this, I can tell Ace's current condition and exact location."
Cain nodded and took the Vivre Card, examining it carefully.
The paper was still intact and slowly drifting in one direction.
Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. It seemed Ace still hadn't been found by the Marines.
Then he tore off a small corner of the Vivre Card and tucked it into his pocket before tossing the rest back to Luffy.
"I'm borrowing this part."
"If you need it, then take it!"
Luffy put the Vivre Card away again and asked curiously, "So it really is that amazing?"
"Yeah. It doesn't burn, it doesn't get ruined by water, and it shows the holder's physical condition. Stuff like that."
Cain then reminded them, "And remember what I told you before—the Going Merry isn't really suited for the journey ahead anymore, so you'll have to make a choice."
"As for the Merry, I'll come take it later. If you still haven't prepared a new ship by then, don't blame me if I just 'steal' it by force."
"Yeah, we'll think about it!" Luffy replied cheerfully.
After that, Cain condensed a huge, thick mass of flame clouds beneath the Merry's hull—more than enough to let the ship land safely on the sea without damaging it in the slightest.
He handed the torn piece of Vivre Card to Uta.
Then, under everyone's gaze, his body rapidly expanded, transforming into a majestic pink dragon.
Uta sat cross-legged on top of his head.
"Wow—so big, so long, so thick!" Nami gasped, covering her mouth. (Hehe boi~)
Luffy's eyes lit up with excitement.
Stretching out his arms, he leaped onto Cain's head and sat beside Uta.
It was everyone's first time seeing Cain's dragon form from such close range.
Chopper was so frightened that he hid directly behind Zoro, his little body trembling.
Even though he knew Cain wouldn't eat him, the sheer size of that body and those sharp scales still made him instinctively afraid.
He also finally understood why Cain had wanted his Rumble Ball before.
Cain lowered his head, his deep voice rumbling out.
"Oh, right. I left some notes in my room about Marines combat techniques. You've already started to get the hang of Haki training, but as for coating weapons with it and the more advanced stages, you'll have to figure those out yourselves."
Then Cain rolled his eyes upward, looking at the top of his own head.
"And Luffy, your Conqueror's Haki still shows absolutely no sign of awakening. If it hasn't awakened yet, it's hard for me to teach you anything about it. So for now, just focus on Armament Haki and Observation Haki."
"Don't worry! I'll definitely train hard!"
Luffy clenched his fist, jumped down from Cain's head, and waved at him.
"I still remember—I'm going to beat you and give your bounty back to you!"
"Haha, then see you!"
Cain laughed as he said goodbye, then carried Uta away from Sky Island, twisting and soaring through the air.
...
"Cain, where are we going next?" Uta asked softly, clutching his scales.
"We follow the Vivre Card in your hand."
Cain's voice carried a trace of gravity.
"I'm going to find Ace. That guy is in big trouble."
"Huh? You didn't tell Luffy?"
"If that brat found out, he'd probably make an even bigger mess."
Cain sighed.
"I'll handle this myself."
He sped off in the direction indicated by the Vivre Card.
The Marines were definitely searching for Ace too. Even if they knew the rough area where Garp's warship had been anchored, they might not be able to find him right away.
Cain had to find Ace before the Marines did.
He knew better than anyone how important Ace was to the Marines.
That meant the opponent waiting for him was very likely to be one of the Marine's highest-level combatants.
Based on his memory of the original story, at this point in time Aokiji had already left Marine Headquarters and was riding his bicycle in search of Robin.
Kizaru mainly oversaw the scientific forces, so he probably wouldn't set sail personally.
Which meant the one in charge of capturing Ace this time could only be one man—
Admiral Akainu, Sakazuki.
...
A few days later, Cain had returned to human form and was sitting on a flame cloud with Uta, gazing at a small island ahead.
"Uta, are you sure it's that island?"
"I think so!"
Uta held up the Vivre Card.
"It's pointing in this direction, and that's the only island that fits. There's also a Marine warship over there."
Cain frowned, puzzled.
"That's strange. If the Marines are really sending a force to capture Ace, why is there only one ship? Forget it. No point overthinking it."
He turned and warned Uta, "Wait in the sky. If anything goes wrong, I'll play the Tone Dial immediately."
"Mm, okay!" Uta nodded obediently.
The moment the words fell, Cain transformed into his human-dragon form, threw on a black fur coat he'd picked up on the road, and painted his pink body blue-green.
If it came down to it, he could just transform into an azure dragon directly and pretend to be Kaido while fighting an admiral!
Then, stepping through the air with Moonwalk, he shot straight toward the Marine warship below.
But at that exact moment, Uta suddenly noticed that the Vivre Card in her hand was still drifting forward.
As their flame cloud got closer, it had already passed beyond the island.
She instantly realized the truth—the island just happened to lie between them and Ace's real location.
Ace wasn't here at all!
"CAIN, WAIT! IT'S WRONG!" Uta shouted anxiously.
But it was already too late.
Cain had already prepared himself to face Akainu head-on.
His Haki surged, ready to explode, and while still in midair, he swung his club down with all his might.
Boom—!
The seemingly intact Marine warship was instantly blasted apart by Haki.
The deck split open, the hull shattered into pieces, and the Marines inside were flung away like kites with their strings cut, all of them crashing onto the shore.
Cain landed amid the rubble, his presence fully unleashed, his sharp eyes sweeping the area in search of Ace and Akainu.
But all he saw was a group of ordinary Marines who had been knocked unconscious.
There wasn't even a single field-grade officer among them!
As he stood there in confusion, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of a damaged cage.
Its door hung open, and a shifty-looking red-nosed man was sneaking out of it.
He turned his head—and locked eyes with Cain.
Time seemed to freeze.
Cain's eyes went round as saucers, his mouth opening wide enough to fit a fist inside.
Even the blue-green dragon scales on his body bristled slightly from shock as he screamed in a cracking voice.
"BU—BU—BUGGY—WTF!!!!"
That red-nosed man was none other than Buggy!
The moment Buggy saw Cain, he froze for half a second, then jumped like he'd seen a ghost.
"RUN AWAY—!!!"
Before his words even finished, his body split apart with a swish.
His head rolled off first, while his arms and legs flew in every direction, scattering across the shore like a pile of out-of-control building blocks.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Cain shouted at Buggy, nearly losing his mind. "WHERE'S ACE?! WHERE IS ACE?!"
"WHO THE HELL IS ACE?! I DON'T KNOW HIM!"
Buggy hurriedly controlled his scattered body parts and fled down the shoreline as fast as he could.
"AND WHAT'S WITH THAT APPEREANCE? THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE THAT MONSTER'S! DON'T COME NEAR ME!!"
....
Buggy luck is insane as always