After saying goodbye to Luffy and Ace, Cain carried Uta and Yamato into the sky in front of everyone, flying over the Red Line and entering the waters of the New World.
After flying for quite a while, he had just begun slowly lowering his altitude when Yamato suddenly spoke from above his head.
"Cain, you can drop me off here!"
As she said that, she grabbed onto his dragon horn and prepared to jump.
"HEY, YAMATO! THAT'S THE SEA DOWN THERE!" Cain shouted in panic.
"What's there to be afraid of? If there's no ship, I'll just make ice and walk. Don't worry!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Yamato launched herself toward the sea.
Cain swung his tail violently and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT! YOU ESCAPED FROM WANO, REMEMBER? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHICH WAY WANO IS?!"
Yamato instantly froze in midair.
She even forgot to make ice to land on and shouted back, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT EARLIER?!"
The next second, with a splash, she smashed straight into the sea, kicking up a huge spray of water.
Before Cain could fly down, a yellow submarine slowly surfaced from beneath the waves.
Yamato, who had fallen into the sea, was conveniently pushed onto the deck by the swell.
She lay there clutching the planks, coughing and spitting out seawater.
Cain recognized it at a glance.
Wasn't that Law's submarine?
They had already agreed to meet here earlier.
After all, he could not exactly carry Uta and fly straight to Totto Land.
They still had to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom along the way, and those things would inevitably get awkward.
So they had simply decided to hitch a ride on Law's ship.
Not only did it have comfortable rooms, but it also had good food. On top of that, there was even an Uta fan aboard.
No matter how he calculated it, they definitely would not be treated badly.
…
"Ah, this is the life! This peaceful, undisturbed lifestyle is exactly what I want!"
Warm sunlight spilled over the deck.
Cain lay in a rocking chair, his sunglasses slipping down to the tip of his nose, both hands tucked behind his head as the chair gently swayed with the sea breeze.
"So, Yamato," Cain said lazily as the rocking chair creaked, "why don't you come with us to Totto Land first? When we get there, you can ask Katakuri for an Eternal Pose to Wano. At least having a direction is better than charging off blindly."
Hearing that, Yamato lowered her head and said quietly,
"Ah… I'm really sorry. I was so focused on hurrying back that I didn't think it through. I really caused you trouble this time."
"It's no problem."
Cain pulled a set of blueprints from his pocket and tossed them over, his sunglasses slipping even lower.
"If you really feel bad about it, just help me make something in Wano later. Here, the blueprints."
Yamato caught them, lowered her head, and flipped through the drawings. Her eyes widened slightly as she said in a daze,
"Eh? You actually prepared this already? You're so prepared it's like you were just waiting for me to bring it up."
"Don't overthink it."
Cain rolled over, facing the sunlight, his tone casual.
"I was planning to go to Wano anyway. I just got delayed because too many things happened recently. Once you make it, I'll go pick it up myself."
Yamato held the blueprints and leaned a little closer.
Her brow furrowed, and she still had that blankly puzzled look on her face.
"This looks like a weapon, right? Don't you already have one? And this material… is it made from Seastone?"
"My current one still isn't complete."
Cain stretched, and the rocking chair let out a faint creak.
"I need to embed a piece of Seastone in the middle."
"But you're a Devil Fruit user too."
Yamato raised her head and looked at him, her eyes full of confusion.
"Using Seastone as a weapon is already strange enough. With your current strength, you can even clash head-on with Kaido, so why are you still going through all this trouble for a weapon?"
"Well…"
Cain scratched his head.
His sunglasses slipped to the tip of his nose, revealing an awkward smile as he began calculating inwardly.
He could not exactly tell Yamato that this Seastone weapon was being prepared for Luffy, could he?
Once that guy truly defeated Kaido and awakened Gear Five, with his reckless personality, he would definitely come running over all excited, shouting for Cain to fight him and fulfill their old promise.
Cain had no problem fighting awakened Gear Five Luffy for days and nights, but that guy's Gear Five, to put it plainly, was an ability that made no sense.
It was wild, ridiculous, and utterly lacking in seriousness.
But a Devil Fruit user was still a Devil Fruit user. Luffy's fruit had already awakened, while whether Cain's fruit could awaken was still uncertain.
So there was nothing wrong with preparing a Seastone weapon in advance, right?
Cain imagined Luffy charging toward him excitedly in Gear Five, hair standing high as he yelled,
"CAIN! LET'S FIGHT!"
Then, right as Luffy came swinging at him with a raised fist, Cain would flick out the Seastone section in the middle of his weapon like a collapsible baton.
With a backhanded strike wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, he would slap that Seastone straight into Luffy's face.
Just thinking about it made Cain secretly delighted, the corners of his mouth quietly lifting.
Ideally, that one hit would shut the guy's mouth too.
Otherwise, after awakening, Luffy would probably keep laughing foolishly everywhere, loud enough to hurt people's ears.
Seeing Cain giggling to himself like that, Yamato could not help shaking her head lightly. Her gaze then drifted toward Bepo, who was carrying things nearby.
Bepo had a full barrel of chilled fruit juice in his arms, and behind him he was dragging a basket of fresh tropical fruit.
He looked full of energy and motivation.
Just then, Law, who was leaning by the cabin door, finally could not hold back anymore and shouted, "BEPO, THAT'S ENOUGH! AND CAIN-YA, DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE REALLY TREATING THIS SUBMARINE LIKE YOUR OWN HOME?"
Cain slowly raised his eyes, reached out, plucked a grape from Bepo's basket as he passed, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed with great enjoyment.
"Ah, Torao. No need to be polite! I'll enjoy these properly and won't waste a single bit."
"What's with that tone like this is perfectly natural?"
Law took two steps forward.
"It's one thing for you to eat and drink for free, but now you're even ordering Bepo around like a servant?"
"Captain! Sumimasen! But…"
Bepo hurriedly put down the juice barrel, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and anxiously explained,
"Cain-san already paid! And I'm not being ordered around. I volunteered to help!"
The moment he said that, Law froze.
The anger on his face stiffened, as if he had not expected that answer.
Cain smiled even more comfortably and sank deeper into the rocking chair, one hand resting on the armrest as he swayed gently.
"See, Torao? I'm not bullying your crewman. Bepo is happy to help, and I paid the proper reward. That's called equivalent exchange."
Bepo nodded and carried the juice barrel to the table, swiftly setting out cups.
"That's right, Captain. The money Cain-san gave can buy so much meat! And Miss Uta is on the ship too, so I'm really happy I can help!"
Following Bepo's gaze, Law looked over and saw Uta standing at the bow, facing the sea breeze.
In front of her was an open live-broadcast Den Den Mushi as she sang aloud.
So as not to disturb her, everyone on the other end of the live-broadcast Den Den Mushi had muted their microphones and was quietly listening.
Uta's eyes were closed as she faced the sea breeze, enjoying that peace and warmth.
She had no idea that on the projected screen of the live broadcast, quite a few people were holding signs that read:
Kill the Evil Dragon and Save Uta!