On the Red Hair Pirates' ship, the Red Force.
The warm wind of the New World should have carried the scent of freedom, but today, that wind could not blow away the heavy, oppressive atmosphere aboard the ship.
The vessel was racing forward at a speed beyond its limits, and the mast creaked under the enormous strain.
"Boss, what exactly happened? Why are we in such a hurry?"
"Yeah! Ever since you read that letter from Totto Land this morning, you've been acting like your soul left your body!"
"You keep telling us to sail faster, then faster again. We're already at top speed! Any faster and the mast won't hold!"
The crew gathered anxiously at the bow.
Red-Haired Shanks, who was usually carefree and bold enough to laugh heartily with a cup of wine in hand, now stood with his back to everyone.
His black cloak fluttered in the sea breeze, and his whole figure carried a loneliness and exhaustion they had never seen before.
"Shanks?"
First mate Benn Beckman took a drag of his cigarette, his brows furrowed tightly.
He stepped forward and gently placed his broad hand on Shanks' shoulder.
"This isn't like you. What exactly did the letter say—"
The moment Beckman's hand touched him, all the color drained from the Emperor of the Sea before him, leaving him gray and lifeless.
Shanks directly crouched down and curled up in the corner of the deck.
Visible black gloom seemed to pour from his body.
His right index finger mechanically drew circle after circle on the wooden floor while he repeatedly muttered vague fragments under his breath.
"It must be an illusion… I must have drunk too much lately and started hallucinating… I knew this day would come eventually, but why… why so soon…"
The invitation bearing the emblem of the Big Mom Pirates, framed with gilded edges, slipped from his hand and fell onto the deck.
"IT'S JUST A LETTER FROM TOTTO LAND. IS IT REALLY ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE THIS, SHANKS?!"
"NO MATTER WHAT, YOU'RE STILL ONE OF THE FOUR EMPERORS! IF IT REALLY COMES TO A FIGHT, WHO WINS AND WHO LOSES IS STILL UP IN THE AIR!"
Beckman spat out a mouthful of smoke, bent down, picked up the letter and invitation, and casually flipped through them.
"Let me see. What exactly could be written here to turn a man like you into—"
Half a minute later.
The man known for having one of the sharpest minds in the world, always calm, steady, and skilled at calculating the situation, let the cigarette slip from his fingers and fall directly onto his foot.
He fell into a deathly silence, and the deep light in his eyes vanished completely.
Silently, he walked to Shanks' side, lit another cigarette, crouched down in defeat, and joined his captain in mechanically drawing circles on the deck while muttering... "Why? How did this happen…"
Shanks tilted his head and looked at Beckman, who was now crouching beside him in the same dazed state.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
The crew all knew that he had once gone to Elegia specifically for Uta and met Cain there.
But he had never told anyone the result of that conversation with Cain.
He had also never mentioned Uta and Cain's true relationship now, nor had he said that he had already personally entrusted Uta to Cain.
Even after the Summit War, when he had left the ship halfway and gone to Sabaody Archipelago to find Uta, he had never told his crew the real purpose.
He had originally wanted Cain to use his connection with Big Mom to smoothly resolve the hidden danger around Uta.
But he had never expected that little bastard to go this far in one shot.
Seriously…
"HEY! WHY IS EVEN BECKMAN ACTING WRONG NOW?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"
Lucky Roux finally could not hold back after seeing the two of them crouched together. He shouted and rushed forward, snatching up the invitation.
"I WANT TO SEE WHAT KIND OF CURSED THING IS WRITTEN ON THIS PAPER—!!"
The next second, a scream that shook the entire ship and pierced the clouds burst from Lucky Roux's mouth.
"UTA IS GETTING MARRIED!!!"
"HAAAH?!!!"
The entire ship fell into absolute silence for one second.
Then everyone's reason snapped.
Thick fury rose from every crew member, and all of them became utterly agitated.
"WHO IS IT?! WHO THE HELL IS THAT MAN?!"
"IS HE ONE OF BIG MOM'S CHILDREN?! THEN HE'S WORTH KILLING!"
"I DON'T CARE WHO HE IS! HE'S NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS! HOW DARE HE SET HIS SIGHTS ON OUR GIRL!"
"WHO CARES WHO IT IS? KILL THEM ALL! HE ACTUALLY DARED TO TOUCH UTA!"
"UTA IS STILL SO YOUNG! SHE'S STILL A CHILD! HOW COULD THAT BASTARD DO THIS?!"
The crew members drew the weapons at their waists one after another, and the air filled with the thick smell of gunpowder.
"It's Cain," Lucky Roux said, staring at the name on the invitation, the corner of his mouth twitching nonstop as he turned toward the emotionally out-of-control crowd.
"And… that kid is actually a little younger than Uta."
The air fell into a strange silence again.
The figure of that young man appeared in everyone's minds—the pink-haired boy who had been together with Uta.
Shanks subconsciously swallowed.
He could not help thinking that although he had never told them about Uta and Cain's relationship, with their old impression of Cain, they probably would not make things too difficult for him, right?
Wait.
That news from before…
Sure enough, someone instantly remembered Morgans' report!
"Well, damn. I was wondering why that news about Cain abducting Uta suddenly came out some time ago. So he kidnapped our songstress to marry her? That bastard…! Captain, you were the one who told us not to worry! What are we supposed to do now?!"
"So it's him… Even if we know him, he can't act this recklessly! That brat Cain actually dared to set his sights on Uta!"
"Damn it, why did it have to be him… I know they get along well, but I still can't accept this!"
"Someone give me a reason to hit him. I want to rush over right now and smash his face flat!"
"What does that brat even have? What gives him the right to marry Uta?! Can he really protect her properly?!"
Hearing that, another crew member quietly added from the side.
"Well… Cain has a Mythical Zoan Fruit, Conqueror's Haki coating, a bounty of 2.3 billion, two Emperor crews fighting over him… strength personally recognized by the boss… and most importantly, his grandpa is Garp…"
"BASTARD, STOP RUINING THE MOOD! IS THAT WHAT WE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON RIGHT NOW?!"
"THAT'S RIGHT! WE HAVE TO LET CAIN KNOW THAT UTA'S FAMILY ISN'T EASY TO MESS WITH! IF HE WANTS TO MARRY UTA, HE HAS TO PASS ALL OF US FIRST!"
Listening to the crew's noisy chatter, which held none of the dignity an Emperor's crew should have, Beckman saw the situation about to spiral completely out of control and suddenly stood up, shouting sternly at everyone.
"IDIOTS! IS THAT REALLY THE IMPORTANT PART RIGHT NOW? SHOULDN'T OUR FOCUS BE THE WEDDING ITSELF?!"
"If the other side dared to openly send us an invitation, that means Uta's relationship with us has already been exposed…"
"That's right. Just as Beckman said, no matter how you look at this wedding they're notifying us about, it is definitely not a normal wedding."
At that moment, Shanks also recovered his spirit.
He gripped his sword tightly and looked coldly at everyone, a terrifying red light flickering deep in his eyes.
"Whether Cain is worthy of Uta or whether we accept him—none of that matters right now… The real key is this wedding itself!"
"We absolutely cannot let this wedding go smoothly! Even if we can't make it in time, we have to move forward at full speed with everything we have! In short, we're going to—crash the wedding!"
"YEAH! CRASH THE WEDDING! CRASH THE WEDDING! CRASH THE WEDDING!"
The entire crew's emotions instantly reached their peak.
Their shouts rang through the sky and sea, and every one of them was full of murderous energy!
They began bombarding the sea behind the ship, using the recoil from the cannon fire to push the ship forward even faster.
Shanks looked at the excited crew and had just revealed a faint smile when his expression suddenly turned serious.
He sharply turned his head.
At that very moment, a loud shout tore through the air.
"AS EXPECTED OF PIRATES. YOU EVEN WANT TO CRASH SOMEONE ELSE'S WEDDING."
"I DON'T KNOW WHICH UNLUCKY COUPLE GOT TARGETED BY YOU BASTARDS."
"BUT NOW THEY CAN RELAX, BECAUSE THIS OLD MAN IS HERE!"
Garp held a loudspeaker and shouted toward the Red Force.
He had clearly heard the words "crash the wedding" being shouted over and over from the ship just now.
Before his voice had even fully fallen, he suddenly slammed a heavy punch into the sea.
The terrifying rebound force directly launched the dog-headed warship high into the air, cutting straight across the Red Hair Pirates' path.
---
And so another run of misunderstanding happen, All the yonko's will gather in one place lmao