On the sea, the Red Force came to a brutal stop amid violent shaking, its hull cutting up white waves over a hundred meters high.
When Shanks saw who had arrived, he quickly walked toward the bow.
At this moment, he had no intention of getting tangled up in a fight and spoke directly.
"Hisashiburi, Garp-san…"
"Don't act friendly with this old man! Red-Hair, you were shouting something about 'crashing a wedding' just now. Do you really think I'm deaf?"
Garp crossed his arms and pressed him straight away.
"Talk. Where are you going to crash a wedding, and whose wedding are you crashing?"
"Crash a wedding? No, you misheard…"
Shanks felt his temples pounding and tried to brush it off as quickly as possible.
"That lousy acting of yours is even worse than Roger's!"
Garp glanced sideways at him, casually stuck his index finger into his nostril, and flicked whatever he dug out without a care.
"Cut the nonsense and get to the point. Otherwise, try getting past this old man's fists."
Shanks felt a deep sense of helplessness.
He understood this old man's temper far too well.
Ordinary Marines would need to ask the World Government for instructions before clashing with an Emperor, but this man might throw a punch in the next second just because he was in a bad mood.
And with Uta and Cain in Totto Land, every extra second of delay meant another possible change in the situation.
After a moment of stalemate, Shanks let out a long sigh and compromised.
"It's Cain… That kid is holding a wedding in Totto Land. Big Mom sent me an invitation."
The air seemed to empty out in that instant.
Garp's finger froze in his nose.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Four seconds.
After a full five seconds of dead silence, a burst of laughter powerful enough to shatter the clouds exploded across the sea.
"BWAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Garp laughed so hard he bent forward and backward, tears squeezing out of the corners of his eyes.
"Seeing you panic like this, let this old man guess… the bride is your precious daughter, Uta, right?"
Great!
The old bastard guessed everything!
The crew members of the Red Force all covered their faces with one hand, feeling completely helpless.
Shanks, meanwhile, was not surprised that Garp had guessed the bride was Uta.
After all, he was Cain's grandfather.
Garp jumped directly onto Shanks' ship and walked over to him cheerfully.
Ignoring the hostile stares from the crew, he slapped Shanks hard on the shoulder, then casually ruffled his red hair.
"Red-Hair, so this day finally came for you too! You raised your precious daughter for years, and the brat from my family went and stole her away! Serves you right! Hahaha!"
"Who told you to lead Luffy astray back then? Karma finally caught up with you, huh? Cain did well!"
Shanks' face turned from blue to purple, veins bulging at his temple.
Beckman silently turned his head away and took a deep drag from his cigarette, unable to bear looking at his captain's humiliation.
Garp laughed with immense satisfaction.
Back then, Red-Hair had led Luffy astray in Foosha Village, and now he had paid for it with a daughter.
This trade was not a loss.
Then, as if Garp suddenly thought of something, his laughter stopped abruptly.
His eyes also sharpened at once.
"Wait. Who did you say sent the invitation? Totto Land? That old hag Linlin?"
Shanks gestured for one of his men to hand over the invitation.
At the same time, he told Garp their guesses and why they were heading to crash the wedding.
Garp clearly also noticed the problem with this wedding.
But what he focused on was not that.
He stared at the gilded card and read its contents.
His face instantly darkened until it looked ready to drip water.
"WHERE'S MINE?!"
Garp abruptly turned his head and roared.
"CAIN IS THIS OLD MAN'S GRANDSON! FOR SOMETHING THIS IMPORTANT, WHY DIDN'T THIS OLD MAN, AS HIS GRANDFATHER, RECEIVE AN INVITATION? BOGARD! DID YOU MISS THE INTEL?"
Bogard leaned against the mast and sighed faintly.
"Vice Admiral, they're pirates, and we're Marines. Going to Totto Land to attend a wedding does not follow regulations."
The air froze again.
The next second, Garp shouted in grievance.
"CAIN! YOU UNFILIAL GRANDSON! AND THAT OLD HAG LINLIN TOO! WHAT GIVES?!"
"MARRIAGE IS SUCH A HUGE EVENT, AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN NOTIFY THIS OLD MAN! EVEN A GUY LIKE RED-HAIR GOT AN INVITATION, BUT THIS OLD MAN HAD TO 'COINCIDENTALLY' RUN INTO PIRATES ON THE SEA AND INTERCEPT THEM TO LEARN THAT HIS OWN GRANDSON IS GETTING MARRIED?!"
He jumped straight back onto his warship, tore off the Justice coat from his back, and threw it to Bogard. His eyes were red.
"Turn around! All engines full speed! Target—Totto Land!"
"But the mission…"
"WHAT MISSION ARE WE DOING RIGHT NOW? THIS OLD MAN IS TAKING LEAVE! IF ANYTHING COMES UP, LET KIZARU HANDLE IT FOR NOW! ALSO, DON'T TELL SENGOKU!"
Garp shouted in a rage.
"THIS OLD MAN HAS PERSONAL MATTERS TO HANDLE! I'M GOING TO ATTEND A WEDDING! IF LINLIN DOESN'T RESERVE THE MAIN SEAT FOR ME, I'LL TEAR DOWN WHOLE CAKE ISLAND TODAY!"
"NO—THIS OLD MAN IS GOING TO CRASH THE WEDDING TOO! I DON'T CARE WHETHER THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THIS WEDDING OR NOT! IF THEY DARED NOT INVITE ME, THEN THIS WEDDING ISN'T HAPPENING! BESIDES, WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE IS GETTING MARRIED IN A PIRATE DEN? IF THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED, THEY SHOULD DO IT BACK AT MARINE HEADQUARTERS, RIGHT UNDER SENGOKU'S NOSE! HAHAHA!"
"I WON'T ARREST YOU THIS TIME, RED-HAIR. WHAT ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR? MOVE!"
The people on both ships fell silent at the same time.
And so, an eerie sight appeared on the sea.
The Red Force raced ahead, while the Marine dog-headed warship followed madly from behind.
These enemies, who should have been hostile to each other, now looked like allies charging side by side, desperately rushing toward the same destination.
Shanks stood at the bow, letting the wild wind whip his black cloak behind him.
He stared at the sea flying past and thought of the news Rayleigh had told him earlier.
Those people had still made a move against Uta.
Fortunately, Cain and the others had a way to deal with it, and although the whole matter had been dangerous, there had been no real disaster.
But from the look of things, Uta's relationship with Shanks had most likely been discovered by those people in the World Government…
Although he knew Uta was safe now, Shanks' gaze remained especially grave.
Just then, Benn Beckman walked up with a cigarette in his mouth and gestured for him to look behind them.
Garp was standing at the stern of the Marine warship, his expression ferocious as he grabbed one enormous iron cannonball after another and threw them like they cost nothing, blasting the sea behind his own ship.
His effort alone was not losing to the combined work of Shanks' entire crew.
Every cannonball exploded with terrifying force, pushing the warship forward with completely unreasonable, illegal acceleration.
The corner of Beckman's mouth twitched uncontrollably as he said,
"Shanks, with a grandfather like that… I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Luffy, Ace, and Cain."
Shanks also looked helpless.
"If a 'family delegation' of this scale charges into Totto Land, that place might not survive."
Before Shanks could finish speaking, Garp's shout came from behind.
"RED-HAIR, YOU'RE TOO SLOW! THIS OLD MAN WILL GIVE YOU A PUSH!"
Apparently, he felt that throwing cannonballs was still too inefficient.
Then he suddenly leapt into the air and threw a heavy punch at the sea behind the Red Force.
The terrifying shockwave turned into a physical thrust, sending the massive Red Force flying forward by several thousand meters.
Immediately afterward, Garp turned midair and repeated the same move, punching toward the sea behind his own warship.
With Garp acting as a violent "human engine," both ships rapidly disappeared beyond the horizon.
…
While everyone involved was running around in chaos because of the wedding, the two main characters of this incident knew absolutely nothing about it.
The sunlight of Totto Land was quiet and sweet, and the air carried the faint fragrance of cream and candy.
Cain, still fast asleep, was nestled in Uta's arms, his cheek gently rubbing against her as he felt her warmth.
Mumbling drowsily, he said,
"So soft… smells so nice…"