"They are… the Red Hair Pirates! Don't tell me…!"
Katakuri naturally recognized the group chasing Cain at a glance.
But according to Mama's calculations, they should not have arrived until the afternoon at the earliest.
How had they gotten here so much sooner?
While he was still wondering, Cain had already rushed to Uta's side as she stood there in a daze.
Right in front of everyone, he stretched out his arm, scooped her up firmly by the waist, and charged off without looking back.
Caught off guard as she was pulled into his arms, Uta instinctively cried out, "AH! CAIN, WHY ARE YOU—?!"
Hearing that startled cry, the group chasing behind them grew even angrier.
Katakuri instantly tensed every nerve in his body.
Armament Haki covered his entire arm in an instant, and he prepared himself to face this iron-wall pirate crew made entirely of elites.
But who would have thought that the people on the other side did not even glance at him?
They completely ignored Katakuri, who was standing there ready for battle.
Without slowing down in the slightest, they ran straight past everyone, their eyes locked firmly on Cain as he carried Uta and sprinted away.
Then they chased after him like mad.
Katakuri froze on the spot.
A moment later, he immediately came back to himself and suppressed the shock in his heart.
Whether it was Kaido, who had appeared earlier, or the Red Hair Pirates now giving chase, neither was something he could handle alone.
The best choice for stabilizing the situation was to solve Mama's craving fit first, then leave the rest to Mama herself.
He immediately turned to Brûlée and gave a quick but still steady order, telling her to rush to the central kitchen at once and get a qualified cake sample from Chiffon.
Hearing that, Brûlée instantly reined in the panic on her face.
She reached into her clothes and took out a small palm-sized makeup mirror with worn edges from years of being carried around, then placed it in Katakuri's hand.
"This is my makeup mirror. Once I get the sample, I'll send it through this mirror right away. Make sure you take good care of it, Katakuri-nii-san."
Katakuri tightened his grip around the mirror and nodded heavily.
Without any more unnecessary words, he immediately turned to Jinbe, Oven, Daifuku, and the others not far away and gave his orders.
He told them to coordinate at once and lure Mama, who had already fallen into a hunger-fueled frenzy, in the direction where Cain and Uta had fled.
Katakuri understood better than anyone that Chiffon's preparations were clearly still far from enough.
Right now, they could only rely on Uta.
After everyone left, Law, who had been checking the situation around them, confirmed that Cain and Uta were not in danger for the moment.
He then turned and went to treat Bege.
…
At this moment, Cain's situation as he sprinted along with Uta in his arms had become unbelievably strange.
Honestly, it had become absurd to the extreme.
He was carrying Uta by the waist, not daring to slow down for even half a step as he desperately ran forward.
While running, he kept looking back and shouting explanations at the top of his lungs, but the Red Hair Pirates behind him refused to listen to even half a word.
They kept yelling for him to put Uta down and obediently accept his death.
Just hearing what they were saying, how could Cain dare let her go?
Putting aside whether he would be beaten up the moment he stopped, the fact that they had hidden the truth from Uta together with Shanks back then was enough reason for him not to release her.
If Uta remembered those past events again and Tot Musica went out of control once more, that would not be a joke.
A dozen or so meters behind them, Katakuri, Jinbe, and the others were desperately chasing as well.
While keeping a close eye on the situation ahead, they also watched what was happening behind them, ready to provide support at any time.
And at the very back of the group, Zeus, Prometheus, and Napoleon guarded the completely frenzied Big Mom as they continuously unleashed destructive thunderbolts and flames forward. Explosions boomed one after another.
…
Just like that, the chase continued all the way across another half of the island, finally reaching the place where Kaido had fallen earlier.
At this moment, Kaido had already returned to human form and was sleeping soundly, completely unconcerned with the chaos he had caused.
Garp and Shanks were still brawling.
Shanks had never wanted to fight Garp, but Garp had not held back in the slightest.
From Luffy being led astray, to Luffy putting on Roger's hat, to Luffy declaring that he wanted to become a pirate, Garp dumped every last grievance onto Shanks in one go.
After being beaten until his head was covered in bumps, Shanks finally threw away his usual calm and proper demeanor.
All the grievances bottled up in his heart surged out at once.
Especially the scene of Uta forcibly kissing Cain right in front of him—the unwillingness and frustration of having his dignity as a father completely torn apart all came bursting out, and he even reached out and yanked hard on Garp's beard!
Then the two of them turned their heads at the same time and saw Cain and Uta running toward them.
Relying on his familiarity with Whole Cake Island, Katakuri took a shortcut and caught up to Cain one step ahead.
He threw the mirror Brûlée had left behind to Uta, and as the freshly baked pastry appeared from inside it, Uta was already prepared.
Cain nodded as well.
During the escape just now, he had also heard Uta's method for waking Big Mom and had agreed to let her do it.
In an instant, most of the area was enveloped by her Music Domain, pulling everyone present inside, even Shanks and Garp, who were still tangled together in a fight.
Both of them froze.
The Red Hair Pirates chasing behind heard that familiar song and gradually stopped as well.
In the next moment, a giant cake taller than a small mountain appeared before everyone.
Big Mom immediately pounced on it and began eating in huge mouthfuls.
The delicious texture and flavor made her eyes shine, and she unconsciously began to sing.
Seeing this, Garp and Shanks finally stopped brawling.
Shanks stood up too, patted the dust from his body, and walked over. He was deeply shocked by Uta's current ability.
When Uta saw Shanks, she also froze.
The two of them stood face-to-face, neither knowing what to say for a moment.
Cain instinctively wanted to step back.
For one thing, he had walked in on Uta's private moment not long ago, and even now, the embarrassment and shyness had not faded.
He had no idea how to face Shanks.
For another, he also wanted to take the initiative to give this long-separated father and daughter some space.
But Uta tightly grabbed Cain's wrist from beside him and refused to let him leave.
She stepped forward, firmly holding Cain's hand, then gathered her courage and spoke to Shanks.
"You… why are you here?"
"I'm sorry, Uta. I just…"
"Stop saying sorry!"
"Just like Cain said, you always wear that look like everything is under control. Even now, when you're facing me, are you still going to act like that? What do I have to do before I can see the real you?!"
As Uta spoke, she could not help muttering softly, "Shanks was way more fun when he was little…"
Her voice was quiet, but Shanks heard it perfectly clearly.
A giant question mark instantly popped up in his mind.
At that moment, Garp walked over, grabbed Shanks by the red hair, and rubbed it hard.
Then he blurted out all the grievances Shanks had complained to him about earlier, like his daughter not wanting him anymore and getting stolen away by a pink-haired brat.
Those words directly made the usually steady Shanks flush bright red with embarrassment!
When Uta heard Shanks' true feelings spoken aloud by Garp, she laughed.
Then, once again right in front of Shanks, she kissed Cain on the cheek.
Cain froze on the spot.
He looked at Uta, then at Shanks, who had once again turned gray and lifeless, then at Garp, who was laughing loudly…
His head whipped back and forth.
After confirming that he was one hundred percent sober now, he finally realized just how wrong this whole situation was and immediately shouted,
"WHY ARE YOU TWO EVEN HERE?!"
"Take this!"
Garp raised his hand and gave Cain a knuckle to the head, then roared with complete confidence.
"YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THIS OLD MAN BEING HERE, BRAT? YOU DARED TO HIDE SOMETHING AS HUGE AS STARTING A FAMILY FROM ME, AND NOW THAT I CAME HERE PERSONALLY, YOU STILL THINK I'M MEDDLING?!"