No one knew exactly how many days and nights had passed.
The transfer of authority at Marine Headquarters had already been finalized, while the truth behind Aokiji's new identity as a bounty hunter had been classified at the same level as Cain's own secret.
It was intelligence so deeply buried that even the World Government knew nothing about it.
High above the East Blue, Cain used flame clouds to carry the Going Merry through the sky.
Four pirate flags fluttered from the ship, while its sail displayed an enormous chibi portrait of Uta.
As for why the Merry was sailing thousands of meters above the sea, the answer was simple: no one aboard knew the first thing about navigation.
Aokiji could offer some guidance when they had a Log Pose or compass, but with nothing except a sea chart, they needed the bird's-eye view from high above to compare landmarks and accurately determine their position.
(Aokiji was perfectly capable of sailing alone, but navigation at sea normally relied on a logpose. Cain did not own one, and Aokiji had never realized that, so naturally he had not brought one either.)
Yasopp had already completed his assignment and returned to the New World ahead of them.
Aokiji was sprawled lazily across the deck beside Cain, and the two men were once again watching the recording of Uta's concert—for what had to be the thousandth time.
Uta and Bella stood beside them, one girl and one cloud wearing identical pouting expressions as they glared resentfully at the pair, who remained completely absorbed in the screen.
"Are all men this strange? I'm standing right here, but they still won't stop staring at a recording. Am I really that lacking in charm?"
"Exactly! Mr. Dessert gave Bella one tiny piece of ice just so he could keep watching the video! What does he think Bella is?!"
Bella glared at the puddle of ice in front of her, instantly transformed into her combat form, and lunged at Aokiji.
She was determined to crunch apart the man who had tried to brush her off with such pathetic ice, but Uta hurriedly grabbed her.
"Let it go, Bella."
Uta thought of Yasopp, who had already departed for the New World.
If she had known this would happen, she would have made him take the recording Den Den Mushi with him.
She sighed softly, pulled the still-pouting Bella closer, and said,
"Let's go check on the orange trees instead. Hey, Camel! Don't eat those!"
Most of the orange trees that once grew aboard the Merry had been transferred to the Thousand Sunny.
Before leaving, however, Nami had deliberately kept one aboard the Merry.
She had also given Iceburg several cultivation manuals and asked him to care for it and propagate new branches.
By now, several young saplings had grown successfully.
As for the penguin Uta had called Camel, Aokiji had encountered it by chance after submitting his resignation and leaving Marine Headquarters.
Perhaps because they shared the same lazy, sleep-loving personality, the penguin had taken an immediate liking to him and followed him aboard the ship.
…
Cain and Aokiji were not truly watching the concert recording together.
They were using it as cover while secretly discussing serious matters and planning a surprise for Uta.
At the end of her previous concert, Uta had clearly announced that her next performance would take place in the East Blue.
The two men were now discussing the core details, such as the location and stage setup.
Cain had initially considered building the venue in the Goa Kingdom, but he quickly rejected the idea himself.
Windmill Village was the only place in the East Blue that Uta truly regarded as home, and Cain did not want a massive concert disturbing the village's residents.
So they settled on several requirements.
The location needed to be lively and widely known, capable of holding an enormous audience, secure enough to avoid repeating the previous incident, and protected by a strong local security force.
After arguing over the matter for several days, they discovered that only one place in the entire East Blue satisfied every condition while also being familiar to both of them.
The island where Loguetown was located.
It stood at the entrance to the Grand Line, making it famous enough and well protected.
Even if they did not hold the concert inside Loguetown itself and instead chose another area of the island…
Would that really be appropriate?
Loguetown was known as the Town of the Beginning and the End—the place where Pirate King Roger's journey had started and where his life had ended.
No one knew where Roger's remains had ultimately been buried, but the town was still the site of his public execution.
If Cain arranged for Uta to hold a concert on that island, would that not essentially amount to throwing a dance party on the man's grave?
Worse still, if Shanks found out, he might personally cut Cain in half.
…
In the end, neither man reached a final decision.
Aokiji decided to travel down to Loguetown and inspect the island personally.
After all, as the Town of the Beginning and the End, it seemed like an appropriate place for him to formally begin his new career as a bounty hunter.
He could also find a few pirates on the island to serve as practice.
Once the Going Merry arrived above Loguetown, Aokiji asked Cain for a flame cloud.
He slung his backpack over one shoulder, dragged Camel along with him, and slowly floated toward the ground.
Naturally, Aokiji would still return to Cain afterward.
He had a mission to complete, after all.
He needed to "pursue" Cain.
...
Meanwhile, near the outskirts of Loguetown, Bartolomeo—a young gangster who idolized Luffy and dreamed of setting sail—was preparing to dissolve his gang.
"Listen up, boys! Today will be the final day we gather here!"
"I've decided to go to sea and follow in Luffy-senpai's footsteps!"
"Sure, I don't have a ship, money, or even a flag yet, so preparations might take a while, but none of that matters!"
"Who wants to come with me?!"
A thunderous crash suddenly interrupted his speech.
Bartolomeo immediately glared in the direction of the noise.
"What bastard dares interrupt me while I'm talking?!"
"Oh, there are quite a few people here."
Aokiji emerged slowly from the dust while carrying Camel in his arms. He flipped through a stack of East Blue bounty posters and casually asked,
"Perfect. Can one of you tell me whether this is Loguetown or not?"
One of Bartolomeo's men recognized him and hurriedly whispered into his boss's ear.
Bartolomeo turned suspiciously.
"Huh? A former Marine Admiral?"
"Ah, so someone still recognizes me."
Aokiji scratched his head.
"In that case, could you answer my question? Is this Loguetown?"
Bartolomeo merely scoffed with open contempt.
"A former Admiral? Who cares about a former Admiral?! Even a current Admiral would be nothing before my Luf—"
Before he could finish, Aokiji completed his inspection of the bounty posters and confirmed that none of them were pirates.
Then he spotted Loguetown's iconic execution platform in the distance and simply walked away.
"You bastard! Let me finish talking!"
Bartolomeo was about to chase him when he abruptly stopped.
A sudden realization struck him.
"Wait! If that guy really is the former Admiral turned bounty hunter from the newspapers, doesn't that mean Uta-sama and Cain-senpai—the people he's pursuing—must be nearby too?!"
His face instantly filled with fanatical excitement.
His plans to become a pirate were temporarily postponed.
He did not have a ship or a pirate flag yet anyway!
…
Elsewhere, Cain and Uta guided the Going Merry down toward Windmill Village's harbor.
The moment they landed, they ran directly into the Red Hair Pirates, who had only just arrived themselves.
Both groups stared at each other in complete shock.
"Shanks!"
"Cain!"
"Uta!"
"What are you doing here?!" everyone shouted at once.
Cain scratched his head and scanned the Red Hair crew.
When he failed to spot Yasopp, he immediately asked where the man was.
The Red Hair Pirates had absolutely no idea.
More accurately, they had forgotten to tell him where they were going.
Or perhaps Yasopp had forgotten to ask.
…
At the same time, on Sphinx Island in the New World.
Garp had one hand firmly clamped around the head of Yasopp, who had only just returned.
His expression was filled with resentment, a savage red light flickered in his eyes, and even his Conqueror's Haki nearly leaked out of control.
"That Red-Hair brat has some nerve!"
"He drugged my drink, made me miss half an hour of Uta's concert, and then ran away!"
Yasopp swallowed nervously, inwardly cursing his terrible luck.
Not long ago, he had barely escaped pursuit by a Marine Admiral—no, the newly appointed Fleet Admiral.
Now he had immediately fallen into the hands of Marine Hero Garp.
Misfortune truly never came alone.
He hurriedly tried to explain.
"That had nothing to do with me! Besides, I didn't even get to see Uta's concert!"
He had only watched the recording.
"We're both from the East Blue, aren't we? Can't you let go of me first?!"
That was the worst possible thing he could have said.
Garp's anger immediately surged even higher, and the hand pressing down on Yasopp's head tightened.
"Now you've made me even angrier!"
"Uta is going to perform in the East Blue! I wanted to go back ages ago, but at the last possible moment before the Fleet Admiral handover, that brat Sengoku gave me strict orders not to leave!"
"It makes me furious!"
Garp's eyes narrowed.
"Come to think of it, you're from the East Blue too, aren't you?"
"You think I'm letting you leave? Dream on!"
"You're staying right here in the New World and drinking every barrel of alcohol Red-Hair still owes me!"
"NOOOOOOO!"
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