Once the shockwaves from the clash had finally died away, the others slowly sailed toward Cain's island.
By then, Cain had already returned to human form and canceled the More-More Fruit's amplification, leaving him standing normally in front of Shanks.
Shanks couldn't help marveling at what he had just seen.
"What exactly was that?"
"Your Haki looked practically endless, and what happened to your dragon scales? Why did they turn black and red?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Did your Devil Fruit awaken?"
"Not even close."
Cain waved the idea away.
"This fruit has way too many uncertainties. Until I'm completely confident about what awakening it would do, I'm not deliberately trying anything."
He glanced around at the devastated landscape before continuing.
"As for the color change and all that extra Haki, that was because of Bella."
Cain pointed toward the blue-white cloud ribbon draped around his body.
That ribbon was Bella.
Ever since Cain had given her the More-More Fruit, he had discovered an important limitation.
The fruit's multiplication ability could not normally be applied to living beings other than its user.
That was a major restriction.
But after repeated experimentation, Cain found a loophole.
Bella's soul had originally been split from Cain's own soul. As long as the two of them remained in physical contact, Cain could indirectly draw upon the More-More Fruit through her.
That was why Bella had taken the form of a ribbon.
It let her remain in constant contact with Cain while being easy to carry and discreet enough not to attract unnecessary attention.
And if anyone ever asked questions, Cain could simply claim it was some strange phenomenon caused by his Devil Fruit awakening.
"The scales change color because I fully release my Haki and wrap every part of my body with it from the inside out, then combine that with the amplification from the More-More Fruit."
Cain gestured toward himself.
"It massively strengthens every aspect of my body."
"That's the technique I developed."
"Heavenly Path."
"Originally, I almost never used it because my dragon form is so huge that coating the entire body in Haki burns through my reserves way too quickly."
"But with the More-More Fruit, Bella can multiply the sheer amount of Haki available to me by a hundred times."
"I still haven't figured out how to multiply the quality of Haki."
"But multiplying the quantity works just fine."
"That means I can cover my entire dragon body without worrying about running dry."
"So that's how it works…"
Shanks laughed.
"At this point, you really are a monster."
As they spoke, the cloud ribbon around Cain's shoulders suddenly moved.
It had been Bella all along, simply maintaining that form to stay connected to Cain.
Since they were already talking about her, Bella decided there was no point hiding anymore.
She detached herself from Cain and changed back into her normal appearance.
"Grandpa!"
She beamed.
"It's been forever! Bella missed you so much!"
Shanks immediately laughed and scooped her into his arm.
"Grandpa missed you too."
"How've you been this past year?"
It was meant to be nothing more than a casual greeting.
Unfortunately, Bella immediately started talking about what had happened in Totto Land.
Shanks' smile disappeared.
His eyes slowly shifted toward Cain.
"Cain."
His voice darkened.
"You'd better explain this properly."
Before Cain could respond, Bella shouted,
"Don't threaten Papa!"
And then—
she froze Shanks solid.
After a full year of learning, Bella no longer treated combat as a game.
She had matured considerably and understood far more than she used to.
Unfortunately, that also meant her protective instincts had become much sharper.
The moment she realized she had accidentally frozen her own grandfather, however, Bella froze for an entirely different reason.
Her eyes widened.
Then she hurriedly canceled the ability.
"Sorry! Sorry, Grandpa!"
"Bella didn't mean to!"
Shanks waved his hand, indicating that it was fine.
His eyes, however, remained fixed on Cain.
Cain sighed.
Since the subject had already come up, there was no point hiding it.
Back when they had attended Chiffon's wedding, Bella had met other Homies for the first time.
Naturally, she had been fascinated.
She was curious about these beings that seemed, at least on the surface, to be others like herself.
It didn't take long for that excitement to disappear.
They weren't nearly as wonderful as Bella had imagined.
And after she met Big Mom, that feeling only became stronger.
Linlin had actually declared in front of Bella that she wanted to destroy her and create a new, stronger Homie for Cain instead.
That had hurt Bella deeply.
Cain and Uta rejected the idea without even hesitating.
Bella was their daughter.
No matter what Big Mom offered, they would never allow her to hurt Bella.
The disagreement inevitably turned into a conflict, and Cain even fought Big Mom over it.
Fortunately, relations didn't deteriorate beyond repair.
But from that moment onward, Bella completely lost whatever affection she might once have held toward Totto Land or the so-called companions living there.
Especially Prometheus and Napoleon.
As for Zeus…
Technically, the other two had provoked him into joining in, but Bella still considered him guilty by association.
So one night, without Cain or Uta knowing anything about it, Bella quietly slipped away by herself.
Then she went looking for all three of them.
And challenged them.
At first, they laughed at her for overestimating herself.
Then Bella froze all three of them and proceeded to beat them one at a time.
Prometheus was beaten so badly that his flames nearly went out completely, leaving only the faintest trace of heat.
Zeus' lightning was practically useless against Bella, and she froze him solid before kneading him into the shape of a stuffed cloud toy.
Napoleon got beaten so badly that even the color on his hat faded.
Bella won overwhelmingly.
The three great Homies might have been older than she was—
but from that day onward, Bella was unquestionably their Big Sister.
"So Bella wasn't bullied at all."
Cain spread his hands.
"Not even slightly."
"And she definitely wasn't some poor little victim."
"She challenged those three on her own, absolutely demolished them, and basically slapped Big Mom right across the face."
He couldn't help smiling as he remembered it.
"You should've heard what Bella said afterward."
"For a second, even Big Mom herself was stunned."
"No Homie had ever dared act that brazenly in front of her before, let alone humiliate her favorite three like that."
"She was completely unreasonable, ridiculously aggressive, and practically overflowing with attitude."
Cain gave Bella a proud look.
"Actually, now that I think about it, our Bella was incredibly cool."
Even when Bella had first been born, there had always been hints of a sharper side beneath her obedient, sweet little-girl image.
It just rarely surfaced because Cain and Uta showered her with so much affection that those edges had remained safely hidden beneath all that warmth.
"Hehe! Bella wasn't that amazing!"
Bella's eyes curved happily.
She twirled lightly on the spot, still smiling—
only for Shanks to immediately scoop her into his arm again.
He turned her this way and that, inspecting the soft, cheerful little girl from every angle.
No matter how long he looked, he simply couldn't reconcile that innocent smiling face with the terrifying Big Sister Cain had just described.
By then, the Red Hair Pirates' ship had finally reached shore.
The Red Force gave a slight jolt as it docked.
Only then did Shanks suddenly remember the real reason he had come.
He immediately pulled out the newspaper he had been carrying and shoved it into Cain's hands.
"So what do you make of this?"
"This has to be some kind of scheme, right?"
Then he looked around.
"And where's Uta?"
Cain took the newspaper and scanned the headline.
A helpless smile appeared on his face.
"This whole martial arts marriage tournament Big Mom announced…"
He sighed.
"Calling it their scheme would be giving them too much credit."
"It's more like a mess we left behind."
"As for Uta…"
Cain paused and shrugged.
"She's furious about it."
The words had barely left his mouth—
when a glowing sphere of Uta World energy suddenly appeared over the distant sea.
The Going Merry was wrapped inside it.
And it came hurtling directly toward the shore.
Straight into the newly arrived Red Hair Pirates.
A sharp figure burst out from within.
A massive golden sword swept horizontally through the air.
The moment it lightly touched one officer's weapon—
that man collapsed.
Then another.
Then another.
In seconds, a huge section of the Red Hair Pirates went down like wheat before a scythe, bodies sprawled everywhere.
Uta stood in the middle of the pile.
Her red-and-white hair had been pulled tightly into a high ponytail behind her head.
She casually wiped sweat from her forehead.
Her eyes were vicious.
A practically visible aura of darkness surrounded her.
And she was staring straight at Shanks.
Step by step, Uta began walking toward him.
Then—
her gaze passed over Cain.
The terrifying expression that looked ready to devour someone vanished instantly.
Her eyes softened.
Her entire face relaxed.
And she simply looked at Cain in silence.
Compared with the Big Sister Bella had become back in Totto Land…
the Uta standing here now looked even more like the real boss.