"What? You won't tell me? Then doesn't that mean—"
Cain looked Loki up and down a few times before grabbing Uta's hand and turning to leave.
"Come on, Uta. Let's get out of here. This guy's probably been doing his business right where he's sitting for the past six years. Who knows how filthy this place is?"
"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Loki completely lost his temper. His enormous face turned bright red as he struggled violently, making the chains around his body rattle and clang.
Unfortunately, they were made of Seastone. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.
Gaban, still comfortably nestled in Jarul's beard, watched the scene with undisguised delight behind his sunglasses.
"Exactly! This is why that bastard's so annoying. Go ahead and kill him. It'll make everyone feel better."
Jarul hurriedly intervened before the situation deteriorated any further.
"Cain, we came here to calm him down, not make him even angrier. So perhaps—"
"Yeah, I understand."
Cain immediately dropped the teasing attitude and turned toward Loki with a considerably more serious expression.
"Sorry about that. I was being rude. And as for the person you were asking about earlier, yes, that was me."
"Hmph. That's more like it."
Loki finally calmed down a little, the tension easing from his enormous shoulders.
"Fine. I'll be the bigger man and forgive you. But can you seriously grow that huge? Looking at you now, I'm starting to have my doubts."
"Well, in that case—"
Cain was just about to have Bella wrap herself around him and demonstrate when an enormous explosion suddenly erupted in the distance.
BOOM!
Everyone turned toward the sound.
Far away, an ancient castle perched beside a high suspension bridge had been engulfed in a massive explosion. Flames erupted from the building, illuminating half the sky.
It was the same castle that had served as a detention facility and where the Straw Hats would have found themselves shortly after arriving in Elbaf in the original timeline.
"Isn't that the old detention facility?"
Jarul's expression immediately became serious.
"Why would something like that explode? Are we under attack?"
Before anyone could answer, another tremendous explosion shook the area.
BOOOOM!
The detention facility exploded a second time.
Elbaf hadn't experienced anything like this in a very long time. The first explosion might conceivably have been an accident, but a second made it obvious that something was terribly wrong.
Jarul immediately prepared to investigate, and Gaban was equally eager to leave. After all, the detention facility connected to the Sun World, which meant whatever was happening there might indicate an even larger problem above them.
"Hey, wait!"
Loki suddenly called out.
"Leave that brat here. I've got something to discuss with him."
"Loki, this is no time for your nonsense!"
Jarul turned toward him with a stern expression.
"Elbaf may have been invaded!"
"So what?"
Loki raised his head dismissively.
"I'm the Sun God who's going to destroy the world. Why should I care about any of that? Just leave the brat here."
The relatively peaceful atmosphere immediately became tense.
Uta's earlier curiosity disappeared, and she regarded Loki with considerably more caution.
Cain wasn't entirely sure what was happening either, but after considering the situation, he decided there was probably no reason to worry too much.
According to the timeline he had expected, Elbaf wasn't supposed to experience any particularly significant incidents around this period. Whatever had happened at the castle was probably a relatively minor disturbance.
"In that case, I'll stay."
Cain waved toward Jarul and Gaban before turning to Uta.
"Uta, you—"
"I'll stay with you."
Uta answered before he could finish.
Cain smiled and took her hand.
"All right. We'll stay together."
Watching the two of them exchange such an affectionate look made Loki grit his teeth in irritation.
Did they seriously have to flirt right in front of him?!
…
A short while earlier—
The two figures who had arrived in Elbaf through the teleportation circle were none other than Saint Figarland Shamrock, commander of God's Knights, Shanks' twin brother, and Uta's uncle, along with fellow God's Knight Saint Manmayer Gunko.
At that moment, they were riding an enormous bird woven from Gunko's arrow-shaped constructs, silently descending from the Sun World into the depths of the Underworld.
They had concealed their presence throughout the journey, ensuring that nobody noticed their arrival.
Their objective was to locate Loki beneath Treasure Tree Adam.
Fortunately, the prince had been releasing his Haki without the slightest restraint, making him almost ridiculously easy to find.
However, just as they were preparing to approach him, Cain's Haki suddenly erupted.
Both knights immediately became alert.
"Someone else is approaching. And they're powerful."
Shamrock hadn't seen Cain yet, but he could already tell that whoever was responsible for that presence was no ordinary opponent.
"Many years ago, the boss explicitly prohibited us from setting foot on Elbaf. Although we've come here to obtain the power of the Ancient Giants, we still can't afford to attract unnecessary attention."
He released his long hair and used Life Return to shorten it before turning toward Gunko.
"At the very least, we must avoid openly confronting Elbaf and directly violating his orders."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Fortunately, I came prepared."
Shamrock's current outfit was practically identical to Shanks'.
His shirt hung open at the collar, a pair of sandals covered his feet, and loose, colorful shorts completed the look. Combined with the dark cloak he had brought along, he now resembled his twin brother almost perfectly.
There were only two obvious differences.
He still had both arms, and he lacked the distinctive scars over his left eye.
Even Gunko had changed into ordinary civilian clothing, abandoning anything that might identify her as a member of God's Knights.
Their objective was clear: under no circumstances could anyone discover that the World Government was responsible for their presence here.
Once his hair was sorted out, Shamrock glanced down at his left arm.
"No need to actually cut this off."
Then he raised a finger and dragged it directly across the skin surrounding his eye.
Black flames flickered to life.
In an instant, three distinct marks appeared over his eye, resembling scars that had healed many years ago.
Shamrock cleared his throat and experimented with his voice, attempting to imitate his brother's familiar tone.
After several unsuccessful attempts, he shook his head.
"As expected, I can't quite reproduce that idiot's voice. Whatever. This should be convincing enough."
He glanced toward Jarul, who had already arrived near Loki, before shifting his attention toward the distant castle.
"We need to draw them away somehow."
Gunko followed his gaze and nodded.
"Leave it to me."
The two quickly separated.
Gunko flew toward the castle, while Shamrock leaped down into the forest and headed directly toward Loki's location.
Throughout the journey, he continued concealing his presence, remaining hidden among the trees as he approached.
Then he spotted Uta sitting on a giant's palm.
Shamrock stopped.
For a brief moment, he simply stared at her.
A particular statement Gunko had once made immediately resurfaced in his mind.
'A singing bird is safest when it's kept inside a cage.'
Almost instantly, Shamrock found himself considering the possibility of taking Uta back to the Holy Land.
Unfortunately, that presented a dilemma.
On one hand, he had his assigned mission.
On the other, there was something he personally wanted to accomplish.
For the moment, he couldn't decide which should take priority.
Then Jarul and Gaban suddenly departed together, heading toward the detention facility.
Only Uta and that pink-haired brat remained.
Shamrock recognized the boy immediately.
It was the very same brat who had publicly proposed to Uta in front of the entire world.
He had already imagined marching straight over and cutting the boy down more times than he cared to admit.
Unfortunately, every time that impulse surfaced, he remembered the orders issued by the boss and forcibly suppressed it.
'As expected, I'll have to report this matter when I return.'
Shamrock frowned as he watched Uta in the distance. Remembering the faces of those old men only made his irritation worse.
"Those damn old fossils. What kind of ridiculous mission is this supposed to be?"
God's Knights should have been able to openly declare their status as Celestial Dragons and carry out their assignments without needing to conceal themselves.
Yet here they were, reduced to sneaking around in the darkness like common criminals.
And it was entirely because of those old bastards.
After all, their current mission directly contradicted the orders their superior had previously issued!
A cold glint appeared in Shamrock's eyes.
Nevertheless, orders were orders.
He suppressed his personal desires and remained hidden rather than immediately making his move, quietly observing everything happening in the distance.
"Tch. This damned snow is filthy."
Shamrock looked down in disgust and brushed some snow from his calf.
Then he glanced at his ridiculous floral beach shorts.
"I seriously don't understand how my idiot brother got used to dressing like this. And why does he roll his shorts up so high? Doesn't he get cold?"
Still, he couldn't deny that the disguise was practically flawless.
'There's no way Uta will notice anything suspicious about my appearance.'
'Wouldn't you agree, Cerberus?'
The thought brought a faint smile to Shamrock's face as he tightened his grip on his sword.
As long as he kept his left arm concealed, he was practically indistinguishable from Shanks.
The only remaining problem was his voice, but that wasn't particularly difficult to work around.
He simply needed to avoid talking too much.
What Shamrock didn't know, however, was that Shanks had undergone a rather significant change recently.
A single snowflake drifted down and landed on Shamrock's exposed leg.
His body heat gradually melted it, forming a tiny droplet that slid down his calf.
Eventually, it came to rest on one of his leg hairs, where it glistened faintly in the dim light.
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