Mary Geoise Harbor.
Yamato leapt down from the warship, the sound of her landing startling several timid royals from small nations nearby, who immediately stumbled backward in fear.
They had never seen a woman over two meters tall—with a pair of crimson demonic horns on her head, no less.
So they screamed, "A ghost!" and ran away.
Yamato scratched her head, looking a bit puzzled. She couldn't quite figure out what had just happened.
But fortunately, Yamato was clever in her own way—whenever she couldn't understand something, she simply chose not to think about it.
So, she turned and walked toward Jack.
"Jack! Where's the person Father told you to pick up?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "As for the person I was supposed to meet… he's already entered Mary Geoise from the side."
Yamato nodded.
She remembered Jack was assigned to meet that… "Gecko Moria," was it?
She wasn't too sure about the details, but among the Shichibukai, that guy seemed to be the least famous one.
"What are you two… chatting about here?"
The man strolling down from the warship was none other than Hawk Eyes.
It was Yamato's first time handling a mission independently, so as a senior, Hawk Eyes chose to accompany her and keep an eye on things—
It was definitely not because he was interested in that guy named Shanks!
Definitely not!
"Hawk Eyes-san, we were just curious about the Shichibukai…" Yamato grinned. "Are they really that strong?"
"Of course." Hawk Eyes nodded without hesitation. "For example, the one you and I are going to meet—Red-Haired Shanks. He's very strong, a true monster. And his first mate is no weakling either."
"I see."
Yamato and Jack both nodded in unison.
As the two "SWORD fools," even though they hadn't met the Shichibukai, they had witnessed a sparring match between Hawk Eyes and Enel.
So if he said the Shichibukai were strong… they must really be strong.
"Sounds interesting! I'm gonna become a Shichibukai one day!"
"Shichibukai are pirates, you know… You're a Marine now!"
"Oh, right, right, I just haven't gotten used to the identity shift yet."
Their conversation was overheard by Shanks as he disembarked from the ship.
He shook his head and muttered, "These subordinates are really something… I guess only Michael could train them into capable people."
"That's right, old man."
"…"
"What is it, old man?"
"…Why did you come down with me?"
"I just came off the ship normally with you, didn't I?"
"…Forget it. Michael won't mind something so trivial."
Shanks sighed.
He liked to think he understood Michael fairly well.
Despite being merciless toward pirates… his tolerance for children was unusually high.
As Shanks thought that, he realized he was doing something that required quite a bit of tolerance himself.
...
"So, you brought your adopted daughter along?" Michael tilted his head, meeting Uta's gaze as the girl peeked out from behind Shanks. "Kid, your hair is really something else."
"This is natural! I can't help it!"
"By the way… your daughter hasn't eaten any weird Devil Fruits, has she? Something shaped like… a musical note, maybe?"
"Of course not." Shanks shook his head. "There's no way I'd let Uta eat some strange Devil Fruit."
"Good, good…"
Michael exhaled in relief.
It seemed that by changing Shanks' story, he had also indirectly freed Uta from her predestined fate.
Since she hadn't eaten the Sing-Sing Fruit, she was never raised as a musical prodigy in Elegia, nor did she unleash the Demon of Elegia.
Therefore, Shanks never had to leave her behind on that island in hopes that she'd one day become a true singer.
That meant the world wouldn't have to face Uta's hatred toward her father and crewmates—or her despair toward the real world—which had driven her to use the "Sing Sing World" to drag everyone into a perfect dream where they could live together forever.
He had, in other words, prevented a world-ending crisis!
In a sense, even Imu wasn't as terrifying as that girl could've been.
Still, who knew if that cursed Sing-Sing Fruit might seek her out again?
After all, ever since Michael had eaten his own Devil Fruit back then, he'd felt that these fruits… possessed a will of their own.
A will that seemed to follow certain paths of destiny.
Just like how Michael arranged for Shanks and the others to cooperate so that the Gum-Gum Fruit—no, the Nika Fruit—would eventually reach Luffy. It should've been a nearly impossible mission.
Yet somehow, everything went unnaturally smoothly.
Even Borsalino, who was supposed to be in Marineford that day, had conveniently gone to Egghead Island instead.
So to prevent this sort of thing from happening again… Michael needed to come up with a plan.
"...By the way, Uta, what do you like to do?"
"I want to become a brave warrior of the sea!"
"Uh-huh. You and a certain long-nosed kid would probably get along just fine… yeah, Usopp's son on your crew." Michael sighed. "Other than that, any personal hobbies or talents?"
"Personal talents?" Uta frowned. "Does singing well count?"
"It counts, it counts, of course it counts." Michael smiled—he'd been waiting for that answer.
"Yamato, head to the Seraphim and fetch the box labeled number 1 from the storage room."
"Got it!"
Yamato dashed off like a storm and came running back just as quickly, carrying a small wooden box in her arms.
"The Paramecia-type Scream Scream Fruit… it can transform sound waves into attacks." Michael opened the box and pushed it toward Uta. "It's yours."
"Uh…" Shanks and Uta stared at each other in confusion. "Why?"
"Don't worry about why. In short, this Devil Fruit's compatibility with Uta is perfect. You can see it too, right? That burning desire in her eyes—to become stronger."
Shanks listened to Michael's words and nodded unconsciously.
"...Scream Scream Fruit? Will I become strong if I eat it?"
"Devil Fruits, especially Paramecia types, depend mostly on how well you develop their abilities." Michael shrugged. "But as a brave warrior of the sea, you're up for the challenge, aren't you?"
"Of course!"
Without hesitation, Uta picked up the Devil Fruit and took a big bite—
Then burst into tears.
"This is even worse than Dad's cooking!"
"Be grateful you have food at all, you little brat!"
Outside the door, Katakuri and Perospero stood side by side.
"Brother, to be honest, I don't really want to go in there."
"Why not?"
"I just have this feeling… that once we step through that door, our whole tone will be completely ruined."
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