...
In the illusion world, after a brief pause in midair, Boundman Luffy's form changed once again.
White steam peeled away from him like a shedding cocoon, revealing a taller, more supple and flexible figure. The white streamers danced wildly in the air, extending as if alive, coiling into the Serpent form.
"Serpent…"
Luffy whispered, his voice carrying a double echo.
He drew his arm back, stretching it to the extreme limit of his rubber properties. His arm spiraled and charged in the air like a giant python coiled and waiting for the perfect moment to deliver a fatal strike.
In the real world, Shanks raised his famous sword "Gryphon" high.
Pitch-black Conqueror's Haki rose from the blade, coiling, compressing, and condensing until it formed visible dark red arcs of electricity dancing along the edge.
The overwhelming pressure of an Emperor-level Haki made the air across all of Elegia feel thick and heavy—even the soldiers on distant Marine warships found it hard to breathe.
"AAAAAAAAA!!!"
Luffy's roar shattered the skies.
"Gomu Gomu no… Serpent Cannon!!!"
The coiled, charged arm shot forward like a python breaking free of its bonds! The white streamers traced a spiraling path through the air!
Everywhere it passed, the lingering remnants of music-note wreckage were completely pulverized and annihilated.
The arm extended infinitely, piercing through the void, then under Luffy's control, it snapped back with ferocious force.
And at the exact moment it retracted…
In both worlds, two figures moved at the same time.
Luffy and Shanks—the two inheritors of the straw hat—attacked together for the first time!
They charged toward the last remaining core of Tot Musica: the Demon King's final struggle, and the last anchor connecting the two worlds.
At this moment that would decide the fate of the world, the light screen suddenly flickered violently and began to flash back uncontrollably.
First came Uta at the Windmill Village harbor, a tiny figure clinging to Shanks's knee and crying.
Luffy grinned foolishly and handed her a wildflower; the friendship between the two children took root in the East Blue sea breeze.
Then the scene rapidly rewound, going even further back into the past…
A young Shanks stood on the deck of the Red Hair Pirates, brow furrowed.
The crew gathered around a treasure chest from which came faint crying sounds.
The chest was pried open.
Inside curled up a small child with red-and-white hair, face streaked with tears.
The entire Red Hair Pirates froze.
Shanks crouched down, awkwardly reaching out a finger to gently touch the baby's cheek. The baby cried even harder.
This future young Emperor was, for once, completely flustered.
He hesitated, then started making faces—squeezing his eyes, sticking out his tongue, twisting his mouth—using every trick he knew in a desperate attempt to make the child laugh.
Miraculously, the baby's cries gradually quieted. She blinked her big eyes, looked at Shanks's ridiculous expression, and then…
"Giggle giggle…"
She laughed.
The scene switched again, going even further back…
Onboard the Oro Jackson of the Roger Pirates.
A young Roger, Rayleigh, Scopper Gaban… stood around a treasure chest, expressions stunned.
Inside was not treasure, but a red-haired little boy.
The scene froze there.
In God Valley, dead silence fell.
Scopper Gaban's mouth hung open; after a long moment he finally managed to speak: "Wait… Uta was picked up by Shanks, and then Shanks was picked up by us… what the hell is going on?!"
His mind completely short-circuited: "Then what about his brother? What about Shamrock?"
Roger held the giggling infant Shanks in his arms, his expression complicated beyond words.
He looked at the baby's innocent smiling face, then at the man on the light screen who had become an Emperor, murmuring: "The… cycle of fate?"
Rayleigh adjusted his glasses, unusually refraining from immediate analysis, simply staying silent to process the information.
At that moment, Big Mom's furious roar shattered the silence.
"No way! Zeus! You explain this right now!"
Charlotte Linlin pointed at the white cloud-like creature in Nami's hands on the light screen: "Why are you in the hands of that woman from the Straw Hat crew?!"
"Mama… I don't know… that's future me… no no no! That can't be me!"
The more it spoke, the more confused it became; even its cloud body started knotting up.
"It should be like this."
Shakky held the sleeping Shamrock, her voice calm yet clear enough to reach everyone: "If this light screen had never appeared, the future would have followed its original path—Shanks wouldn't have been taken back by Roger in God Valley…"
She looked around at the group and continued: "But now, the light screen has changed the 'present.'
Everything we're seeing here has become a new 'possibility.'
The fact that these two children ended up in the Roger Pirates' hands means certain chains of cause and effect in the future… have already been severed."
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard laughed heartily, the ground trembling slightly: "Shakky's right! That seems like the most reasonable explanation!"
Beside him, Buckingham pouted and muttered under her breath.
After hearing Shakky's explanation, Big Mom stroked her chin thoughtfully: "Mamama… so the future isn't set in stone? Then maybe this old lady can…"
A cunning gleam flashed in her eyes; she was clearly plotting something.
The flashback ended, and the scene returned to the battlefield.
Luffy and Shanks charged side by side toward Tot Musica's core; their attacks were about to land!
At that instant, the screen suddenly turned pure white.
The blinding light lasted several seconds. When the image cleared again, everyone—especially the Five Elders—saw a sight they would never forget.
Luffy's figure had changed once more.
No longer Boundman, no longer Serpent.
That silhouette, that flowing white hair, those distinctive eyebrows, that freedom-to-the-point-of-absurdity smile…
"Ni…"
The First Generation Kitetsu fell from Saint Nusjuro's hand with a clatter.
"Nika!!!"
Saint Topman Warcury cried out involuntarily in the realm of consciousness, his face full of shock.
Saint Saturn abruptly stood up, brows tightly furrowed: "He's already awakened?! How is this possible!"
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter's face was deathly pale: "We… still weren't in time…"
Saint Marcus Mars trembled all over, voice hoarse: "Joy Boy… could he really… have returned…"
The Five Elders completely lost composure.
They no longer cared about appearances or hiding their fear; they simply stared fixedly at the white figure on the light screen as if witnessing a prophecy of the world's end.
And even deeper, in the Room of Flowers in Mary Geoise.
"Joy Boy… Joy Boy… Joy Boy!!!"
Imu's eerie cries echoed through the vast garden, the voice mixed with fear, rage, and a bone-deep, unforgettable wariness.
It saw him—that white figure… standing right there now.
Luffy and Shanks' final strike finally landed.
The white-light fist and the Haki-wreathed blade pierced through Tot Musica's core at the same time.
The Demon King let out one last blood-curdling scream; its music-note body began to disintegrate and dissipate, crumbling like a sandcastle blown away by the wind.
The anchor connecting the two worlds was completely severed; the consciousnesses bound by the music notes surged back to reality like a tidal wave.
The light gradually faded.
The illusion world began to collapse, contracting inward from the edges like a receding tide.
Uta leaned against a broken rock, her face pale as paper, blood constantly spilling from her mouth.
The toxicity of the Sleepless Mushroom had already seeped into her bone marrow; she could feel her life draining away at terrifying speed.
Shanks walked up to her, knelt on one knee, and held out a bottle of Hongo's specially made antidote: "Uta, drink this. You can still…"
Uta weakly shook her head. At that moment, commotion erupted in the distance.
The civilians still affected by Tot Musica's residual energy were in a state of uncontrolled frenzy.
They roared, attacking each other and even the Red Hair Pirates members trying to help them.
"No… stop attacking…"
Uta struggled to stand, only to cough up more blood: "Don't hurt anyone anymore…"
She looked at the antidote in Shanks's hand, then suddenly reached out…
Smash!
The bottle shattered on the ground; purple liquid seeped into the scorched earth.
"Uta?!" Shanks stared at her in shock, eyes filled with complex emotions.
"I want… to bring everyone back."
Uta supported herself against the rock and slowly straightened her body.
Her gaze had never been clearer, nor more resolute: "This is my… final song."
Shanks wanted to say something, but seeing the light in his daughter's eyes, he ultimately stayed silent and simply reached out to support her frail body.
Step by step, the two walked toward the highest point of the "stage."
That place had once been where her dream began; now it would also become the end of everything.
...